Earlier this week, Valve marked its entry in the hand-held console market with the announcement of its Steam Deck. The hand-held console utilizes a version of Steam OS, which allows users to play everything on Steam’s vast game database, including AAA games.
Valve’s President and Co-Founder, Gabe Newell, answered questions of potential users on Reddit. He also responded to questions concerning the M.2 2230 SSD. It is a small form factor but is not readily available to be purchased alone.
The most frequently asked question regarding the SSD was whether it will be upgradable or not. The reason behind the question is the SSD’s availability will be in three storage sizes along with different prices. Users have plans to purchase the entry-level variant and then upgrade the system themselves. Gaben responded, saying that it utilized the standard M2 slot – which should be user-replaceable even though the specs mentioned that it is not intended for user replacement. We can also understand why replacing the standard SSD with a stick that has a smaller cache or cannot sustain long-term performance/endurance would not end well for users.
SteamDeck will not have much competition in the hand-held console market. The popular ones are Nintendo’s Switch and Switch Lite systems. Nintendo’s biggest issue, besides the consistent joy-con drift, is that when the console is undocked, it operates at 30 fps and can max up to 60 fps once it is docked. Valve’s hand-held console comes with the Steam OS, which is already famous for PC gaming.
Usually, any modifications to a device result in the loss of warranty from the manufacturer. The question arises, is it worthy enough to take the risk of harming the device during the upgrade process?
A dedicated webpage, Steam Deck Mods, is there for users who have plans to modify the Steam Deck for better performance or experimentation.
The Steam Deck will arrive in 4GB, 256GB, and 512GB variants with a price range of $400 to $650.
Via Reddit