Steam Deck Linux-Powered Gaming System Set to Take Over the Handheld World
A Linux and KDE-powered portable gaming platform is set to be released by Valve.
More than just a hand-held gaming system, the Steam Deck is a Linux-powered system, with a KDE interface, that can be docked and used as a regular PC. Steam Deck uses Proton as a compatibility layer to play Windows games on Linux, but users are free to replace it.
The device specs include an AMD 4-core Zen 2 CPU, an 8-core RDNA 2 graphics unit, 16 GB of memory, a 7-inch 1280x800-resolution touchscreen. As far as game control, Steam Deck includes several trackpads, thumbsticks, buttons, and triggers. A 40Wh battery is said to allow anywhere from two to eight hours of use. The device is charged via a single USB-C port that doubles as the means to connect the Steam Deck to external monitors and docks.
Steam Deck has three price points, based on different storage options: A base level of 64GB eMMC using PCIe Gen 2, a second-tier model with 256GB NVMe SSD using PCIe Gen 3, and a 512GB “high-speed” NVMe SDD that also uses PCIe Gen 3. The costs of the units (respectively) are $400, $530, and $650.
Valve plans on shipping the units in the US, Canada, EU, and the UK in December 2021. Reserve yours on the official Steam Deck site.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.