This seven-year-old $250 GPU is still a better buy than a $949 Steam Deck - How-To Geek

GPU prices have become prohibitively expensive, driving many consumers toward handheld gaming options like the Steam Deck. However, technology journalist Monica J. White argues that a seven-year-old graphics card offers significantly better value than Valve's increasingly expensive portable console.

Steam Deck price hike

The Steam Deck, once considered good value at its $399 launch price for the LCD model, has seen substantial price increases. Valve raised the OLED version to $949 for the 1TB model, while the hardware remains unchanged. This price escalation makes the Steam Deck a less attractive proposition compared to traditional PC components.

The Steam Deck's aging AMD APU isn't getting any faster, while modern AAA games continue to demand more resources. While the portable form factor remains an advantage, a desktop PC will almost always outperform the Steam Deck in terms of gaming capability.

RTX 2080 performance advantage

The Nvidia RTX 2080, launched in September 2018, and its slightly younger RTX 2080 Super sibling from July 2019, still offer considerable gaming power when paired with a decent system. Both cards feature 8GB GDDR6 VRAM and a 256-bit memory bus, with the Super having marginally more CUDA cores.

These high-end GPUs from their era significantly outperform the Steam Deck's modest 8-CU RDNA 2 GPU. When purchased used for approximately $250, the RTX 2080 provides substantially better gaming performance than the $949 Steam Deck, especially at 1080p resolution.

Better value for gamers

Even with current market conditions, a desktop PC built around a used RTX 2080 offers superior gaming performance compared to the Steam Deck at a much lower price point. The RTX 2080's seven-year age doesn't diminish its ability to deliver 1440p gaming with a cheap upgrade, making it a compelling alternative for budget-conscious gamers.

For consumers prioritizing raw gaming power over portability, the used GPU market presents an opportunity to build a more capable gaming system than what the Steam Deck can offer at its current price point.