YouTube channelETA PrimeA video was released yesterday showing a test installation of Steam Deck working on an external graphics card on Windows 11. In early April, Valve announced that Steam Deck officially supports Windows 11 although there are still many drivers that need to be updated. The idea of ETA Prime is to install a desktop PC-sized graphics card externally to work, but Steam Deck does not have a Thunderbolt port, there is no way to directly use the graphics card external box to do the installation The only feasible way is to use the M.2 interface to do it. External but this is the only expansion slot for the entire console, so that the Steam system can only be loaded and run through a microSD card.
ETA Prime found that NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards cannot be used with Steam Deck following testing, but AMD Radeon graphics cards can be supported. It is not expected that Steam Deck is an AMD platform. In the 3DMark Fire Strike test, the Steam Deck’s native score was 4856 points, while using the M.2 to connect the RX 6900XT to get 26855 points in the graphics test! This represents a 5.5 increase in the Fire Strike score of the Steam Deck with an external RX 6900XT. Times! The TimeSpy test score gap is even bigger. Steam Deck’s native score is 1576 points and the RX6900XT installed is nearly 10 times faster, reaching 15579 points!
In the 4K quality game test, this external Steam Deck can smoothly play Witcher 3 (The Witcher 3 average 108 FPS, 4K Ultra) and GTA 5 (average 73 FPS, 4K Very High), and the representative of 3A masterpieces in recent years Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 1080p high quality is regarding 47~70 FPS. Game performance is mainly affected by CPU and M.2 connection GPU data transfer limitations.
Steam Deck itself is positioned as a portable game console and is not designed to operate with an external graphics card. Although the size of the Steam Deck is much larger than other handheld consoles in order to prolong the battery capacity and life, the RX6900XT is still better than the Steam Deck. It is more than 3 times larger than the extra power supply and wires required for the external connection! Please also pay attention that such additional disassembly and installation may cause damage to the machine or break the warranty!
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