According to the manufacturer, installing an SSD that is too large in the Steam Deck can lead to problems and reduce the service life.
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While the Steam Deck can be fitted with a larger SSD, it remains a risk.
© steamdeck.com
Anyone who has built up a sizeable library of games on Steam in recent years faces a problem after purchasing the Steam Deck: although many games are running on the mobile gaming computer, the storage space is very limited. Depending on the version, only 64, 256 or 512 GB of storage space is available. Not enough for the entire library.
Large SSD draws a lot of power and gets hotter
Some buyers wanted to solve this dilemma by installing a much larger SSD: Lawrence Yang, Console Designer at Valve,
however, advises against such modifications
. A larger SSD could “significantly reduce the service life”. The reason for this can be found in the power supply of the steam deck. This can get very hot, especially if you remove the thermal pads on the SSD. In addition, a larger SSD also requires more energy from the battery, as a result of which the newly installed SSD would be significantly hotter than the pre-installed model. This could ensure that parts age faster and the Steam Deck is more likely to be affected by a defect.
SD card as a solution for indie and retro games
This argument is met with opposition
by the crafters themselves
: They stated that they continue to use the thermal pads and have not noticed any fluctuations in the temperature of the steam deck. Nevertheless, willing hobbyists should exercise caution. Either a model with the maximum storage capacity should be ordered straight away. Alternatively, a microSD card can also be used as a storage location for games. The slower speed of the SD card compared to the SSD hardly has an effect, especially with indie games or retro games. A microSD card is significantly cheaper.
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