Valve doesn’t want you to mod your Steam Deck’s internal storage

Valve designer Lawrence Yang says Steam Deck owners shouldn’t mod their handheld to feature a 2242 M.2 NVMe SSD instead of the 2230 SSD it comes with.

According to Yang, this causes the handheld to get “very hot” and creates power consumption issues for the handheld. He goes so far as to say that this mod will “significantly shorten the life of your Deck.”

Hi, please don’t do this. The charger IC gets very hot and nearby thermal pads should not be moved. In addition, most 2242 m.2 drives draw more power and get hotter than what Deck is designed for. This mod may appear to work but will significantly shorten the life of your Deck. https://t.co/Kmup7Zov13

— Lawrence Yang (@lawrenceyang) June 25, 2022

In other Steam Deck-related news, Valve recently confirmed that it will ship more than double the number of handheld consoles it planned to in Q3. It’s still unclear when the Steam Deck’s docking station will release.

Hello! Some great news on the production front. We just sent the last batch of Q2 emails, and we’ll start sending Q3 reservation emails on the 30th.
Production has picked up, and after today we’ll be shipping more than double the number of Steam Decks every week! pic.twitter.com/kAHE0zRrV7

— Steam Deck (@OnDeck) June 27, 2022

In theory, this means that Valve should be able to move through its Steam Deck order backlog far more quickly than expected.

Since its release, Valve has dropped several notable updates to the handheld, including game compatibility and performance fixes and a lock screen.

For more on the Steam Deck, check out my in-depth look at the handheld.

Source: @lawrenceyang, @OnDeck Via: Eurogamer, IGN