Discussion Steam Deck

[Justinus]

Thank you for that bit of info as I didn't realize that it was stuck on WiFi 5. That's a bit disappointing given most of my devices are WiFi 6. Honestly, getting the APs (they're Ubiquiti APs) in a more optimal location would probably help a lot. Also, I've never been too sure if a lightning strike from a year or two ago had an effect on them. It killed a NUC and crippled the port that the NUC was using on my switch. The APs acted a bit funny for a short time after that, but they haven't seemed downright non-functional.

I finally received my deck yesterday and I have been consistently seeing 50-60MiB/s download speeds from steam. I am updated to whatever the latest release stuff is, I have not looked into if I have the patch I mentioned with "5GHz wifi fixes".

 

[JujuFish]

My reservation was Q3, but I guess I was fortunate enough to be in the first batch of Q3. Mine came in today.

Anyone have a recommendation for first game to try on the Steam Deck?

 

[Justinus]

My reservation was Q3, but I guess I was fortunate enough to be in the first batch of Q3. Mine came in today.

Anyone have a recommendation for first game to try on the Steam Deck?

So far I haven't found anything I like playing on it, but there's the first party steam deck game "Aperture Desk Job" that is short but entertaining. It also serves as a tutorial for the steam deck controls.

 

[aigomorla]

i heard they silently nerf'd the nVME on the units from a 4x to a 2x pci-e ssd.

The Steam Deck SSD has been downgraded on some models | VGC

The change affects the 256GB and 512GB versions of the handheld…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Also one of the designers said not to change the SSD as it changes the thermal profile on the unit, causing it to break or malfunction in the future.

Hold On! Don't Upgrade Your Steam Deck SSD, It Might Damage Your System - TechTRP

You shouldn't attempt to modify a larger SSD in Steam Deck, according to Valve's hardware designer.

techtrp.com

.

I don't know if this statement is true or not, as he took a lot of heat from people saying he is spelling fud.
But he is one of the designers of the unit, so i guess you should at least take it with a grain of salt.


I really do not like the first part....
I don't recall valve mentioning the downgrade.

As for the upgrade, i remember ifixit did a complete disassembly, and it sort of showed its easy and possible.
But the designer is saying it can lead to a bunch of worms exploding inside later on, so i don't know if its worth it in the long run over getting the larger capacity from the start.

 

[Justinus]

i heard they silently nerf'd the nVME on the units from a 4x to a 2x pci-e ssd.

The Steam Deck SSD has been downgraded on some models | VGC

The change affects the 256GB and 512GB versions of the handheld…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Also one of the designers said not to change the SSD as it changes the thermal profile on the unit, causing it to break or malfunction in the future.

Hold On! Don't Upgrade Your Steam Deck SSD, It Might Damage Your System - TechTRP

You shouldn't attempt to modify a larger SSD in Steam Deck, according to Valve's hardware designer.

techtrp.com

.

I don't know if this statement is true or not, as he took a lot of heat from people saying he is spelling fud.
But he is one of the designers of the unit, so i guess you should at least take it with a grain of salt.


I really do not like the first part....
I don't recall valve mentioning the downgrade.

As for the upgrade, i remember ifixit did a complete disassembly, and it sort of showed its easy and possible.
But the designer is saying it can lead to a bunch of worms exploding inside later on, so i don't know if its worth it in the long run over getting the larger capacity from the start.

....... the designer was explicitly saying not to take a physically larger ssd and modify it into the steam deck, which is what is in question - someone installing a 2242 drive in the place of the original 2230 drive. This very well could lead to the problems mentioned as the physically longer ssd will alter the carefully designed airflow paths.

I just received my 512GB model and my unit still came with the originally specced ssd, although I swapped in an SK Hynix BC711 1TB 2230 drive.

 

[Zor Prime]

Well, I've had my Steamdeck for a while. I honestly haven't been this excited about a piece of gear for a long while. My 5800X / 3090 combo hasn't seen as much use since it landed.

Girlfriend's came in last week and I put in another preorder for the base 64GB model (I'll upgrade the nvme myself.)

It's a bit buggy. Updates continue to roll out slowly but they come.

Could it be improved, hell yeah it could be. Like less weight, better battery, OLED screen, etc.

But the layout, the buttons / controls, Valve nailed this shit. It's comfortable, so comfortable. Someone with itty bitty hands might not be as enthusiastic as I am, however. Switch is painful, comparatively. It's like going from a Lexus LS series to a Toyota Corolla.

Simply due to the controls I would buy the base model just to stream games via Moonlight to my 'Deck ... which does work fabulously with no perceptible lag in my case, anyway.

 

[JujuFish]

But the layout, the buttons / controls, Valve nailed this shit. It's comfortable, so comfortable. Someone with itty bitty hands might not be as enthusiastic as I am, however. Switch is painful, comparatively.

I find the buttons to be too far north. It's probably my biggest complaint.

 

[Muadib]

Just got mine this morning. My biggest complaint so far is the on screen keyboard. If I had to guess, I wasted at least 30 minutes having to retype stuff. Finally managed to install Gog so I could load Witcher 3, but now I'm too beat to play. I just ordered a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard which will hopefully speed things along next time. Can someone recommend a dock?

 

[Zor Prime]

Just got mine this morning. My biggest complaint so far is the on screen keyboard. If I had to guess, I wasted at least 30 minutes having to retype stuff. Finally managed to install Gog so I could load Witcher 3, but now I'm too beat to play. I just ordered a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard which will hopefully speed things along next time. Can someone recommend a dock?

This one so far seems to have passed the Reddit test with ease. If I was in the market for one I'd get that or sit around and continue to wait for the official Valve one.

 

[Muadib]

This one so far seems to have passed the Reddit test with ease. If I was in the market for one I'd get that or sit around and continue to wait for the official Valve one.

I guess I have to wait for Valve.

 

[Aikouka]

The latest update included a fix for WiFi connectivity issues. I'll have to see if this fixes some of the problems that I've been dealing with. My ping is definitely noticeably better after I switched APs, but it still seems like it could be better given the lack of obstructions. (I have physical line of sight to the AP.)

This latest update -- and I believe the last one too -- also addressed the poor scaling issues on larger displays. I recall hooking the Steam Deck up to my TV, and it was pretty bad. Not only was the scaling just awkward (it was way too big), if I remember correctly, I couldn't click on anything.

Just got mine this morning. My biggest complaint so far is the on screen keyboard. If I had to guess, I wasted at least 30 minutes having to retype stuff. Finally managed to install Gog so I could load Witcher 3, but now I'm too beat to play. I just ordered a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard which will hopefully speed things along next time. Can someone recommend a dock?

Yeah, trying to use the on-screen keyboard feels very frustrating at times due to the expectation that it'll work like a smartphone, but in reality, you're tapping a mouse cursor onto a key on an on-screen keyboard.

I use the Anker 555 USB-C Hub. It's $20 off if you buy it Used - Like New, which is what I did. The negative is that you have to provide your own power adapter, and the adapter needs to be something like 10-15W above the Steam Deck's requirement of ~30W. So, at least a 45W charger. (I went with a 65W charger.)

 

[Zor Prime]

I tore down my girlfriend's never turned on Steamdeck today and upgraded it from 64GB to 512GB. She had been waiting for the drive to come in for me to do the install.

Wasn't hard, easy hindsight 20/20. Only trouble was getting the RF shield back on properly due to inserting a fin of the shield to the base I didn't know was there and the fan wires which took some finagling but after you figure it out once it's not hard to redo.

 

[Muadib]

The latest update included a fix for WiFi connectivity issues. I'll have to see if this fixes some of the problems that I've been dealing with. My ping is definitely noticeably better after I switched APs, but it still seems like it could be better given the lack of obstructions. (I have physical line of sight to the AP.)

This latest update -- and I believe the last one too -- also addressed the poor scaling issues on larger displays. I recall hooking the Steam Deck up to my TV, and it was pretty bad. Not only was the scaling just awkward (it was way too big), if I remember correctly, I couldn't click on anything.



Yeah, trying to use the on-screen keyboard feels very frustrating at times due to the expectation that it'll work like a smartphone, but in reality, you're tapping a mouse cursor onto a key on an on-screen keyboard.

I use the Anker 555 USB-C Hub. It's $20 off if you buy it Used - Like New, which is what I did. The negative is that you have to provide your own power adapter, and the adapter needs to be something like 10-15W above the Steam Deck's requirement of ~30W. So, at least a 45W charger. (I went with a 65W charger.)

I ordered it, thanks for the recommendation!

 

[ImpulsE69]

I've had mine for a few months now and this is what I've wanted for years. I haven't had too many issues with it and it's been fun fiddling with it. Although it seems the game I play the most on it is Slay the Spire.

One thing I've been telling people about the screen keyboard. It seems they mostly fixed the issues in Game Mode, but in Desktop mode it still has issues. What I found works better is if you kill Steam while in desktop mode. It seems the Steam overlay and the actual keypad compete with each others (you see the mouse cursor). If you disable one, it is way more useful.

 

[NTMBK]

Steam Deck update: Japan are getting a Deck big enough for a Gundam to use.

https://kotaku.com/valve-steam-deck-tokyo-game-show-half-life-portal-index-1849535978

 

[Muadib]

This one so far seems to have passed the Reddit test with ease. If I was in the market for one I'd get that or sit around and continue to wait for the official Valve one.

I just got this dock yesterday, and I like it so far. Jsaux is making a dock that you can install a Nvme drive. That's tailor made for those not willing to open their SD. I will relegate the dock Aikouka recommended to my laptop. Thanks!

 

[Aikouka]

I was having a pretty awful time with the WiFi on my Steam Deck this past weekend. I recalled the sleep setting that was available when you enabled Developer Mode, which ended up helping a lot. Although, it's still noticeably slower than Ethernet, which isn't a surprise, but the real problem was when trying to connect to servers in a game. Hitting the button on the desktop had an immediate response where the Steam Deck had a multi-second wait. (I was running a game server on my Unraid server.) Although, to note, before I adjusted the sleep setting, I couldn't even connect to the server.

I just got this dock yesterday, and I like it so far. Jsaux is making a dock that you can install a Nvme drive. That's tailor made for those not willing to open their SD. I will relegate the dock Aikouka recommended to my laptop. Thanks!

That's an interesting thing to try, but I'd be hesitant to lose out on part of my storage just because I went mobile.

 

[Muadib]

That's an interesting thing to try, but I'd be hesitant to lose out on part of my storage just because I went mobile.

I think I agree with you., not to mention that your SD would have to be in the dock for it to work.

 

[Aikouka]

I think I agree with you., not to mention that your SD would have to be in the dock for it to work.

I do definitely wish that the Steam Deck had an M.2 expansion option like some of the other handhelds that are coming out now. They aren't wrong in that games appear to work fine when loading from the SD card, but what you don't get to hear is how painfully slow they update when installed on the SD card.

 

[Muadib]

I do definitely wish that the Steam Deck had an M.2 expansion option like some of the other handhelds that are coming out now. They aren't wrong in that games appear to work fine when loading from the SD card, but what you don't get to hear is how painfully slow they update when installed on the SD card.

That could be the SD card, as writing to the less expensive Micro SD Memory Cards take a speed hit when writing to them. I got this one to avoid the writing speed hit.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X7MPX8L?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[Aikouka]

That could be the SD card, as writing to the less expensive Micro SD Memory Cards take a speed hit when writing to them. I got this one to avoid the writing speed hit.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X7MPX8L?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I've got a 512GB Samsung Pro Plus MicroSD card, and it's supposedly rated for 160/120 R/W. Now, I don't know if part of it could be a limitation of the Deck itself, but I don't think so. I noticed some of the long update times with Spider-Man, which downloaded 7GB and wrote 21GB. On the flip side, I think it was My Time at Sandrock that downloaded ~200MB and wrote 4GB. I believe the latter is on the SSD where the former is on the SD card.

The speeds have made me want to upgrade the internal SSD, but I don't seem to be alone because it's hard to find larger 2230 M.2 SSDs that aren't being scalped. I'm wondering of the plausibility of using an M.2 ribbon cable extension to move it to a different spot. I was taking a peek at the teardown on iFixIt, but I'm not sure where you could even put it. It sure would be nice to be able to reliably use a larger SSD though. (Now, if someone sold a replacement back that gave a tiny bit more room in some area, it might fit easily.) What would be even more nifty is if you could take the extension idea and combine it with a splitter of some sorts. It should theoretically be possible since you can get NVMe-to-PCIe adapters, which you can plug an M.2 expansion card into (that has 2 slots). Of course, I don't think anything like that exists.

 

[Muadib]

I've got a 512GB Samsung Pro Plus MicroSD card, and it's supposedly rated for 160/120 R/W. Now, I don't know if part of it could be a limitation of the Deck itself, but I don't think so. I noticed some of the long update times with Spider-Man, which downloaded 7GB and wrote 21GB. On the flip side, I think it was My Time at Sandrock that downloaded ~200MB and wrote 4GB. I believe the latter is on the SSD where the former is on the SD card.

The speeds have made me want to upgrade the internal SSD, but I don't seem to be alone because it's hard to find larger 2230 M.2 SSDs that aren't being scalped. I'm wondering of the plausibility of using an M.2 ribbon cable extension to move it to a different spot. I was taking a peek at the teardown on iFixIt, but I'm not sure where you could even put it. It sure would be nice to be able to reliably use a larger SSD though. (Now, if someone sold a replacement back that gave a tiny bit more room in some area, it might fit easily.) What would be even more nifty is if you could take the extension idea and combine it with a splitter of some sorts. It should theoretically be possible since you can get NVMe-to-PCIe adapters, which you can plug an M.2 expansion card into (that has 2 slots). Of course, I don't think anything like that exists.

Check your local Microcenter for this:

Inland TN436 1TB 3D TLC NAND PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe M.2 2230 Internal SSD - Compatible with Steam Deck - Micro Center

Get it now! Expand your ultrabook laptop or game console with a NVMe M.2 2230 SSD from Inland. With a fast, reliable Inland SSD, you will experience a quicker response time and a larger storage for all your applications and games. Designed for the new Gen4 x 4 PCIe slots, PCIe 4.0 and NVMe 1.

www.microcenter.com

 

[Zor Prime]

Third Deck on its way. Not all mine, lol.

 

[ImpulsE69]

The storage thing....I got a 256 model, and put another 256 sd card in. Now...the temptation is to blow it up to as much as it will hold. However, one thing is..I've had games and steam games I've had installed for years that I never play. I decided that on the deck I would keep that under control more, so that I actually stick with a game and finish it...we'll see how well that works out

 

[KMFJD]

Just got mine and have been mostly playing around with emulators, surprised at how easy it is to setup and works very well