steam
I'm running on an older machine so resources are limited; this is not a gaming rig. As such, I'm trying to maximize system resources by turning off unnecessary things.
Does the Steam overlay consume additional resources? I assume it must, but how much? Is there a process I can monitor in Task Manager to see RAM allocation? Is there a way to disable the Steam overlay entirely?
Yes you can,in the very bottom of the steam overlay next to the steam logo you should have links for opening web browser,music and settings.
Clicking on Music link opens up the mini-player from where you can select and play songs from your queue.
As of 22/08/14 if you are opted in steam beta the mini player will have additional browse button which will open up your whole library(queue/playlist) and let you browse it inside the steam overlay.
The bottom links are easy to ignore since they are plain text links,small and near the edge in comparison to other flashy links on the overlay.I have been using steam for years and never did I click on any of those links up until now.
Sort of how you must actually use the direct Diablo 3 executable to launch it as a non-Steam game, so too must you use the direct HotS executable to launch it as a non-Steam game.
The difference is, with HotS it's not as simple as the direct executable instead of the launcher sitting in the same directory. What you are looking to launch is:
PATH/TO/HEROES/Support/HeroesSwitcher.exe
You will need to ensure that the game is kept up to date via the Battle.net launcher, however, and you will need to log in as normal, but as you can see in this screenshot, it works fine.
(This information was found on the official HotS forums and verified by personal testing.)
Best Answer
The separate process which handles the overlay is called
GameOverlayUI.exeon Windows, andgameoverlayuion Mac. [Don't know yet for Linux.] If the overlay is disabled, or if the overlay does not recognize/support the game window, then the overlay process will not even be running.The overlay can be disabled per-game or everywhere:
For an individual game, select the game in Steam and go to Properties → General → Enable Steam Community In-Game. This option is not available for shortcuts to “non-Steam games”.
For all of Steam, go to Settings (or Preferences on Mac) → In-Game → Enable Steam Community In-Game.