# Steam Deck performance settings explained: TDP, frame limit, FSR and more

What each Steam Deck Performance setting does to frame rate and battery: TDP, frame limit, refresh rate, half-rate shading, scaling filter, GPU clock and per-game profiles.

- Settings by Elvis, published 2026-10-29T07:58:00Z
- Applies to: Valve Steam Deck OLED, Valve Steam Deck LCD
- Web page: https://handheldquest.com/guides/steam-deck-performance-settings/

Start with four changes. Turn on a per-game profile so each game keeps its own settings, a feature Valve added in May 2022. Pair a 40 Hz refresh rate with a 40 fps cap, the combination Valve calls a sweet spot for responsiveness and smoothness. Cap the TDP, which Steam Deck HQ calls a key part of its battery builds. Use FSR only when the game renders below the native 1280×800, because Steam Deck HQ notes the scaling filter has nothing to upscale at native resolution. Valve quotes 2 to 8 hours of play on the LCD model and 3 to 12 on the OLED, depending on the game.

Specs: [Valve Steam Deck OLED](https://handheldquest.com/handhelds/steam-deck-oled/)

## Where the settings live

1. Press the Quick Access Menu button, on the right side below the right trackpad.
2. Open the tab with the battery icon. That's Performance.
3. Select **Advanced View** to see the full list: frame limit, refresh rate, TDP limit, manual GPU clock and the rest.

Tom's Guide walks through the same path, and Valve's own notes point to Quick Access Menu > Performance > Advanced View for per-game profiles. Valve has added and renamed options many times since launch, so the descriptions below come from its update notes from March 2022 to October 2026, up to SteamOS 3.9.

## Per-game profiles: turn this on first

With a game running, flip the per-game toggle in Advanced View and SteamOS makes a profile for that title. Whatever you change from then on loads by itself at each launch of that game. By default, games use the system-wide settings.

Games don't all want the same limits. Steam Deck HQ names Hades and Tactics Ogre: Reborn as games that draw more power than they need, which a TDP cap fixes, and a per-game profile keeps that cap from hobbling your heavier games. If a profile ever stops applying, update first: Valve fixed profiles failing to activate in a September 2025 client update, and SteamOS 3.8 (June 2026) fixed per-app settings that sometimes didn't apply at launch.

## Refresh rate and frame limit

Valve's notes describe two layouts for these controls.

The separate sliders date from SteamOS 3.2 (May 2022). On the LCD Deck, refresh rate takes any whole number from 40 to 60 Hz, and the frame limit offers steps that follow it: in Steam Deck HQ's list, the full rate, half, a quarter, or no cap. Valve's examples are 60, 30 or 15 fps at 60 Hz, and 40, 20 or 10 fps at 40 Hz.

The unified slider first showed up in Valve's Beta and Preview notes in November 2023. A single slider now covers both settings, which Valve said opens combinations the old pair couldn't offer. Its example is a 20 fps game frame-tripled on a 60 Hz screen. A Preview update the next day put the screen's current refresh rate on the frame limit slider and saved frame limits per display. To get the separate sliders back, there's a toggle under Settings > Display > Advanced. Valve's Stable release notes don't say when the unified slider reached the Stable channel, so if your menu matches neither description, check that toggle.

The OLED screen goes up to 90 Hz, against 60 Hz on the LCD. Valve's OLED pages give only that maximum, not the lowest refresh rate the OLED allows. SteamOS 3.9, which reached the Stable channel on October 23, 2026, fixed the "Disable Frame Limiter" toggle not working with VRR on. It also fixed frame limits producing a lower frame rate than intended on certain external displays.

Valve makes the case for 40 Hz with frame times:

| Frame rate | Time per frame |
|---|---|
| 30 fps | 33.3 ms |
| 40 fps | 25 ms |
| 60 fps | 16.7 ms |

25 ms is the exact midpoint of the other two, which is why Valve rates 40 fps well above 30 fps for feel. Its second point is pacing. A 60 Hz panel that doesn't get a new frame in time shows the old one again, and those repeats read as judder when a game's frame rate is uneven. Matching the frame rate to a 40 Hz refresh removes the repeats. Ranked by battery drain, Valve puts 30 Hz lowest, 40 Hz next and higher caps above both.

Steam Deck HQ's builds keep the frame cap and the refresh rate on the same number. Running the limiter also trims input overhead: in February 2025 beta notes, Valve said Steam Input would poll less often while the limiter is active, for up to 6% more battery in a light game like Half-Life 2 at 30 fps.

Allow Tearing, added in SteamOS 3.4, works the other way. With VSync and the frame limiter off, it accepts torn, partial frames in exchange for lower average latency. Steam Deck HQ only sees a use for it on an external display. Overlays cancel it: to work around a stutter bug, SteamOS 3.5.5 blocks tearing while the performance overlay or another overlay is showing, so hide the overlay if you want the latency gain.

## TDP limit

Valve describes TDP as processor power. Its spec sheets rate the APU at 4 to 15 W on both models, while Steam Deck HQ gives the TDP slider's own range as 3 to 15 W. A lower cap also runs the chip cooler: Steam Deck HQ ties less power directly to lower CPU and GPU temperatures.

Steam Deck HQ's ZERO Sievert review on an LCD Deck (July 2024) puts numbers on the trade. Left at 60 Hz and 60 fps with no TDP limit, the game averaged about 11 W in the bunker and 10 W out on the maps, and switching to 40 Hz brought it to about 9 W. The low-power run, 40 Hz with a 3 to 4 W TDP, cut average draw to 6.6 W, which the reviewer estimated at 5 to 6 hours on the LCD battery. The cost was frame rate: 30 fps or better most of the time, 40 fps only when few enemies were around, and drops into the mid-20s in the inventory, worse at 3 W than at 4 W. The review settles on 4 W for anyone who wants a cap.

That is one top-down shooter on the LCD model. None of the sources here measure the same settings on an OLED Deck. Valve says the OLED gets 30 to 50% more battery life, partly because its display draws less power.

## Manual GPU clock

Left alone, the Deck picks its own GPU clock, up to the GPU's 1.6 GHz maximum. Manual GPU Clock Control fixes it at a value you choose. Steam Deck HQ treats a fixed clock as a cure for stutter more than a battery saver, though it says savings are possible. The case it describes is a game that leaves the GPU partly idle, where a set clock keeps frame rates more even. If you watch the overlay while tuning, SteamOS 3.5.17 fixed its GPU clock readout to show an average, matching SteamOS 3.4.11.

## Half-rate shading

Half-Rate Shading arrived in April 2022, labelled experimental by Valve, which describes it as a power-saving option that applies 2x2 variable rate shading to games that weren't built for it. Steam Deck HQ notes that it halves shading quality; its writer rarely enables it but says it can help some players steady a higher frame-rate target.

## Scaling filter and FSR

Pick a lower 16:10 resolution first; Steam Deck HQ gives 1152×720, 1024×648 and 960×600 as examples. You can set it in the game, or per game in the game's properties, an option Valve added in June 2022. Valve's July 2026 stable client notes call it the "Maximum Game Resolution" dropdown and say its full list of options sits under a "More Options" sub-menu. Then choose a filter:

- Linear applies no upscaling, in Steam Deck HQ's description.
- Pixel took Nearest's place in January 2024. It's meant for pixel art scaled by non-integer factors, where Valve says it avoids aliasing; at whole-number factors it behaves like nearest-neighbor.
- Integer suits pixel art too, according to Steam Deck HQ, which finds 3D games look softer with it. It enlarges each pixel into a block of identical pixels.
- FSR is AMD's FSR 1.0, a spatial upscaler, and Steam Deck HQ's preferred choice for 3D games.

Valve counts FSR among the settings you can use to save power. A game's own temporal upscaler, such as FSR 2 or XeSS, works from past frames, and Steam Deck HQ says that buys a much better image than system FSR for the same power. SteamOS 3.8 also fixed the overlay's FSR badge, which shows when system FSR is active.

## The performance overlay

The Performance Overlay Level slider has four levels. Frame rate alone is level 1; Tom's Guide lists CPU and GPU load and fan speed among what the higher levels add. With a frame limiter or VSync on, level 4 has shown an extra plot since SteamOS 3.5.17 that times each frame's flip to the display. Valve's SteamOS 3.5.5 notes add that you can customize what the overlay shows with a `~/.config/MangoHud/presets.conf` file.

## If a game still won't settle

Steam Deck HQ uses a manual GPU clock to keep stuttering frame rates in check when the GPU is under-used, and its writer rarely enables half-rate shading. Specs and battery ratings for both models are on the [Steam Deck OLED](https://handheldquest.com/handhelds/steam-deck-oled/) and [Steam Deck LCD](https://handheldquest.com/handhelds/steam-deck-lcd/) pages.

## FAQ

### How do I lock a game to 30 fps on the Steam Deck?

Set the frame limit to 30 fps. With the separate sliders, keep the refresh rate at 60 Hz and pick the half step; Valve's SteamOS 3.2 notes list 60, 30 and 15 fps as the caps at 60 Hz. With the unified slider that first appeared in Valve's November 2023 Beta and Preview notes, pick 30 on the single slider; Valve said that slider lets the system choose display options the old pair didn't expose.

### How high can each Steam Deck's refresh rate go?

Valve caps the LCD at 60 Hz and the OLED at 90 Hz. A game's own menu may offer more, but Valve's support guide warns that a refresh rate above the model's cap won't help performance and may cost battery. Lowering the rate is done in the Deck's own settings.

### Is the FSR in the Quick Access Menu the same as FSR in a game's graphics menu?

No. Steam Deck HQ explains that the system filter is FSR 1.0, a spatial upscaler that enlarges the lower-resolution image on its own. In-game options such as FSR 2 or XeSS are temporal and use data from earlier frames, which only the game's developer can add, so they usually give a cleaner image at the same cost.

### Do performance settings carry over to an external display?

Not automatically. Since SteamOS 3.3.2, the built-in screen and an external display each keep their own refresh rate and frame limit, per Valve, so docked play can run different caps.


## Sources

1. Valve, "Steam Deck Client and OS Update: Lockscreen, Power Improvements, and more", 2022-04-25: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/3216142491801797533
2. Valve, "Marking Steam Deck's first month", 2022-04-07: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/3220644827954565734
3. Valve, "Steam Deck Client Update: Controller Configurator updates, 15 FPS option, & more", 2022-03-12: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/3131696199130515521
4. Valve, "Steam Deck Client Update: Per-game perf profiles, keyboard updates, and more", 2022-05-11: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/3216144458727332894
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11. Valve, "SteamOS 3.5.5 Update", 2023-11-17: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/5484882897552407489
12. Valve, "Steam Deck Client Update: January 11th", 2024-01-11: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/3994196404736945523
13. Valve, "SteamOS 3.5.17 Update: Pip Watch", 2024-02-29: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/4124805233776242150
14. Valve, "Steam Deck Beta Client Update: February 14th", 2025-02-14: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/518579539928940548
15. Valve, "Steam Client Update: July 21st", 2026-07-21: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/698770449667983040
16. Valve, "Steam Deck Client Update: September 9th", 2025-09-09: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/529856925490219192
17. Valve, "SteamOS 3.8", 2026-06-18: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/697641379212298073
18. Valve, "SteamOS 3.9", 2026-10-23: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1675200/announcements/detail/694275728822244964
19. Valve, "Steam Deck - Basic Use & Troubleshooting Guide": https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/69E3-14AF-9764-4C28
20. Valve, "Steam Deck OLED tech specs": https://www.steamdeck.com/en/tech
21. Valve, "Introducing Steam Deck OLED": https://www.steamdeck.com/en/oled
22. Valve, "Steam Deck LCD tech specs": https://www.steamdeck.com/en/tech/deck
23. Steam Deck HQ, "The SDHQ Performance Settings Encyclopedia", 2023-01-07: https://steamdeckhq.com/tips-and-guides/the-sdhq-performance-settings-encyclopedia/
24. Steam Deck HQ, "ZERO Sievert Review + Steam Deck Performance", 2024-07-29: https://steamdeckhq.com/game-reviews/zero-sievert/
25. Tom's Guide, "How to enable the performance overlay on the Steam Deck": https://www.tomsguide.com/how-to/how-to-enable-the-performance-overlay-on-the-steam-deck