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Really good to see this. SteamOS had a small update recently, which is testing the waters towards a bigger update.

If you've been wondering why SteamOS updates had been so quiet, it seems Valve has been working on updating their build infrastructure. They have another update coming, to finally update the graphics drivers and kernel versions which will also be great to have.

Yesterday's update was just security updates along with package updates pulled in from Debian 8.11. See the full post about it here, here's what they said if you're unable to access at work or wherever:

A lot of minor package updates with security fixes and updates from Debian 8.11[www.debian.org]. As usual, some of the referenced updated packages are only used for building and aren't distributed as part of the SteamOS repository.

We have recently updated our build infrastructure and this update is intentionally kept small in order to test the waters before our upcoming kernel and graphics drivers update.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: SteamOS
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jens Jul 8, 2018
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Quoting: gustavoyaraujoWhen will they starting developing exclusive titles?
We have Tux Racer, that isn't but feels kind of exclusive ;)
tuubi Jul 8, 2018
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Quoting: Whitewolfe80
Quoting: gustavoyaraujoWhen will they starting developing exclusive titles?

Wrong question it should of been when will they start making games again ?
They did announce several new games in the pipeline a couple of months back. Did you already forget?
TheRiddick Jul 9, 2018
Quoting: Sil_el_moti still have little problems with overheating when playing games like "dying light".

Yeah with ITX you have two options, first is make the GPU pull air from outside the case via vent holes and put a 120mm water cooler AIO loop on the CPU, or put a GPU AIO cooling loop on instead.

I want to go with the later option for my 1080ti MINI card BUT water cooling loop will cost up to $300 which is a bit much.

If I get a GPU waterblock then you could argue it has decent resellability but they start at like $150USD.

My ITX case(s) are not overly small, they technically above 2-3x the size of a console. To get a console sized ITX build you really need to do ALLOT of custom cooling configurations and not be afraid of using a dremel!


Last edited by TheRiddick on 9 July 2018 at 12:06 am UTC
YaroKasear Jul 9, 2018
I like the sound of major updates. Does this mean major updates to Steam for Linux itself or ONLY Steam OS?

I won't lie, I kind of feel like Steam OS should have been Arch-based from the beginning. Debian's nice and stable and everything but even when it has a new major release its kernels tend to be on the old side. Not a good option for a gaming-centric Linux distribution that could be running on computers on the leading edge of hardware. Does Nouveau even properly support a GTX 1080 Ti yet? I still see slightly-aged Linux distributions fail to initialize KMS properly on a GTX 1080 with Nouveau.

I know I'd end up using the proprietary driver, but until its installed you're at the mercy of the limited support of Nouveau. And who knows if you're using a very new motherboard? A lot of the sound chipsets on new gaming motherboards today are not your typical Realtek HDA chips which have been supported for a dog's age but are often stuff like Creative X-Fi.

Had Steam OS been based on Arch Linux we'd have been able to pretty confidently assure ourselves up-to-date hardware support pretty much every time Steam OS would update.

Does Steam OS backport new kernels? I don't see how it'd get the best gaming performance out of an old kernel.
14 Jul 9, 2018
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This is also why Macs are poor gaming machines. They look cool but they can't keep a good GPU cool.

Sounds to me like:
Want a small box for your SteamOS machine? Put an APU in it and live with its performance.
Want faster hardware? Make a mid tower and live with the size.

Other options are simply not worth the cost IMO.
TheRiddick Jul 9, 2018
Didn't know they welded the GPU on the board, I thought they used MXM slots or whatever they were.
skinnyraf Jul 9, 2018
Quoting: Sil_el_moti built my own steam machine 2 years ago. with help of a friend who has all the machinery in his basement. i constructed an own case for itx. but if you want it really small to fit in your shelf in your living room, this isn't that easy. and to find a suitable little case with dvd-drive isn't neither.
i still have little problems with overheating when playing games like "dying light".

I went with ZOTAC NEN which, for me, stroke a good balance between price, power and size. It's tiny, way smaller than ITX or either of this generation consoles. It's built on laptop-grade hardware (i5-6400t and Nvidia 970M with 3 GB of VRAM). It handles high settings in AAA games that were published as the first wave of AAA ports in 2016-2017 and recent games on medium, sometimes high. It's quiet and it doesn't overheat.

Sure, it is not future proof and never was. But it's way more powerful than Alienware Steam Machines and fits perfectly in a living room, connected to an overhead projector. Gaming on 100" FTW!

My dream: the next wave of VR/4k ready Steam Machines done in close cooperation between Valve and ZOTAC, perhaps something like Magnus 1080, bundled with Vive. The question is what is the market for $2000+ bundles (if you include the cost of Vive)?
Whitewolfe80 Jul 9, 2018
Quoting: tuubi
Quoting: Whitewolfe80
Quoting: gustavoyaraujoWhen will they starting developing exclusive titles?

Wrong question it should of been when will they start making games again ?
They did announce several new games in the pipeline a couple of months back. Did you already forget?
oh you mean the card game thats not actually a game its just a card game
tuubi Jul 9, 2018
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Quoting: Whitewolfe80
Quoting: tuubi
Quoting: Whitewolfe80
Quoting: gustavoyaraujoWhen will they starting developing exclusive titles?

Wrong question it should of been when will they start making games again ?
They did announce several new games in the pipeline a couple of months back. Did you already forget?
oh you mean the card game thats not actually a game its just a card game
That and the (three?) other games they announced they have in the works. If my memory serves me, at least one was supposed to be a full blown single player game (I'm hoping it's Portal 3) and VR is likely to be a prominent feature. You'll have to pull out your favourite search engine if you want more details, sorry.
GustyGhost Jul 9, 2018
Quoting: Comandante Ñoñardo
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: gustavoyaraujoWhen will they starting developing exclusive titles?
Exclusives are just bad, no one wants them. They push platforms, sure, but they lock you into things.

And that is the point in this industry... SteamOS itself is pointless If you don't give a real reason to the average videogame consumer for to use it...

And that is the point in this industry... Antivirus itself is pointless If you don't fund development and spread of malware to give a real reason to the average antivirus consumer for to use it...

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