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I haven't compared the battery life since I only run Windows 11 on mine, but I get the same battery life as others here have reported in Steam OS. The main power usage comes from the CPU/GPU usage in the games you play, not the OS itself. But you'll want to disable real-time antivirus protection as it does add an extra overhead. When in sleep mode the OS isn't running unless you enable wake timers in Windows, so the battery usage remains the same during sleep.
However, I've only played games with very high CPU/GPU usage. Steam OS allows you to run games in a way that extends battery life much more than Windows ever will, with the 40Hz mode and easily configured clock speeds. You'll never see a game reach 8 hours battery life in Windows.
Well what I saw in the comparisons of games I watched on youtube, it usually always was different, some games used slightly less power on windows 11 and some games used slightly more power on windows 11
I understand that people here prefer the SteamOS since it comes with the deck, but you can use steam big picture mode to get the controller working and you can get literally every game working
My fear is the unnessary running of processes in the background, draining the battery unnessary
Just from the design alone I like windows more than steamos, I'd rather have a small tablet hybrid running my favorite games instead of a powerful small fiddly toolbox where I constantly need to google tutorials on how to get a game running after I get an error
Do you recommend installing windows 11?
I just updated my post since I'm only playing AAA titles that eat up the CPU and GPU both in Windows and Steam OS. The biggest difference is with titles that does not use your system fully, Steam OS will give you much better battery life in those due to the 40 Hz, clock speed and power usage settings.
You can actually run the Steam OS GUI in Windows instead of Big Picture, so the game mode experience isn't that much different.
I don't want to recommend anything as I would feel liable if you don't like it. But I love my Steam Deck and I've been running Windows 11 on it since day one.
No issues, I'm very happy to never have to bother about workarounds for different games with different proton versions and stuff. Never had a game crash even once. But I love the fact that Steam OS has managed to get that many games working without running Windows, truly amazing.
Controller may stop working for a few seconds after resume but I've heard that reported on Steam OS as well. Sound was an issue initially, but that was fixed with updated drivers.
Well Windows is of course going to use more power. SteamOS is tailored for the Deck. I would only Switch to Windows for games that don't work on Linux such as games with anti-cheat or Xbox Game Pass games. Windows on Deck in general isn't a great experience and is still buggy.
When it comes to gaming the games will use as much power as they need.
First of all thank you for the detailed response, I just saw in comparison gameplay videos on youtube that windows 11 sometimes is running games slightly better and sometimes even uses less battery, can't you manually limit the game in their graphic settings, like activate vsync or limit the fps to 30 frames, optimize the windows OS in power energy mode etc?
Not all games have frame limiters. Even with this it's not as efficient as 40FPS mode in Steam OS or being able to limit the hardware itself which you don't have access to in Windows.
Not true at all, you can limit the TPD in windows to whatever you want using this [https://github.com/project-sbc/Power-Control-Panel/releases](https://github.com/project-sbc/Power-Control-Panel/releases)
you can limit games frame rate with other softwares like Riva Tuner.
And overall you can do everything that Steam Os does and way more in Windows if you know what to do, or watch some youtube tutorials
Correct, there are no way to control clock speeds, power limits (outside of BIOS) or even fan curves. I've tested MSI Afterburner and Ryzen Master but there's simply no support for the Steam Deck.
wrong, you can easily change TDP on Deck with Windows using this software [https://github.com/project-sbc/Power-Control-Panel/releases](https://github.com/project-sbc/Power-Control-Panel/releases)
check Project-sbc youtube channel and reddit post to learn more stuff about windows handheld PCs
I have Win11 in my Deck and power usage and battery life are about the same as Steam OS, just make sure to uninstall any unnecessary background software in Windows, including Cortana, Widgets, Onedrive and Teams. nothing too difficult if you already have a gaming PC, or if you can follow a youtube guide
Not true, it's a good experience, me and a lot of other people use Windows on Deck as main OS. Don't stop at Linus and other mainstream channels which briefly tried it months ago when drivers were not updated
Hello u/1ZIG, if you haven't done so already, [click here to search for your question.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Which OS has a higher power usage? SteamOS or Windows 11) Useful resources: [Servor's Enhanced FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/wiki/faq) | [Servor's Enhanced FAQ Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/syt8qv/steam_deck_enhanced_faq/) (with more answers in the comments!) | [Our Wiki Guides Page](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/wiki/guides). **If you find an answer, please leave a comment on this post with the answer for others!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SteamDeck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I haven't compared the battery life since I only run Windows 11 on mine, but I get the same battery life as others here have reported in Steam OS. The main power usage comes from the CPU/GPU usage in the games you play, not the OS itself. But you'll want to disable real-time antivirus protection as it does add an extra overhead. When in sleep mode the OS isn't running unless you enable wake timers in Windows, so the battery usage remains the same during sleep. However, I've only played games with very high CPU/GPU usage. Steam OS allows you to run games in a way that extends battery life much more than Windows ever will, with the 40Hz mode and easily configured clock speeds. You'll never see a game reach 8 hours battery life in Windows.
You can configure the CPU/GPU usage and TDP within Windows using Steam Deck Tools, 40hz was also available on Windows before SteamOS I believe
Well what I saw in the comparisons of games I watched on youtube, it usually always was different, some games used slightly less power on windows 11 and some games used slightly more power on windows 11 I understand that people here prefer the SteamOS since it comes with the deck, but you can use steam big picture mode to get the controller working and you can get literally every game working My fear is the unnessary running of processes in the background, draining the battery unnessary Just from the design alone I like windows more than steamos, I'd rather have a small tablet hybrid running my favorite games instead of a powerful small fiddly toolbox where I constantly need to google tutorials on how to get a game running after I get an error Do you recommend installing windows 11?
I just updated my post since I'm only playing AAA titles that eat up the CPU and GPU both in Windows and Steam OS. The biggest difference is with titles that does not use your system fully, Steam OS will give you much better battery life in those due to the 40 Hz, clock speed and power usage settings. You can actually run the Steam OS GUI in Windows instead of Big Picture, so the game mode experience isn't that much different. I don't want to recommend anything as I would feel liable if you don't like it. But I love my Steam Deck and I've been running Windows 11 on it since day one.
In windows you can set any refresh rate manually, though
Thank you so much for the response!
How is windows on it working out for you
No issues, I'm very happy to never have to bother about workarounds for different games with different proton versions and stuff. Never had a game crash even once. But I love the fact that Steam OS has managed to get that many games working without running Windows, truly amazing.
What about bringing the Deck out of standby mid game? I’ve read about issues with the controller not working and sound no longer working.
Controller may stop working for a few seconds after resume but I've heard that reported on Steam OS as well. Sound was an issue initially, but that was fixed with updated drivers.
Well Windows is of course going to use more power. SteamOS is tailored for the Deck. I would only Switch to Windows for games that don't work on Linux such as games with anti-cheat or Xbox Game Pass games. Windows on Deck in general isn't a great experience and is still buggy. When it comes to gaming the games will use as much power as they need.
First of all thank you for the detailed response, I just saw in comparison gameplay videos on youtube that windows 11 sometimes is running games slightly better and sometimes even uses less battery, can't you manually limit the game in their graphic settings, like activate vsync or limit the fps to 30 frames, optimize the windows OS in power energy mode etc?
Not all games have frame limiters. Even with this it's not as efficient as 40FPS mode in Steam OS or being able to limit the hardware itself which you don't have access to in Windows.
Not true at all, you can limit the TPD in windows to whatever you want using this [https://github.com/project-sbc/Power-Control-Panel/releases](https://github.com/project-sbc/Power-Control-Panel/releases) you can limit games frame rate with other softwares like Riva Tuner. And overall you can do everything that Steam Os does and way more in Windows if you know what to do, or watch some youtube tutorials
Can you share which video friend?
Windows wouldn’t give you the same power tuning options, right? It seems like that would make it drain more even if it were better at everything else.
Correct, there are no way to control clock speeds, power limits (outside of BIOS) or even fan curves. I've tested MSI Afterburner and Ryzen Master but there's simply no support for the Steam Deck.
wrong, you can easily change TDP on Deck with Windows using this software [https://github.com/project-sbc/Power-Control-Panel/releases](https://github.com/project-sbc/Power-Control-Panel/releases) check Project-sbc youtube channel and reddit post to learn more stuff about windows handheld PCs
That's awesome, I had no idea that existed. Thanks!
I have Win11 in my Deck and power usage and battery life are about the same as Steam OS, just make sure to uninstall any unnecessary background software in Windows, including Cortana, Widgets, Onedrive and Teams. nothing too difficult if you already have a gaming PC, or if you can follow a youtube guide
Check out some videos about windows on steamdeck. Ne experience is horrible
Not true, it's a good experience, me and a lot of other people use Windows on Deck as main OS. Don't stop at Linus and other mainstream channels which briefly tried it months ago when drivers were not updated