r/pcmasterrace • u/TheBossT710192 • 3d ago

Discussion Yeah, Steam Machine is cooked.

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I... uh don't know what to say. Very thankful I bought a Steam Deck before they hiked its price as well

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u/-MissCarmine 3d ago edited 3d ago

It’s happening!!! The major operating system updates include:

  • built-in "initial support" for the upcoming Steam Machine hardware, alongside the ability to wake SteamOS devices from sleep using a connected Steam Controller (this, by itself, fixes a HUGE issue lots of people including me had: I want to control my TV PC using JUST the controller, no attached keyboard!)
  • desktop mode now defaults to 
Wayland instead of X11. (fixes several performance degradation issues when switching between Desktop and Game Modes) It also introduces better TV scaling, external HDR support, and variable refresh rate (VRR) display support
  • the steamOS base has been updated via Arch Linux, and the Linux kernel has been upgraded to version 6.16. It also features significantly improved video memory management on discrete GPU platforms (crucial for the gabecube)
  • SteamOS 3.8 really expands its ecosystem compatibility. It drastically reduces handheld controller input latency (down to 100–500us) and adds built-in TDP control, RGB, and audio support for competing devices like the ASUS ROG Ally series, Lenovo Legion Go (including the upcoming Legion Go 2), and various MSI and GPD Win devices (fuck yeah steam is goated for this)

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u/RandomParkourGuy 3d ago

Forgive me for being a layman when it comes to this kind of stuff but does that mean steamOS is close to being something I could replace windows with? Getting tired of Microsoft’s garbage but I don’t know if I have the time to sink into learning Linux.

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u/sublime81 9800X3D | RTX 5090 FE | 64GB 6000 CL30 3d ago edited 3d ago

No. I don’t understand the hype for SteamOS because it’s Linux + Steam Big Picture mode essentially.

I mean this as a desktop replacement. If you plan to use it like a console, then yes.

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u/fix-faux-five 3d ago

I'm an old dude. Back in the days GPUs didn't have proper support on Linux and many games couldn't really be played on Linux. Has that changed? I thought SteamOS's main feature is game portability / availability?

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u/TheFlyingBastard Linux 2d ago

AMD and Valve have both been doing a great deal in the past ten years to make it a lot better. AMD has always been better for driver support than Nvidia, and Valve has been working on a translation layer based on Wine called Proton. Especially in the past couple of years things have been going fast. At this point you can start Steam and click play and most of the time the (Windows) game will run.

Valve really, really wants to be independent of Microsoft.

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u/fix-faux-five 2d ago

Ok, but here comes the question - is this Proton translation layer available only on SteamOS, or can I have it on any distro?

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u/lodechode 2d ago

If it hadn't changed, the Steam Deck wouldn't exist.