Valves Steam Deck technically lets you swap the SSD, aiming for gameplay at 30fps

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A few important details have surfaced about Valve’s Steam Deck handheld console meeting the PC, most notably its target performance level and the ability to install your own NVMe SSD to upgrade storage.

In an IGN video interview, Valve stated that the Steam Decks 800p display, capable of supporting a refresh rate of up to 60Hz, will aim for 30Hz for gameplay. In other words, Nintendo Switch comparisons could go a little deeper than the surface, as many games on that platform run well below 60 frames per second. However, as most PC games offer a number of graphics settings to fine-tune, Steam Deck should be able to achieve smoother gameplay at the expense of graphics quality if you’re willing to drop some settings, depending on the game of course.

Valve also shared that crucially, the standard M.2 2230 SSDs used in the Steam Deck are not soldered to the board. In the world of gaming laptops, this usually means that an effort has been made to ensure that M.2 SSDs are easy to replace, for example, with a larger one you may already have on hand or one that you may not. it costs how much Valve is charging for storage updates. An IGN article confirms that you can technically remove and upgrade storage in a Steam Deck on your own, but the goal is repairability, not increasing the change factor for the daily user. So, those SSD slots may not be as accessible as we hoped, like the PS5 slot which is covered by an easy-to-remove plastic shield, but we don’t know for sure as Valve hasn’t shown the inside of the Steam Deck.

Image: valve

Valve hardware engineer Yazan Aldehayyat told IGN that repairability is something we actually focused on and tried to make it as repairable as possible. But it’s really meant for people who know what they’re doing and have experience doing it. If Valve isn’t exaggerating the difficulty, some people may opt for a larger microSD card to store more games in a much easier operation.

The specifications for Steam Deck mention that the M.2 SSD is not intended for end-user replacement, after all. However, this won’t stop some people from voiding a warranty. IGN does not outright confirm whether attempting to replace SSDs will void the warranty or not, although the publication states that it is likely. The Verge has contacted Valve and we will update this post if we receive confirmation as to how attempting to upgrade the storage could affect the warranty status.

The Steam Deck is now available for pre-order and those who were the first to pre-order one will be the first to receive their orders starting December 2021. Pre-ordering one requires a $ 5 investment that goes into the final purchase. However, unless you have already done so, the expected order availability for the consoles is currently set for the second quarter of 2022.

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