Steam Deck Gets 40Hz Refresh Rate, Improving Framerate Stability and Battery Life
Valve is releasing Steam Deck updates at a breakneck pace, upgrading the device practically on a weekly basis, especially for beta branch SteamOS 3.0 users. While there have been some issues with these updates over the past few weeks, the addition of a lock screen and half-rate shading have already proven themselves to be valuable upgrades appreciated by the community.
On that note, Steam Deck's biggest upgrade may have just been released with comparatively little fanfare. Users have discovered that the latest beta firmware has already introduced a proper screen refresh rate slider that's even more customizable than was initially expected and which allows players to cap games at 40 FPS, rather than having to choose between 30 or 60.
Steam Deck Dock Gets Upgrade Ahead of Release
It's been known for some time now that Valve was working on official support for alternative refresh rates on Steam Deck, rather than limiting the device to its default 60Hz refresh. Since there was no further information offered other than the fact that it would be coming, however, most users didn't expect it to release on such short notice. Simply by switching over to the beta version of the Deck's firmware, users can get access to a granular slider allowing them to customize the screen precisely to their liking.
In regard to frame times, 40 FPS sits right between 30 and 60 FPS. However, a device's screen needs to be able to evenly divide each rendered frame while refreshing the image for the game not to start juddering, and 40 FPS cannot be evenly divided on a 60Hz display. Now that Steam Deck supports a 40Hz refresh rate, however, users can enjoy the perfect middle-ground between 30 and 60 FPS, making this one of the biggest Steam Deck
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