SteamOS now runs on AMD desktop PCs

A USB stick, an unused SSD and a desktop PC: in principle, that is all it takes to install SteamOS outside the Steam Deck. Valve is making its gaming Linux available for any desktop computer with an x86 processor — the widespread PC platform — and then guides users through setup in Game Mode, Steam’s gaming interface.

The hardware determines whether it will work, however. AMD Radeon graphics cards are fully supported. Intel’s Arc cards also run according to heise, but with compromises in performance and image quality. Nvidia is left out for now: Valve does not ship the proprietary driver with the SteamOS image. Without that driver, GeForce cards offer little serious 3D acceleration.

The situation is less restrictive for the CPU, the computer’s processor. All mainstream processors from Intel or AMD from the past five years are expected to work. The greater obstacle is therefore not the age of the PC but the graphics card installed in it. Anyone with a compatible card can install SteamOS, set up their first games and then measure performance.

What happens next? For owners of a PC with a compatible AMD graphics card, a living-room gaming computer becomes easier to access without being limited to the Steam Deck. The c’t Team Machine build proposal presented by heise is also designed for SteamOS. For Nvidia users, however, little changes for now: their graphics card remains a key compatibility barrier.

The move makes SteamOS usable on more systems, but not universally. According to heise, installation is not a major obstacle; graphics-driver support determines whether an ordinary desktop PC can actually become a viable alternative to the Steam Machine. The technical information comes from heise’s report.