Steam Deck overheating.

[talicni67]

I was going to buy a Steam Deck, however, after seeing the console having overheating issues, it looks like I'm going to hold off on the purchase. The guy I wanted to buy the console from told me that the console heats up a lot when playing and that he had to buy a jsaux back plate to improve the cooling of the console. Can someone who has a console help me and tell me if it is true that the console heats up a lot while playing?

I have a Nintendo Switch and it is completely cold even when i play for more than 2 hours.

 

[RAHelllord]

The steam deck has a 15w TDP, and as such will get quite a bit warm. However it is also designed to not get dangerously warm if you don't obstruct the vents. If you leave the fan curve on default you'll be perfectly safe and the device will easily survive well past warranty.

What might also be relevant, most of the heat is centered on the body behind the screen, a place you aren't really going to touch with your hands apart from putting it away when you stop playing.

If you want all the details then GamersNexus has made the thermals of the Deck the topic of an entire video, including deep dive and per-part analysis of all the more heat sensitive areas. It's a good watch if you're curious about the specifics, but the TL;DR is really just don't obstruct the vents and you'll be fine.



Edit: Fixed TDP to be 15w.

 

[tech3475]

I haven't noticed any issues when using mine, although the longest gaming session I recall was playing SA2:B during a heatwave.

There are potential factors to consider though, such as personal preferences, maintenance (e.g. if there's allot of dust inside), faulty unit, etc.

 

[Scarlet]

The steam deck has a 45w TDP, and as such will get quite a bit warm. However it is also designed to not get dangerously warm if you don't obstruct the vents. If you leave the fan curve on default you'll be perfectly safe and the device will easily survive well past warranty.

Is this accurate? 45W TDP is pretty damn high for a mobile platform. I'm fairly sure the Steam Deck has a 15W TDP and is designed to run well as low as 6W, which is why it stands out from Windows handhelds that are designed to run at 15W and can generally go to around 35.

I feel like you're confusing TDP with charging speed, since the Deck has a 45W charger.

 

[RAHelllord]

Is this accurate? 45W TDP is pretty damn high for a mobile platform. I'm fairly sure the Steam Deck has a 15W TDP and is designed to run well as low as 6W, which is why it stands out from Windows handhelds that are designed to run at 15W and can generally go to around 35.

I feel like you're confusing TDP with charging speed, since the Deck has a 45W charger.

Whoops, you're right, it's 15w TDP and 45W charging.