SteamOS 3.9 can now be installed and booted with Intel Arc, performance is close to that of Windows

SteamOS continues to improve little by little, not only to turn the Steam Machine into a very capable video game console in your living room, but to expand compatibility with other hardware outside of Valve devices. SteamOS 3.9 can now boot and run with dedicated Intel graphicsspecifically it has been tested with a Intel Arc B580. But unfortunately no support added for XMXan option that would improve the gaming experience with this operating system.

SteamOS now has native boot with Intel Arc graphics

Now SteamOS 3.9 boots without workaroundswith a Intel Arc B580 directly as main card. The version that has been tested is not currently available as a BETA, but as a version currently in development. Although you could previously use an Intel Arc as a graphics card in SteamOS, another AMD graphics card was required to install the system and then replace it with the Intel Arc.

Performance on SteamOS with this hardware is similar to that of Windows

In addition to this, ETA Prime tested this Intel Arc B580 next to a Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus processor. In Cyberpunk 2077 reached close to 70 FPS using 1440p resolution with high graphicsthanks to the help of XeSS in quality mode. This makes a minimal difference between using Windows or SteamOS since, in the Microsoft operating system, this configuration achieves between 75 and 90 FPS.

Another of the titles tested by ETA Prime has been Horizon Zero Dawn Remasteredwhose configuration on Windows with balanced XeSS is around 70 FPS, and on SteamOS it has managed to reach 60 FPS. All this, we remember, without XMX acceleration on Linuxand these dedicated engines running on Linux could increase the performance obtained in these tests. The generation of frames and multiple frames is also missing, which Windows does have, while FSR is available.

Expanding hardware support in Valve’s SteamOS ecosystem

But this advance at least makes it clear that Valve is working on improving compatibility with more hardwarebeyond the one entered on your devices Steam Machine, Steam Deck or future Steam Frame.