So today I tried the Dawntrail benchmark like everyone else, both on the High (Desktop) setting preset and on the High (Laptop one). And while I am for the most part satisfied with the new look of character models, I am a bit concerned with how the environments look on settings that are lower than High (Desktop).


For all runs, I used my Steam Deck with a Windows system installed on the USB attached to it (which may impact the performance, but as far as playing games from portable devices go, this should only affect the load times in my experience). So far I have performed two runs with each configuration, both with an external monitor and without one connected.

While the environments on the Desktop configuration look beautiful, on the Laptop configuration (which is the default for Steam Deck to my memory) makes the shadows, especially from the plants, look flickering and grainy, which is not particularly visible on static images, but is way more noticeable during movement/ video, to a point that during rapid movement it almost looks even worse than the pre-upgrade High (Laptop) graphics.

Is there a specific effect that may be the culprit? If so, what is it and where can I find it? Or does it have something to do with Steam Deck's custom APU? Did anyone else notice it at all on other devices?