Cyberpunk 2077 Steam Deck vs. ROG Ally: Best Settings for Phantom Liberty

Night City in the palm of your hand. A few years ago, it seemed impossible. Today, you can play Cyberpunk 2077 on the bus—if you have the right settings.

Whether you are Team Steam Deck (OLED/LCD) or Team ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme), the reality is that CD Projekt Red’s RPG is a hardware crusher. The default presets often leave the game looking blurry or draining your battery in 45 minutes.

Here is the ultimate breakdown of Steam Deck vs. ROG Ally settings to get a stable, good-looking experience in Update 2.1.

The Main Difference: Stability vs. Power

Before we tweak the graphics, you need to understand how these two devices handle the game differently.

• Steam Deck: The goal is a Locked Framerate. Because the screen is fixed (unless you have the OLED’s 90Hz), dropping from 40fps to 35fps feels “stuttery.” We tune settings to never drop frames.

• ROG Ally: The goal is VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). The Ally’s screen can adjust its refresh rate on the fly. You don’t need a strict lock; 45fps feels just as smooth as 60fps.

Best Cyberpunk 2077 Settings for Steam Deck (OLED & LCD)

The “Steam Deck Preset” in the game menu is okay, but it dips heavily in Dogtown (Phantom Liberty). Use these custom tweaks to get the famous “Golden 40” performance—a smooth 40fps that feels much better than 30fps.

The “Golden 40” Config:

• SteamOS Overlay: Set Refresh Rate to 40Hz (and Frame Limit to 40fps).

• Resolution: 1280 x 800

• Crowd Density: Low (Crucial! High crowds kill the Deck’s CPU)

• FSR 2.1: Quality (or Balanced for more battery)

• Screen Space Reflections: Low (Removes the “grainy” look on roads)

• Volumetric Fog: Medium

• Color Precision: Medium

• Mirrors: Low

Verdict: With these settings, you get about 1.5 to 2 hours of battery on the OLED model. The image is softer than a desktop PC, but very stable.

Best Cyberpunk 2077 Settings for ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme)

The ROG Ally has the raw power to run the game at 1080p, but you need to feed it power. Do not try to play this on “Silent” (10W) mode—the game will crash.

The “VRR Performance” Config:

• Armoury Crate Profile: Turbo (25W on battery / 30W plugged in)

• Resolution: 1080p

• Refresh Rate: 120Hz (Let VRR do the work)

• Crowd Density: Medium

• FSR 2.1: Balanced

• Texture Quality: High (The Z1 Extreme has enough RAM for this)

• Ambient Occlusion: Medium

• LOD (Level of Detail): High

Pro Tip for Ally Users: If you want more FPS, don’t drop FSR to “Performance.” Instead, lower your resolution to 900p. The Ally scales 900p beautifully, looking much sharper than 1080p with aggressive upscaling.

Verdict: You will get visually stunning graphics that rival a PS4 Pro, but your battery will die in 45 to 60 minutes. Keep your charger close.

Performance Comparison: Which One Wins?

If you are just looking for the best graphics, the ROG Ally takes the crown. The VRR screen eliminates screen tearing, and the Z1 Extreme chip allows for higher crowd density, making Night City feel more alive.

However, the Steam Deck wins on consistency. The sleep/resume feature works perfectly, and the battery life is significantly better for long trips.

Curious how your main Desktop Rig stacks up against these handhelds?

Handhelds are great, but they can’t do Ray Tracing Overdrive. Calculate your Desktop PC’s FPS score here to see the difference raw power makes.

Summary

• Steam Deck: Lock it to 40Hz, turn Crowds to Low, enjoy the battery life.

• ROG Ally: Unleash Turbo Mode, use VRR, and stick to 900p or 1080p.

Night City is waiting, choom. Pick your device and burn it down.