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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Valve added official Steam Deck undervolting controls on October 12, 2023, in SteamOS 3.5.1 Preview with Firmware 118. The controls let you apply voltage offsets to the CPU, GPU, and SoC from the BIOS, with reported settings ranging from 0 mV to -50 mV in 10 mV steps.
The feature is no longer “coming,” as older headlines suggested. If your current firmware exposes the controls, you can access them directly through Setup Utility → Advanced. Their visibility may vary by installed firmware and update channel, so check before switching to Preview.
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What undervolting does
Undervolting reduces the voltage supplied to a processor or graphics component while attempting to maintain the same clock speeds. Lower voltage can reduce power consumption, heat, and fan activity. In some workloads, that may improve battery life or provide more thermal headroom.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesUndervolting does not automatically increase performance. Any improvement is generally indirect: a cooler Deck may throttle less, or saved power may be available elsewhere within the system’s power budget. Results depend on the game, workload, battery condition, and the individual chip.
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What Valve added
Firmware 118 added BIOS-level voltage-offset controls for three parts of the Deck’s AMD APU:
- CPU voltage offset
- GPU voltage offset
- SoC voltage offset
Valve’s SteamOS 3.5.1 Preview release notes specifically say that the update “actually added undervolting controls.” The official menu is a safer and simpler alternative to earlier enthusiast methods that involved unlocking or modifying BIOS settings with third-party tools. It is still not risk-free: an offset that is too aggressive can cause instability.
Check your SteamOS and firmware first
At launch, the controls arrived in the Preview channel rather than stable SteamOS. The original process was:
- Open Steam in Game Mode.
- Go to Settings → System.
- Find System Update Channel and select Preview.
- Check for updates and install SteamOS 3.5.1 Preview.
- Allow the accompanying firmware update to finish.
That Preview requirement describes the original 2023 rollout. It should not be treated as a universal requirement today. Valve’s news archive records SteamOS 3.8 as a stable release in June 2026, but later release notes do not clearly document whether every current stable firmware build exposes this specific menu. Check your installed SteamOS and firmware versions, install available official updates, and inspect the BIOS before changing channels solely for undervolting.
Preview builds can expose features earlier, but they are also under testing and may introduce bugs. Stable is the sensible choice for most owners. If you move between channels, back up important data first.
How to access the undervolting controls
If your current firmware already includes the menu, use this procedure:
- Fully shut down the Steam Deck.
- Hold the Volume Up button.
- While holding Volume Up, press the Power button.
- Release the buttons when the firmware setup screen appears.
- Select Setup Utility.
- Open the Advanced tab.
- Locate the voltage-offset controls for the CPU, GPU, and SoC.
The BIOS path is Setup Utility → Advanced. If the controls are missing, do not assume the Deck is defective and do not force them into view with an unofficial BIOS unlocker. Verify the installed firmware, install official updates, and consult Valve support if necessary.
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Which voltage values should you use?
Contemporary technical documentation describes six selectable values for each control:
- 0 mV
- -10 mV
- -20 mV
- -30 mV
- -40 mV
- -50 mV
The reported maximum is -50 mV for each of the CPU, GPU, and SoC offsets. That is a limit of the menu, not a recommended starting point. Begin conservatively at -10 mV, test it thoroughly, and try -20 mV only if the system remains reliable. Treat -30 mV through -50 mV as silicon-dependent experimentation.
Change one setting at a time and write down the previous value. A setting that works on one Steam Deck may fail on another because chips have different electrical characteristics—the familiar “silicon lottery.” Do not assume that LCD and OLED models behave identically, either; there is no complete model-by-model compatibility guarantee in the cited documentation.
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How to test an undervolt
A short benchmark is not enough to establish stability. After each change:
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- Save the setting by selecting Exit → Exit Saving Changes.
- Boot into SteamOS and confirm that the Deck starts normally.
- Test more than one game, including a CPU-heavy title and a GPU-heavy title.
- Test after a cold boot as well as after sleep and resume.
- Play long enough to expose intermittent failures rather than relying only on a quick run.
Watch for game crashes, full system freezes, sudden reboots, graphical corruption, application launch failures, and problems waking from sleep. If any appear, return to the last known-good value. A lower voltage is not automatically better, and a crash-free menu or benchmark test does not prove that the setting is stable in every workload.
What benefits can you realistically expect?
Undervolting can lower power use at a given workload and may reduce temperatures or fan noise. It may also help performance remain steadier if the Deck was previously limited by heat. Battery-runtime improvements are possible, but there is no universal number of extra minutes or hours: the result depends on the game, frame-rate target, brightness, refresh rate, TDP behavior, and battery health.
Undervolting is also different from changing the Deck’s total package-power limit. These BIOS controls do not provide unrestricted overclocking or a universal TDP increase.
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How to recover from an unstable setting
If an aggressive offset causes boot problems, try the firmware reset shortcut before attempting BIOS flashing or other unofficial fixes:
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Hold Volume Down + Quick Access (… ) + Power.
Keep the combination held until the firmware reset behavior is triggered. This resets firmware settings, which can include the undervolt values. It may also undo unrelated BIOS changes, so you might need to reconfigure those afterward.
If the Deck still will not recover, use Valve’s official Steam Deck support. Avoid downloading random BIOS files or using unsigned firmware tools.
Remember to recheck settings after updates
User reports indicate that some later SteamOS or BIOS updates may reset undervolt values. This is anecdotal rather than a documented universal Valve policy, but it is a useful precaution: after a major update, return to Setup Utility → Advanced and confirm the values before assuming your previous configuration remains active.
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Should you undervolt your Steam Deck?
For enthusiasts who are willing to test carefully and recover from occasional instability, the official controls make undervolting considerably more approachable than older BIOS-unlocking methods. A cautious -10 mV experiment may be reasonable if the menu is already available.
For casual users, undervolting is optional. If your goal is simply longer battery life, easier-to-reverse changes may be more predictable: lower the frame-rate cap, reduce the screen refresh rate or brightness, limit TDP, lower game settings, use FSR or a lower resolution, or adjust supported CPU and GPU clocks. Replacing an aging battery may also matter more than tuning voltage.
The safest rule is simple: use official firmware, change one offset at a time, start at -10 mV, test thoroughly, and keep the reset shortcut available.
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