Guarana Download

Valve handheld, LCD and OLED (SteamOS)

Switch 2 emulation on Steam Deck

Steam Deck has the smallest power budget on this list (4–15 W) and runs SteamOS, a Linux system. Guarana is tested on Windows 11 only, so the Deck is untested.

Untested Nobody has reported it yet. Send a report.

Send a report for this device Download Guarana

What we know

  • Untested. A report is useful even if it fails: say what happened.

Specs that matter for emulation

Processor
AMD custom APU: 4 Zen 2 cores (8 threads), 2.4–3.5 GHz
GPU architecture
RDNA 2
GPU size
8 compute units, 1.0–1.6 GHz
Memory
16 GB LPDDR5 (5500 MT/s on LCD models, 6400 MT/s on OLED), shared by CPU and GPU
Power
4–15 W for the whole APU
OS and driver
SteamOS (Linux) with the Mesa RADV Vulkan driver

From Intel, AMD and device makers' published specs. Power limits vary with model, firmware and mode.

Starting point for settings

Not tuned for this device: it's the setup from the tested Arc 140T laptop. Change one thing at a time and report what helps.

  1. Power

    Plug in, and leave the TDP limit in the performance menu switched off so the APU can use its full 15 W.

  2. Driver

    SteamOS brings its own Mesa driver: put your SteamOS version in the report. On Windows, report the graphics driver version you use.

  3. Global-memory routing

    Add EDEN_NX2_GM=11 to nx2_switches.txt next to the emulator, or set it as an environment variable. It is the change behind the measured Arc 140T gain. If a game renders wrongly, remove it first and tell us.

  4. Frame generation

    In the graphics settings, turn on Enable Frame Generation and set Target Frame Rate to 60. Add EDEN_NX2_EXTRAPOLATE=1 for extrapolated frames (motion data is wired up for Ocarina of Time only). Report game fps, not the total with generated frames.

  5. Shaders

    The first visit to an area hitches while shaders compile. Judge smoothness on the second pass.

Notes for this device

  • We test on Windows 11 only. If a release lists a Linux build, we haven't tested it on SteamOS.
  • 16 GB is shared by the system, the emulator and the GPU: close everything else before you test.

Have one? Send a report

One report turns this page from a guess into data. Include:

  • Device, CPU, GPU and RAM
  • The full graphics driver version (on Intel, like 32.0.101.9175; on Linux, the Mesa version) and the OS
  • Plugged in or on battery, and the power mode or wattage
  • The emulator build, every setting you changed and every EDEN_NX2_* switch you set (or "none")
  • The game and the exact spot, docked or handheld mode, and a screenshot of the scene
  • Average fps and, if you can, p50 and p99 frame times, measured after the scene settled

Never attach keys, firmware, game files, saves, shader caches, or logs that show your user name or folder paths.

Open the device report form

Questions

Can Steam Deck run Switch 2 games with Guarana?

Untested. The Deck's 8-CU RDNA 2 GPU at 4–15 W is the least powerful hardware on this list, and we test on Windows only. If you try it, send a report either way: a failure is useful data too.

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