SteamOS 3.8 Stable Release: Wider Handheld Support and Improvements for DIY Steam Machines

Despite the Valve Steam Machine being right around the corner, there has been a lot of interest from gamers who want to run SteamOS on custom gaming desktops or DIY Steam Machine console builds, while others may be looking to extract as much of the Steam Deck experience out of something like a used Lenovo Legion Go after the recent Steam Deck price increases. Fortunately, the latest SteamOS release, version 3.8, has officially landed in the stable release channel with a host of compatibility, performance, and usability upgrades. First and foremost, SteamOS 3.8 brings initial support for the upcoming Steam Machine and improvements to the desktop mode for those who want to use the Steam Machine as a PC-console hybrid. This is aside from a host of bug fixes for both the OS and certain game bugs and general improvements to the overall level of polish of the OS.

SteamOS 3.8 updates both the Arch Linux base and the KDE Plasma desktop mode to KDE 6.4.3 and switches to the Wayland display protocol by default. The update also improves VRR frame pacing and adds support for HDMI Variable Refresh Rate thanks to AMD’s recent efforts to bring HDMI 2.1 support to Linux. The OS now also supports the LAVD CPU scheduler if manually enabled via the command “steamosctl set-cpu-scheduler lavd”. SteamOS 3.8 also updates the graphics driver and fixes performance discrepancies between game mode and desktop mode, specifically addressing performance regressions in desktop mode. It also re-enables Bluetooth wake from sleep on Steam Deck LCD models. There are also improvements to game capture in game mode, as well as support for HDR, VRR, and per-display scale factor on external displays in desktop mode. Critically for desktop builds, SteamOS 3.8 also significantly improves video memory management on systems with discrete GPUs and support for recent Intel and AMD platforms.

The update also adds or improves overall platform and controller support for a host of gaming handhelds, including:

• OneXPlayer F1 series, Apex and X1
• GPD Win 5
• GPD Win Mini
• Anbernic Win600
• Lenovo Legion Go 2
• Upcoming Intel Arc handhelds
• MSI Claw A1M, 7AI+, 8 AI+ A2VM, A8 BZ2EM