best adult games on steam

The Steam Deck lobbed an unexpected grenade into the PC gaming world, distilling the handheld PC gaming experience into a simple, approachable, and affordable device. Gaming laptops are versatile but expensive and lack the ultra-portable handheld convenience of Steam'due south device. That may sway you towards Valve's handheld, merely the Deck's shortcomings shouldn't be overlooked.

Nosotros compare the Steam Deck and gaming laptops with the following in listen:

Game Performance
Compatibility
Portability and Form Cistron
Battery Life
Extra features
Value
Verdict

Steam Deck vs. Gaming Laptop: Performance

Gaming laptops are available in numerous configurations and sizes that range from bottom-barrel budget devices with AMD or Intel integrated graphics to high-end models with powerful GPUs such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30/40 series and AMD's Radeon RX 6000M line. Modern gaming laptops also ship with Intel Core and AMD Ryzen processors that, in most cases, have at least eight cores. Maximum power draw can be extremely high, with the most powerful gaming laptops exceeding 250 watts at load.

The Steam Deck e'er ships with the aforementioned, slightly customized AMD APU. It includes a four-core, 8-thread CPU based on AMD'south Zen 2 architecture, which also appears in numerous Ryzen 4000 and Ryzen 5000 mobile processors (and some Ryzen 7000 models, too). The integrated Radeon GPU has eight RDNA 2 Compute Units, equivalent to those plant in many Ryzen laptop APUs. The Steam Deck'southward APU is restricted to a mere 15 watts of power—at stock settings, at least.

Performance varies widely, of form, but fifty-fifty the to the lowest degree capable gaming laptops are roughly as powerful as the Steam Deck. IGN'south Steam Deck review tested its capabilities with the 3DMark Fourth dimension Spy gaming benchmark, which hit a score of one,715. That's slightly backside a laptop with Intel Iris Xe graphics, which scored ane,837, and way backside a budget gaming laptop with Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics, which scored 3,764.

In short, the Steam Deck's operation is miles off that of a budget gaming laptop, and it frequently struggles to play demanding games at adequate frame rates. The Deck can handle older or ameliorate optimized titles, like Borderlands 3 and Hitman 3, only tin can asphyxiate on notorious arrangement-killers, like Metro Exodus or Horizon: Cipher Dawn.

It's possible to hook back some performance if you switch to a lower display resolution than the Steam Deck's native 1,200 x 800, or with a frame reconstruction technique such as AMD's FideltyFX Super Resolution (FSR). This will only go y'all so far, however, as the quad-core processor is a major bottleneck that can tank operation in modern games. Most new games that target a cross-platform release (on PC, Xbox Serial South|X, and PlayStation 5) will perform much worse on the Steam Deck than on a budget gaming laptop.

Operation Winner: Gaming Laptop

Steam Deck vs. Gaming Laptop: Compatibility

Gaming laptops run the same version of Windows every bit whatever other PC and maintain compatibility with a vast library of games available on Steam, the Epic Games Store, GOG, and Ubisoft Connect, among others. Odds are yous already have a library of games that span multiple storefronts as well every bit older titles you acquired through a DRM-costless digital platform. A gaming laptop will handle this entire library without issue.

The Steam Deck is (generally) restricted to a selection of compatible games found on Steam. The operating system installed on the Deck is a Linux variant and can run games that have a Linux version natively. Many don't, still, and instead run through a compatibility layer called Proton. Valve has a list of "Deck Verified" games available on its website. You as well sort games by compatibility in Steam, which makes it like shooting fish in a barrel to discover compatible games on the store and in your existing Steam library.

ProtonDB, a website which tracks Deck Verified games and reports player experiences with games that are not verified, currently lists 3,183 Steam Deck verified games. An additional 5,500 games are listed equally "playable" based on player reports though, in my experience, games that are playable can however suffer bugs. That'south a lot of games, but only 10 per centum of games listed on Steam are Deck Verified, and but 40 percent are considered playable. A mere 20 percent of the elevation 100 games on Steam (measured by concurrent players) are Deck Verified.

The Deck tin too play a wide variety of older console games, from the original NES upwards to (some) titles from the Xbox/Wii U/PlayStation 2 era, through emulators—only the same is truthful of whatsoever gaming laptop.

How this changes your ownership determination depends on the games you play. The Deck will bear witness alluring if your favorite games are supported, and the opposite is true if all your favorite titles are incompatible. Thankfully, ProtonDB has a useful characteristic that can sort through your Library and break downwards compatibility game-past-game.

You lot might also wonder: tin't I simply install Windows on the Steam Deck? That'southward an selection, but installing can prove a bit tricky and the experience isn't polish. Going this route removes some of the interface conveniences that SteamOS provides. Driver support is spotty, as well, and games that are Deck Verified may run better under SteamOS than under Windows.

The Deck supports thousands of excellent games, only a gaming laptop tin handle tens of thousands of back itemize titles that aren't Deck Verified. A gaming laptop is a more versatile, reliable gaming device. You tin see our list of the all-time Steam Deck games for more than info.

Compatibility Winner: Gaming Laptop

Steam Deck vs. Gaming Laptop: Portability and Form Factor

Gaming laptops accept come a long way in portability, and many models now feature slim, lightweight designs that measure out under an inch thick and weigh less than five pounds. Yet, even the most portable gaming laptops are larger and heavier than the Steam Deck. The Alienware x14, an excellent meaty gaming laptop, weighs a bit over iv pounds, while the Steam Deck weighs roughly i.5 pounds.

The Steam Deck as well benefits from its handheld design, which makes it comfortable to hold and play on-the-go. Its form factor is like to that of the Nintendo Switch, making information technology easy to enjoy games on public transportation, in waiting rooms, or while reclining on a burrow or in bed. You might be able to intermission out a gaming laptop in similar situations, only information technology'southward less comfortable and ofttimes requires a separate wireless PC gaming controller, further increasing its weight and majority.

This is a clear win for the Steam Deck. Gaming laptops can't compete with the Deck's comfy, lightweight design.

Portability and Form Cistron Winner: Steam Deck

Steam Deck vs. Gaming laptop: Battery Life

The virtually powerful gaming laptops normally have the shortest bombardment life, ranging from i to twelve hours of gaming on a single charge. Some laptops, especially those with integrated graphics or entry-level dedicated GPUs, offering far superior battery life, but information technology comes at the price of reduced gaming performance (though functioning volition all the same exceed the Steam Deck).

The Steam Deck offers bombardment life of one to 8 hours, depending on the game and the device'southward power settings. Valve has optimized the Steam Deck's power management options to help users discover a balance betwixt performance and battery life, which helps amend battery life in real-earth gameplay.

Battery size is an important factor, and 1 that keeps the Steam Deck's power-sipping APU from vastly outperforming a gaming laptop. The pocket-size, compact Deck has a pocket-sized forty watt-hr bombardment. It'due south tiny compared to gaming laptops, which tend to have a bombardment size between 50 and 99 watt-hours.

In truth, both gaming laptops and the Steam Deck could benefit from improved battery life, Neither device tin handle more than a few hours of gameplay in almost situations, though less demanding 2nd titles (like Stardew Valley or FTL) tin lengthen your experience.

Bombardment Life Winner: Tie

Steam Deck vs. Gaming Laptop: Actress Features

Gaming laptops offer all the features found on any Windows laptop. They come up equipped with physical keyboards, big touchpads, and multiple ports for connecting peripherals and external displays. Most also have a congenital-in webcam and microphone for video calls and loud, powerful speakers (compared to the Deck, at least). All of this makes a gaming laptop more than versatile than the Steam Deck. Yous tin use a gaming laptop for work all day, then switch to using it for games at night.

The Steam Deck is a more focused device. It has an integrated gamepad with thumbsticks, face buttons, a D-Pad, and touchpads for precise control in games that require a mouse. Connectivity is provided by a single USB-C port, which charges the Deck and can be used to connect an external brandish. The Deck also has a MicroSD card reader, which is useful for loading games and other content. A microphone is included, but a webcam is absent.

Evidently, a gaming laptop and the Steam Deck serve different needs, and this fact is important to keep in mind. You might recollect it's possible to use the Deck like a Windows desktop if you dock a keyboard and mouse, or that it'south possible to use a gaming laptop like the Steam Deck if you lot connect a wireless gamepad. This is true, but I await well-nigh gamers volition notice these workarounds frustrating. They're fundamentally different devices congenital for different situations.

Extra Features Winner: Necktie

Steam Deck vs. Gaming Laptop: Value

The Steam Deck has a tempting base MSRP of $399. That leaves you with a mere 64GB of internal storage, still, which isn't enough to install many mod games. I recommend the 256GB model, which retails at $529. The elevation-tier 512GB model, priced at $649, is a adept upgrade if you plan to play games that exam the Deck's limits (similar Horizon: Nada Dawn or the latest Call of Duty).

Gaming laptops embrace a much wider range of pricing. Entry-level models like the HP Victus and Acer Nitro can be found on sale for around $600, while high-cease models similar the Razer Blade eighteen and MSI Titan can exceed $5,000.

That would seem to give the Deck an edge, merely remember: gaming laptops are more versatile and powerful. At the time this commodity was written, it was possible to pick up an HP Victus gaming laptop with an Intel Core i5-12450H, Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage for $550. This configuration volition hands thump the Deck in benchmarks.

A gaming laptop tin also accomplish tasks the Deck tin can't handle. A laptop like the HP Victus is a workable entry-level choice for content creation, game evolution, and basic dwelling house office productivity. The same can't exist said of the Deck, which hurts its value.

Value Winner: Gaming Laptop

EXCaliberPC

MSI Titan

Display: 17.3" UHD (3840 10 2160) 144Hz. Graphics Carte: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 12GB GDDR6. Processor: 13th Gen Intel Raptor Lake Core i9-13980HX 24 Cores. RAM: 64GB

Razer

Razer 18

QHD+ 18" display, well-baked 5 MP webcam, and 6 speakers with THX Spatial Sound the new Razer Blade eighteen.

Acer

Acer Nitro

xv.half dozen" widescreen LED-backlit IPS brandish with 1920 x 1080 resolution, 144Hz refresh rate. 10th Gen Intel Cadre i5-10300H processor and the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050.

HP Victus

16.one" with up to 11th Generation Intel® Cadre™ i7 processor1 or AMD Ryzen™ 7 processor1, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ graphics and upgraded cooling system. 165hz2 QHD Display3.

Alienware

Alienware x14

Processor: 12th Gen Intel® Cadre™ i5-12500H. Graphics Menu: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050, 4 GB GDDR6. Display: fourteen", FHD 1920x1080, 144Hz, Non-Bear on, 3ms, Avant-garde Optimus, ComfortView Plus, NVIDIA Chiliad-SYNC. xvi GB

Verdict: Gaming laptops win, only the Steam Deck remains alluring

Making the choice between a Steam Deck and a gaming laptop isn't easy, simply this comparing has a articulate victor. Gaming laptops win the day. Gaming laptops are more versatile, more than powerful, have more than included features, and support a wider library of games. The game is simply increasing as time goes on, too, as gaming laptops regularly receive new hardware updates. Valve has plans to release a successor to the Steam Deck, but when that will happen is anyone's guess.

Does that mean the Deck should exist thrown in a bin? Of course not. The Deck is less capable simply remains an alluring device that provides a handheld experience at an attractive price. Comparison the Steam Deck to a gaming laptop is a instance of comparison apples to oranges. Or, to really torture the metaphor, it's like comparing an apple against a whole bag of oranges.

A bag of oranges is not bad, just a thousand pounds of citrus won't satisfy your appetite if all you want is an apple.

Matthew S. Smith is a hardware and tech freelance writer with more than fifteen years of industry experience.

Source: https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-deck-vs-gaming-laptop-comparison