News Steam Deck's SSD May Be User Upgradeable

[Admin]

An up to Steam Deck's tech specs seems to indicate that the NVMe SSD may be user upgradeable.

Steam Deck's SSD May Be User Upgradeable : Read more

 

[thisisaname]

Valve offers three different versions of the Steam Deck: A $399 base model that features 64GB of eMMC storage, a $529 model that includes a 256GB NVMe SSD, and a $649 model with a 512GB NVMe SSD as well as anti-glare glass for the display.

So that is $130 for 256GBs and $250 for 512GBs, rather over priced as here in the UK you can buy a 1GB NVMe SSD for about £90.

 

[excalibur1814]

"Valve's Steam Deck has already caused quite a commotion in the gaming world "

Actual or orchestrated? Did they have 250 spots and they were taken within seconds?

 

[RareAir23]

Now this to me I find interesting. Valve recommended not to do it on the screenshot posted in the story but...if it's socketed and can be removed and remounted with a new drive even theoretically some technicians within our ranks will try. If they do succeed and it works? They're definitely going to post their findings here with also a video on YouTube showing how they did it. One thing to bear in mind about doing this if someone finds it possible and can make it work? It just makes the total cost of a Steam Deck just a little more expensive than the MSRP (price of new drive and labor time of work). I'm interested now to see what happens next when Steam Decks get into people's hands and people try this. Still don't know if I'll get one myself but we'll see. Out!

 

[hushnecampus]

If you have an M.2 model could you also add a cheap eMMC drive too? Slow, sure, but a bit of extra space, maybe handy for… something?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I do have to wonder.

Are they just saying the drives are "not intended for user replacement" to try and get you to spend more on a higher capacity model, or are they saying this since the SSD is genuinely difficult to access?

 

[deesider]

If you have an M.2 model could you also add a cheap eMMC drive too? Slow, sure, but a bit of extra space, maybe handy for… something?

Hopefully the answer is yes, as in the M2 socket is located separately to the eMMC mount, so that both are present on all versions. Although I expect that the eMMC is soldered on, so you might need to get out the heat gun to add one...

 

[RareAir23]

I do have to wonder.

Are they just saying the drives are "not intended for user replacement" to try and get you to spend more on a higher capacity model, or are they saying this since the SSD is genuinely difficult to access?

That's a great question. I would bet the latter. The way that console appears to be constructed, it's probably hard to get to and/or possibly in a place where if you're not careful you could break a key inner component of the device. Out!

 

[PillowOfWinds]

So that is $130 for 256GBs and $250 for 512GBs, rather over priced as here in the UK you can buy a 1GB NVMe SSD for about £90.

The price depends on read/write speed, a £90 1GB NVMe SDD will be around 3500/3000 MBs .

Unfortunately the speed is not listed on https://www.steamdeck.com/en/tech, they only say that the 512GB is "high-speed".

 

[jepeman]

So that is $130 for 256GBs and $250 for 512GBs, rather over priced as here in the UK you can buy a 1GB NVMe SSD for about £90.

Its M.2 2230 socket.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

1tb M.2 2230 SSDs do exist, however, they cost a ton.

 

[watzupken]

While 2230 is an industry standard, finding one is quite tough, particularly high capacity ones. Even 2242 high capacity drives are quite rare. The last time I got one 2242 Samsung 981 and it runs incredibly hot. Just running a virus scan is enough to cause it to throttle because it hit over 81 degs in a very short amount of time.

 

[cknobman]

"Valve's Steam Deck has already caused quite a commotion in the gaming world "

Actual or orchestrated? Did they have 250 spots and they were taken within seconds?

Actual not orchestrated.

And no they had quite a few more than 250 spots, LOL.
I preordered mine on the 2nd day of availability.

 

[thisisaname]

Its M.2 2230 socket.

Ooops yes I'm wrong, while the socket is the same the length is not 30mm vs 80mm. While the space inside my be tight does seem short sighted to go with the 2230 rather than the more standard 2280.

 

[spongiemaster]

1tb M.2 2230 SSDs do exist, however, they cost a ton.

1 TB for $181 from Dell

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/del...Xd-gTAGZXhxtAUTT6CDIAO5JTrGChc8K7RbaK3WJz09yV

Not cheap compared to 2280's, but not really a ton either. A bargain compared to Valve charging $250 for 512GB plus the cost of the 64GB eMMC module in the base config.

 

[-Fran-]

This could be the same thing that Sony and Microsoft had to deal with when they introduced the drives for their consoles: the hardware would only recognize certain brands and, more specifically, specs of drives.

I'm not saying it's ok or I'm happy about it, but it could be an explanation on why they have to say it's not intended for user replacement? I just hope they offer alternatives and/or a way to upgrade/replace them with not too much hassle.

Regards.

 

[merlinq]

1 TB for $181 from Dell

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/del...Xd-gTAGZXhxtAUTT6CDIAO5JTrGChc8K7RbaK3WJz09yV

Not cheap compared to 2280's, but not really a ton either. A bargain compared to Valve charging $250 for 512GB plus the cost of the 64GB eMMC module in the base config.

That link shows USD 319.99 for the 1tb though?

Even the straight from China, "genuine©", no warranty, no returns for any reason ones are over 200 on ebay.
And that's before customs duties and fees.