How to Enable the Steam Deck’s Performance Overlay (and What It Shows)
Reading Time: 3 minutesKeep track of your Steam Deck’s gaming performance in real-time with its performance overlay.
If you want to get the most out of your Steam Deck, it’s a good idea to learn how to enable the performance overlay. This will allow you to see the frame rate of a game (like the desktop version), and other information, so you can tweak your settings to get the best performance.
As some games aren’t designed specifically for the Steam Deck, their performance can be subpar. To find out what’s really going on, you can enable the console’s performance overlay without the need for any third-party software.
What Is the Steam Deck Performance Overlay?
The performance overlay is a snippet of information that can be activated to display over a game. Much like the desktop version of Steam, you can enable the overlay on the Steam Deck to give you an insight into the settings that are affecting your console’s performance.
For example, by adjusting the Steam Deck’s adaptive brightness, you can extend the Steam Deck’s battery life, thus getting more time to play. You can also monitor your Steam Deck’s CPU and GPU temperatures—if they’re worryingly high, you might need to invest in some Steam Deck cooling accessories and gadgets.
How to Enable the Steam Deck Performance Overlay
Thankfully, enabling the Steam Deck’s performance overlay is an easy process. You can launch it using the Quick Access Menu (QAM) button on the console. Here’s how to show a game’s performance metrics:
- Locate the QAM button on the Steam Deck which is positioned on the right-hand side of the screen below the touchpad.
- Scroll down until you see the battery icon, then press A to enter the menu.
- Underneath the battery life counter, you’ll see the Performance Overlay Level. Press A to continue.
- Move the slider across the five options to see different levels of information.
Depending on what you want to monitor, there are multiple options to choose from. You can use these to monitor performance changes across the different games you play on your Steam Deck.
What Are the Steam Deck’s Different Performance Overlay Levels?
In total, there are currently five performance overlay levels, including off. The levels start out simple, with the first level just showing you your FPS, and the fifth one showing all performance details possible like GPU performance, CPU performance, and so on.
- Level one: FPS counter (framerate limits include off, 15, 30, 60, and off).
- Level two: Battery, GPU and CPU usage, RAM usage, and FPS.
- Level three: GPU and CPU usage and temp, VRAM usage, RAM usage, battery (including total watts in use), FPS, and latency.
- Level four: GPU and CPU usage and temp, VRAM usage, RAM usage, battery (including total watts in use), FPS, latency, gan RPM, FSR, and Gamescope.
While the lower levels are fairly discreet, the higher levels can become increasingly more intrusive. However, they do offer more information than the average user would likely need.
How to Use the Steam Deck’s Overlay Effectively
Clicking on Advanced View gives you further settings which you can adjust. For example, you can set the frame rate limit, refresh rate, tearing, shading, etc. You can even toggle the Use per-game profile to on/off, so you can set different limits or enable certain options on a per-game basis.
Each setting can change how the Steam Deck performs. If the game you’re playing supports per-game profiles, it’s worth turning this toggle to on since it will optimize the game using the most balanced settings. This offers longer battery life on the console, fewer FPS drops, and graphics that are suitable for the screen size.
If you’re looking for a good mix of performance, graphics, and battery life, these options will give you the most out of your Steam Deck:
- Per-game profiles enabled.
- FPS limit set to 60.
- Half-rate shading turned on.
- Scaling filter set to Linear.
It’s important to remember that while the Steam Deck is powerful, the 7-inch screen can only provide so much detail. Some settings are simply too overpowered for a game played on the Steam Deck when compared to a PC.
Optimize Performance for Your Steam Deck
While the Steam Deck might be an extremely powerful handheld console, it still has its limitations. Getting to know how to use the Steam Deck overlay is a great way not only to figure out the device’s limitations for each game you play, but also to help extend the handheld’s fairly short battery life.
If you’re planning to push your games as far as possible, or simply looking to add some precious extra minutes to your game time, the Steam Deck performance overlay is essential.
Reference: https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-enable-steam-deck-performance-overlay/
Ref: makeuseof
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