Valve's Steam Deck remains one of the most craved items on the market in the current video game industry, yet despite the ample praise its base-set memory proves to be a mild setback in its outward longing. At 64GB of space, the base $400 device proves to have a very limited storage capacity, highlighted in our own Steam Deck review as not even being able to hold Elden Ring at the outset. While there is an additional storage potential in the form of micro SD cards, most Steam Deck users want something a bit speedier and bulkier for their on-the-go video gaming.
Enter modder Belly Jelly on Twitter, who recently put forth a working memory modification that would allow the larger 2242 M.2 NVMe SSD to fit into the Steam Deck as opposed to the smaller 2230 SSD Valve explicitly positioned as the proper form factor. According to the modder, the upgraded SSD "doesn't collide with anything on the motherboard or put any extra strain on any cables," yet it did "make the heat spreader bow a tiny bit."
Although Jelly's own modification did end up successful and showed little aftereffects of hardware tampering, an official Steam Deck engineer later came forward on the matter calling the memory mod dangerous due to heating constraints. Lawrence Yang, a designer at Valve, put forth a rather long winded post in a quote tweet of the original PC Gamer article, noting that the modification "will significantly shorten the life of your deck."
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"Hi, please don't do this," Yang wrote in his post. "The charger IC gets very hot and nearby thermal pads should not be moved. In addition, most 2242 m.2 drives draw more power and get hotter than what Deck is designed for. This mod may appear to work but will significantly shorten the life of your deck."
While other models have a much larger Steam Deck memory, Jelly's mod might have been a potential cheaper buy-in if an upgradeable internal SSD was an option. Additionally, these higher tiers of memory, specifically 256GB and 512GB, aren't as fast as alternatives on the market. Yet, according to Yang, it seems this mod will only have a detrimental impact on the long-term life of your deck.
Might as well respond to this, I absolutely agree with this guy.
— Belly Jelly 🎸 (@TheSmcelrea) June 26, 2022
Mod at your own risk!
I am taking risks by opening the device and working on it, and it is mostly just as a proof of concept.
Thread continues below. https://t.co/upg15Vxmhz
In response, modder Jelly quote tweeted Yang's initial response, saying that they "agree with this guy" and that one should always "mod at your own risk." They also explained that they will continue with modifications in that same line, in order to discover "ways to deal with my own concerns regarding the mod." It's unclear if they will eventually share a new and improved iteration of the modification, but it's a safe bet to stay clear of tearing down the Steam Deck at all if one wants to refrain from damaging their device.
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Written by Ryan Epps
