I'm a bit confused, isn't this already a thing? you can enable per-game profile once in-game and then any performance menu settings will be specific to that profile and revert to your global settings after leaving the game. this includes framerate/refresh rate
You can set per game profiles, however there is no slide that separately controls refresh rate and frame rate, they are merged. I do know it functions differently on different configurations, on my Legion Go, it will switch between the 2 reported EDID refresh rates available from the built in monitor of 60hz or 144 hz. and allow setting appropriate caps for those that don't result in uneven frame delivery. For example for 60 hz, i can do 60, 30, or even 15 fps. Since these all cleanly divide, there is no issue in frame delivery. For 144 i get 144hz, 72, and 36, all which cleanly divide into clean frame delivery. No issue on the Legion Go.
I can get into the specifics of why I have this set up, it's somewhat niche, but my HTPC is connected to a 144hz TV in my living room via a DP 2.0 to HDMI 2.1 adapter. This is because of the limitations of the open AMD drivers and the HDMI forum refusing to allow their code into those drivers to support high refresh and freesync at 2.1 bandwidths. So I can't get more than 60hz with a direct HDMI 2.1 to HDMI 2.1 connection. The adapter allows me to go all the way up to 120hz though. But no VRR. So in order to avoid uneven frame delivery I need to set frame caps that match my refresh rate, or can cleanly divide by them. So for 120hz 120, 60, and 30. But those are the only options I get in the overlay. I've even overidden my EDID to allow other refresh rates to be usable. And while these are selectable from the main steam setting menu, they change the session globally. Meaning everytime I run another game I may need to change my refresh rate in the setting menu. Since I don't have VRR, I optimize my games to run at the best visual settings I can tolerate at the highest framerate possible. So sometimes that 120, sometimes is 90, sometimes it's 100. You get the idea. But none of those refresh rates are selectable inside of steam gaming mode, because it's pulling whats available from somewhere else rather than the EDID I've provided my system with.
So the ask here is really, twofold:
The lack of proper VRR support for high refresh displays (think TV's) over HDMI 2.1 is the real thing that needs to be fixed here, but that's on the HDMI forum to stop being jerks.
Nothing extracted yet.
Hello Steam Deck / SteamOS Team,
I’m a user who appreciates the full Steam Deck experience on desktop and handheld modes, especially the seamless Steam Deck UI with its overlay and input features.
However, one limitation I’ve encountered is the inability to set per-game refresh rate and FPS cap controls directly from the Steam Deck UI overlay. Currently, these settings are global for the entire gamescope session, and changing them per game requires either:
Manually setting Steam launch options for each game, or
Restarting the entire gamescope session with new arguments (which is slow and disruptive).
This lack of dynamic per-game control reduces flexibility and convenience, especially for users who want to optimize performance and display settings game-by-game.
Request: Please consider restoring or adding per-game refresh rate and FPS cap controls in the Steam Deck UI overlay (ideally pulling from system EDID), backed by gamescope enhancements if necessary. This would:
Enable seamless, per-game display optimizations without session restarts,
Preserve full overlay functionality (sound, input, notifications),
Greatly improve the user experience for Steam Deck users both on the device and on desktop environments like Bazzite.
Thank you for your hard work and consideration.
Please pass this along to the relevant teams. This is the only issue holding me back from ditching windows completely due to my HTPC setup. I'd be happy to discuss my technical findings in detail with a member of the team to help push this forward.
Best regards,
Andrew East