SteamOS 3.7 brings Valve’s gaming OS to other handhelds and generic AMD PCs

Valve is releasing version 3.7 of SteamOS to the general public, and among the routine updates and changes is a big one: This is the SteamOS release that finally adds official support for some kinds of PC hardware other than Valve's Steam Deck.

Valve mentions certain specific handhelds as having either "official" or "improved support," including the Asus ROG Ally, the Lenovo Legion Go, and the Lenovo Legion Go S. It also includes directions for configuring the original Legion Go and ROG Ally for SteamOS installation. But Valve says that only the Steam Deck and Legion Go S have fully baked SteamOS support.

The release claims to run on "other AMD powered handhelds" more broadly, implying that most third-party handheld PCs with Ryzen Z1 or Z2-series processors ought to support at least some basic functionality. Other all-AMD desktops and laptops have a decent shot at being supported, too.

It was previously possible to get a SteamOS-like experience on third-party hardware using a community-maintained distribution like Bazzite, but at least some hardware will now be able to get SteamOS right from the source. This update comes just a couple of weeks after Valve announced a new "SteamOS Compatible" label for games that would be displayed separately from Steam Deck compatibility information.

AMD-only, for now

To try SteamOS on your hardware, Valve's two hard-and-fast requirements are "AMD hardware" and an NVMe SSD. The hardware requirement likely refers to, collectively, the CPU, GPU, and chipset, and possibly also the RZ-series Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules that are often paired with AMD systems. You'll also need to disable Secure Boot on your PC. This is normally enabled by default since it's an installation requirement for Windows 11, so you'll want to refer to your manufacturer's documentation to figure out how to turn it off.