I want to share an awesome tool called SteamDeck Refresh Rate Unlocker that I recently discovered. This script offers the ability to unlock the refresh rate of your Steam Deck's display, extending beyond the default range of 40Hz to 60Hz. With this tool, you can now achieve a maximum refresh rate of 70Hz, and even lower rates like 20Hz if that suits your preferences.
The script offers several presets to choose from, including:
- 20Hz to 60Hz
- 20Hz to 70Hz
- 30Hz to 60Hz
- 30Hz to 70Hz
- 40Hz to 70Hz
While 70Hz may not be necessary for demanding games and may not be suitable for everyone, it's definitely worth a try, especially if you're sensitive to lower refresh rates. Increasing the refresh rate to 70Hz makes the display 17% faster. Personally, as someone accustomed to a 240Hz screen on my PC, I find it really beneficial for a smoother experience. Both my eyeballs and braincells are grateful.
I'd like to express my gratitude to ryanrudolfoba for developing this fantastic tool. Their dedication to enhancing the Steam Deck experience is highly appreciated!
Keep in mind that overclocking the display panel to 70Hz might cause artifacts on some panels. Just a friendly reminder to proceed with caution.
Since this is likely overdriving the LED panel, I wonder how much shorter the lifespan of the screen will be with prolonged use.
That is certainly a good point, and someone on the Steam Deck subreddit had a few things to say about that. I'd definitely say proceed with caution and not be too liberal in its use maybe. No one's been using this for very long at all, so nothing's off the table. Only time will tell.
Maybe use it in select games and not all the time. Besides, the way I understood it, 70Hz is only applied once in-game and if explicitly set, so it's not applicable when no game is running - though I'm not 100% on that.
Even so, the reduction in lifespan may be negligible for all we know, and right now it probably is just a matter if one thinks the potential tradeoff is worth it. I am using it now only in select games, but these are games that I play for extended periods, however being that I am quite sensitive to the flicker at 60Hz, the 17% increase does a lot to mitigate feelings of unease for me. So personally, right now, I'd say it's worth it. If the screen dies a bit prematurely, I'd probably bite the bullet and buy a new screen, and give a try at one of those full shell replacements.