Valve Doesn’t Consider the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U As a Competitor to the Steam Deck (Plus Steam Controller 2 and Steam Deck 2 Plans)

Valve Doesn't Consider the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U As a Competitor to the Steam Deck (Plus Steam Controller 2 and Steam Deck 2 Plans)
The Verge recently conducted an interview with Valve’s Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais – arguably the two most vocal employees about the company’s handheld device that is the Steam Deck. I wanted to mention it because there was an interesting tidbit regarding AMD’s Ryzen 7 6800U APU, which is currently shipping in devices like the AOKZOE and the OneXPlayer Mini handhelds. As I had alluded to in my Aya Neo 2 post, the 6800U is using Zen 3, RDNA 2 680M graphics, eight cores, and can clock up to 4.
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Steam Deck Client Beta Fixes Gamepad Focus Issue in Steam Store, Minor Layout Fixes to Login UI (Plus SteamOS Preview Update for OSK Graphics Driver Crash)

Steam Deck Client Beta Fixes Gamepad Focus Issue in Steam Store, Minor Layout Fixes to Login UI (Plus SteamOS Preview Update for OSK Graphics Driver Crash)
More, upon more, upon more fixes for the Steam Deck. This time around, the Steam store should no longer have any gamepad focus issues, and footer buttons should properly be displayed. In Desktop Mode, the login interface got some minor layout fixes. It shouldn’t stretch past the bottom of the window. Context menus should now work after closing the Update news dialog. Subbed workshop items should properly display now when “there were thousands of them.
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VKD3D-Proton 2.8 Reduces CPU Overhead, Adds Last-Minute Fixes for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Upgrade

VKD3D-Proton 2.8 Reduces CPU Overhead, Adds Last-Minute Fixes for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Upgrade
VKD3D-Proton – the layer responsible for translating DX12 calls to Vulkan, and an essential part of Proton – version 2.8 just released, and “rolls up some significant new developments before the holidays.” First of all, 2.8 adds support for the VK_EXT_descriptor_buffer extension. This “removes a ton of CPU overhead.” This will particularly benefit desktop users who are on NVIDIA, Intel, Turnip, and “other AMD driver implementations” that are not pertaining to the Steam Deck.
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Steam Deck Client Beta Adds Better UI Scaling in Higher Resolutions, Xbox Elite/Switch Pro Layout Preview Pages (Plus SteamOS Update and Proton Hotfix for The Witcher 3)

Steam Deck Client Beta Adds Better UI Scaling in Higher Resolutions, Xbox Elite/Switch Pro Layout Preview Pages (Plus SteamOS Update and Proton Hotfix for The Witcher 3)
More fixes in yesterday’s Deck client update (beta). Xbox Elite and Switch Pro layout preview pages have been added, Desktop Mode got plenty of fixes, and there’s now an option to launch the new Big Picture Mode in windowed mode. Full patch notes are as follows: General Fixed issue where a browser opened by a game was sticking around after closing the overlay Fixed launch options dialog not closing when cancelling game launch Various fixes to make the UI scale better in higher resolutions Fixed issue where the virtual keyboard would continuously be made visible after exiting a game Added option to start in windowed mode under Settings => Display => Big Picture Mode => Windowed Desktop Mode
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Heroic Games Launcher 2.5.2 Gets Another Hotfix, Adds Option for DXVK Limit FPS, Arm64 Support for Mac OS

Heroic Games Launcher 2.5.2 Gets Another Hotfix, Adds Option for DXVK Limit FPS, Arm64 Support for Mac OS
Though 2.5.2 might be labeled as a hotfix, it got a few features as well. Arm64 builds are now available for M1/M2 Macs. The Linux version adds support for a DXVK limit FPS option. DXVK installation has been fixed, the Wine status should now be properly updated after install or uninstall, and some fixes have been added to the UI and GOG saves. See the full patch notes on GitHub.
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Cemu 2.0-21 Gets Vulkan on Wayland Support, AppImage Fixes

Cemu 2.0-21 Gets Vulkan on Wayland Support, AppImage Fixes
Cemu got a pretty sweet update: it now supports Vulkan for Wayland. The AppImage got “minor” fixes; it fixes an incorrect recursive copy and adds a metainfo file. Screenshots should now work across all three operating systems. Some other commits made it in: fix MSVC workflow automatically scale imgui text based on display pixel density correctly create screenshot directory if it does not exist, and better screenshot error handling PPCAssembler: Fix incorrect cast sign of branch distance calculate make codebase more CPU-agnostic + MacOS disclaimer Linux/MacOS: Use faster clock_gettime() for tick_cached() add check for backwards delete fix SDL controller reversed y axis in UI See the commit history for more details.
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Steam Deck Client Beta Fixes OSK On Game Exit, Adds Support for Armor-X Pro Gamepad

Steam Deck Client Beta Fixes OSK On Game Exit, Adds Support for Armor-X Pro Gamepad
Yet another update slipped my mind. This came out yesterday. The Armor-X Pro pad in PS4 mode is now supported, and several fixes have made it in on desktop and in general. Patch notes are as follows: General Fixed keyboard re-opening incorrectly on game exit Added support for the Armor-X Pro gamepad in PS4 mode Fixed long delay at startup when the Razer Huntsman Elite keyboard is plugged in Fixed the Logitech G29 controller showing up as a gamepad instead of a wheel Desktop Mode
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Slippi Ranked is Finally Here!

Slippi Ranked is Finally Here!
Slippi version 3.0.0 is out. This release has early support for ranked matchmaking! For the time being, ranked matchmaking requires a subscription, the minimum of which will set you back at $5/month. Manage your Slippi account and choose your subscription tier. After that you’ll need to agree to the Terms of Service with the Slippi Launcher. Ranked matchmaking will be free after it comes out of early access. You can also check the leaderboards.
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Kernel 6.1 Released, Implements Rust Foundation, Significantly Faster Btrfs, Improved Third-Party Nintendo Gamepad Support

Kernel 6.1 Released, Implements Rust Foundation, Significantly Faster Btrfs, Improved Third-Party Nintendo Gamepad Support
After a week of being held back due to so many changes coming in, kernel 6.1 has now officially become stable and is the next LTS release. It’s quite an exciting release! First of all, we have better support for knockoff Nintendo controllers. Second, Rust has finally made its way in, although we’re not really going to see anything significant as only the infrastructure has been re-written so far. Kernel 6.
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Steam Deck Client Beta Fixes DLC Hover, Gyro for Switch Controllers

Steam Deck Client Beta Fixes DLC Hover, Gyro for Switch Controllers
Small update for the Deck is all fixes. Patch notes are as follows: General Fixed the new Big Picture Mode overlay being incorrect[ly] sized when the monitor is set to display scaling other than 100% Fixed DLC hover on game details page being cropped Steam Input Fixed an issue with gamepad navigation in the Steam Deck haptics calibration screen Fixed an issue w/ enabling Gyro for Switch controllers If you’re on desktop and you’re opted into the beta branch for Steam, there is a similar update available, with the addition of a MacOS bug being fixed in regards to the close button on the Steam login window.
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