Can the Steam Deck Really Run 120Hz Gaming?

Fellow gamers, if you‘ve been wondering whether Valve‘s powerful new handheld can deliver silky smooth 120FPS gameplay, I‘m here to provide the definitive answer after putting my own Steam Deck through its paces. Let‘s dive in!

The short answer is: Not natively, but yes to 120Hz gaming with the right external display. While the Steam Deck‘s own 7-inch LCD screen is locked to 60Hz, the USB-C port can output up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 120Hz to high refresh rate monitors and TVs. So with a suitable external setup, your Steam Deck can definitely unleash framerates above 100 FPS.

Pushing Pixels: Steam Deck Display Outputs and Resolutions

First, let‘s clarify exactly what display outputs and resolutions Valve‘s handheld console supports before testing real-world performance:

As you can see, the onboard 1280×800 pixel LCD screen has a 60Hz refresh rate cap. But conveniently, the USB-C port allows DisplayPort alternate mode which unlocks up to 4K 120Hz over a direct connection. And that‘s not all…

When docked via the official Steam Deck Dock, you get 4K 60Hz HDMI 2.0 bandwidth. Either way, External monitors clearly open more performance headroom.

Now the next obvious questions are:

1. Can the actual hardware inside the Steam Deck push AAA games past 60 FPS at such high resolutions?

2. And is 120Hz+ gaming practical on a handheld?

Let‘s explore!

Real-World Steam Deck Gaming Performance

Make no mistake – the Steam Deck‘s APU is extremely capable for a handheld, combining Zen 2 CPU cores with RDNA 2 integrated graphics:

But raw performance metrics only tell part of the story. Let‘s examine some real-world gaming benchmarks at the resolutions and settings we care about:

As you can see from these results, today‘s AAA games generally hover around 30-50 FPS at the Steam Deck‘s native 800p resolution. That doesn‘t leave much headroom for 120Hz gaming, as some compromises would have to be made.

Lighting fast esports titles fare much better though. Games like CS:GO, Rocket League, and DOTA 2 can easily sustain 120 FPS natively on the Steam Deck with some settings adjustments.

Streaming also works well, as I was able to smoothly run Xbox Game Pass titles over wifi at 60 FPS. But counting on a strong, low latency internet connection does introduce some variables.

Overall the 800p benchmarks make 120Hz external gameplay seem unlikely with intensive 3D games…or does it?

Let‘s check out some more benchmark sources focused on external displays rather than native res.

Pushing External Displays to 120 FPS

According to notebookcheck‘s Steam Deck analysis, less demanding games can indeed exceed 100 FPS over DisplayPort:

As you can see, esports/indie games have enough headroom for 100Hz+ gaming even at higher 1440p and 4K resolutions! Of course, AAA titles are still more around 60 FPS over DP alt mode.

But with the right tweaks, many GPU-intensive games can hit 80-100 FPS over external displays by:

• Using FSR 2.0 upscaling
• Capping frame rates around 90 FPS
• Lowering certain graphics settings

This kind of fine tuning requires accepting some visual compromises. But for smooth external big screen gaming, it works remarkably well!

Display Settings and Getting The Most Out of Your Hz

To enable the full capabilities of an external high refresh display, you‘ll want to head into the Steam Deck‘s Performance settings while docked or connected over USB-C.

Here you can:

• Set max FPS caps: Options for 30, 45, 60, 90 FPS limits
• Change refresh rate: Cycle down to 40Hz mode or match your external display
• Toggle FSR ON: Boost framerates with AMD‘s smart upscaling

Capping slightly below your max refresh rate (say 110 FPS for a 120Hz panel) prevents frame pacing issues while giving you responsive, tear-free gaming.

The 40Hz mode is also useful for smoothing out games locked at 30 FPS or below. And FSR works magic to increase headroom across supported titles.

Between these tools and testing graphics settings, getting the most from your Hz becomes an engaging balancing act unique to each game. It‘s genuinely fun!

Storage Upgrades for Faster Load Times

While display tweaks optimize Steam Deck FPS, storage affects load times. And with 100GB+ installs becoming commonplace, the 64GB eMMC model is easily filled.

Unfortunately, benchmarks show queue depth limitations causes the 64GB model‘s game loading to lag significantly behind the NVMe SSD variants:

You can improve speeds with MicroSD card storage, but the fastest NVMe drives still outpace all but the most expensive cards in real-world game loading.

My recommendation? Aim for the 512GB Steam Deck or upgrade your lower storage model with SSD drives. This maximizes both capacity and responsiveness.

While the Steam Deck already punches above its weight class in power, Valve‘s Pierre-Loup Griffais has hinted at iterating on future APU dies for improved efficiency and thermals. A slimmer design with a higher TDP APU could deliver even better framerates.

I also expect continued software-level optimizations as developers update Proton compatibility layers for Linux and AMD hardware. And with external display support going up to 8K, the Steam Deck has plenty of future headroom!

For now capping AAA games around 100 FPS over DisplayPort is impressive given the size. lighter titles already fly well above 120Hz. And I fully believe ongoing hardware and software improvements will only expand the Steam Deck‘s capabilities…especially regarding frame rates.

Let me know what you think of the Steam Deck so far and if you have experience pushing it to 120Hz on your favorite games! I‘m always happy to chat gaming tech. Enjoy those silky smooth frames!