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30W output PB is fine for Frame (pawb.social)
submitted 3 days ago by to c/steamdeck@sopuli.xyz
28 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I have seen a lot of people argue you must use a 45W output power bank, probably because it's the charger output Valve recommends for continuous play.

I have yet to pass 30W during play (admittedly I play with 100℅ brightness, not 120%). It will charge at a miserably slow rate, but if I start a session at full battery, I also end the session with a full battery.

If you own a 30W power bank already, it is not some strict requirement to upgrade it for the frame, just make sure to use the right output port.

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[–] 2 points 1 day ago

I have a cheap thin battery bank that only does 15w.

With that in my back pocket, and a cable to the back of the head, I can play beat saber, and while it definitely doesn't charge the frame, it slows its drainage to a handful of percent an hour. Which is fine for me, the whole setup is so light you don't even notice it.

This is my first time with VR of any kind so take that with a grain of salt.

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    [–] 29 points 3 days ago (6 children)

    Why does brightness go over 100%? That's ... Not how it works

    Cool info!

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  • [–] 31 points 3 days ago (3 children)

    Well, it's brighter, isn't it? It's not 100%. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at 100%. You're on 120% here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on 100% on your brightness. Where can you go from there? Where?

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  • [–] 11 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Both Index and Frame have a brightness setting that goes from IIRC 60% to 125%.

    100% is the default, because it is where white and black are most "balanced". Going lower makes white seem kind of dim, and going higher, makes black seem even less black.

    Going up or down can look better depending on the game, but it being in VR is why going above and below 100% makes a bit of sense.

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    • [–] 7 points 2 days ago (5 children)

    The discussions around the Steam Frame's battery/charging have really highlighted how little people know about power delivery, even in tech enthusiast spaces.

    Like, of course you don't need 45W. The Frame draws 27W at its peak. However 45W is capable of charging it even as you play, which may or may not be important to you.

    Saw some guy on YouTube claim the Frame draws 90W too based on it draining the battery in an hour, so it was obviously DOA because no battery bank could keep up and you'd never get good playtimes. Been a while since I've encountered someone so confident and yet so wrong over basic technical details.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 days ago

    I've never seen it draw anything close to 45W even in play+charging scenarios. It does momentarily go over 30W at times, but you really don't need much to keep it going, and charge at the same time.

    With a 65W 20 000mAh bank in my pocket 4-5 hours seems to be about what I get.

    I'm very happy with the small internal battery, as I how light the HMD itself is, is a key feature for me.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

    There are efficiency losses when taking power out of a battery and when putting charge into the battery so I think a 30W charger would be insufficient for a 27W power consumption.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago (1 child)

    That 27W is only transient though. I think the fastest battery drain I've seen from any online source would put sustained consumption at about 24W average. That doesn't seem to be the norm in most cases though, typical usage seems to be more like 18-20W on average. So cases where a 30W charger can't keep up should be few and far between.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 2 days ago

    21Wh battery, around one hour lifetime. Yes, it must obviously have a 90W draw!!

    Good to have a number on the max draw. Honestly, assuming a slight loss at the buck converter I think at peak consumption a 30W charger might actually struggle. It will be a close call at any rate, but I wouldn't be surprised if you went down to 99℅ after using it for a while. The horror!

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    • [–] 12 points 3 days ago* (12 children)

    Same experience.

    I did get a 65W bank, but only because it'd be useful for charging my laptop and Deck as well as the Frame. By my math, even 20W should be sufficient to keep playing, if not charge the Frame.

    There is a caveat though, PD voltage profiles mean that any two devices may not transfer the maximum theoretically possible wattage between them, depending on how their modes line up.

    For example, a PB that is rated to do 30W, may not achieve that on the Frame, if it lacks a 15V mode. (Which is what the Frame and Deck seem to prefer.) You also need a suitable cable to use some of the modes at higher amperages.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Thanks. I'm glad I'm not the only one pissed at the lack of a standard PD sequence for the power negotiation.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago*

    There is a standard. A power source only needs to provide sufficient voltage to reach it’s rated power, given the maximum current of 3A on a non-eMarked cable, given voltage steps of 5V, 9V, 15V, 20V. Offering higher voltages than is neccesary is optional. This means that only adapters greater in power than 27W are required to support 15V, and only adapters greater in power than 45W are required to support 20V.

    IMO, this is not unresonable. Would you prefer manufacturers be forbidden from offering voltage profiles higher than is necessary for their power rating?

    (This is not neccesarily true for powers above 60W, and ignores PPS, EPR, and AVS. Above 60W you need eMarked cables and it gets a bit more complicated)

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 3 days ago (9 children)

    Fair point, I'm not really sure on the exact power profiles the Frame supports tbh. I'll take a look a bit later.

    I have exceeded 20W during standalone play, and right now my game of choice is the vr mod for half life 2, which works fine in standalone.

    Even with a 20W supply and 5W from the onboard battery you will extend the lifetime by a lot.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 days ago

    Even if you exceed 20W it doesn't matter. The only real thing that matters is the average draw and the total duration of a session. If you spend most of the time drawing 10W and peek at 50W for a minute then you can run off a 20W powersupply forever.

    But a faster power supply does offer you more benefits. You can play unplugged until the battery is low, plug it in and continue. It will charge sooner letting you unplug it again sooner. If the wires bother you then that can be a big advantage.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 days ago (7 children)

    How is the VR mod?

    I was about to start alyx for the first time, and realized I never finished HL 2.

    Should I do it in VR?

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 days ago* (6 children)

    It almost feels like the game is native vr. The only awkward thing is that you need to use a controller button for opening doors and such.

    Whether you should play depends on your vr legs. Alyx is definitely a more beginner friendly experience, while half life 2 vr is way more fast paced.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 days ago (5 children)

    Hmm, I'm very new to VR. The frame is my first VR.

    I'm worried about spoiling myself playing Alyx first

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago* (4 children)

    I think you'll be fine as long as you know going in that Alyx is a bit of a rarity. Have you ever played a really good AAA game and still found a simpler, older, indie title fun afterward? It's like that. Even after playing Alyx myself, there's a lot of much simpler VR experiences I still enjoy, even some of the jankier mods and such.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago (3 children)

    That's fair, that makes sense. I appreciate that insight.

    What about the storyline? If I play alyx before hl2 will I regret it?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Oh, if you're not caught up on the previous games, I do think you'll be losing out quite a bit playing Alyx first. Trying to avoid spoiling too much, Alyx's story connects back to them in a way that feels pretty huge if you've played them and a way that I think might feel a bit nonsensical and emotionally empty if you haven't. Then again, I seem to care more about story, world-building, etc. than most, so others might disagree.

    When Alyx originally came out for the Index, I was in a similar position having played no Half Life games, so I decided to play them first to get up to speed. I don't regret setting aside all that time since they're all fantastic games in their own right and made the Alyx experience even better.

    In case you want to follow along, I played just enough Half Life 1 to get a feel for it in light of its historical significance, but then I continued with the very good, more modern fan remake, Black Mesa. Then came Half Life 2 (non-VR), then Half Life 2 Episode 1, and Half Life 2 Episode 2. These last two are continuations of the main story, so don't skip them. I mention that because I remember thinking something else originally due to their names.

    I actually haven't played the VR version of HL2 yet, but I would save that for a later replay. VR naturally makes things more intense, so Alyx slowed its pacing to compensate, and HL2 dialing it back up makes it a natural followup gameplay-wise.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago (1 child)

    Thanks! I'll play through hl2 first then.

    Hl2, ep1, and ep2 are all in the same game now on steam I understand? Valve combined them I think?

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    • [–] 4 points 3 days ago

    Same with the Steam Deck. I've actually been using an 18W charger as my travel one for ever since I got it, and as the highest power draw I've seen is 26 Watts (BG3 at Act 3 at full brightness), the difference is 8 Watts and the 40Wh LCD battery allows playing for over 5 hours straight before empty.
    But most of the time you are playing something lighter, and it gets you enough life that you'd be able to play the entire day no problem, and have it charge back up during the night.

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