X-ray image of the Steam Deck by Creative Electron.
On February 15, 2022, Valve announced a partnership with iFixit to sell parts and accessories for the Steam Deck and Valve Index. As part of this event, iFixit did a full Steam Deck teardown and showed how well this compact gaming console is built and arranged. iFixit says it's an impressive repairability device.
Valve is still clarifying with iFixit which Steam Deck components will be available separately. Valve warned that it is not recommended to disassemble and replace parts of the device yourself without the necessary skills in this, as in this case, if they are damaged, the warranty for the console is terminated.
The Steam Deck layout is fairly tight. The device can be disassembled to a state accessible to the elements using screwdrivers and tweezers. In the console, you can easily change the control keys (sticks) and the internal drive, which is located close enough to the Wi-Fi adapter. Valve advises choosing it based on performance, power consumption, and electromagnetic interference.
Fixit found out that custom versions of Steam Deck PCB PCB color is black, some dev kits and in the first test versions it was green (pictured below).
Fixit was delighted with how easy it is to disassemble the Steam Deck - you need to unscrew eight Phillips screws, pry off a few plastic latches and ... that's it. There are no messy adhesive additions or brittle gaskets, no exotic screws. iFixit said the thing is simplicity itself.
To disconnect the battery, you also don’t need to suffer - you need to unscrews and that’s it - there is access there right away to the possibility of disconnecting it. The sticks are also removed - three screws and that's it. In case of problems with the occurrence of drift, it is very easy to replace them.
The capacitive sensor on the Steam Deck stick is the reason for the unusual red wire coming from it. Yes, the Steam Deck knows if the player's thumb is there.
To remove the SSD, you need to unscrew and you will have access to a fully modular M.2 2230 SSD, which can be easily changed to other higher-capacity models. iFixit sent a Steam Deck with a 512 GB SSD.
The SSD is protected by a thin screen to prevent interference with the wireless equipment directly below it.
Fixit figured out that you don't need to unscrew anything to remove the springy trigger buttons - they are attached to small plastic loops. To remove them, you need to push the hinges apart, and the spring will do the rest - it will release them.
To remove the fan, you need to unscrew the two screws on the heat pipe and two on the fan and that's it.
Regarding the motherboard, iFixit has one remark - the USB-C port and the microSD card slot are soldered directly to the motherboard, so they need to be handled more carefully during operation so as not to damage them. iFixit thinks it would be better if there was a modular charging port.
To remove the Steam Deck battery, iFixit experts had to suffer. Although this element, in their opinion, will often be changed by users due to the large number of charge cycles during operation and gradual degradation.
Fixit's Steam Deck battery removal tip: Discharge the battery below 25% to prevent thermal runaway, then use a hair dryer to soften the adhesive, pry the battery mostly from the bottom edge, being careful not to hit any nearby hardware. It is better not to use isopropyl alcohol in this case - there are holes in the magnesium frame at the bottom, this liquid can get there and stain the display, which is located right behind the battery.
Fixit thinks battery replacement definitely seems to be the Steam Deck's Achilles' heel.
The Steam Deck battery itself is a two-cell L-shaped design. This is somewhat reminiscent of the battery design that the iPhone had a few years ago, starting with the iPhone X. However, this is not a small battery for a phone. It is rated at 40.04 Wh or 5313 mAh at 7.7 V.
The hardest part for iFixit was carefully removing the display and not damaging the ambient light sensor. The specialists did this with a hair dryer, suction cups and after removing the glue under the frame.
As a result, iFixit was able not only to disassemble the Steam Deck, but also completely reassemble the console, and the device was then fully operational. Overall, the Steam Deck received a 7 out of 10 on the iFixit maintainability scale.
Fixit showed a complete analysis of the Steam DeckOn July 15, 2021, Valve introduced the compact Steam Deck gaming console powered by an AMD APU based on Zen 2 (4c/8t) and RDNA 2 (8 RDNA with two compute units) microarchitectures. The console runs on a specially adapted version of SteamOS 3.0, which is based on Arch Linux with a KDE Plasma desktop. The console is also specifically designed to display all of the games in the Steam library at 800p at 30 frames per second. Three versions of the Steam Deck with 64/256/512GB drives will be priced at $399/$529/$649, respectively. All versions of the Steam Deck console have an M.2 2230 SSD slot, but Valve advises against upgrading.
Steam Deck dimensions (width, height, thickness) - 298x117x49 mm, weight about 669 grams, it has a 7" capacitive multi-touch screen with a resolution of 1280x800 (16:10 aspect ratio) and a built-in 40 Wh battery (up to 2 hours in 3D games offline or up to 8 hours when running 2D games or browsing in the browser).
Steam Deck is available for booking in some countries, Russia is not listed there yet.
In early September, Valve opened the call for applications for Steam Deck devkits and said that it had created the Steam Deck API for developers to quickly optimize games.
On October 6, Valve published a Steam Deck breakdown. There you can change the control keys (sticks) and the internal drive.
In November, Valve warned of a delay in the release process of its Steam Deck gaming console to the market by at least another two months. The manufacturer cited problems with the supply of device components due to a shortage of the necessary materials and semiconductors as reasons. Valve also spoke about the AMD chip in Steam Deck and the speed of the console on different drives.
In early December, Valve showed the packaging of Steam Deck - it says that it can be played in the subway, in the country, on a tree and in the toilet.
On December 11, Valve unveiled the look of an exclusive cover for the top version of the Steam Deck with 512 GB NVMe internal storage. In versions with 64 GB eMMC and 256 GB NVMe, there is a functionally the same case, but simpler and without additional bonuses inside.
On January 14, 2022, Valve showed a photo of the testing process of the newly assembled Steam Deck.
On January 22, a tester showed that 10 peripheral devices can be connected to the Steam Deck devkit - six Bluetooth controllers, a Bluetooth speaker, a wired gamepad, a wired keyboard and mouse via a USB hub.
In early February, Valve announced that it would begin shipping Steam Deck to early adopters on February 28th.
The first tests of Steam Deck showed its good performance and average battery life.
On February 12, 2022, Valve released the CAD files of the topological surface of the Steam Deck case to the public. Now crafters, modifiers and accessory makers can 3D print the Steam Deck and evaluate it in their hands.
bbabo.Net