This retiring week , my prayers were answered . I ’ve been patiently wait for frame genesis to show up broadly on theSteam Deck . The ROG Ally andROG Ally Xhave it via AMD ’s Fluid Motion Frames ( AFMF ) , and Windows handhelds more loosely can useLossless Scaling . But the Steam Deck ca n’t use physique generation , at least not in game that do n’t issue forth with aboriginal FSR 3 support — and there are n’t a ton of those that even run well on the Steam Deck .
Last week , theDecky - Framegen modwas formally publish into beta on GitHub . It ’s fundamentally a DLL swapper , allowing you to use FSR 3 Frame Generation in games that only tolerate DLSS Frame Generation . If you ’ve used Decky Loader on the Steam Deck before , the initiation process is simple . You just scuff the plugin to yourPluginsfolder on the Steam Deck — locate at / habitation / pack of cards / homebrew / plugins — switch back to game mode , and apply the plugin to any game in the list . It ’ll tot a launching command to the biz you select , and you ’re off to the races .
In a plot with DLSS Frame Generation , you ’ll dead have the ability to not only select DLSS but also toggle on Frame Generation . This is still just FSR 3 , but it ’s applied via native DLSS livelihood in a game .
It sound like a thoroughgoing solution , and that ’s what I conceive . I immediately queue up downloads forSilent Hill 2 , Final Fantasy XVI , andCyberpunk 2077,wondering what kind of execution I could get in these game that , without frame propagation , go jolly poorly on the Steam Deck . But I was in for a rude awakening . Decky - Framegen work , and I ’m not going to uninstall it from my Steam Deck . But really using the mod forced me to readjust my expectations .
Making up for lost hardware
In myrecent flavour at DLSS 4 , I wrote the following : “ DLSS is it ’s at its best when it ’s push the next story of visual quality ; it ’s at its worst when it ’s make up for computer hardware that ca n’t hit the mark . ” That sentiment is what drives the conversation here around frame generation on the Steam Deck . It does n’t enable you to play plot that you otherwise could n’t play . It just makes games you may already make for calculate smoother .
There are a duo of problem here . First , and most obvious , is your infrastructure frame rate . Frame propagation works its best when you may give it with a mellow , ordered frame charge per unit .
Let ’s cover with the gamy percentage first . FSR 3uses inning interjection , where the system renders two systema skeletale and finds the difference between them to bring forth a frame in between . The high your frame rate , the less of a remainder there is between the two anatomy , and the easier it is for the frame contemporaries algorithm to project out what should go in between . The depleted your frame rate , the more difference there is between two frame , and the more hard it is for the frame generation algorithm to figure out what should go in between .
Latency also becomes an issuewhen your shape rate is n’t in high spirits enough . The means FSR 3 works , the system forever needs to keep an extra frame buffered . That adds latency , and that rotational latency is compounded when you already have a frame rate that feel unresponsive . The Decky - Framegen mod might be capable to make 20 frames per second gear ( fps)looklike 40 fps , but playing the plot feel like you ’re running at 15 fps . That ’s the estimation , at least .
These are subject that plague any frame generation tool , from Lossless Scaling to Nvidia ’s fresh DLSS 4 Multi - Frame Generation . They ’re more prominent on the Steam Deck — or any handheld , for that matter — due to the low - carrying out overhead , but they ’re still issues regardless of the platform you play on . There ’s one issue specific to hand-held gaming PCs , though , and that ’s what really kills the experience .
The little devil of frame generation
I said that frame generation want a high , consistent frame rate , and the consistency is why systema skeletale multiplication does n’t work well on the Steam Deck . The one game I was most activated to meet after watch about Decky - Framegen wasFinal Fantasy XVI.This game is unsupported on the Steam Deck due to how demanding it is , but I put 90 hours into it when it was release on the PS5 , and I ’ve been attend for an excuse to put in 90 hour more . I downloaded the demonstration with Decky - Framegen at the ready , and the experience was terrible .
The frame rate was systematically in motion . life were never smooth , and it feel like the secret plan ran in slow motion when the performance pretermit . I mean it was justFinal Fantasy XVI , but it was n’t . The same issue happened inSilent Hill 2.Disabling the frame generation made the game less smooth — to the point that it was unplayable — but it still feel like a safe experience than when I used frame genesis . And that ’s when I ran into some inauspicious truths about using shape generation on a handheld .
There are two reasons consistency makes such a big deviation . The first is the spirit of the biz . When your frame rate is in flux , the frame pacing gets through all off . Between two frames , there might be a crack of 25 msec , but between the next two framing , there ’s a gap of 35ms . When the frame sentence is constantly in movement like this , it ’s hard to place the generated framing in the right spot . The movement looks like it ’s constantly stuttering .
The other reason concerns the overhead that underframe generation requires . It ’s easy to leave that frame generation efficaciously lowers your performance . The algorithm want to run , so in a constrained performance surround like the Steam Deck , you ’ll getlessperformance with frame genesis turn on versus off . The idea is that the extra generated frames can make up for the carrying out personnel casualty by fundamentally doubling your build rate .
That budget items lead to a site that you’re able to see above in the frame prison term graph . In order for bod multiplication to workplace , the organisation needs to render a second figure before even displaying the first one . When your frame rate is incessantly change , that result to a snowball of carrying into action personnel casualty when the frame generation ca n’t keep up . By the meter the second fork up skeletal frame ( third total frame ) is shown , the frame generation algorithm is still working on the next batch , force you to waitress to see another soma . The result is this constant stuttering every occlusion of three frames .
human body generation is at its best when it ’s push the next floor of optical calibre . It ’s at its bad when it ’s take a leak up for hardware that ca n’t stumble the mark .
My dream that frame propagation on the Steam Deck would unlock some Modern level of performance was ultimately nothing more than that — a dream . But I still have the Decky - Framegen mod installed , and if you own a Steam Deck , I ’d evoke you set up it , too .
What Decky - Framegen does really well is make games that run swimmingly seem even smooth . For instance , I use the ROG Ally X with Bazzite installed as my primary play handheld , and that gadget comes with a 120Hz display . Decky - Framegen is incredible for pushing plot that normally operate at a reproducible 60 fps up to a coherent 120 Federal Protective Service . It ’s like magic .
It ’s just significant to keep your expectations in stoppage . The Decky - Framegen mod is great , but its use cases are a bit more circumscribed than they may appear at first glance .
