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It's been a little while since I did a stable SteamOS update comparison, and the jump from stable 3.7 to 3.8 brings a lot of changes. What I was mostly after is whether game performance changed on my Steam Deck OLED, mainly because 3.8 comes with a new GPU driver. So I ran three newer games side by side: Forza Horizon 6, Crimson Desert and 007 First Light, with stable 3.7 on the left and stable 3.8 on the right.
- Left: SteamOS 3.7.25 with GPU driver 24.3.4. Right: SteamOS 3.8.11 with GPU driver 25.3.0.
- Forza Horizon 6: the built-in benchmark said 40 FPS achieved on both. I still think that benchmark is kind of broken. In the race after it, I'd say 3.8 shows some improvements.
- Crimson Desert: frame rates were about the same (23–34 FPS on the overlay on both), but 3.8 fixed the flickering and textures not loading in for me.
- 007 First Light: smoother gameplay on 3.8, and from time to time more FPS (28–48 on 3.8 vs 23–44 on 3.7 in the overlay).
What's in SteamOS 3.8
Valve released SteamOS 3.8 to the stable channel on June 17, 2026 as 3.8.10, and I tested the 3.8.11 update. The notes cover everything since stable 3.7, so the list is long: an updated Arch base, initial support for the upcoming Steam Machine, waking from sleep with a connected Steam Controller and a lot more. On the display and performance side, there's an updated graphics driver with performance and stability fixes, improved VRR frame pacing, and added missing graphics features needed for titles such as Crimson Desert. There are a bunch of improvements for non-Deck devices too, like the Legion Go 2 and Xbox Ally X, which I want to get into in more videos down the road.
Valve has pretty much already squeezed all the juice out of the Steam Deck, so I wasn't expecting huge gains, but I do think there are some improvements with this one.
Test setup
- Steam Deck OLED at its standard 15W
- Left: stable channel, SteamOS 3.7.25, GPU driver 24.3.4
- Right: stable channel, SteamOS 3.8.11, GPU driver 25.3.0
- Three games in this order: Forza Horizon 6 (benchmark, then a race), Crimson Desert and 007 First Light
- FPS readings are from the Gamescope performance overlay in the video, checked every two seconds on both sides. Moments don't always line up exactly side to side.
Forza Horizon 6
I threw the built-in benchmark in so you can see it, but I still swear Forza Horizon 6's benchmark is kind of broken and doesn't work that great. It certainly doesn't show you what the rest of the game plays like. It's not even close. Both sides came out at 40 FPS achieved at 1280x800:
| Forza Horizon 6 benchmark | Stable 3.7.25 (24.3.4) | Stable 3.8.11 (25.3.0) |
|---|---|---|
| Achieved | 40 FPS | 40 FPS |
| CPU Simulation FPS | 59.6 | 57.7 |
| CPU Render FPS | 48.9 | 46.0 |
| GPU FPS | 43.3 | 43.6 |
| Stutter count | 166 | 215 |
During the benchmark run itself, the overlay read 31–50 FPS on 3.7 and 33–49 FPS on 3.8. In real-world gaming, in the race afterward, I'd say there are definitely some improvements on 3.8. The overlay read 30–59 FPS on 3.7 and 31–63 FPS on 3.8, with the two trading back and forth and 3.8 hitting the higher peaks.
Crimson Desert
Crimson Desert is specifically noted in Valve's 3.8 notes, and so far for me, 3.8 has fixed the rendering issues we'd see with this game on the Steam Deck: flickering, textures not loading in properly and that kind of thing. You can see some of that in the side by side.
Frame rates were basically the same. The overlay read 23–34 FPS on both sides through the same stretch.
007 First Light
007 First Light is where 3.8 looked best. There's some smoother gameplay, and from time to time some more FPS out of the game with the 3.8 update and the new driver. The overlay read 23–44 FPS on 3.7 and 28–48 FPS on 3.8. 3.8 was often a few frames ahead in the first part of the run, and the two were closer later on.
Verdict
This isn't a big performance jump, and on a device this far along I didn't expect one. The Crimson Desert rendering fixes alone make 3.8 worth having if you play that game, and 007 First Light runs a little smoother with some extra FPS at times. Forza's benchmark didn't move, but the actual race showed some improvements. If you want to see where things went next, I also compared the 3.8.20 beta with GPU driver 26.1.2 against stable 3.8.11.
FAQ
Does SteamOS 3.8 improve Steam Deck performance over 3.7?
A little, depending on the game. Forza Horizon 6's benchmark achieved 40 FPS on both, Crimson Desert ran about the same (23–34 FPS on the overlay), and 007 First Light was smoother with some more FPS at times (28–48 vs 23–44 FPS on the overlay).
What GPU driver does stable SteamOS 3.8.11 use?
GPU driver 25.3.0, compared with 24.3.4 on stable SteamOS 3.7.25.
Does SteamOS 3.8 fix Crimson Desert on the Steam Deck?
For me, it fixed the flickering and textures not loading in properly. Valve's notes say 3.8 added missing graphics features needed for titles such as Crimson Desert.
Want more handheld tests?
New Steam Deck, ROG Ally, Legion Go and Steam Machine performance videos every week.