Any individual plugged a complete 4K desktop graphics card into the Steam Deck -MyCyberBase

The $400-plus Steam Deck gaming hand-held does no longer make stronger exterior graphics playing cards. Valve has been transparent in this level for months — you’ll’t magically plug in a dock and run Cyberpunk or Elden Ring at 4K. However ever because the corporate published that the Steam Deck’s garage plugs right into a (rather) simply obtainable M.2 PCI-Categorical x4 socket, the PC gaming group has speculated that an eGPU module may utterly are compatible there as a substitute.

Now, YouTuber ETA Prime has actually done it, including an AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, one of the vital highest-end graphics playing cards available on the market.

It really works, it runs, it performs video games at 4K with maxed-out settings at framerates a vanilla Steam Deck may most effective dream of. However no, you almost certainly shouldn’t do that at house! Now not most effective does it more or less defeat the transportable function to have a desktop graphics card protruding the again — to not point out an exterior energy provide! — however a host of video games appear to bathroom down because of having a rather sluggish CPU and most effective 4 lanes value of PCI-Categorical bandwidth for that beefy graphics card, too.

Oh, and you’ll’t shut the Steam Deck’s case, both, which may not be optimum for its longevity. And ETA Top says an Nvidia GPU didn’t paintings.

Symbol: ETA Top

Possibly some long run Steam Deck can have a bonafide exterior graphics suitable connector so it is advisable to merely plug in a ready-made eGPU field? Thunderbolt is costly and unique to Intel programs, however AMD’s Ryzen 6000 processors support USB 4, which comprises the Thunderbolt 3 spec. And AMD has been working on Linux drivers in particular to permit scorching plugging and unplugging of exterior graphics playing cards.

It would price Valve extra to include the speedier I/O that’d be required to allow a single-cable-4K-graphics-docking dream, however Valve could be as much as it — it’s publicly mentioned that it’s no longer most effective all in favour of running on a Steam Deck successor however that it used to be stunned what number of consumers opted for a top class $649 fashion as a substitute of the $400 base configuration.

Me, I’ll most likely simply stream my games from my desktop PC to the Deck inside of my own residence. It really works rather smartly.