I thought this for a long time. The AI 395, with a 40-CU GPU, seemed easily powerful enough. Unfortunately, that’s also the issue–it runs at 55W by default. That’s too much heat to strap to your face, and it’ll drain a 100Wh battery in less than two hours anyway. (That’s the maximum size of battery you can take on a plane in the US, so exceeding that would be a very bold choice.)
The Steam Deck gets away with less power (often 15W) because it’s running games at lower framerates and a lower resolution, but that’s not a good option for VR.
I’m definitely curious to see what they actually do with the Snapdragon, though. Maybe some kind of recompilation tech? Or maybe just partnerships with devs who have already released on Quest to start a new store for standalone stuff, along with the streaming tech they’ve already got. I really want it to be good.
Limiting the TDP of the chip is not really a problem considering the ARM chips are not more powerful either. If they can run Beat Saber and other slimmed down PCVR games, it’s sufficient.
Looking at how many revisions they went through it seems like they came to the conclusion that running x86 on ARM is better than running x86 directly with a TDP limited chip.
Which really shouldn’t be too surprising, I guess–all those CUs need power.
I do think power requirements for this level of performance will keep dropping over the next several years, but it doesn’t seem like it’s quite within the necessary power envelope at this point.
It has to be. I had to sell my wireless kit for my valve as it doesn’t work with my new AMD CPU. I play tethered now and it’s awful.
I don’t care about the specs as long as it has a decent display and integrated well into steam.
Oh, and please have something akin to the knuckles controllers and it’s grip function. The reason I haven’t switched yet (besides meta being involved) is that I cannot use my knuckles anymore. Or without major hassle at least.
This is a successor to the Valve Index. Not the Steam Deck.
If they’re using ARM that tells me they intend for this thing to be a wireless headset, or at least partially.
I’m aware. The Deckard was originally rumored to be based on an AMD chip.
I thought this for a long time. The AI 395, with a 40-CU GPU, seemed easily powerful enough. Unfortunately, that’s also the issue–it runs at 55W by default. That’s too much heat to strap to your face, and it’ll drain a 100Wh battery in less than two hours anyway. (That’s the maximum size of battery you can take on a plane in the US, so exceeding that would be a very bold choice.)
The Steam Deck gets away with less power (often 15W) because it’s running games at lower framerates and a lower resolution, but that’s not a good option for VR.
I’m definitely curious to see what they actually do with the Snapdragon, though. Maybe some kind of recompilation tech? Or maybe just partnerships with devs who have already released on Quest to start a new store for standalone stuff, along with the streaming tech they’ve already got. I really want it to be good.
Limiting the TDP of the chip is not really a problem considering the ARM chips are not more powerful either. If they can run Beat Saber and other slimmed down PCVR games, it’s sufficient.
Looking at how many revisions they went through it seems like they came to the conclusion that running x86 on ARM is better than running x86 directly with a TDP limited chip.
Hopefully we will find out later this year.
ETA Prime tried running the 395 at lower TDPs, and the result was that it lost most of its performance advantage: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r8JpqfqBpvQ
Which really shouldn’t be too surprising, I guess–all those CUs need power.
I do think power requirements for this level of performance will keep dropping over the next several years, but it doesn’t seem like it’s quite within the necessary power envelope at this point.
What it should be at that price is a VR steam deck that you can optionally connect to your PC.
It has to be. I had to sell my wireless kit for my valve as it doesn’t work with my new AMD CPU. I play tethered now and it’s awful.
I don’t care about the specs as long as it has a decent display and integrated well into steam.
Oh, and please have something akin to the knuckles controllers and it’s grip function. The reason I haven’t switched yet (besides meta being involved) is that I cannot use my knuckles anymore. Or without major hassle at least.
One of my knuckles is busted after my kid threw a tantrum and threw it >.> So I gotta get a new one
That’s harsh, but fair. I hope it can serve as a lesson to any other kids out there though.
But man, new kids are expensive these days. Good luck!