Valve : Steam Deck solid state retrofit will significantly reduce the short life span

Previously, PC Gamer reported on a revamp of V's new Steam Deck handheld gaming computer. This modification removed some of the cooling materials, allowing enough internal space to install a larger 2230 SSD (solid state drive) than the original 2242 M.2 NVMe SSD.

Yesterday (June 26), the story was retweeted on Twitter by Lawrence Yang, designer of V's Steam Deck. "Please don't do this," he warns.

Yang said that the charging IC part can become very hot in many cases, so it is not possible to remove the cooling material from this part. At the same time, these larger SSDS, while easier to find and generally cheaper to buy, often result in higher power consumption, so Steam Deck body temperatures exceed those specified in the design.

"It looks like it might work, but it will significantly shorten the life of your Steam Deck," he concludes.

Twitter user TheSmcelrea, who first posted about the modification, also posted a response to the warning, saying she "totally agreed with him" and that other users should "voluntarily take the risk" of the modification. He said he shared the project just to prove the idea that only parts of the charging IC thermal pad that had been removed remained "normal contact" and that the SSD chosen was a low-power model.

He also noted that through the Deck's own temperature monitoring, "the temperature of the equipment did not show any change."