6 Months of Using Windows on STEAM DECK! What I’ve Learned So Far

I have been using Windows on the Steam Deck for 6 months at this point.
Can I recommend it? It's a bit more complicated. But considering that I'm still using it daily after 6 months, for sure there are a lot of positive points.
Check out my full experience in today's video.

Here you can find affiliate links to all the products I've featured in this video:

And if you want to check other accessories I've been using with the Steam Deck:

#steam #steamdeck #windows

[TheTechUnravel]

WINDOWS*.... I can be such an idiot sometimes 🤦‍♂️

[randomgaminginp]

the big frame drops in fortnite is likely because of 1gb vram
you need to set the vram differently in the bios to something like 4
this is an issue in linux too but linux isnt as demanding on the vram than windows is

[NiCO-jovh]

I used Windows 11 on my second Steam DEck (that was its main purpuse) and it had these stutters in Fortnite as well.
It blocked handheld companion and locked me out to use controller imput.
Windows is really unstable on it so I reinstalled SteamOS and use it as an emulation device only.
EDIT: Good video

[BlobBlobkins]

For desktop usecase I was thinking about using Windows, because on Linux my 5.1 sound system doesn't work (no asus drivers and support). I love Linux with all my heart, but sound settings in Linux is just pain.
Anyway using Windows is not an options too, probably need to wait year or two.

[Whitewulf]

Have you tried turning off the steam deck screen while using a monitor? if so, did it improve performance?

[iksounds]

I have Windows 11 installed on my Steam Deck, but in Windows the fans are incedibly loud in idle mode. Also the touchpads are heavily vibrating when being touched (in Steam OS you can turn that off). This is annoying as hell. Did you fix that somehow on your Windows Deck?

[CaptainRex]

It’s cool to see someone else main a stadia controller with their Steamdeck setup

[ДмитрийПетрович-щр]

Why can't I change the screen resolution? Even with a monitor connected.

[gunbusterSMSTI]

That’s cool I didn’t actually know that you could boot off of an SSD that’s in a dock and use that as an external SSD boot because that sounds freaking awesome. So that way you can quite literally boot to Steam West instead, and just remove the SSD we needed so you can play your PC games or your steam OS games on your monitors which sounds awesome.

[zebre]

I just bought a USB to HDMI adapter and I'm stuck in 720p. How are you in fullscreen mode with a monitor like that? Because I can't find a way to increase the resolution .

[pgt_omer]

Thanks for the video! It's a pretty explanatory video about using windows on steam deck. I want to ask a question. As I see it, there is no way to launching gamepass on steamos. So I'm thinking of installing windows on an external sd card. So how does perform gamepass games on windows? Thanks for the video again!

[dominicslomski]

the fortnite problem is weird, my experience with it has been a smooth sailing 60-80 fps with no frame drops or anything, so I wonder why your steam deck is having a different experience

[scottpeters]

Seems like a lot of your limitations and issues. Relate to having the windows OS installed on an SD card rather than a partition on your m.2

[rossmclaughlin]

Is there a trick to getting audio working

[sherlockhomes]

Can you please try tekken 8 demo on your windows boot on ssd?

[AurioDK]

I wonder how much a Steam Deck would benefit from Tiny Windows 11, my guess is that since it is far more limited in certain hardware settings a much lighter Windows 11 would greatly benefit the Steam Deck.

[greenman]

Are you using the default WiFi drivers? They work for most uses, but are TERRIBLE for online games. There are several other drivers floating around that fix the WiFi in Windows, or if you're using a dock, being on ethernet would obviously work as well. If you are using ethernet and still get issues like that, I have no idea what it is, other than maybe your memory allocation in the BIOS. Giving the GPU 4GB solves most problems. Plus the page file can help.

[toraxenos]

I'm trying to watch this video on mobile in a public place with max audio and i can barley hear you. please raise up your audio and lower the music.

[TheDraftAttack]

I'm in no expert but wouldn't you get much less input lag, higher transfer speeds, and better performance all around by installing Win11 as dual-boot on the internal SSD...? Thats how I did it last summer and I had no input lag or performance issues, but the user interface, accessibility, really the OS software experience made it not worth it anymore even if I could install and play those other games that don't run on Linux at low settings (and low setings at 40fps is very playable in most cases for my case).
For reference I installed a 512 SSD on day one of when I got the deck (never booted the grain of salt 64gb NVMe, the storage switch was my first and only mod) and have a 1tb MicroSD so space isn't an issue for me (I'll most likely regret saying that soon enough tho 😅!).

[netrodex]

I would love to keep the steamdeck and use windows ! (coz I need it everything runs) But... the APU on it.. can't run every Program (Davinci Resolve). Also lol always install windows on the NVMe ssd.. that's what gives you the fastest experience, depending on your ssd speed. Anyways, SteamOS it's great for gaming! but that's about it. I'm not a linux pro, but It felt like a wasted my money... so I'm getting the rog ally which it runs davinci resolve, and has a better screen as well. they improved a lot! but it's still sad saying goodbye to the steam deck :( probably gonna install windows on it again, to use it as an emergency PC

Edited: After a year lol Things changes a lot.