upgrading Steam Deck
UPGRADING YOUR STEAM DECK STORAGE
2TB and 1TB M.2 2230 SSDs are readily available, and Jarred Walton shows you how to do it
Valve’s Steam Deck has taken the handheld PC gaming world by storm, but even the most capacious model tops out at just 512GB, and can quickly fill up.
We’ve seen numerous attempts at a handheld gaming PC over the years, but Valve’s Steam Deck has suddenly taken the whole concept mainstream. It’s not necessarily a Nintendo Switch replacement, but for PC gaming on the go, it offers a ton of potential. It might not be able to run every PC game under the sun, but it’s definitely encouraging a lot of games to come out with “low spec” settings that are suitable for the Steam Deck’s hardware.
The only serious issue with the Steam Deck is that it’s lacking in storage. The base model comes with just 64GB of eMMC storage, with a $399 price tag. Bumping up to the top model gets you an anti-glare screen and 512GB of PCIe SSD storage for an additional $250. With plenty of games now surpassing the 100GB mark, we want more, and we’re more than happy to save some pennies in the process.
Whether you’re thinking of buying a Steam Deck or you already own one, or perhaps you’re running an alternative like the Asus Ally, moving to a higher-capacity and higher-performance SSD might be the easiest upgrade decision you’ve ever had to make. Let’s walk through the process and check what sort of performance improvements you can expect.
VALVE’S EXPENSIVE STORAGE OPTIONS
Why all the fuss about upgrading your Steam Deck storage? There are two primary reasons. First, Valve overcharges for storage upgrades. Second, even the highest capacity Steam Deck lacks storage capacity.
The base model Steam Deck comes with a 64GB eMMC drive (basically an M.2 SATA drive), and costs $399. The next model up costs $130 more, and comes with a 256GB M.2 PCIe 3.0 SSD, while the final option costs $250, and comes with a 512GB M.2 PCIe 3.0 SSD and a “premium anti-glare screen.”
Perhaps those prices might have seemed justifiable in 2021 when Valve first announced the Steam Deck—the pandemic was in full bloom, and supply chain issues were a huge problem. Two years later, such prices look ludicrous.
Hop on Amazon or Newegg, and you can find M.2 2230 SSDs ranging in capacity from 512GB to 2TB. 512GB drives start at less than $50, 1TB drives cost $70–$110, and various 2TB drives are now available for $150–$200. Are these as good as the one Valve uses? Almost certainly, as various teardowns on the web have found a smorgasbord of different drives and NAND chips. Many of the newer SSDs are even PCIe 4.0, though the Deck only supports up to 3.0.
You can make the argument that the Steam Deck doesn’t need 2TB of storage, but you could buy the base model, upgrade it to 2TB, and still spend $100 less than Valve’s 512GB model. You get a better screen, but the base screen has the same resolution, and works fine in our experience.
Going Below Deck
If you’ve ever dealt with upgrading the storage on a modern laptop, you’ll know how difficult that can be. Often, you’ll need to remove a dozen or more screws, sometimes peeling off the rubber feet to access hidden screws, and of course there’s the dreaded “warranty void if removed” stickers. To make matters worse, some laptops even glue things like the battery in place. Thankfully, the Steam Deck has none of that.