Wednesday, April 13th 2022
Immovable Steam Deck? Enthusiast Enables AMD RX 6900 XT Graphics Card "eGPU"
A Steam Deck enthusiast has done what Steam would not (at least not in the first rendition of its popular Steam Deck handheld console): he went and added an external GPU to the mix. The owner of the ETA Prime YouTube channel managed to increase the Steam Deck's APU-powered graphical oomph with a much more powerful AMD RX 6900 XT graphics card. To do so required sacrifices however: since the SteamDeck doesn't feature a proper Thunderbolt 3/4 connector, ETA Prime had to remove the Steam Deck's SSD from its M.2 port, instead mounting a special M.2 to PCIe adapter in the SSD slot itself.
This, of course, required that installed games be run off memory cards, which generally offer lower speeds (a less than stellar experience) than the onboard SSD. It also required butchering the Steam Deck's OS by replacing it with Windows 11. But it did allow the Steam Deck's APU to tap onto power otherwise unavailable to it, unlocking playable framerates with maxed out detail settings on games such as God of War, Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, and others.
Some of the games were run at 1080p, while others were run at 4K, but all of them showcased improved graphical performance compared to the Steam Deck's comparably puny APU graphics. For now, this solution remains a novelty. At the same time, the 3D Mark Time Spy score increased by almost 8000 points. Should Valve introduce a Thunderbolt port in future revisions of the Steam Deck, and one can imagine having an extremely powerful Switch-like experience for a hybrid gaming environment. Valve?
Sources:
ETA Prime @ YouTube, via Tom's Hardware
This, of course, required that installed games be run off memory cards, which generally offer lower speeds (a less than stellar experience) than the onboard SSD. It also required butchering the Steam Deck's OS by replacing it with Windows 11. But it did allow the Steam Deck's APU to tap onto power otherwise unavailable to it, unlocking playable framerates with maxed out detail settings on games such as God of War, Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, and others.
15 Comments on Immovable Steam Deck? Enthusiast Enables AMD RX 6900 XT Graphics Card "eGPU"
Next step will be use a DC to DC ATX adapter, throw a 100 AH AGM battery in a book bag or take a lithium cell pack off an electric bike and take this setup on the road, haha
Steam Deck has a dock, and can be used in desktop mode.
eGPUs have popularity of laptop users already, this is no different.
It's a cool experiment but not really interesting as a use case (you could build an equivalent desktop for cheaper, the soc on the steamdeck is only a quad core after all)
My comments are directed towards those stating it defeats the purpose of a handheld. The article is showing a case to a specific need that could be addressed in future models.
I mean, Zen 2 APU with 4MB L3 means most newer games are going to get massively castrated!
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You probably should refrain from commenting on things you don't know about.
Feels nice not being the only nutjob with the intention to do this with the Steam Deck.