Steam Deck: Valve also warns of high temperatures

It is not new that temperatures rise especially in the summer. The fact that hardware often reaches its limits at high temperatures is just as little. Nevertheless, given the current circumstances, Nintendo for the Switch and now Valve for the Steam Deck felt compelled to give a hint last week.

The steam deck is also affected by the heat

People are not only affected by unusually high temperatures in Europe in the temperate latitudes; almost all continents are affected by heat waves. But hardware is also affected by the unfamiliar conditions — especially if it’s potentially defenseless against the sun’s rays.

As a result, portable game consoles like Nintendo’s Switch or Valve’s Steam Deck are directly affected, so Valve is now following in Nintendo’s footsteps and issuing a warning. Like the Switch, the Steam Deck is designed for ambient temperatures of 0 to 35 degrees Celsius in the shade. However, temperatures are often higher today, especially outdoors or in unconditioned indoor areas with large windows. The Steam Deck initially responds to this with thermal throttling, or the temperature-related lowering of the clock of the Van Gogh APU.

However, this is specified for operation up to 100 degrees Celsius, so the threshold to be exceeded is quite high. However, should the core temperature reach 105 degrees Celsius despite the clock reduction, the Steam Deck will shut down without further warning to prevent permanent damage to the hardware. However, gamers should be able to foresee a potential problem from the handheld console’s declining performance and high temperature.

However, Valve made no recommendations for using the Steam Deck in hot weather – unlike Nintendo. It was pointed out before the switch that the air inlets and outlets should be kept clear and cleaned if necessary. On the other hand, if possible, users should ensure adequate air circulation and stay in the shade. This advice can presumably be carried over to the Steam Deck.

Valve recently warned against too long SSDs

About a month ago, Valve issued a warning to Steam Deck owners, but it related to the installation of M.2 2242 SSDs taking too long. Instead, only the smaller M.2 2230 SSDs are planned, which Valve recently installed with half the bandwidth. The output did not fall as a result, but for this reason, among other things, production could be doubled. Nevertheless, the handheld console is still out of stock.