The new Steam Deck update adds one of the most requested features

coolest feature steam surface — except for anything, if you ask me — how a gaming laptop allows you to get the most out of AMD RDNA 2 graphics and a 40Wh battery. From last updateyou can lower the screen refresh rate to more Effective frame rate and low latency, I was able to throttle the CPU, GPU and frame limiter since launch. The goal: Even if you discover a great combination that will give you the battery life and/or performance you crave, Steam Deck can’t save Those settings are for each game.

You will have to memorize them, and click the keys appropriately, each time you switch to a different game. This is changing today.

Wednesday update It now comes with per-game performance settings, allowing you to click a single key in the quick access menu to set a custom performance profile for each of your games.

Photo by Sean Hollister/The Verge

Click it, and you’ll go back to the global system settings, so you can have the setting “I generally like to run my games at 30fps” but also”elden ring It should run at 40 fps with a 40 Hz refresh rate.Vampire survivors It should run at 10fps and 5W because I want it to run for the duration of this ride” if you want to.

This has been one of the most requested Steam Deck features since the beginning, and I hope there will be more to come – because no Allows you to set multiple profiles (such as one when you plug in AC power, and another for the longest battery life you can manage), or save and share profiles with the larger community so we can help the lower-energy users happy among us play their games smoothly better.

Photo by Sean Hollister/The Verge

(Valve has already shown us how powerful this can be with community console profiles — and the big reason so many older games can be played instantly on Steam Deck is that users were encouraged to upload configurations to Steam Controller back in the day.)

I suspect Valve is well aware of that, and today’s update lays the groundwork for that as well. Because while Steam Deck is still Don’t be ready For everyone who might pick up a Nintendo Switch, update next Update Show that Valve listens closely and attentively to the user feedback feed.

digital foundry I did recently Excellent look How the adjustable refresh rate and fan curve of the previous update allow you to get more out of Steam Deck. I’m including a copy below for your viewing pleasure.

you can read Register the full Steam Deck changelog here. The rest is mostly bug fixes, although you can now hold down the power button to “stop streaming” a game, and Valve has moved haptic and noise switches away from the quick access menu. This is a change that I don’t actually agree with; They came in handy when an old toy (I don’t remember any) was too jittery with the vibrations.