A newly released mod has found a way to push the Steam Deck past its limits, resulting in refresh rates of up to 120 Hertz.
Let’s have a quick history lesson: By default, the Steam Deck LCD caps out at 60 Hertz and the Steam Deck OLED at 90 Hertz. That means on the Steam Deck LCD you can only get a maximum of 60 frames per second, and 90 frames per second on the OLED model.
This new mod titled Deck Refresh Rate Expander and developed by Nyaaori, works by overclocking what the screen is normally capable of. It’s kind of like overclocking your graphics card in a way.
Before we go any further, a quick disclaimer. Overclocking comes with its own risks, and overclocking a screen has the potential for more problems due to the fact it hasn’t been designed with overclocking in mind. As Dexerto notes, one user attempted to install the mod on a Samsung model OLED and was met with a “garbled mess.” They’ve now got to uninstall the mod to get their original settings back. So, you know, proceed with caution.
Over on the mod page, Nyaaori notes that you may need to restore your Steam Deck factory image if you run into any problems. That, and they are not responsible for any damage incurred.
One thing to keep in mind, currently the Steam Deck OLED comes with one of two screens – BOE and Samsung. At the time of writing, only BOE screens are supported by the mod, although that could change in the future.
In terms of what the mod can do for the different Steam Deck models, using the mod on an LCD Steam Deck boosts the refresh rates to 40 to 70 Hertz. That’s an extra 10 frames per second over the base clock speeds. For the BOE OLED model, those refresh rates increase to 40 to 120 Hertz.
Nyaaori also mentions that the theoretical bandwidth limit is around 133 Hertz on the BOE OLED screen and around 100 Hertz on the Samsung OLED.
How to Install the 120 Hertz Mod.
- Enter Desktop Mode.
- Download install-rre.sh
- Open Konsole and run the following command: sudo bash install-rre.sh
- Load back into Gaming Mode and make sure Unified Framerate and Refresh Rate Limiter have been enabled.
Should You Install the 120 Hertz Mod?
Nope! Don’t get me wrong, I know how exciting the idea of running games on an OLED at 120 frames per second is. But the truth is, the Steam Deck is limited by its internal power. I can get Cyberpunk 2077 running at a steady 45 frames per second. But just because I’ve enabled an option to run it at 120 frames per second doesn’t mean it’ll magically be able to take advantage of that. That’s not how tech works, sadly.
There’s also the fact that overclocking your screen could have unforeseen problems that render it completely useless. Installing a new screen is easy enough, but it’s not something I’d recommend if you can avoid it.
What I suggest is waiting to see what happens next. The more people who take the plunge before you, the more data we’ve got to see just how safe this process is. Alternatively, if 120 frames is that important to you, maybe it’s worth grabbing an ASUS ROG Ally instead.
