Replace June 26, 2022: Valve designer, Lawrence Yang, has defined the potential points with this hack, warning that this Steam Deck SSD mod “will considerably shorten the lifetime of your Deck.” (opens in new tab)
Authentic story June 24, 2022: Going in opposition to the warnings made by Valve (opens in new tab), one Canadian modder has upgraded their Steam Deck’s SSD to accommodate a 2242 M.2 NVMe SSD, slightly than the 2230 kind issue SSD it comes with. When you might need been serious about rising the storage capability of your Steam Deck, now you realize its doable to go bodily bigger, too.
The pcb seems to work pretty effectively for adapting a 2242 m2 to the steam deck, it does not collide with something on the motherboard or put any additional pressure on any cables. Nevertheless, it does make the warmth spreader bow a tiny bit. The again plate reassembled with out problem. pic.twitter.com/4j4LVbS0NGJune 21, 2022
Scorching {Hardware} (opens in new tab) introduced the modder’s Twitter overview to our consideration, the place we realized that the brand new SSD “does not collide with something on the motherboard or put any additional pressure on any cables.” Considerably worryingly, although, the mod did “make the warmth spreader bow a tiny bit.”
Doubtlessly this might trigger points with overheating later down the road, however they word that this did not cease the backplate kind clipping again on simply nice. Which all sounds completely protected. Utterly.
For anybody questioning which SSD the modder went with, its a 512GB KingSpec PCIe 3.0 x2 that tops out at round 1100 MB/s. Sadly there’s nonetheless no method to jam the most effective NVMe SSDs (opens in new tab) in there, since they arrive in at a typical 2280 kind issue, however at the least the 2242’s are a bit simpler to pay money for (opens in new tab) than 2230 NVMe SSDs are. Which might make sticking 1TB of storage into your Deck fairly easy.
Although there are methods to try this with out modding the internals. You can all the time bag a super-sized microSD (opens in new tab) card and run off that as a substitute.
In measuring the distinction between a micro SD and the NVME SSD (opens in new tab) contained in the Steam Deck, testers found that the micro SD load was a mere 2 seconds behind, whereas in others there was no measurable distinction: it was simply as quick. So if its velocity you are involved about, don’t fret an excessive amount of.
However when you’re determined for extra space for storing, and are not too involved with voiding your guarantee, a much bigger inner SSD would possibly simply be the best way to go for fast masses.
In the event you’re determined for extra space for storing and are not too involved with voiding your guarantee, a much bigger inner SSD would possibly simply be the best way to go.
Valve has made it extremely straightforward to get into the Deck, with no proprietary screws or convoluted course of concerned in taking it aside. You merely unscrew and, with a bit jimmying, all of the insides are there to your technological amusement.
Simply be certain to slide out any SD card you might need in there first, or it will break.
