Epic Games' outspoken CEO Tim Sweeney has taken to X to criticize Valve over its recent price hike of the Steam Deck. Valve raised the prices ofits handheld this week, with the 1TB model now costing $949. Even though many consoles have seen their prices jump by $50 to $100 in recent months, this is still nothing compared to the extra $240 to $300 that Valve slapped on the Steam Deck. The increases have been driven by the memory and chip shortages stemming from the AI infrastructure build-out, but Sweeney wasted no time criticizing Valve on X for the much higher price increases it applied.

While his post initially mentioned the significant rise in component costs, which everyone is suffering from, he eventually ended it with “severe disruptions in the component parts supply chain for megayachts” in an apparent potshot at Valve CEO Gabe Newell’s penchant for superyachts. While Newell's Valve is behind some of the most notable game franchises in history, including Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Counter-Strike, he also has a love for massive sea-going vessels. Luxury Launches reports that he owns six vessels, including the 365-foot (111-m) superyacht Leviathan that he took delivery of in 2025, totaling around a billion dollars in value (and not counting the millions he’s spending on maintenance, crews, and other costs). He uses the vessels privately, but also for marine research and ocean exploration.

Valve’s hardware is generally designed to compete against gaming PCs and does not face off with dedicated gaming consoles that have their hardware costs subsidized by sales of gaming titles. So, if we compare the 512GB Steam Deck’s $789 against the Lenovo Legion Go 2 and the Asus ROG Xbox Ally, you’d find that it’s still within the same price range.

As for the rumored Steam Machine, the company hasn’t announced the living room PC console’s price yet, but Valve said that it won’t subsidize it to make its price closer to the PlayStation or Xbox. Instead, it will be priced similarly to other gaming PC builds — and with memory and storage chip prices the way they are right now, it's possible the Steam Machine may be priced at or above $1,000. But, at the very least, you’d own the hardware you buy, and you can freely replace SteamOS with another operating system should you want to do so.

Valve's Steam Deck OLED is seeing a massive price increase. Widely considered one of the best handheld gaming PCs since its launch in 2023, the 512GB model is now $789, while the 1TB version is $949. Those are $240 and $300 increases, respectively.

In a blog post, Valve wrote that the price increases are "due to rising memory and storage costs."

"Steam Deck itself hasn't changed; these new prices reflect the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges across the industry as a whole," the post reads.

The 512GB Steam Deck OLED was previously $549, while the 1TB upgrade was $649. As low-end gaming laptops have dried up, these were seen as a great value. But back in February, the handheld started going out of stock due to those same component shortages.

In this light, the Lenovo Legion Go 2, which we reviewed at $1,349.99, and Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, at $999.99, don't seem quite as outrageous anymore. The entry-level Asus ROG Xbox Ally, despite some performance issues and technical problems, may look more attractive than ever if it keeps its $599.99 price.

Memory and storage have also wreaked havoc with Valve's plans to launch its upcoming Steam Machine PC and Stream Frame VR headset. Those were delayed from the first quarter of 2026 into a murkier time. This price hike also suggests that those systems, which use newer technologies, will be even more expensive. Valve did launch its Steam Controller earlier this month.

The Steam Deck OLED follows a pattern of years-old machines getting price hikes as their manufacturers deal with the current component landscape. Microsoft increased the standard Xbox Series X to $649, while Sony's PlayStation 5 recently jumped to $649.99 for the base model and $899 for the PS5 Pro. In September, Nintendo will raise the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 by $50 in September. (If you're doing the math, yes, a 1TB Steam Deck costs more than a PlayStation 5 Pro.)

The Steam Deck OLED's prior pricing had previously led the market, leading us to question the expense of some Windows-based alternatives. We'll have to see if this price holds, but if it does, it may reorganize the entire value proposition of this product category in the first place.

It has been less than a month since the Steam Controller launch, and the device has already nearly caused a fire for at least one person. Redditor Toikka on the Steamcontroller subreddit revealed a nearly catastrophic incident involving their Steam Controller’s magnetic puck charger arcing electricity after attaching itself to foreign metallic material.

This unfortunate circumstance occurred when the Steam Controller owner was charging their Pixel Watch 3 in close proximity to their Steam Controller charging puck. The puck's magnetic attraction was strong enough for the Pixel Watch’s wristband to contact the puck's pogo pins, causing the device to short-circuit and heat up. Luckily, the owner managed to remove the wristband from the puck before any real damage occurred. The damage was purely cosmetic, consisting of dark spots on the Steam Controller puck and burn marks on the Pixel Watch wristband.

PSA: Watch out for the exposed contacts of the Puck! Almost started a fire due to metallic smartwatch strap from r/SteamController

The event exposed a design oversight in the Steam Controller’s charging puck. The exposed pogo pins will conduct electricity to any metal surface that makes contact with them. Many of the responses in the aforementioned Reddit post highlight this oversight, with several comments recommending that Valve add a data pin to the charger to ensure it knows it is connected to a Steam Controller rather than some random object.

Thankfully, Valve responded to Toikka and is reportedly investigating the charging incident. Valve may release a revised charging puck in the future that addresses this issue, but we’ll have to wait and see.

For now, this story serves as a good lesson to Steam Controller owners to proactively watch where their charging pucks are located, especially surrounding other magically attracted objects and devices. For more details, the Steam Controller’s manual also highlights this problem and warns against putting magnetically sensitive devices near the puck. Valve even mentions possible disruptions to some medical devices if the puck is in close proximity.

The Steam Controller is Valve's latest gaming product that takes the input controls from the Steam Deck and squeezes them down into a controller form factor. The controller is available for $99 on the Steam store and features 35+ hours of battery life.

After delaying its upcoming gaming console due to the ongoing memory crisis, Valve has yet to confirm a concrete release date for the Steam Machine. That said, it seems that the software groundwork is already in motion. The company recently rolled out a major update for SteamOS with version 3.8.0, which brings “initial support for upcoming Steam Machine hardware.” While that doesn’t reveal much about the hardware or its launch timeline, it does offer some reassurance that the final product is likely on track for a release later this year.

The latest SteamOS 3.8.0 update is currently in a preview state, meaning that you will have to opt-in for the update by heading to Settings>System and changing the System Update Channel from Stable to “Preview.” As per the official patch notes, users can expect a host of new features and improvements on existing devices, including the Steam Deck (LCD/OLED) as well as third-party handheld consoles that support SteamOS.

Some of the key highlights include an updated graphics driver for improved overall performance and stability, a new setting to allow using Bluetooth headset mics, and enhanced support for screen recording and streaming tools like OBS and Discord. Valve has also done some significant work when it comes to controllers, as the update offers reduced handheld controller input latency and improved support for a number of devices, including the OneXPlayer F1 series, GPD Win 5, GPD Win Mini, Anbernic Win600, OrangePi NEO, and Lenovo Legion Go. Additionally, the update brings controller support for OneXPlayer X1 series and the Lenovo Legion Go 2.

Desktop Mode also sees a significant upgrade, including improved scaling on TVs, support for external HDR and VRR displays, and per-display scaling options. These are particularly interesting as they could be crucial for the upcoming Steam Machine. Valve has also refined window handling for games running via Proton and ensured that keyboard layouts and language settings now sync with Game Mode.

Some notable system-level improvements, particularly for Steam Deck users, include a new “Memory Power Down” option, which should help reduce power consumption during idle states, thereby improving battery life. There’s also preliminary support for system hibernation, which has been a long-requested feature allowing the device to save its state to storage and completely power off, leading to better battery preservation compared to Sleep mode. Additionally, Bluetooth Wake has been re-enabled for the Steam Deck LCD, allowing users to wake the device using a controller.

The Steam Deck availability has been spotty in the U.S. and in various parts of Asia since the first half of February, and Valve finally confirmed that this is due to memory and storage shortages in some regions. Unfortunately, it seems that the shortage has now spread worldwide, with GamingOnLinux reporting that Canada and Europe are also out of stock of the popular handheld.

We also checked Steam Deck availability in various regions and confirmed that the console isn’t available in several EU countries, Canada, and Japan, although you can still get it at the time of writing if you’re in Australia, the U.K., Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. It should be noted, though, that the LCD version is no longer in production — that’s why it’s out of stock everywhere. It’s unclear when we’ll get the Steam Deck back in stock in the affected regions, though Valve’s partner in East Asia, Komodo Station, estimates it will be back in stock by the end of this month.

The memory and storage chip shortage that’s affecting this popular handheld gaming console is driven by the AI boom. Several tech companies and hyperscalers are pouring billions of dollars into building data centers that demand hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of AI GPUs. Since these heavily funded firms are willing to pay top dollars for HBM and NAND chips, memory and storage chip fabs are allocating more of their production capacity to these customers to the detriment of the consumer market.

RAM modules and SSDs were among the first components hit by the shortage, with prices increasing by 2X to 5X from last year. This means you’ll be in a world of pain if you need a new RAM kit or storage drive today — if that’s the case, then you should consult our RAM price tracker and SSD price tracker to get the best deals available at the moment.

Laptop manufacturers were the next to go, with mainstream companies like Dell and Lenovo and niche firms like Framework announcing back-to-back price hikes. Even Apple, with its famously deep pockets, admitted that the memory situation will have a greater impact on its Q2 earnings and that the company is already chasing memory supply.

It seems the ripples of the chip shortage are now spreading to gaming systems, with the Steam Deck the first to be hit hard. Thankfully, the other devices on our best handheld gaming PCs list are still available at the moment, though they tend to be more expensive than the Valve handheld. So, if you’re in the market for a handheld console, you'd better get one right now while stocks are available.

Valve has announced on the Steam Deck page that there is limited supply for the handheld console in some areas, with all three models on the site marked as “Out of stock”. The company said on the store page that the “Steam Deck OLED may be out-of-stock intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages.” This is bad news for gamers, especially as the Steam Deck is one of the best handheld gaming PCs on the market.

The Steam Deck OLED is the latest victim of the AI boom, with data centers and AI hyperscalers using up the global supply of memory and storage chips. The Steam Deck LCD model was the first to go in Valve’s handheld lineup, with the company discontinuing the most affordable model in late 2025. Although it did not give a reason for axing the $399 handheld, one of the plausible explanations for the move is that the 256GB is no longer profitable because of the skyrocketing prices of NAND chips.

RAM prices are expected to continue rising this year, meaning the situation will likely go from bad to worse. Valve isn’t the only company to increase prices, cut production, or run out of stock — Apple admitted that it’s chasing memory supply and that the shortage would have a greater impact on its Q2 earnings. Even the most expensive Mac Studio units with 512GB of Unified Memory are on backorder for up to 6 weeks because of demand from OpenClaw users.

This is also a bad sign for the Steam Machine, which was expected to arrive during the first quarter of 2026, but has since been delayed by the company. Valve also said that it will not subsidize the living room PC console and that it’s expected to be priced competitively against entry-level gaming PCs. But with RAM, GPU, and SSD costs rising nearly every week, it seems that the console will break the $1,000 mark.

We first saw signs of the chip shortage affecting the Steam Deck last week, but this is the first time that Valve has acknowledged the lack of memory and storage chip supply. We hope that the company can find an alternative source for these chips so that it can resume orders and deliveries of its popular handheld. But if the shortage continues, gamers may have no choice but to go for the more expensive Asus ROG Xbox Ally X or Lenovo Legion Go 2 if they want a new gaming device right now.

Valve's Steam Deck OLED, our current pick for the best handheld gaming PC, is suddenly out of stock on Steam in the US and from partner Komodo in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan.

The stock issue began late last night, according to deal hunter Wario64. While the company stopped production of the LCD Steam Deck in December, there has been no suggestion that the OLED model was on the way out.

On Reddit, some users in Europe are stating that they still see stock. On the gaming forum ResetEra, some users in Japan say they see a note on Komodo that stock will return in February. The US store has no such note, though you can still add the device to your Steam Wishlist.

Valve has not responded to requests for comment as of publication.

Speculation is intense, as Valve has had to delay the Steam Machine and Steam Frame and is reconsidering its pricing strategy due to component shortages. It's unclear where Steam Deck manufacturing falls in the company's plans — if at all.

Unlike some PC manufacturers, such as HP and Dell, Valve's scale isn't that of a global hardware giant. While some are wondering if there's a Steam Deck 2 imminent (Valve hasn't suggested it), others are talking online about the cost of making a Steam Deck as the price of memory and storage skyrocket. It's unlikely that Valve has the same backlog of components as do its competitors that specialize in consumer hardware, which could make producing the Steam Deck very expensive.

Valve likely already sells the Steam Deck at a loss. Owners primarily buy a Steam Deck to purchase games through the Steam storefront, and Valve collects a 30% cut of said game sales.

Even without the entry-level pricing of the LCD model, the $549 512GB OLED and $649 1TB options are still relatively affordable compared to competition, such as the $999.99 Asus ROG Xbox Ally X or the $1,349.99 Lenovo Legion Go 2. (The Asus ROG Xbox Ally is $599.99, but it was largely panned at release.)

This might just be a blip, in which case it may be quickly forgotten. But if it continues, it could be another sign of what we already know will be an incredibly difficult year for gaming and consumer electronics in general.

Valve has said that developers don’t need to worry about getting the Steam Machine Verified badge on their titles, confirming that there will be "fewer constraints" for developers compared to Steam Deck Verification, given its more potent hardware. Valve designer Lawrence Yang told Game Developer, “One easy rule of thumb is that if your title is Verified on Steam Deck, it will be Verified on Steam Machine.” The company announced the Steam Machine, which is a mini PC designed for living room gaming, in November 2025, and has got fans and gamers excited for its arrival. Even though Valve has yet to say how much it will cost, the company is aiming to price it at a “great value” and should be comparable to entry-level gaming builds.

Despite being marketed towards entry-level gaming, the Steam Machine is more powerful than the Steam Deck, owing to its larger form factor and more robust hardware. Aside from the massive fan and heat sink, the device will feature a 6-core AMD Zen 4 x86 processor that runs up to 4.8 GHz with a 30-watt TDP, a semi-custom AMD RDNA3 28CU graphics card with 8GB GDDR6 VRAM and a TDP of up to 110 watts, 16GB DDR5 SO-DIMMs, and a 300-watt internal power supply. On the other hand, the Steam Deck’s specifications are much more modest, accounting for the fact that it needs to run off a battery.

Because of this, if a Steam Deck can comfortably run a title, then it makes sense for the Steam Machine, with its much more capable hardware, to be able to run it, too.

The Steam Controller Puck offers “It just works” levels of reliability to gamers

Aside from making it easier for game developers to build games for both the Steam Deck and the Steam Machine, Valve is also trying to make it easier for gamers to start playing on the Steam Machine. Instead of using Bluetooth or wired USB-C, the company opted for a puck that you also use for charging the Steam Controller.

“While Bluetooth is a great wireless connection method, we found in our testing that people’s home wireless environments and PC Bluetooth capabilities are highly variable,” Valve engineer Steve Carinali told Game Developer. “Another problem we set out to solve was the fact that dedicated wireless receivers that are plugged directly into the back of a PC near other USB ports can create interference issues. Adding the charging capability encourages people to leave the puck in a place where it’s likely to have minimal interference while providing a really easy charging experience.”

This is brilliant engineering and design on the side of Valve, where it utilizes technology similar to Logitech’s Lightspeed wireless receiver. However, instead of just letting gamers stick it to a USB port in the back of the console or PC, where there’s a lot of interference and thus reducing its effectiveness, the company included a USB cable that will let you place it nearly anywhere. And to ensure that you don’t just chuck the puck in the back of your living room console or under your desk, the engineering team also used it as the charging base, so that it will likely be placed in an accessible, clutter-free area.

These innovations are just some of the reasons why Valve is one of the most-loved companies in the gaming industry. And while many are apprehensive about the pricing of the upcoming Steam Machine because of the ongoing memory crisis, we’re still excited for it to finally become available. That way, we can finally get a plug-and-play PC gaming experience in our living rooms.

Valve just announced that it will discontinue the $399 256GB LCD Steam Deck, making the most affordable option the $549 512GB OLED model. You can see the announcement when you visit the Steam Deck page on Steam, with the company adding a simple note underneath the Choose Your Steam Deck section.

Valve says, “We are no longer producing the Steam Deck LCD 256GB model. Once sold out, it will no longer be available.” With the purchase button under the LCD model grayed out and marked as “Out of stock,” it’s safe to say that we’d no longer be able to purchase the best budget handheld gaming PC of 2025 brand new, although there’s still a chance that you can score a refurbished version down the road.

The company did not explain why it’s ending the production of one of its most popular Steam Deck models, so we can only guess as to why they’re doing that. One plausible theory is that the 256GB model is no longer profitable due to the ongoing RAM crisis. A Kingston rep said NAND prices for kits have more than tripled since the start of the year, forcing memory module manufacturers to raise prices as their costs rise. More than that, the problem is expected to get worse in 2026, as memory chip makers hedge their bets against an AI bubble.

Others say that the company is clearing up inventory in preparation for new products. Valve just announced the new Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and Steam Frame 3D headset. However, these are totally different device categories, so it’s unlikely that their manufacturing lines would’ve affected Steam Deck production. It’s also doubtful that Valve is preparing for a second-generation handheld gaming console, especially since it previously said it won’t release a new model unless chipmakers have introduced chips with significant architectural improvements.

The discontinuation of the $399 Steam Deck is a disaster for budget gamers, especially as it’s one of the most affordable mainstream handheld consoles available on the market. A quick look around for competing consoles shows that the base Asus ROG Ally starts at $489.99 at Best Buy, while the entry-level Lenovo Legion Go S is priced at $589.99 on Amazon. So, if you want to get a Steam Deck for Christmas, you have no choice but to shell out an extra $150 for the OLED model.

Valve, the owner of the Steam platform and maker of the Steam Deck, is one of the most efficient companies in the world. Research firm Alinea Analytics' head of market analysis posted on X that the Steam platform alone has already made $16.2 billion in revenue, with some suggesting that the company as a whole will hit $17 billion in 2025. The company employee count between 2012 and 2021 averaged around 350 people, according to some estimates. This means that the gaming company is making almost $50 million per employee.

Note that these values are estimates based on research firms and leaked data, since Valve is a private company and not compelled to release any data about its operations. Nevertheless, the numbers track with previous information.

Wolfire, an independent game studio that sued Valve in 2021, said that the company had around 360 employees, as noted by The Verge. For comparison, in the same year, Microsoft said that the game company had an estimated revenue of $6.5 billion, meaning it's roughly bringing in $18 million+ per head.

Those figures would still be double the amount that the employees of other leading companies are making. According to Visual Capitalist, a healthcare company called McKesson is the Revenue per Employee leader, but we see it 'only' raked in $8.2 million per employee. Tech company employees are even less impactful on revenue, with Apple making $2.4 million per employee and Meta (Facebook’s parent company) bringing in only $1.9 million per employee.

Valve itself is aware of this. It’s publicly available Handbook for New Employees [PDF], first printed in 2012, states, “Our profitability per employee is higher than that of Google or Amazon or Microsoft, and we believe strongly that the right thing to do in that case is to put a maximum amount of money back into each employee’s pocket.” The company claims it has one of the best compensation packages in the industry, and we can see this in the leaked data shared by The Verge, which shows that Valve spent nearly $450 million on employee salaries, with a weighted average of more than $1.3 million per employee.

The company likely achieved this because it’s a completely privately owned corporation, beholden to neither stockholders nor private equity. So, its owners, such as Gabe Newell himself, plus some other partners, can focus on the long-term viability of the company instead of pushing it to maximize returns at the expense of gamers and publishers. It also has a unique, flat company structure, where everyone works as team members and there are no managers or C-suite executives.

Although no company is perfect (Valve was one of the first to popularise loot boxes in PC gaming), it has arguably done a lot for the gaming community and the industry as a whole. Aside from its iconic titles, like Counter-Strike, Dota 2, and Left 4 Dead, it also revolutionized how we buy games through Steam and opened the world to many smaller developers. The company also revived the handheld gaming industry when it dropped the Steam Deck in 2022, and we’re looking forward to the upcoming Steam Machine, expected to arrive in 2026.

Valve unveiled its new batch of hardware for 2026 yesterday, including a new Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and even the Steam Frame VR headset. One particularly beloved device was missing from the pack, though, and that's the Steam Deck. Now, Valve has confirmed that the Steam Deck 2 is still probably years away, noting it is waiting for a major leap in silicon to deliver the performance jump it deserves.

Launched three years ago, the Steam Deck has received only one major upgrade, the OLED variant, with many left seeking a little more juice out of this handheld. Unfortunately, the wait won't be cut any shorter as Valve has just made its priorities clear — it envisions the Steam Deck 2 as a true next-gen leap, not an iterative upgrade. Pierre-Loup Griffais, a software engineer at Valve and the lead developer behind SteamOS, spoke to IGN, clarifying, "The thing we're making sure of is that it's a worthwhile enough performance upgrade to make sense as a standalone product."

Even if you take into account the current PC handheld landscape, the Steam Deck has fallen quite a bit behind when it comes to performance. It's a testament to Valve's optimization through Proton that SteamOS can run so many Deck-verified titles, but its age is showing with some demanding AAA blockbusters, which also affect battery life.

Either extending battery endurance while maintaining similar performance or prioritizing improved frame rates while maintaining the same battery life is not enough. For Valve, the Steam Deck 2 has to provide significant jumps across both aspects with no compromise. And right now, the silicon that exists (despite various advances) is simply not up to the task, according to Griffais.

“We're not interested in getting to a point where it's 20 or 30 or even 50% more performance at the same battery life. We want something a little bit more demarcated than that. So we've been working back from silicon advancements and architectural improvements, and I think we have a pretty good idea of what the next version of Steam Deck is going to be, but right now there's no offerings in that landscape, in the SoC landscape, that we think would truly be a next-gen performance Steam Deck,” he told IGN.

To jog your memory, the Steam Deck shipped with AMD's Z1 Extreme chip, which has since been succeeded by the Z2 Extreme — as found in the ROG Xbox Ally X — offering remarkable improvements in low-wattage scenarios and respectable bumps at higher TDPs. But apparently, something like the Z2E isn't sufficient for Valve, and it's betting on upcoming silicon to address even more shortcomings.

AMD does have high-performance Strix Halo APUs at the moment, the top-end model offers 40 RDNA 3.5 CUs, matching RTX 4060 laptop performance. That's a massive jump available to harvest right away, and even if it's efficient, it's certainly not cheap, and a Steam Deck successor cannot compromise on accessibility.

Therefore, perhaps the next lineup from AMD is what brings Strix Halo numbers to the masses, at which point Valve might opt for it in the Steam Deck 2. These comments echo prior sentiment from the company, such as last year when it said Steam Decks won't have annual releases, and even before that, in 2023, when Valve confirmed the next Steam Deck is at least 2-3 years away, though the timeline likely shifted a bit when Valve's new PC-centric hardware came into the picture.

Steam has added a screen-off download feature to the Steam Deck, allowing gamers to download games without consuming a lot of battery power. According to the company, this feature will automatically turn on when you’re charging your console, while you can also enable it manually in the settings menu if you want low-power downloads even while on battery power. When it’s activated and you press the power button while downloading content, the Steam Deck will ask if you want to continue the download with the screen off. It will also go to low-power mode after you leave it idle for some time.

When in this mode, you can move or press a button on the Steam Deck to check the download status. From there, you can fully switch on the console and get to gaming, or just leave it be to continue downloading in the background of your life. However, if you activate the feature in battery mode and your handheld’s battery level falls below 20%, it will pause the download and go into full sleep mode to conserve power.

Although this might seem like a minor quality-of-life improvement, it will go a long way to improve your experience with the Steam Deck. For example, if you found a new large title you want to try out, you can download it before going to bed while keeping your handheld plugged in, and you can expect to play that new game the following day. The company also did not mention if this applies to DLC and game updates, but if it does, it would keep game updates an automatic background task every time you charge your device. That way, you can say goodbye to waiting for downloads just so you can play the latest version of your favorite title. OLED users will naturally save more battery life, and it will also help preserve OLED screen life.

Unfortunately, this isn’t available to all users yet — you have to be in the Beta or Preview channel to use this on your Steam Deck. Still, it’s going to be quite helpful for a ton of users once it hits mainstream updates, especially for those who frequently use their handheld consoles without access to high-speed internet, like when you’re passing the time while on the road.

Windows 7 can run natively on the Steam Deck, according to operating systems enthusiast Bob Pony on Twitter/X. Why this is something that needed to be done is another question. The answer, which many readers may sympathize with, is likely just because it can be done. We note that Pony has a particular penchant for Windows Vista, so perhaps we should prepare for that Steam Deck + unlikely OS announcement next.

Windows 7 (2009) and the Steam Deck (2022) are divided by an approximate 13-year gulf, so it isn’t surprising that they aren’t the most comfortable bedfellows. Immediate evidence of technical difficulties in this marriage is evident in Pony’s screenshot – the Windows 7 display is stuck in an inappropriate portrait mode.

Pony reveals some more details about the Windows 7-on-Steam Deck feat in the ensuing discussion. Apparently, there are few, if any, issues running this OS on the CPU portion of AMD’s Van Gogh APU. However, “the drivers won't install under Windows 7 as its integrated graphics is basically custom-made and drivers for it only work under 10/11,” the equine OS enthusiast explains.

Other replies in the thread ask for Windows XP and even the peculiar by any metric Temple OS to be tested out next. But we think any further steps down the Windows OS ladder will take some time. It is hardly satisfactory if Windows 7 can’t even be tweaked into landscape mode yet…

Pony shared a video demonstrating Windows 8.1 on the Steam Deck two years ago. The Metro-skinned OS ran pretty well, with full touch functionality. If this cadence is to be maintained, any Vista on Steam Deck achievement won’t be shared until 2027.

Windows 10 will be retro soon

Performance monitors are nothing new in the realm of PC gaming. From benchmarking the latest hardware to troubleshooting problematic components, they are as commonplace as the very games we play. These days, reliance on third-party software like MSI Afterburner isn’t necessary as all GPU brands offer built-in overlays inside their driver suites.

But what if that third-party software were to offer something unique? Enter, Steam.

Steam is launching a new performance monitor today, one that tells you exactly how much FPS you’re getting, but also how many of those are fake frames generated by upscaling technologies such as DLSS or FSR. It’s an upgrade over the simpler overlay that Steam has had for years, which just showed an aggregated frame counter. This feature has been in beta for a few weeks and is finally getting officially released as part of today's client update.

The new overlay shows average FPS alongside minimum and maximum FPS, with the upscaled frame rate first, right next to the actual frames your graphics card is producing. You can have graphs next to each of the metrics and, depending on how many elements you want to monitor, the overlay will keep enlarging in the corner of your screen.

Valve says this new performance monitor should help with understanding how your PC is performing under the duress of all these software tricks. Modern games are more dependent on upscaling than ever before, with increasing hardware requirements and a general decline in optimization observed since last gen. In a way, Steam’s new overlay will tell you precisely how badly your GPU needed that assist.

Moreover, the new performance monitor will also show details about CPU, GPU, and RAM usage. This includes metrics like your processor’s clock speed, your graphics card’s temperature, and how much system memory is left to spill over to background tasks. This will bring Steam’s desktop overlay up to par with MangoHud, which has been available for SteamOS and Steam Deck users for a long time.

That being said, Valve is keeping the overlay limited to Windows for now with a focus on “the most common GPU hardware,” so you might not get the full experience if you’re running Linux or have an unconventionally old graphics card. It’s a given that improvements will be made in this area by both Valve and the community going forward.

You can enable this new overlay by going to Settings > In Game and then selecting the Show performance monitor option, after installing the client update. You can view in full how to use Steam's new in-game performance monitor using our guide.

A modder has designed and put together what he reasonably describes as a DIY Steam Controller 2, or Steam Deck Controller. For a further useful twist, electrical engineer TommyB also folded in the appeal of the Nintendo JoyCon-like splittable controller(s) in his recently shared OpenSteamDeckController project.

Some might consider the original Steam Controller to have been ahead of its time. However, in 2025, its control scheme with a prominent pair of trackpads is no longer so alien and undesirable. We have the success of the Steam Deck to thank for that.

Frustrated with the lack of a similar style of controller available for PC gamers who don’t own a Deck, MakerTuber TommyB strode the logical step of a DIY solution.

Ahead of digging into the project, the engineer issues a warning. This project involved a lot of work using “a ton of off-the-shelf parts.” Tom’s Hardware readers aren’t so easily dissuaded, though, and we are sure many of you will want to follow in TommyB’s footsteps, anyway.

Tackling the hardest problem first

Work on the ‘Steam Controller 2’ began with the hardest thing to implement – the trackpads. As mentioned above, many parts are available off-the-shelf, even if you have to use multiple outlets to source all the correct components. There is no way to buy a Steam Controller or Steam Deck trackpad assembly, though. And TommyB didn’t want to cannibalize existing Valve hardware. Need we say, trackpads are a core part required for Steam Controller-style game interaction?

We learn that TommyB’s custom trackpad solution is based on the IQS7211E capacitive touch controller. To get a suitably performant and physically appropriate design for the touchpad component, some work in EasyEDA PCB, circuit design, and simulation software was required. The resulting assembly required the authoring of custom firmware to get everything to work as expected within the controller. The firmware has been shared at the top-linked GitHub repository.

Things get simpler now

Moving onto the less complicated phase of the build, TommyB talks us through all the off-the-shelf parts required to make this new controller. He reassures viewers that no Steam Decks were harmed in the creation of his device (we already know what lengths he went to create a custom trackpad).

That there are readily available replacement Steam Deck shells in lots of colors, ready to be repurposed, made the next steps easier. It is also pleasing that the DIY Steam Controller 2 features Hall Effect controllers – a significant upgrade on those found in many brand-name mainstream controllers.

Anyone who wishes to follow in TommyB’s footsteps can now do so, with full knowledge of this prior tried and trusted project. As well as making sure to watch the above embedded video in full, those interested should head on over to the OpenSteamDeckController GitHub page linked top. There, as well as the titular firmware, you can find the PCB details and schematics, plus the .STL files for the pair of controller connectors – essential 3D printer resources for outputting this design. Some other resources, for the controller PCB and wireless dongle, are yet to be uploaded at the time of writing.

A YouTube creator has been able to get their hands on an early Steam Deck prototype (engineering sample 34) and disassembled it on camera to show off its clean internal layout. X (formerly Twitter) user SadlyItsDadley lent the unit to Jon Bringus of Bringus Studios, saying, “…he was easily the best person to archive this piece of gaming history.”

Once it was in his hands, Bringus set about stripping the cover off the Steam Deck evaluation unit on his YouTube channel. Interestingly, the device came with a piece of paper marked as “POC2-34 Control 163”, signifying that the console he had in his hands was indeed proof-of-concept number 34. Aside from exploring it physically, Jon also tried running some games on the handheld, showing us how far Valve has come since it first started toying with the idea of a portable Steam gaming console.

The Unix / Linux filesystem hierarchy can seem quite daunting to those new to the OS. It was the same for us when we got started. But this mysterious filesystem isn’t that mysterious after all; we just need some explanation to go along with the directory names.

Linux is a great operating system. It runs on everything from a single-board system to a super computer. But for those users moving from a Windows environment, the filesystem can be daunting. Linux is gaining popularity for gaming, largely down to Valve's Steam Deck. But it is computers such as the Raspberry Pi which are introducing Linux to a new generation.

So let's take a look at a typical Linux filesystem found in a modern day install. We’re using Kubuntu but the directory structure will be the same for a Raspberry Pi and a data center.

Got root?

The starting point for the UNIX filesystem is the root directory, often referred to as /. This is the start for every directory on our system and typically only root, or a user in the sudo group will be able to write anything to this directory. The majority of files (if any) in this directory are read only to other users. The root user has its own home directory, which is where files and directories necessary for their work can be found.

From the root directory we move on to bin, short for binaries. In this directory we can find the absolute essential commands. We can spot commands such as cat, grep, ls, less etc. This directory is typically kept as is; we don’t want to install our break any files located here as it could render our system unusable.

Binaries, Applications and Utilities

The filesystem has many locations for commands and applications.

For critical commands and utilities we have bin. This directory contains many of the commands that we use at the terminal, ls, cp, mv. In our Ubuntu desktop we have 2453 binaries in this directory alone! The bin directory has everything that we need to have a usable Linux environment. The directory also contains the tools that we need to maintain the system, including the tools necessary when running in single user mode (a mode where a single superuser maintains the installation). As such, we largely leave bin alone as an incorrect keypress could bring a system down.

Another location for commands is sbin and this is where the absolutely essential commands are located. The “S” in sbin refers to “superuser”, a root user or a user with sudo privileges. These commands are only for privileged users and the directory contains tools to work with filesystems, networking and background services.

What if we want to use our own applications in the terminal? Can we just drop them into bin or sbin? The answer is no. Those directories should be left as is. Our applications should reside in /usr/local/bin or /usr/bin/ so that they do not interfere with any other directories. Another location to store our own applications is /opt/. Relatively few applications use this directory. On our test machine we found directories for Google Chrome, Balena’s Etcher, and Zoom.

The Mysterious Directories 

There are quite a few directories that can leave the Linux newcomer wondering “What does this directory do?” First on this hallowed list is etc. Pronounced “et-see”, the etc directory contains configuration files specific for your machine. Here we find configuration files for the Common Unix Print Service (cups), sensors (temperature) and cron (scheduling commands to run at set times).

The dev directory is where devices are located. Linux treats everything as a file, including physical devices and this directory is where we can find them. Devices such as disks, inputs and serial consoles (/dev/tty) reside here. In our experience we have used this directory to locate USB to Serial interfaces for devices such as Raspberry Pi Pico and other microcontrollers.

Short for libraries, lib is where we can find libraries essential to running the system. Here we can find kernel libraries and other essential files for our system. The libraries work in a similar manner to Windows DLL files.

A mysteriously named directory, “lost+found” sounds more at home at a bus terminal. But this directory is where obsolete/incomplete data is kept. If we ever need to reconstruct data, after an unscheduled power loss, error or bug, then we would use fsck along with lost+found.

Short for Processes, proc is a mount point for the proc filesystem. This entire directory contains files that show information on the current running processes. Each process is numbered, a PID, that we can identify by running a command such as top, htop, ps or bpytop. We used top to identify our Chrome browser process, then used the PID to change directory into the process. Using the proc directory we can explore the running processes, examine them for issues, information and extract data from running processes.

The run directory contains information about the system since it was booted. Any commands, be they automatic or started by the user, will leave a trace here. For example, when writing this feature we used peek to record part of our screen. In the run directory we found the relevant subdirectory containing the apps data.

Typically used for site-specific data, srv is used to store data files for a particular service. If you are serving web pages, CGI scripts can be used from this directory. On our test system, this directory is empty as we do not run any web services.

Working in a similar manner to proc, sys is a directory that stores information about the kernel. Structured into a series of directories for system buses, devices, firmware etc, it is easier to work with that finding raw PIDs as we did with proc.

Inside the tmp directory are a collection of temporary files and directories. These files and directories can be deleted with no notice, so ensure that you only use this directory for data that you no longer need. One trick with tmp is when we download installation files, saving these to tmp and running the installation means we don’t have to worry about cleaning up the installation files after use.

So what does usr contain? Well, usr is one of the most important directories in the Linux filesystem. In here we find all of the user-land (code that runs outside of the kernel) resides. The /usr/bin/ subdirectory contains many commands that we use on a daily basis. Further subdirectories contain libraries for user-land applications (/usr/lib), shared files such as fonts and icons (/usr/share) and Linux kernel source files contained in /usr/src/.

Our final mysteriously named directory is var. This directory is where files which may regularly change in size. Webmasters will be familiar with this directory as it is common to serve a website using /var/www/. The var directory is also the home of log files (/var/log). If something goes wrong, this is the directory to look into. We can examine the kernel logs, syslogs and the dpkg log, used to log the details of installing applications using dpkg or apt. In fact, apt has its own subdirectory, /var/log/apt, which contains term.log and history.log. These files show the applications installed using apt. We spotted two applications that we installed for this feature: tree, which we used to map the hierarchy, and pv which we used to slow down the output of listing the contents of the bin directory.

There’s no place like home (directory)

Each user has their own home directory. A space where they can store their documents, work, videos etc. Typically users will only use their home directory, never straying into the main filesystem. Should an application require a user specific configuration, it will save to one of a few hidden directories. Directories which start with a “.” are hidden from general view, but we can see them using the ls command along with three arguments. The first is -l and this ensures the data is displayed as a list. Next is -h, which formats the data using values a human would easily understand (2048MB becomes 2GB etc). Finally the -a argument shows all the files, even the hidden files.

ls -lha

To get a view of your Linux filesystem hierarchy use the tree command. As you can guess, the tree command lists the contents of filesystems in a tree-like structure.

1. Open a terminal, and update your software repositories.

sudo apt update

2. Install tree using the apt package manager.

sudo apt install tree

3. Use tree to view the structure of your Linux filesystem. We will limit the output to just one level (-L 1) and only directories (-d) and set the start point to be our root /.

tree -d -L 1

MORE: How To Check Disk Usage in Linux

MORE: How To Kill a Process in Linux

MORE: How To Find Files in Linux

Of the key components in any PC, the storage drive is the slowest, transferring bits in a fraction of the time your CPU and GPU take to process it or your RAM takes to load it. A poor-performing storage drive often leads to a big bottleneck, forcing your processor (even if it's one of the best CPUs for gaming) to waste clock cycles as it waits for data to crunch.

You can fix that problem with an SSD, but finding the best SSD or solid-state drive for your specific system and needs is key if you want the best gaming PC or laptop, or even if you just want a snappy productivity machine. To find the best SSDs for gaming and productivity, we test dozens of drives each year and highlight the best ones here. We also maintain an SSD benchmark hierarchy that ranks SSDs by performance. We have multiple categories, including the best SSD for NAS and the Best SSD for the Steam Deck listed below. For those on the hunt for the best external SSD or the best SSD for the PS5, be sure to head to those links for our recommendations based on our exhaustive testing. If you're looking for the ultimate in cheap and deep storage, we also have a list of the best hard drives.

Prime Day Exceptional SSD deal

Here is a standout deal from the Prime Day event, which is currently taking place. Our list of best overall picks continues below.

Picking the Best SSD for You

The era of PCIe 5.0 SSDs is also upon us, propelling storage performance to new heights. Blazing-fast PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSDs, which offer up to twice the sequential speeds of the older PCIe 4.0 standard, are now supported with Intel and AMD's current platforms, like Zen 5 Ryzen 9000 and the Intel Core 200S series.

It's great if your desktop system can handle a PCIe 5.0 drive, but they are still new and more expensive and certainly aren't a requirement. For example, the PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Pro is our current choice for the best SSD overall, and the best SSD for gaming. This drive is rated for 7,450 / 6,900 MBps of sequential read/write throughput and 1.2 / 1.55 million read/write IOPS. That means less time waiting for game levels to load or videos to transcode, not to mention a snappier experience in Windows.

PCIe 5.0 SSDs still have plenty to offer. The Crucial T705 ranks as the fastest consumer SSD in the world that you can actually buy, alongside similar SSDs like the Sabrent Rocket 5, delivering up to a blistering 14.5 GB/s of sequential throughput and 1.8 million random IOPS over the PCIe 5.0 interface. That's an amazing level of performance from a surprisingly compact device.

While the PCIe 5.0 drives are the fastest SSDs money can buy right now, believe it or not, raw speed isn't everything. In regular desktop tasks such as web browsing or light desktop work, you may not even notice the difference between a PCIe 3.0 SSD and one with a 4.0 interface, let alone a new bleeding-edge PCIe 5.0 model. The latest PCIe 5.0 SSDs also carry a heavy price premium for now, so you're probably best suited with a PCIe 4.0 model — unless you're after the fastest possible performance money can buy, of course. If that's the case and your system supports it, go for a new PCIe 5.0 SSD.

Ultimately, the best SSD for you is one that provides enough capacity to hold your data at a price you can afford. Consider that a high-end, AAA game can use more than 100GB of data, and Windows 11 all by itself may need 60GB. These days, we feel 2TB drives represent the sweet spot, with 4TB models becoming increasingly common.

Best SSDs in 2026 at a glance (more info below):

Here's the shortlist of our rankings, but we have deeper breakdowns for these drives below, along with far more picks for other categories, like PS5 SSDs, RGB SSDs, workstation SSDs, and SATA SSDs, among other categories.

Quick Shopping Tips

Below, you'll find our list of the best SSDs. For even more information, check out our SSD Buyer's Guide. Iif you're looking for an external SSD, you can check out our Best External Hard Drives and SSD page, or learn how to save some money by building your own external SSD.

Best SSDs You Can Buy Today

Samsung hit back at its competitors with this impressive update to the 980 Pro. New hardware and new options, including a heatsink with RGB and a 4TB variant, have allowed Samsung to retake the M.2 SSD crown. Performance is excellent across the board, setting a few new performance records, such as with 4K random read performance. In our testing, the drive was consistent, power-efficient, and cool. Samsung has also updated its software for this drive, giving it the best SSD toolbox available, and the drive is backed by a competent warranty and decent support.

$20 extra for a heatsink and RGB is a good deal, and Samsung will likely discount this drive over time. Competing PCIe 5.0 drives on the market offer faster performance, but they still carry a premium.

Read: Samsung 990 Pro review

WD has taken its popular Black SN850 SSD and turned it up to 11. The Black SN850X leverages an improved controller and newer flash to get the most out of the PCIe 4.0 interface. Performance is improved across the board, and the drive rivals most of the top contenders in the PCIe 4.0 market. There's also a heatsink option that comes with RGB at 1TB and 2TB. WD also supports the SSD with its decent Dashboard application and a respectable five-year warranty.

The M.2 Black SN850X was a bit pricey at launch, however, with a daunting MSRP, but those prices have largely come down. The touted Game Mode 2.0 feature felt incomplete in our testing, although WD ensures us that this will improve with future firmware updates. All-in-all, this is a good compromise if you can’t find the Samsung 990 Pro.

Read: WD Black SN850X review

Fastest Best SSDs

The Corsair MP700 Pro XT delivers shocking levels of performance with excellent power efficiency. It’s the first Phison E28-based drive we reviewed, and it’s also the fastest drive, period, we’ve ever reviewed. If you want a no-compromises storage solution, this is it. The only exception would be if you’re gunning for 8TB in a single drive, in which case we recommend the Samsung 9100 Pro or, when it arrives, the 8TB model of the SanDisk WD Black SN8100. The Black SN8100 was our old pick for fastest SSD and still remains relevant at lower capacities if it’s priced lower than the MP700 Pro XT.

Read: Corsair MP700 Pro XT review

Not content with the release of the WD Black SN7100, our pick for the best laptop M.2 SSD, Sandisk followed up quickly with the WD Black SN8100. This drive is a response to the Samsung 9100 Pro – a good drive in its own right – with the added desire to destroy all existing high-end PCIe 5.0 SSDs. The SN8100 achieves this by using a new, more efficient controller from SMI along with very efficient BiCS8 flash. Through this, the drive is not only highly power-efficient for an SSD of this caliber, but it’s also able to hit higher performance levels with less overhead. For the time being, it’s the fastest all-around drive out there.

Sandisk could have skimped on the capacity end, but there’s 1TB to 4TB at launch, with 8TB promised in 2025. Historicall,y it has been difficult to get even 4TB drives out the door at this performance level and while it might take some time for Sandisk to improve availability there, the upfront promise of 8TB has us more hopeful. An 8TB drive in this class is a dream come true for many enthusiasts. That said, you’ll pay for the privilege. The SN8100 is not and will not be an inexpensive drive..

Read: Sandisk WD Black SN8100 review

Best Budget PCIe 5.0 High-End SSD

“Budget” and “PCIe 5.0” are two terms that are difficult to reconcile, but the modern consumer SSD landscape is such that you actually might want to save some money when getting a high-end drive. The Lexar NM1090 Pro is positioned precisely to take advantage of that, offering full PCIe 5.0 bandwidth but at a lower cost by using older flash. The cost differential is small, but so is the real-world performance impact. This drive will max out your PCIe 5.0 slot and won’t leave much performance on the table, which means the drive can be a slightly more affordable way to future-proof.

You’re still getting 14 GB/s or more of theoretical bandwidth with up to over 2 million 4K random read IOPS. These are startling numbers that beat any PCIe 4.0 drive and also all lower-end Gen 5 drives. Earlier high-end Gen 5 drives will fall behind in other areas, such as being much less power-efficient than the NM1090 Pro. This is a drive that could functionally work in some laptops – especially in Gen 4 mode – and it never needs any active cooling. You’re trading one generation of NAND flash for the ability to get a top-tier drive for a little less money. A worthwhile trade-off, even if the drive doesn’t stand out in any way.

Read: Lexar NM1090 Pro review

Best Laptop SSDs

If you’re looking for a new SSD for your laptop or other portable device, the Sandisk WD Black SN7100 should be at the top of your list. Battery life is usually of utmost importance, and there is no drive on the market more efficient than this one. In the grand scheme of things, your SSD probably won’t make a huge dent in your power budget unless you’re pushing things a little harder, but on the other hand, every bit matters. That selling point alone might not be enough for everyone, but luckily, the Black SN7100 also has fantastic random read performance, which makes it exceptionally responsive.

While the drive did not have a 4TB model at the time of launch and review, it is now part of the lineup, which removes one of the negatives we had for the drive. You no longer have to compromise on capacity. However, the drive still suffers from middling all-around performance, and its pricing remains a sticking point. Sandisk has been more prone to sales as of late, though, and we think that even if this drive isn’t the best pick for desktop, it’s pretty hard to beat for laptops.

Read: Sandisk WD Black SN7100 Review

The Crucial T500 combines cutting-edge flash with a customized controller that manages to be power-efficient with just four channels but also squeezes in the coveted performance-boosting DRAM cache. The T500 is also a single-sided drive with TCG Opal support, making it perfect for professional laptop use.

Many laptops are still stuck with PCIe 3.0 slots, and that’s fine. The T500 will be even more efficient when run at 3.0, and its benefits, aside from bandwidth potential, do not disappear. While the T500 does offer a heatsinked version, which we have in our all-around best SSD category, you’ll be going bare for a laptop. In this respect, it can even be better than DRAM-less drives, as the T500’s controller has more surface area and a metal IHS to prevent controller overheating. It’s simply the finest drive for laptops at this time unless you really want more horsepower. That’s on the menu, too, especially once the 4TB version arrives.

Read: Crucial T500 Review

Best 4TB SSD

4TB has become a more attractive capacity point for SSDs as time has gone on. While there are now many options available, most come with compromises of one sort or another. You may have to settle for QLC, a weaker controller, no DRAM, unreliable hardware, etc. This is not always a big deal, especially if the drive is intended to be a secondary gaming drive. In the PlayStation 5, however, extra cooling is beneficial, so it’s convenient to have a heatsink option available. At the same time, laptops favor bare drives and especially single-sided drives, the latter of which have been very rare with TLC until recently.

Samsung has managed all of this with its high-performing 990 Pro SSD. You have a powerful controller with DRAM, cutting-edge TLC flash, and a single-sided drive with or without heatsink even at 4TB. WD’s SN850X has been out a while at 4TB but has no heatsink option and is double-sided, with the SN850P being a latter heatsinked version for the PS5. There has been an increasing amount of 4TB TLC drives, including the Lexar NM790 and Addlink A93, but these cannot compare to the power and brand power of Samsung’s 990 Pro. You do have to pay for that privilege given the high MSRP, but at this time there is no substitute.

Read: Samsung 990 Pro Review

Now that Crucial has finally brought out the 4TB SKU for the T500, it can replace the T700 on our best SSDs list for the best 4TB SSD alternative. The T700 is still a good choice for this, but the T500 is better for a few reasons. While both drives have a heatsink option, the T700 requires one, while the T500 can work bare in a laptop. The T500 is also more power-efficient but doesn’t skimp on performance by omitting DRAM. And while the T700 is PCIe 5.0 capable, many machines — including laptops and the PS5 — won’t benefit from that extra bandwidth.

The 4TB T500 is not without its faults, though. Its pricing is a little high for what you get, matching other high-end drives, which makes more sense on desktops. This is partly because the T500 has inconsistent sustained performance while those like the 990 Pro and SN850X do not. The 4TB T500 is also double-sided, which potentially reduces its compatibility. There are already single-sided, 4TB DRAM-less drives for less, such as the Lexar NM790, and there may be more in the future, although in general, this fact shouldn’t reduce the T500’s appeal.

Read: Crucial T500 4TB review

Best High-Capacity (8TB) SSD

We love the WD Black SN8100 and we love the SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 now, too. Okay, it’s the same drive by a different name, but we finally got to see what this hardware can do at 8TB with the latter. While the WD Black SN850X remains the best bargain for an 8TB SSD, the Optimus GX Pro 8100 / Black SN8100 offers the best performance for an 8TB drive. It achieves all of this while remaining power-efficient, which is no mean feat. It even offers an optional heatsink with RGB LED lighting if that suits your fancy.

Most importantly and especially for a high-capacity drive, the drive’s random read latency is incredibly low. This ensures the most responsive experience possible with fast game and app loading times. The drive even has a Game Mode feature to improve this even further. It’s maybe a little expensive to get just for games, but if you want the very best this is the way to go. It’s the best all-around 8TB drive out there if you need one drive to rule them all. The Samsung 9100 Pro is not the worst consolation prize but it’s just not as good. We’ll have to wait for more high-end, Gen 5 8TB drives to see if SanDisk’s masterpiece can be unseated.

Read: SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 Review

The Samsung 9100 Pro is not a record-setting drive now that the second generation of Gen 5 SSD controllers are coming out in retail products. However, it is the first high-end drive to offer an 8TB SKU. This is a massive amount of storage, especially for a drive at this performance level. The 9100 Pro delivers good results in all of our tests, and the overall package is perfect for enthusiasts who want this much space in one drive for their HEDTs and workstations. It can also work in laptops, but the double-sided nature of the drive makes it more suitable for desktops, especially with the optional and affordable heatsink. Behind it all is Samsung’s name, so you know you’re getting a high-quality product with support to back your expensive investment.

Read: Samsung 9100 Pro 8TB SSD review

Best Budget M.2 SSD

Everybody loves a good budget drive and, luckily, there’s almost always something to fill that gap. Right now, it’s the Biwin NV7400, taking over from our long-time favorite TeamGroup MP44. There’s nothing wrong with the MP44; it’s just getting harder to find. It also has variable hardware – a reality for almost all drives – while our more recent NV7400 sample had very good hardware, indeed. Biwin did a great job with this drive, and we can recommend it for pretty much any system, so if its price is at or below similar contenders like the MP44, then it’s an easy choice. Assuming things stay that way.

There are many things to like. It has good all-around performance, capped by good power efficiency. The single-sided design, that makes it a good pick for laptops and the PS5. You can always add your own heatsink, though. It also has high TBW if that’s something you look at, although we think a drive with DRAM is better for high writes. Also, there is no 8TB SKU here – the MP44 does have that – but we really don’t think that matters for a budget drive. There are less expensive drives, sure, but this category is for the best budget drive, and the NV7400’s bandwidth and 232-Layer flash take the prize.

Read: Biwin Black Opal NV7400 2TB SSD Review

We recently replaced the TeamGroup MP44L on our Best PS5 SSDs list for a good reason: the MP44L has had its hardware changed over its life, but it’s now showing up with decidedly bad controllers and QLC flash. It was our budget champion for quite some time, but it feels like Team has introduced the MP44Q to fill that gap.

Drives in the middle of the PCIe 4.0 range – usually around 5 GB/s peak, give or take – are becoming less sensible by the day. What this means for you is that it’s more appropriate to opt for budget-friendly 7 GB/s drives, such as the MP44 and MP44Q, if you’re budget-conscious. Which drive to pick depends on the pricing and availability at the time of purchase. The MP44Q can end up competing with the MP44 with comparable pricing at times, and even at its best, it’s up against other QLC-based drives.

That doesn’t mean the MP44L and its class of drives should be ignored completely, as sometimes it really does come down to a few $ in either direction. However, we would strongly recommend going up to the MP44Q at the least if you value hardware longevity. Cheap drives are cheap for a reason. The MP44L once stood out with good controllers and TLC flash, but now that the market squeeze has left it as a poor man’s Kingston NV3 – Kingston’s NV series being the poster child for hardware that changes in some budget SSDs – we think you can do better. The MP44Q offers a good, power-efficient alternative.

Read: TeamGroup MP44Q review

The WD Green SN3000 is not a drive for everyone. It’s on the lower end for budget Gen 4 drives in terms of peak bandwidth, and it inherits a mixed reputation. WD’s Green line has always been associated with dirt-cheap drives that are very much the last resort. This isn’t helped by the fact that the SN3000 has a shorter warranty than usual at three years, and also has some of the lowest TBW, or warrantied writes, of any drive we’ve tested in recent memory. That paints a nasty picture, but we believe this drive is actually a diamond in the rough.

The drive has good performance thanks to its BiCS8 QLC flash, so it feels more responsive than expected. This flash also helps the drive stay efficient enough for mobile devices. On top of this, you can get the drive at smaller capacities that have been hard to find. If you’re buying on a budget, it’s a veritable godsend. We can overlook its weak sustained write performance, as that’s not a factor in this segment. As for the TBW, we can’t deny that it is dismal, but in its defense, a read-heavy drive won’t have any problem here over three years.

Read: WD Green SN3000 Review

Sandisk’s newest Blue NVMe SSD is an achievement despite its complete transition from TLC to QLC flash. This drive has something for everyone, offering decent all-around performance, low 4K random read latency, and high power efficiency, all within a nice capacity range. In fact, it’s difficult to tell it apart from the TLC-based Black SN7100 in everyday use. Given that the Blue SN5100 is using less-expensive QLC flash, it should end up priced better, too, which would be quite something given the great value the Black SN7100 provides.

The Blue SN5100’s excellent balance makes it an all-around winner for use in mobile systems, the PS5, HTPCs, and as a secondary or gaming desktop drive. It’s a drive for everyone and is our pick for the best QLC drive on the market, although the Crucial P310 comes close. QLC usually means capacity, and thankfully, the Blue SN5100 is available up to 4T,B which leaves us with few criticisms. Yes, it still has weaker sustained write performance than a TLC drive, but this is less concerning than the launch price. This drive, when settled at its proper price point, will be a great pick.

Read: Sandisk WD Blue SN5100 Review

WD took its popular Black SN850 SSD and turned it up to 11, but luckily for value seekers, the price isn't nearly as extreme. The current $156 price on Amazon for the 2TB model is a great deal, even if it's now $25 more than it cost last year. The Black SN850X uses an improved controller and newer flash to get the most out of the PCIe 4.0 interface, thus delivering excellent performance with the Sony PlayStation 5. WD improved performance across the board, and the drive comes with a heatsink option at 1TB and 2TB capacity points.

WD also supports the SSD with a solid five-year warranty that will let you game with peace of mind. This drive is made for the PlayStation 5, and while it can be a bit pricier than budget options, overall, it's still our top pick for the PS5. It's also fast for gaming on a PC, particularly with DirectStorage starting to become useful, so this drive is plenty attractive.

WD has taken the course of releasing an officially licensed SN850P SSD. That drive is a glorified heatsinked SN850X and you should only pick it if you want the heatsink at 4TB. Even then, it's far cheaper to get a bare SN850X and add your own heatsink.

Read: WD Black SN850X Review

The Addlink A93 is a perfect example of a great PlayStation 5 expansion drive – it delivers top performance at up to 4TB without breaking the bank. The PS5 doesn’t need anything special, but you might as well get a drive that will last a long time. The A93 checks this box with its TLC flash, and it’s also designed for the PS5 with a compliant heatsink and a single-sided drive design. It’s DRAM-less with a four-channel controller, which means it’s power-efficient and, with its heatsink, it’s therefore unlikely to overheat, which is always good news for console lovers.

That said, enthusiasts would still prefer to have DRAM, which is why we have the WD Black SN850X as our first pick for a PS5 drive. If you’re trying to save some money, though, the A93 is a decent substitute. There are competing drives that would work as well, such as the Lexar NM790, but currently, the A93 offers the best package for the best price. It has all the performance you need with no real drawbacks, unless you really have your heart set on 8TB.

Read: Addlink A93 SSD Review

The Crucial P310 came as a bit of a surprise, but a welcome one. M.2 2230 SSDs have ratcheted up in popularity ever since Valve’s Steam Deck launched, and now there are more portable gaming systems than ever. There’s also Microsoft’s Surface Pro line and some laptops that take M.2 2230 or M.2 2242 - this drive can be extended up to M.2 2280 if needed - which used to mean going to eBay for OEM options like the WD SN740. This hasn’t been the case in a while, but finding a decent 2TB drive has remained difficult. The P310 handles that challenge like a champ.

Sure, it’s QLC-based, which means it’s not quite as fast or consistent as it could be, but it’s more power-efficient than the TLC-based WD Black SN770M and has more throughput. In fact, it’s the fastest 2TB M.2 2230 SSD we’ve ever tested. We expect the updated Corsair MP600 Mini would beat it, but the P310 has better availability and should be less expensive. It’s fast enough where it matters, which makes it the best option if you’re looking purely for capacity, but your host system should be able to take PCIe 4.0 drives to fully benefit.

Read: Crucial P310 SSD review

Kingston’s NV3 (2230) is a good example of a budget drive done right. Our reviewed version has good hardware, including superior QLC flash. However, the specifications are lower than normal which gives Kingston the ability to change the hardware down the road. This isn’t a big trade-off considering the drive is priced right at 1TB and 2TB, the most popular drive capacities for this form factor. The good power efficiency also means it won’t drain your battery or overheat.

When we’re talking about the Steam Deck this drive is more than fast enough as the device is limited to PCIe 3.0. Other and future devices will take PCIe 4.0 and even 5.0 SSDs, however. For the most part you don’t need a drive with TLC flash even in that case if your primary workload is gaming. The NV3 would have more competition there, certainly on the performance front but also possibly with capacity down the line. Aside from the excellent Crucial P310, we may begin to see 4TB drives in this and the M.2 2242 form factor with double-sided solutions, 2TB dies, or both. Right now the NV3 is a solid deal, though.

Read: Kingston NV3 (2230) SSD review

Corsair’s second run at the MP600 Mini, now with a faster controller and flash, is an example of how to do things right. It takes M.2 2230 SSDs to the next level in terms of performance while maintaining excellent levels of power efficiency. To top it off, it brings TLC flash at up to 2TB in a single-sided package. Previously, it was necessary to go with QLC flash - which in some cases is slower than TLC flash - or the power-hungry WD Black SN770M, which in any case isn’t as fast. This isn’t as big a deal with the PCIe 3.0 Steam Deck, as you can’t reach the full potential of today’s drives with that interface.

The new MP600 Mini comes at a price, though. Literally - it costs a bit more than the competition. The least expensive way to get this level of performance is to go with the Crucial P310, the best choice for M.2 2230 on any PCIe 4.0 platform if you want the highest capacity and 7 GB/s. For a 3.0 platform like the Deck and TLC flash, the Black SN770M remains solid. If you want the best performance possible, then the updated MP600 Mini is the way to go. For the time being, it is even good for M.2 2242 with an extender, otherwise, the native Rocket Nano 2242 will do the trick at 1TB.

Read: Corsair MP600 Mini (E27T) SSD Review

The WD Black SN770M is unique in that it offers 2TB of TLC NAND flash in the tiny M.2 2230 form factor in a single-sided design. This makes it optimal for use in the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, and other portable gaming/computing devices. Some of these can take double-sided drives or longer drives, but the most popular of them all - the Deck and Deck OLED - work best with this form factor. For a long time, it was only possible to get a drive with less-desirable QLC if you wanted 2TB, but with the SN770M, that compromise is no longer required.

This comes at a cost as the older hardware on the SN770M - which is the same as the popular M.2 2280 Black SN770 - pulls more power and puts out more heat. For regular gaming use, this wasn’t an issue in our testing. The difference in battery life is essentially negligible, and the drive is usually not pushed enough for its direct heat output to be an issue. Therefore, it offers the best baseline performance in this form factor for now, but QLC-based alternatives may be more affordable.

Read: WD Black SN770M Review

The Corsair MP700 Micro is the best M.2 2242 SSD on the market, and it’s not even close. It’s not only the fastest drive, it also has the highest capacity possible at up to 4TB in a single-sided design. This makes it an effective, if niche, storage solution. If you happen to need an M.2 2242 SSD with this much space or want the highest performance and power efficiency possible, the MP700 Micro is your drive. Although a bit overkill, it would also be great in PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 slots if that’s all you have available.

The overkill factor is also a drawback to this SSD. You can get by with slower drives like the Sabrent Rocket Nano 2242, especially as most M.2 2242 devices are not PCIe 5.0 capable. While it’s impossible to match the capacity of the 4TB MP700 Micro, it’s a very expensive drive, and the current memory market may end up encouraging smaller drives for affordability purposes. If all you need is 1TB or 2TB, you can get by with many M.2 2242 or 2240 drives instead. The MP700 Micro still has its place, though, and it could be a niche solution for specific HTPC builds as well.

Read: Corsair MP700 Micro review

With the growing popularity of M.2 2230 SSDs, it was only a matter of time before we saw retail 2242 options. The Sabrent Rocket Nano 2242 is one of these, alongside the Corsair MP600 Micro. Alternatives include OEM and last-gen drives, like Sabrent’s original Rocket 2242, but some are double-sided. Not so with the Rocket Nano 2242, which will fit in the Lenovo Legion Go and many laptops with at least one M.2 2242 slot. It’s an easy drop-in solution with good performance and power efficiency.

The drive is only currently available at 1TB. However, with dual NAND packages, we expect larger capacity options in the future. M.2 2230 SSDs can also be extended for M.2 2242, but the 2TB options currently on the market all have their own drawbacks, except perhaps for the imminent Corsair MP600 Mini (E27T). However, the Rocket Nano 2242 gives plenty of performance for portable devices as it stands and is an easy pickup for M.2 2242.

Read: Sabrent Rocket Nano 2242 SSD review

PNY had its heart set on producing a very fast RGB-capable SSD, and with the CS3150 XLR8, or CS3150, it succeeded. This PCIe 5.0 SSD also has a heatsink with dual fans to ensure it never overheats. PNY’s software allows control over the RGB and fans, with synchronization possible for the former if you have other PNY RGB products. The warranty is standard, but the drive does support hardware encryption via the TCG Opal 2.0 specification, which may be a selling point for some.

The CS3150 isn’t perfect, though. It’s expensive and can be difficult to find. It’s only available at 1TB and 2TB capacities, needing 2TB to hit its maximum performance numbers. There are also other drives equal or faster to it, although for many workloads this isn’t particularly relevant. If RGB isn’t your thing, this drive also comes without the RGB in both white and black variants. Regardless of the model you go for, the drive can operate without throttling, and its performance is good across the board.

Read: PNY CS3150 Review

Best Workstation SSDs

The Inland Performance Plus has been around for a while, so long in fact that it hasn’t been using its original hardware in a long time. It was updated when the Gaming Performance Plus came out with a newer type of flash. It also saw an expanded capacity range over time, up to 8TB. The performance specifications have not changed, though, and remain quite good for a Gen 4 drive. The warranty is also excellent at six years – more than the typical five – with up to a whopping 6,000TBW at 8TB.

This is a solid all-around drive that’s good for anything, but it’s especially good for NAS. Aside from the high write endurance and warranty period, the drive also has a balanced pSLC cache scheme that makes it more ideal for expected workloads. It doesn’t hurt that the drive is also actually available – well, at the time of writing, anyway – for prices that are not outside the competitive range. It’s Inland so there’s no real software support, but that’s our only ding.

Read: Inland Performance Plus Review

The Seagate FireCuda 530R is an all-around contender for best workstation drive, covering all the main areas you look at for a heavier workload storage solution. It has good performance with exceptional IOPS, consistent writes, and decent throughput. The drive is rated for an unusually high amount of writes, and Seagate throws in three years of data recovery service support, too. On top of this, it also optionally comes with a heatsink and runs surprisingly cool for a drive of its caliber and hardware age.

Speaking of age, the Phison E18 controller is long in the tooth, and BiCS6 flash isn’t as exciting as it once was. However, this combination proves to be a winner if you’re looking for a reliable workstation SSD. You’re mostly missing out on the higher-efficiency options that now exist, but we’d take this drive over the DRAM-less options if you have more demanding workloads.

Read: Seagate FireCuda 530R Review

Best Workstation SSD Alternate

The Kingston KC3000 is a long-standing favorite, a popular Gen 4 SSD that has been around for a while. There are many drives out there with the same hardware, including the previous holders of our Best Workstation SSD and SSD Alternate slots. The primary reason for the change is that drives with the Phison E18 controller have been identified with issues that could impact performance or reliability. However, only a few manufacturers have actually addressed this with a firmware update. Kingston is the primary one, offering the update for both the KC3000 and the Fury Renegade.

This makes the KC3000 a safer pick for workstation use, given that it also has decent all-around performance and is readily available. It also has a higher-than-standard TBW endurance rating and the Kingston name, which means it can be serviced more widely around the world. The only downside is that there are competing products, including some that are less expensive. However, if the reported issues are something you take seriously, then that brings things into focus. The KC3000 – or its sibling, the Fury Renegade – checks the right boxes for workstation use if you want a reliable solution.

Read: Kingston KC3000 Review

Best NAS SSDs

The Addlink NAS D60 is a niche drive but fills its designated role pretty well. If you have a NAS system, a workstation, or other servers - whether for home lab use or SOHO - this drive may be worth looking at. Assuming your server can take an M.2 NVMe drive or two, the NAS D60 can do caching duty in tandem with mechanical hard drives or even be used in an all-flash array. Whichever way you go, some special features of this drive help it step away from other retail consumer drives, which justifies its price premium. But it’s still more affordable than full-out enterprise solutions.

The first thing that stands out about this drive is that it’s using enterprise-grade flash. Such flash is more reliable with higher baseline endurance. This lets Addlink extend the warranty to 1 drive write per day (DWPD), which is three times the retail standard. The second thing that stands out is that it has capacitors on-board for power loss protection. This means improved integrity for data-in-flight. Lastly, the NAS D60 foregoes any pSLC cache, which, while hurting all-around performance, does give more consistent sustained performance. This combination makes it particularly good for a write cache, singly or in RAID, for NAS and other systems.

If you’re looking for a more traditional drive or one with a larger capacity option, the Adata Legend 960 Max remains viable. It also has a heatsink, which the D60 NAS lacks. Pick the D60 Max if you want the higher TBW, the PLP, and/or the non-cache performance characteristics. Oh, and remember that the NAS D60 will not be very power-efficient if that’s a factor for you.

Read: Addlink NAS D60 SSD review

Best SATA SSDs

You can get a SATA drive in the M.2 form factor, but most SATA drives are 2.5-inch models, which allows them to drop into the same bays that hold laptop hard drives. SATA drives are the cheapest.

If you’re still buying SATA SSDs, your options are vanishingly few if you’re looking for a quality drive. Crucial has stopped making its popular MX500 – our previous Best SATA SSD – and other manufacturers have swapped to DRAM-less hardware in some cases, the WD Blue SA510 being the most prominent example. While having DRAM isn’t make-or-break with newer M.2 NVMe SSDs, it’s more useful for maintaining good performance with SATA SSDs. TLC flash is also preferable to QLC if you want to maintain high write speeds and performance.

This leaves the Samsung 870 EVO as the likely best remaining SATA SSD available. You’re going to get quality TLC flash and DRAM. Samsung also offers a decent capacity range, which means you should be able to find the drive you need when you need it. The vast majority of SATA SSDs out there are DRAM-less nowadays, but they’re also cheaper and might be good enough for basic upgrades. The 870 EVO, as a result, is an expensive proposition, but if you want a drive to last, it’s the best option.

Read: Samsung 870 EVO Review

How We Test SSDs and Benchmark Charts

We use the same test system for all our SSD benchmarks. You can find the specifications in the boxout, and the short summary is that it's an Intel Alder Lake platform — chosen because it was the first platform to support PCIe 5.0 for expansion cards and M.2 slots. We have periodically looked at newer platforms, but Raptor Lake didn't change the results much if at all, and AMD's PCIe 5.0 platforms tend to be slightly slower than Intel's platforms.

We have a battery of benchmarks, each of which gets run multiple times. We use the best result from each test. Here are the charts of all currently tested SSDs (from the past three years, give or take). We froze Windows 11 at version 22H2 in order to keep the test results consistent — various security updates have had an impact on certain benchmarks over the years.

We've grouped the SSDs by capacity, beginning with the 4TB and larger drives, then the 2TB drives (which are easily the most popular and well-represented class in our testing), then the 1TB drives, and finally all the 2230 drives (in both Gen3 and Gen4 modes). We haven't tested any new 500GB-class or smaller SSDs in several years as that market is mostly dead for DIY upgrades these days.

4TB SSD and larger testing results

2TB SSD testing results

1TB SSD testing results

M.2 2230 SSD testing results

Finding Discounts on the Best SSDs in 2026

Whether you're shopping for one of the best SSDs or one that didn't quite make our list, you may find savings by checking out the latest Crucial promo codes, Newegg promo codes, Amazon promo codes, Corsair coupon codes, Samsung promo codes or Micro Center coupons.

MORE: Best External SSDs and Hard Drives

MORE: All SSD Content

Following a report from GamingOnLinux pointing out that recent rumors of an in-testing Steam Console were simply vapor, an official statement from Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais on BlueSky confirmed this to be the case. Griffais clarifies that the pre-release Mesa Vulkan work on AMD's RDNA 4 architecture is perfectly in line with what Valve's been doing since AMD's Vega architecture. While it's true that Valve is indeed testing with and updating software for an upcoming GPU architecture, this does not mean they're suddenly relaunching the Steam Machine initiative.

That blows the dreams of a new Steam Console out of the water, right? At least for the foreseeable future, yes... but let's take a more critical look at Valve's foray into the "console" space and discuss the various possibilities, both for a revived Steam Machine initiative as well as for the Steam Deck 2.

What we know about Valve's hardware plans

The smoking gun for an incoming Steam console was never going to be enablement of some pre-release GPU architecture like AMD's RDNA 4. Consoles — even the likes of the Steam Deck — generally ship with custom hardware based on existing architectures. By the time a console actually releases, the GPU and CPU tech are almost always at least a generation behind the latest hardware. That's because extensive pre-planning is needed to launch platforms like these.

When the Steam Deck launched back in 2022, it used AMD's RDNA 2 architecture that first appeared back in November 2020, putting about a year and a half between the Steam Deck and its original GPU architecture, and 2.5 years between the Steam Deck and the Zen 2 CPU architecture. RDNA 4 is AMD's upcoming desktop architecture, and it would take even more time, effort, and money to roll that into an APU that would be feasible for a handheld.

The current top iGPU solutions use AMD's RDNA 3 and RDNA 3.5 iGPU architectures, and tangible performance gains while running on battery power haven't been exactly forthcoming. Higher performance while plugged in is one thing, but handhelds are very much constrained by their batteries. We only just started getting Ryzen AI HX 300 Series APUs with RDNA 3.5 iGPUs in the past few months.

Another major sign that a Steam Console isn't Valve's priority right now is that the confirmed Steam Deck 2 is "at least two or three years away," and Valve is waiting for greater leaps in hardware capabilities. Consoles typically shoot for a larger generation gap between releases, so while an RDNA 4 iGPU isn't out of the question for the eventual Steam Deck 2, it's not coming out any time soon. It would seem a bit extreme for Valve to be launching three distinct SteamOS hardware platforms in the span of just under seven years.

While RDNA 4 certainly looks tantalizing based on what we know, there's too much we still don't know — like what kind of power consumption it has, how much performance it offers, and how much it will cost. It will take time before we start seeing it in a form factor like a handheld PC.

Peering into the future with our crystal ball

Let's move into the realm of the unknown and the speculation that comes with it, while still remaining rooted in what we do know about PC hardware and how it impacts the (handheld) console market.

Late last year, there were legitimate leaks of new Valve designs for both a brand-new Steam Controller with an overhauled Deck-inspired design and next-gen VR controllers. The Steam Controller being iterated upon may point toward Valve reviving the Steam Link set-top box or the Steam Machine initiative in some manner... but it could also just be for providing parity between Steam Deck handheld and Docked play, especially for users who love making the most of Steam Input's extra features, like touch-sensitive gyro support.

Does this mean a Steam Console is totally outside the realm of possibility? Perhaps not — at the very least, it seems likely that once Steam OS 3 gets a wider release, more manufacturers may adopt it for mini PCs, laptops, handhelds, and the like. Additionally, a larger form factor would make it much easier for Valve to target features like real-time ray-tracing. On the current Deck hardware, RT is only feasible targeting 30 FPS in mostly-rasterized games, with full RT or path-traced games being completely out of the question thanks to both the old hardware and the very low power limits.

For a true generational leap in handheld performance, Valve needs more than RDNA 4 improved RT capabilities. It also needs a GPU architecture that can deliver those RT results at a 25W TDP (ROG Ally, Legion Go, MSI Claw, etc.) or 15W TDP (Steam Deck). With full discrete RDNA 4 mobile GPUs estimated to run somewhere in the range of 80-175W TDP, it's fair to say AMD isn't quite there yet.

But there are ways to get there if desired. RDNA 4 will use TSMC's N4 process node, which has been around for over two years now. The Steam Deck's Van Gogh APU is built on TSMC's now 'ancient' N7 node. Certainly a move to N5 or N4 would help quite a bit. But in a couple of years, the N3 and N2 variants should be more readily available. Smaller nodes tuned for efficiency could be precisely what's needed to make a more compelling chip for a future handheld — if the total die size and price can be kept in check.

Is a Steam Console even necessary, though? Slap a Steam Deck onto a compatible docking station and you already have a much more powerful home console than the Nintendo Switch. If Nintendo has abandoned traditional home consoles, a company like Valve probably also sees more value in a hybrid-handheld approach to its custom hardware that won't as-directly compete with the mainstream consoles and gaming PCs.

Someone has stripped down and modded one of the popular Steam Deck handhelds into a minimal form factor dubbed the Steam Brick. "No screen, no controller, and absolutely no sense," quips Crastinator-Pro on GitHub, "just a power button and a USB port." Yet, it still delivers all the portable functionality the GitHubber needs as the device was (and is) invariably connected to either a TV or AR glasses for Steam-based fun.

For some, like Crastinator-Pro, the Steam Deck is a bit hefty, even ungainly. They explain that the handheld was often left behind when packing a backpack, as it was just a little bit too bulky. We guess the 'brick' is also rather more rugged and immune to mistreatment.

Crastinator-Pro followed the iFixIt Steam Deck Repair Guides to strip down the handheld to its bare essentials without rendering it useless in the process. They first pleasingly confirmed that the Steam Deck wasn't averse to starting up without its standard-issue control array, battery, or even the screen. Next, the system was safely disassembled to become just a mainboard and fan.

Finding that a rigid metal frame was also part of the Steam Deck structure, Crastinator-Pro cut off a couple of its protrusions to make a perfect reinforcement for the Steam Brick. A few measurements and CAD drafting minutes later, and the GitHubber had managed to 3D print a brick shell to snugly accommodate the frame, mobo, and cooling.

The result was that the newly formed Steam Brick was "about a 3rd of the size of the Deck, and about 4 times smaller than the Deck’s OEM case," says Crastinator-Pro. "As a bonus, it’s also 24% lighter!" It can also be tossed in a bag without any case or screen protection, and the creator claims there is nothing to worry about.

Now, in use, the Steam Brick is powered on using a single button, then a dock can provide power and monitor/headset connectivity.

There are a couple of small wrinkles that affect the GitHub-shared plans, as they stand, though. Crastinator-Pro noted that they aren't able to access the BIOS, as that function requires holding down the '+' while powering up. That issue can be sidestepped using a terminal command to enter BIOS at the next boot, though.

Secondly, the Steam Brick power indicator light doesn't differentiate between the system being on or off. This doesn't sound like a very serious issue, as the system is also stripped of battery power, so once unplugged, it isn't going to be left running by accident.

Valve has introduced the Steam Deck OLED to its certified refurbished program. Gamers can now buy the OLED variant refurbished directly from Valve at a heavy discount. The refurbished OLED models are 20% less expensive than their vanilla brand-new counterparts.

The 1TB OLED and 512GB Steam Deck OLED models are available with the refurbished program. The 1TB model is priced at $519, and the 512GB at $439. By comparison, buying the new 1TB version costs $649, and the 512GB version costs $549, representing a $120 discount for the 1TB model and a $110 discount for the 512GB model. Valve's pricing means gamers can get the 1TB OLED model for $30 cheaper than the 512GB OLED model brand new.

The only Steam Deck variant that users can buy new that undercuts the refurbished OLED model pricing is the (technically previous generation) 256GB LCD variant, currently sold for $399. Valve sells certified refurbished versions of its LCD Steam Deck, but all three models—the 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB—are out of stock. The 512GB and 64GB LCD models can no longer be bought new.

It is easy to forget that the Steam Deck OLED version is a much more significant upgrade than the name implies. Beyond the apparent upgrade from an LCD to an OLED display, the display alone has been upgraded to a 90Hz refresh rate and a 7.4-inch form factor with HDR support, 400 nits of brightness, and 1000 nits of peak brightness in HDR mode. The LCD version was a 7-inch model that lacked HDR support and peaked at 60Hz, 400 nits of brightness.

Under the hood, changes were also made; the battery got a noticeable upgrade from a 40Whr unit to a 50Whr unit. Valve claims the 50 Whr unit can power the OLED Deck anywhere between 3 to 12 hours, depending on the game. Valve advertises a 2-8 hour battery life for the LCD version. RAM was upgraded on the OLED from 5500MT/s LPDDR5 to higher clocked 6400 MT/s LPDDR5, and the AMD APU saw a process node shrink from 7nm to 6nm.

Refurbished Steam Deck OLEDs are only available in certain regions, including Canada, the EU, the UK, and the US. Refurbished units come with the same one-year warranty as new units. However, it could be longer, depending on your country of residence.

Corsair is discounting its Corsair MP600 Core Mini PCIe 4.0 SSD down to $109.99 on Newegg using the promo code BFEDY2A97. The SSD typically sells for $159.99.

The Corsair MP600 Core Mini is easily the most affordable compact PCIe 4.0 SSD of its kind. While our review does highlight some shortcomings, the performance on offer is overall plenty for use with the Steam Deck and gaming workloads, though not to the extent of a modern high-end PCIe 5.0 or anything. In other words, it should be an ideal solution if you're looking to replace the storage of your Steam Deck or Steam Deck OLED moving into the holiday season.

Gview, getting a 2 TB NVMe drive at this size requires some compromises, and the compromise made in the Corsair MP600 Core Mini is opting for slower QLC flash storage over faster TLC flash storage. Fortunately, QLC flash memory also makes the drive more accessible for its storage density. With the discounts in full swing, you could now pay just $109.99 on Newegg.

Higher-end options with incredible transfer speeds certainly exist, but diminishing returns are a huge factor, particularly with power-constrained handheld console designs like Steam Deck. When its cache isn't full, a QLC SSD will still feel like an SSD, but stuffing it to capacity can make things feel sluggish. Be sure to offset this by keeping some space clear, especially with the help of an SD card, if possible.

Overall, Steam Deck and other handheld gamers who want a beefier pool of NVMe storage should consider the Corsair MP600 Core Mini.

Valve may not be releasing a true Steam Deck successor immediately, but the company's best gaming handheld is getting a new release soon, in the form of a limited edition Steam Deck OLED in white.

Dubbed the "Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White," the white Steam Deck OLED will feature the same specs as the existing 1TB model, though at $679 it will carry a $30 premium. The system will go on sale next week, on Monday, November 18.

Beyond coming in white and gray, the Limited Edition White Deck will also ship with a white carrying case and microfiber cleaning cloth.

This isn't the first time Valve has experimented with color. It launched the Steam Deck OLED with a limited edition smoky translucent shell, which sold out quickly (and also, unfortunately, was prone to small aesthetic cracks). This time around, though, Valve says the white Deck will ship wherever the Steam Deck is currently for sale, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and, most recently, Australia — as well as in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea through its partner Komodo. Stock of the white Deck will be allocated "proportionally" across each of the regions.

In an attempt to stave off scalpers, Valve is limiting orders to one white Steam Deck per account, and your Steam account has to have at least one purchase prior to November 2024 on it.

In a statement to press, Valve said that the second limited edition Steam Deck OLED will help the company decide what colors to release later on: "We're curious to see what the response is, and will use what we learn to inform future decisions about any potential new color variants down the line."

You don't have to go for the Limited Edition White Steam Deck to get that color. There are several companies, like Jsaux and dbrand, that sell alternate backplates or skins. But if you want it straight from the source, you'll be able to get this Deck variant until Valve runs out of them.

The company also teased the future of the Deck, saying that beyond alternate colors and constant software updates, there is "ongoing work toward the future of Steam Deck and other hardware plans."

From the photos, I'm getting a Wii U vibe (in a good way) crossed with an iPod. I'm curious to see if the new colorway will be enough to sway existing owners to purchase a new system.

Handheld maker OneXPlayer uploaded a teaser video of its next gaming device, the Onexfly F1 Pro, on YouTube. It features AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, part of the Ryzen AI 300 (codenamed Strix Point) family. The new device, dubbed the Onexfly F1 Pro, is a 7-inch handheld that was shown running Black Myth: Wukong at between 50 and 60 FPS.

The new device purportedly features a bleeding-edge HDR-supported 7-inch OLED display with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. It weighs 598 grams and has Harman Kardon speakers. The main selling point is the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU, which features four Zen 5 cores, eight Zen 5c cores, and AMD's latest Radeon 890M iGPU with 16 CUs based on the RDAN 3.5 architecture. With such robust specifications, the OneXFly F1 Pro can compete against rivals like the Steam Deck OLED, ROG Ally X, or Lenovo Legion Go.

OneXPlayer showcased the device running the Black Myth: Wukong benchmark at 1080p at low-quality settings with 65% upscaling (1248 x 702 effective internal rendering resolution). The AI 9 HX 370-equipped handheld generated an average of 58 FPS at these settings. Power consumption was limited to 15W for this test.

The Onexfly F1 Pro will be OneXPlayer's first device to sport both an OLED display and AMD's latest Zen 5-based mobile CPUs; all its current devices sport previous-gen Intel or AMD CPUs along with non-OLED-based displays. It will also be one of the first Zen 5-powered handhelds to hit the market, with the GPT Pocket 4 being the only other apparent device advertised with the Ryzen AI HX 370.

Compared to the Pocket 4, the F1 Pro is a true handheld with traditional grips and controls, while the Pocket 4 is a hybrid 2-in-1 device with a keyboard and a screen that flips 180 degrees.

OneXPlayer's benchmark teaser demonstrates that the AI 9 HX 370 is ideally suited to handheld devices and can play the most demanding AAA titles even at a mid-range 15W TDP to extend battery life. Since AMD has yet to launch its next-generation handheld-focused Z-series CPUs, handheld makers are now stuck using AMD's laptop-focused Ryzen AI 300 series CPUs.

As of this week, Lenovo's Legion Go handheld gaming PC, meant to compete with the likes of Valve Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally, has finally seen a massive $100 price drop, at least on Amazon. The handheld is now on sale for $499. This makes it $300 cheaper than the souped-up Asus ROG Ally X's $799 MSRP and just $50 cheaper than the Steam Deck OLED's $549 MSRP.

Since the AMD Z1 Extreme chipset inside the Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally, both offer higher performance than Steam Deck and the internally identical Steam Deck OLED, this makes the Lenovo Legion Go one of the most price-competitive handhelds on the market, especially if its gorgeous 8.8-inch IPS display entices you. In our full review of the Lenovo Legion Go (and updates have since somewhat improved the device), we praised its dual USB-C ports, display, sturdy kickstand, and detachable controllers.

For handheld gaming PC buyers who are looking beyond the entry-level Steam Deck, Legion Go becomes a compelling alternative to Steam Deck OLED if you don't mind trading OLED quality for a larger IPS display. It is so much cheaper than ROG Ally X—the only Z1 Extreme handheld to further improve performance compared to its peers—that a minor performance deficit (mostly felt in 1% lows) really doesn't matter.

The MSRP of the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is $649, though since that doesn't offer the same performance as Ally X and you could either get a larger screen with Legion Go or a better screen with Deck OLED at $549, the original ROG Ally is looking less competitive than ever.

The Lenovo Legion Go should be a decent purchase in the long run. We expect a weaker or equivalent Lenovo Legion Go Lite to appear in the coming months, but that shouldn't matter if you're already shopping in this price range. That said, a truly upgraded Lenovo Legion Go 2 also seems set to appear at some point in 2025, though we don't yet have any expectations on what kind of power it will be flaunting. Perhaps Legion Go 2 or Legion Go Lite has something to do with this price drop?

The Steam Deck ushered in a new gaming era, where you can enjoy AAA titles while lounging in your bed using a handheld device. It is no secret that gamers and enthusiasts alike are eagerly anticipating a potential Steam Deck 2 with massive improvements in the APU industry over the past five or so years. However, Valve has clarified that the Steam Deck 2 will likely not be hitting shelves anytime soon until a "generational leap in compute" takes place, as reported in an interview with Reviews.org.

The RDNA architecture from AMD was leagues ahead of its Vega offerings in terms of performance and driver support. With just the second iteration, RDNA 2, Valve in partnership with AMD designed a custom chip for the Steam Deck codenamed Van Gogh.

The Steam Deck's APU featured four Zen 2 cores and an eight Compute Unit-based RDNA 2 iGPU, with both architectures dating back to at least 2020. Even with the OLED refresh last year, performance improvements were notable for their absence.

AMD's latest Strix Point APUs (Ryzen AI 300) are based on Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5, and likewise when hit up with the question of a potential successor, Steam Deck designer Lawrence Yang replied, "It is important to us, and we’ve tried to be really clear, we are not doing the yearly cadence.”

It appears that Valve is taking an approach similar to Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. Even the newest PS5 Pro is still based on the old Zen 2 architecture. While improvements have been made in the handheld industry, with Intel also joining the battle with its Lunar Lake (Core Ultra 200V) CPUs, they are not significant enough to justify a Steam Deck 2, at least yet. "So we really do want to wait for a generational leap in compute without sacrificing battery life before we ship the real second generation of Steam Deck," explained Yang.

On the more technical side, APUs nowadays are hardly faster at sub-15W levels than they were with Rembrandt (Ryzen 6000 Mobile). Lunar Lake is a step in the right direction due to its design choices but if even that is insignificant for Valve, then the Steam Deck 2 may be a large jump in performance and battery life. Valve is also working on an ARM64 version of Proton, so using Arm cores alongside a GPU solution from Intel/AMD/NVIDIA is also a possibility like the Nintendo Switch.

Junk Store, a plugin that lets you run third-party game stores like Epic Games and GOG directly from Steam Deck’s Gaming Mode has appeared in the Steam Store (h/t to GamingOnLinux). This plugin is similar to Decky Loader, an open-source plugin launcher for Steam Deck that lets other developers add software features to the handheld console. However, it seems that SDK Innovation, Junk Store’s developers, want to run it as an officially recognized Steam Deck app and without the user tinkering under the hood.

According to the Steam listing, "Junk Store is now on Steam. This is a standalone version rewritten from the ground up to remove the dependency on Decky loader. Now you can install your favourite games from the Epic Games Store and the GoG Store right within game mode." 

According to an official post on r/JunkStore, the developers put up the Steam Store page to gauge interest in the project based on the number of ‘Add to Wishlist’ clicks that it gets. However, this is still not a guarantee whether Junk Store would officially become available on the Steam library, as “Valve will still have to review the software before final release.” Nevertheless, the developers believe that the page approval was Valve’s “quiet nod of approval”.

Unfortunately, though, the Junk Store will not be a free and open-source release on Steam. That’s because the programmers had to start from scratch to ensure that the app will work seamlessly with SteamOS, especially as it will no longer use several of the functionalities that the Decky Loader delivers. We also don’t have pricing information for the app yet, as the developers say they’re still gauging how much will it cost to develop and the interest from the community. The developers also don’t have a launch window yet, as they are just a team of two people.

Nevertheless, they recognize the importance of their position as they are the first Steam Deck plugin to make it to the app store. The announcement says that the Junk Store app could set a precedent and that it should be a good experience for gamers, developers, and the Steam community at large.

If you’re quite the tinkerer and like to mess under the hood of your Steam Deck, you probably wouldn’t need the Junk Store’s Steam version, as you could just run it off Decky Loader for free. But for the average user who just wants to play games and not think about anything else, the Junk Store would be a welcome way to access titles they’ve bought on other platforms.

The subsequent big Hackintosh distribution may end up being for Valve's Steam Deck for all devices—at least according to an October 3 tweet from whatdahopper on Twitter, which showcased a very early version of a Hackintosh macOS X Sequoia recovery dialog displayed on Steam Deck. 

While the recovery dialog works, it's not quite aligned with the Deck's screen properly, and this Hackintosh'd Steam Deck is so barebones that it doesn't even have GPU acceleration intact yet. However, it is still able to boot!

For those unfamiliar, "Hackintosh" refers to the practice of running macOS on devices other than an Apple iMac or corresponding Apple laptops, such as the MacBook Air. For select users who want the offerings of macOS but don't want to make a full-time commitment to that ecosystem with a Mac purchase, it often makes sense to use a hacked-together Hackintosh distribution with a custom-built PC rather than paying Apple's (usually) much higher entry fee for playing around with macOS.

As @whatdahopper notes in the original thread, this exercise is mostly pointless besides its utility to educate and/or prove a point. However, it's believed that the Steam Deck could actually end up being an ideal fit for Hackintosh since RDNA2 is already supported by MacOS and "akin to NootRX, the hardware in the Steam Deck is practically perfect." According to its GitHub page, NootRX is "an unsupported AMD RDNA2 dedicated GPU kext" to enable improved RDNA 2 support on Mac OS X.

This version of Steam Deck Hackintosh— or Deckintosh, if you will— definitely isn't meant as a serious replacement for SteamOS 3 or anything like that. However, its development continues, and on October 4, we got an update Tweet showcasing the Steam Deck, which is now fully booted into Mac OS X while reading as an iMac Pro to the operating system. Full booting compared to a recovery screen is impressive, but until GPU acceleration is added, any remotely mainstream use of Deckintosh will likely remain a pipe dream.

It's still a pretty cool technical achievement on this modder's part, though, so we'll be keeping an eye on the development of Steam Deck Hackintosh as it progresses if it should progress significantly past this point. Deckintosh may end up being just a proof of concept, at the end of the day— but in the long run, it could prove one of the most tantalizingly price-accessible ways to play around with macOS.

Our picks for the best Steam Deck and ROG Xbox Ally X SSDs for gaming in 2026 come from our benchmarks and data collected from a large selection of modern M.2 2230 drives. When shopping for the best Steam Deck ROG Xbox Ally X SSDs, you'll want to balance performance, capacity, and features against your budget. We've compiled a list of the best options below based on a variety of factors, but be sure to visit our in-depth SSD reviews for more details on each SSD, where we have additional testing under Windows, along with plenty of analysis and benchmarking.

The Steam Deck was the first portable gaming PC on the market to be widely successful. The waitlist was massive, but eventually users got their hands on the holy grail. One big limitation, however, was the size of the internal storage, with a good number of units being sold with only 64GB of capacity. It’s not difficult to add additional storage by way of a microSD card and/or external storage, but upgrading the internal SSD represents the best way of having reliable, fast storage. The SSDs below will also make a good choice for use with other gaming handhelds, like the Asus ROG Ally, ROG Xbox Ally X, MSI Claw, Lenovo Legion Go, and other devices that utilize M.2 2230 drives.

Some users have experimented with modding and the use of larger M.2 2242 SSDs, cut-down SSDs, double-sided SSDs, and even ribbon cables to place M.2 2280 SSDs on the outside of the Steam Deck. However, the best and simplest option is to simply pick from the growing list of M.2 2230 SSDs that are fully compatible with the Steam Deck. You'll want a single-sided 2230 SSD as well, which allows for the EMI shielding to remain in place. This is critical so the drive does not interfere with the Steam Deck’s WiFi, and also, a single-sided drive maintains the intended cooling configuration of the device.

Prime Day Exceptional SSD for Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally deal

Steam Deck SSDs in 2026 at a glance

We'll dig into the details of our best Steam Deck SSDs and Asus ROG Ally SSDs below. Although the Steam Deck only has a PCIe 3.0 M.2 slot, PCIe 4.0 drives work perfectly well and are, in fact, more efficient at lower speeds. Efficiency is paramount for portable devices like the Steam Deck, as you want to produce as little heat as possible and at the same time improve battery life. Larger-capacity drives do peak at higher wattage, and some drives use older technology. For example, 28nm SSD controllers can negatively impact overall power draw. Gaming as a whole does not tend to pull too much power, thankfully, but Steam Decks are known to get quite hot.

Performance is a separate concern, and ideally, you want a drive that offers a quick response time for game loading, often demonstrated by 4KB or smaller I/O benchmark results. Consistent performance as a drive fills is another concern, particularly when the drive is packed full of games. In most cases, there won't be a lot of variation in performance between any two NVMe drives in the Steam Deck, as it's limited by the interface speed, Wi-Fi download speeds, and even the CPU. Still, it’s best to get a higher-performance model if the price is similar, though there’s no need to pay for more than you need.

Early Steam Deck SSD upgraders often had to resort to searching for drives on eBay, AliExpress, and other third-party sites to secure a higher-capacity SSD for their Deck. This can come with warranty concerns, and further, the specifications for many drives remain uncertain. However, a plethora of retail drives with newer hardware and explicit specifications now exists, making the experience of upgrading a lot easier.

As we only began our Steam Deck SSD testing in mid-2023, we don't have results for many older drives. In fact, nearly all of the drives we've tested are PCIe 4.0 compliant and should run faster if used in newer handhelds like the Asus Ally. Most of the drives we've tested remain available for retail purchase, which is also a plus. We’re here to highlight the best options currently available, tailored around particular priorities.

Note that there are a lot of 2230 drives that use the Phison E21T controller, with either Micron 176-layer TLC (1TB) or QLC (2TB) NAND. A couple of newer drives have now arrived using the Phison E27T controller, one with TLC and one with QLC NAND. As nearly all of the drives we've tested feel similarly performant in the Steam Deck, a major factor will inevitably come down to pricing, availability, and support.

Best Steam Deck SSDs You Can Buy Today

Corsair’s original MP600 Mini was one of the best all-around drives for the Steam Deck and other M.2 2230 devices, even if it had some limitations. It was only available at 1TB, and it did not stand out from other excellent TLC-based drives, like Sabrent’s Rocket 2230 and Inland’s TN446. Corsair has remedied that with newer, faster hardware, and eventually a 2TB model to finally supplant the WD Black SN770M — or OEM WD SN740 — as the fastest 2TB 2230 drive around.

Previously, it was only possible to get 2TB with QLC flash, which has drawbacks such as weaker performance, or with WD’s less power-efficient and hotter drives. With TLC flash at 1TB, performance is generally limited to about 5 GB/s due to the use of an older controller. Now, this second revision of the MP600 Mini that uses the Phison E27T controller means you won't have to make any compromises for capacity, performance, or efficiency.

The only question marks are cost and availability for this new hardware. We tested the 1TB model and hope to get our hands on the 2TB variant now that it's beginning to ship. It's also unfortunate that Corsair used the same name (the "(E27T)" isn't part of the nomenclature) as it's existing E21T-based drive, so pay careful attention to which drive you're ordering.

MORE: Corsair MP600 Mini 1TB (E27T) SSD Review

The Crucial P310 SSD represents the latest iteration of hardware to come to the M.2 2230 form factor. Leveraging Phison's latest E27T controller paired with Micron 232-layer QLC NAND, it delivers excellent efficiency and performance that's more than fast enough for your Steam Deck. It's the first drive with this combination of hardware, but it most certainly won't be the last and we expect other companies will release similar SSDs in the coming months.

QLC NAND has traditionally been quite slow, though it can vary by NAND type. Many will fall to under 100 MB/s of sustained write performance under stress testing, where the pSLC cache gets filled up and writes have to go directly to QLC NAND. The latest Micron QLC NAND manages around 330 MB/s, triple the speed of Micron's older 176-layer QLC NAND.

The biggest concern with the Crucial P310 right now is pricing and availability. We were given MSRPs of $114 and $214 for the 1TB and 2TB drives, but Crucial has them listed on its own store at $171 for 1TB and $264 for 2TB. That's significantly more than competing drives and we expect prices to correct over the coming weeks — at the very least, the P310 should cost less than the Corsair MP600 Mini (E27T) listed above.

MORE: Crucial P310 2TB review

The Teamgroup MP44S arrived after the Rocket Q4 2230 but has essentially the same makeup. Team’s drives tend to be hit or miss, but this drive is a winner if it’s priced right — and right now it's by far the least expensive 2TB 2230 drive on Amazon. It does use QLC flash, which has lower endurance and performance than TLC, but you can get 2TB of space in a tiny drive as a result. The MP44S has the advantage of having a 1TB option out of the gate, even if it is late to the party, for added flexibility. (We tested the 1TB model, but the 2TB drive should perform similarly.)

In our testing, the fewer dies present at 1TB did not negatively impact performance. The drive is also quite efficient, which is perfect for the Steam Deck. It also costs less than the TLC alternatives, making it a real contender at 1TB, although you have to judge for yourself whether or not the cost savings are worthwhile. The performance gap is not large with the Steam Deck but could be more significant with the Ally.

MORE: Teamgroup MP44S SSD review

The Silicon Power UD90 2230 is a shorter version of the company’s M.2 2280 UD90 with a swap to QLC flash from faster TLC. Both drives are capable of working with a PCIe 4.0 interface, but the Deck uses PCIe 3.0 for its M.2 slot. This is good news for the UD90 2230, as while its PCIe 4.0 performance is lackluster, especially by today’s standards, its PCIe 3.0 performance is more than adequate for gaming with the Deck. The drive should be quite efficient in this mode as well, so there is no need to worry about its impact on battery life or any extra heat generation. It’s a good pick if you’re on a budget and don’t need anything fancy.

If the UD90 2230 has a downside, it’s that the promised 500GB SKU is impossible to find. This isn’t surprising, given that the drive uses QLC flash, which requires more capacity to scale effectively. This also isn’t a big deal because most people won’t be upgrading to 500GB. However, if you are in the situation where you need the smaller capacity, we’d recommend the 500GB M.2 2230 version of the Kingston NV3 instead.

MORE: Silicon Power UD90 2230 review

Addlink is a lesser-known brand, but we have reviewed SSDs from this manufacturer with positive results. Its products are positioned as budget alternatives to better-known brands, and this makes the S91 a potential sleeper. It uses the same Micron 176-layer QLC NAND to reach 2TB of capacity, but it's also available in lower capacities, which offers purchase flexibility. At 2TB, it’s similar to the other Phison E21T QLC drives we've tested, like the Rocket Q4 2230 or Teamgroup MP44S, and may be less expensive.

At 512GB, the S91 uses TLC and it may be a good alternative to the TN446 with its potentially wider availability. Still, the TN446 has the better warranty and guaranteed hardware. Addlink is trying to cover all the bases with the S91 and the prices are good across-the-board, so it's worth a look if your first choice is unavailable or you want to save some money.

MORE: Addlink S91 SSD review

The WD Black SN770M brings the best performance possible to the M.2 2230 form factor. It accomplishes this with a fast controller, the polished firmware that made the Black SN770 a fan favorite, and its mature BiCS5 NAND flash. This TLC can come in dense, 1Tb dies, which scales up to 2TB of flash in a single package. This is particularly relevant for the small 2230 form factor, where space is at a premium, especially as many devices require a single-sided drive.

The SN770M is not only a shorter version of the SN770 but also a retail version of the WD SN740 — a popular OEM drive for the Deck that performs just as well, though you'll generally need to find it on eBay or AliExpress. A retail warranty with full WD support is a welcome bonus. Unfortunately, this drive pays a price for its capacity and performance. It’s the least-efficient PCIe 4.0 2230 SSD we’ve tested, including in PCIe 3.0 mode, and outputs considerable heat when tested with Windows in a desktop environment.

The good news is that it doesn't seem to have any such issues in the Deck. It didn't get too hot and battery life was in line with the other drives. Other drives may be better options for laptops, using QLC at 2TB for capacity, and TLC at 1TB and below for better performance. But if you want 2TB of TLC in a 2230 form factor? Right now the SN770M is the sole retail choice.

MORE: WD Black SN770M SSD review

We reviewed the original Kingston NV3 in 2024 with a follow-up the next year for the M.2 2230 form factor version. Kingston’s NV series of drives is known for its low pricing and high availability, which makes the NV3 a great “backup” choice in an increasingly challenging market. The upside is that the NV3 is available in a range of capacities – still limited to 2TB at the moment, but 2 2Tb dies are on the way, with the possibility of more – with good power efficiency, performance, and pricing.

The downside is that Kingston tends to use whatever hardware is available in its lower-end drives. The NV3 we tested has QLC flash, although some of the best QLC around, with a reasonably good controller. One reason the NV3 is rated for lower speeds, though, is that it allows for a wider range of hardware swaps. This might be okay if you’re trying to get a drive on a budget. The NV3 is a good 2nd or 3rd choice if none of our other category choices are available or on sale at the time of your purchase. It’ll be equal to or better than previous generations of M.2 2230 drives.

Read: Kingston NV3 2230 2TB SSD review

How we test Steam Deck SSDs in 2026

We started with our standard test suite, but ran it in both PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 modes because the Steam Deck uses the PCIe 3.0 interface. PCIe 3.0 testing helps gauge performance on older systems or even Windows on the Steam Deck, while PCIe 4.0 testing lets the drives open up to their full potential and may reflect performance on the ASUS ROG Ally.

Besides Windows benchmarks, however, we also wanted to get a feel for real world performance on the Steam Deck in its native SteamOS mode. We swapped out the stock 64GB Foresee eMMC drive and commenced testing each SSD. See our Upgrading and testing the Steam Deck's SSD article for more details.

We've separated our Steam Deck testing into two categories: general Steam Deck and SteamOS operations, and KDiskMark synthetic testing. The former includes re-imaging the Deck (from a Samsung T7 Touch 1TB portable SSD), the initial SteamOS setup process, upgrading SteamOS to the latest version, booting SteamOs, then installing and launching the game Hollow Knight. We also have battery life estimates, where we drain the battery from a fully charged 100% for one hour while running Hollow Knight, then check the percentage remaining to arrive at the final estimate.

KDiskMark represents a Linux-based CrystalDiskMark analogue, and we log temperatures of the drive while running the KDiskMark default test suite three times. Together with our standard test results, this makes it possible to determine which M.2 2230 SSDs make the best Steam Drive SSDs.

Here are the test results, which are current as of July 17, 2024. 2TB drives are in blue while 1TB drives are in gray. We've also included the base model 64GB eMMC in black drive as a point of reference.

Most of the 2TB drives that we've tested use QLC NAND, which can impact performance more as a drive fills up. However, the Steam Deck wireless connectivity generally represents more of a bottleneck in practice, and while we saw peak download speeds of around 80 MB/s, average download speeds can often fall below 50 MB/s. Needless to say, even slower SSDs with QLC NAND can generally keep up with such data rates.

The launch timing results are more indicative of performance than the game installation results, for the above reason. Even with the Steam Deck in approximately the same location and position, we have measured relatively large fluctuations in download speed and installation time — and that's for a relatively small game, Hollow Knight. Of course, you can't install a lot of larger games on the base 64GB drive, which is why we opted to use Hollow Knight. We uninstall and reinstall the game multiple times to ensure consistency of our results, but there's still some variability.

Our testing has occurred over a period of many months, which also means some of the more recent drives were tested with newer SteamOS updates. We cannot rule out some performance optimizations from that vector, so for example the Lexar Play 1TB, WD SN740 2TB, Corsair MP600 Mini E27T, and Crucial P310 are the latest additions to our testing and tend to boot SteamOS faster than previously tested drives. At the same time, the Crucial P310 now has Proton 3.0 support which seems to have increased the launch time. (We'll need to see about retesting all SSDs with the latest SteamOS image in the coming days.)

Outside of the 64GB eMMC drive, the performance results are mostly close enough that few people would notice a major difference in performance while using the Steam Deck. We have Windows testing for all of the drives in their respective reviews, so check those for additional insights into how the various models perform outside of the Deck.

Battery life ends up being mostly a non-factor. All of the SSDs had between 80% and 83% battery life remaining after one hour of testing. There's at least a 1% margin of error in that reading, and again SteamOS updates could be impacting some of the latest results. As it stands, we have one drive, not coincidentally the latest SSD we've tested, that managed 353 minutes. The remaining SSDs are grouped at either 333, 316, or 300 minutes.

The KDiskMark results show far more variation among the drives, though again in practical use — i.e. playing games on the Steam Deck — most of the drives perform well enough that you likely won't notice the difference. The only exception to this is the 64GB eMMC drive, which consistently ranks at the bottom of our charts. That's not too surprising, since it's limited to an x2 PCIe 2.0 interface that tops out at 500 MB/s.

MORE: Best SSDs

MORE: Best Hard Drive

MORE: Best External SSDs

MORE: How We Test HDDs And SSDs

GamingOnLinux has reported a series of Steam Client Beta updates for Steam Deck and Steam Desktop between August 22 and August 23.

Since the Steam Deck's SteamOS 3 Steam Client is intrinsically linked to the OS itself, it makes sense that we're now seeing frequent, coinciding Steam Deck Beta updates that line up with the updates we're seeing over on the Desktop Steam Client Beta channel. Features like In-Game Recording get enabled for the Steam Client on Desktop and Deck in parallel, and the updated Big Picture Interface made its way from SteamOS 3 to desktop Steam earlier this year. 

As noted by GamingOnLinux in their coverage, there are some remarkable similarities between the patch notes for Deck and Desktop. Since the two versions of the Steam Client are now essentially being developed in parallel, this makes a lot of sense. There is no reason to allow Deck's Steam Client or Desktop's Steam Client to get ahead of the other after all— Valve still has a massive PC market to serve, and it's best to keep the experience as consistent as possible within reason.

Steam Deck Beta Client Changes for August 22 and August 23

• General Change: Added global version of the "Game Resolution" dropdown that allows specific resolution targets to be set.
• General Change: Added Sign Out to the Steam Deck Power Menu.
• Desktop Overlay Fix: Desktop Overlay in SteamOS 3 now properly reads Escape Key instead of dismissing the Overlay. 
• Steam Input Fix: Fixed Steam Link Mobile App Touch Controller automatic cursor visibility issues.
• Steam Input Fix: Fixed an issue were modifying Steam Input configs could cause game crashes.
• Game Recording Fix: Fixed an issue where the last second of a given clip or recording couldn't be unpaused.
• Game Recording Fix: Improved error reporting functionality.
• Game Recording Change: Added list view to media manager.
• Game Recording Change: Added the ability to enable/disable recording per-game.
• Game Recording Change: Added the ability to set duration and bitrate of recordings per-game (ie long duration single player, short duration multiplayer, vice versa, etc).
• Game Recording Fix: Fixed an issue where per-game recording settings weren't being used.
• Game Recording Fix: Fixed media manager list view not updating.

Steam Desktop Beta Client Changes for August 22 and August 23*

• General Change: Fixed a crash caused by adding a Steam Library folder from a network drive.
• Linux Change: Fixed the Store Page not rendering on some Nvidia GPUs.
• Steam Input Fix: Fixed Steam Link Mobile App Touch Controller automatic cursor visibility issues.
• Steam Input Fix: Steam Input should now properly intercept Escape keypresses instead of as a prompt to close the active overlay.
• Steam Input Fix: Fixed a Desktop-Deck cross-compatibility issue where changing a Steam Input config could cause a crash.
• Game Recording Fix: Fixed an issue where the last second of a given clip or recording couldn't be unpaused.
• Game Recording Fix: Improved error reporting functionality.
• Game Recording Change: Added list view to media manager.
• Game Recording Change: Added the ability to enable/disable recording per-game.
• Game Recording Change: Added the ability to set duration and bitrate of recordings per-game (ie long duration single player, short duration multiplayer, vice versa, etc).
• Game Recording Fix: Fixed an issue where per-game recording settings weren't being used.
• Game Recording Fix: Fixed media manager list view not updating.
• Game Recording Fix: Copy to Clipboard for Screenshots now functions properly.

*Note: Many of these patch notes are near-identical to the ones for the Deck, for reasons discussed above.

Overall, this week's set of Steam Client Beta updates shows that the ongoing development of Steam Deck, SteamOS 3, and the Steam Client is now more interconnected than ever. For quite a long time, there was a significant disparity between Deck's SteamOS 3 and its Steam Client compared to the Desktop experience enjoyed by everyone else, but now it seems we are well and truly past that.

The Steam Deck may have a lot of features, but the best PC gaming handheld doesn't have a kickstand. Recently, I had the chance to check out Mechanism's Deckmate, which claims to be a “universal mounting standard designed for all your gaming devices”. What this really means is that it’s an attachable adapter that allows you to easily use your Steam Deck (or common Steam Deck alternatives) with a wide array of extra accessories or attachments, like a VESA mount, phone mount, or a puck to attach to batteries or USB hubs. . 

You may have seen the Deckmate in some of our prior coverage of the Steam Deck modding community, such as the "Steam Deck DS" project. Now, we're taking the Deckmate for a spin on our own to check out.

The Mechanism team sent over a complete set of both Steam Deck and ROG Ally mounting accessories,To my genuine shock, every single Deckmate and “Allymate” accessory fit inside an apartment-sized mailbox perfectly fine.

Deckmate Grip for Steam Deck: Hands-On

The main Deckmate accessory is the Deckmate Grip 1.5, which attaches to the Steam Deck and allows you to mount other accessories to it (it also holds extra SD cards). The top half slots in at the edges of the top cooling vent of the Steam Deck, and the bottom aligns with the center. Once you’ve installed the Grip, you have the “Mechanism” in play with which any of the other accessories can be slotted into put to use, with almost no setup time to speak of. All of the materials are made of plastic, but everything feels surprisingly stable once attached.

Thoughts on Deckmate Accessories

The Deckmate Kickstand is easily the most useful Deckmate accessory, and a new full-time addition to my Steam Deck. Gaming with a spare wireless controller while out and about (or simply procrastinating at my desk) is looking more viable than ever. Carrying around a full Steam Deck Dock or other dedicated stand was always a hassle compared to the Nintendo Switch’s built-in kickstand.

The phone mount is a niche accessory straddling the line between “useful” and “useless”, depending on who you ask. If you love yourself some Dual Screen emulation or are just a heavy multitasker, though, the mount does work just fine with a reusable adhesive strip for attaching your phone.  It’s quite heavy, though and I wouldn’t recommend using it in public. Fine adjustments allow for a lot of flexibility, though. I used it to refer to existing combo tutorials while practicing my own in Tekken 8.

If you want to attach accessories, like an external battery or a USB hub, to the back of your Steam Deck, you can try the Deckmate Adhesive Puck. It allows for you to easily attach secondary devices, like your phone or battery bank, to your Deckmate on the back of your Steam Deck with, yes, adhesive. One one side of the puck is the adhesive, while the other side feature features the mechanism that slots into the grip.

To me, the battery bank use case is the best use of this accessory, though unfortunately I don’t have a battery powerful enough for my Deck with which to use it. Instead, I attached a custom Arduino-based miniature arcade stick based on the leverless “HitBox” design, which was gifted to me by an old friend.

Finally, the Deckmate system allows for easy VESA mounting, as long as you have the appropriate VESA mount and screws. This lets you attach the Steam Deck to walls or monitor arms and stands, which could be good for use with controllers (albeit it a bit more complicated than the kickstand).

There are a number of other accessories that Mechanism sells, including a wall mount, a Skadis pegboard mount, and a dock adapter.

Conclusion

Deckmate provides a strong set of mounting/kickstand accessories for the Steam Deck, as well as its general range of handheld PC competitors like the ROG Ally. The pricing is pretty reasonable, too (you can get a set on Amazon for $49), though you are mostly just paying for plastic and spring mechanisms.

The spring-mechanism at the center of it all seems to work perfectly fine, and the kickstand is such a comfortable addition that I’ll almost certainly be using it when bringing my Steam Deck anywhere I don’t plan to hook it to a TV. If I asked to try a Dock adapter, I’d never have a reason to detach the original Deckmate Grip at all — and that level of convenience without sacrificing functionality always impresses.

Per Valve's patch notes released for the Steam OS 3.6.9 Beta update for Steam Deck, dubbed Megafixer, an interesting oddity has been added to SteamOS' input functionality. While most of the Megafixer update's patch notes are indeed related to bug fixes for Steam Deck (particularly external display errors, OS corruption issues, and other such glitches), one specific update made to SteamOS' Input layer is the addition of "Added support for extra ROG Ally keys".   

Since SteamOS 3.6.9 isn't even available on Asus ROG Ally, this seems particularly odd — until you remember Valve actually did make publicized comments vowing to give SteamOS 3 a public release before Steam Deck launched, and has simply remained silent on the matter since. In the interim, projects like HoloISO and Bazzite have emerged to give users of other handheld gaming PCs and desktop/laptop owners, in general, the ability to closely imitate SteamOS 3 and its core features.

So, does the existence of HoloISO and Bazzite perhaps override the need for a public SteamOS 3 release? Absolutely not — besides the documented fact that Valve already intended to create a public SteamOS 3 release, it's still painfully apparent that HoloISO and Bazzite aren't quite providing the polish and stability we could expect from an officially maintained public branch of SteamOS 3. 

HoloISO outright does not support Nvidia GPUs and is missing native features of SteamOS 3 like on-the-fly TDP and clock speed controls, with Decky Loader required to partially restore that functionality. Bazzite seems to be in better condition overall and even comes with lots of extra bundled software — and even a Deck-native version — but still requires Decky Loader and BIOS settings changes for on-the-fly TDP controls with per-game profiles to be made possible off of Steam Deck. This is one of the best features of the Deck and SteamOS 3, so it's a real shame no current SteamOS 3 alternatives can actually do it without modification.

Besides, these latest patch notes and pre-Deck release comments by Valve, we've actually heard a more recent comment on SteamOS 3 coming to devices outside the Steam Deck. Comments made to PC Gamer by Valve employee Lawrence Yang in November 2023 indicate that SteamOS 3 will target other handheld gaming PCs first, and then branch to "more arbitrary devices", meaning other laptops and desktops.

Valve's handheld Steam Deck is best known for its potential as a handheld gaming PC, but as it turns out, the Deck can also be used as a mini-PC in its own right, even after the screen has been broken and the Deck has been broken down for parts. Earlier today, YouTuber ETA PRIME showcased a video where he successfully extracted the motherboard and SoC from a Steam Deck to create a mini-PC.

So, how exactly was this done, and what makes it possible? The "how" is surprisingly simple: with the board intact, all ETA PRIME needed was to add an M.2 drive and attach an extra heatsink to get most of the way there after mounting the affair on some plastic. Then, the mostly-naked Deck internals were connected to a USB-C power hub doubling as a docking station, complete with 3 USB inputs and 1 HDMI out to allow the new Deck mini-PC to start successfully running on a monitor in "Docked" mode.

So...that's all it took! Thanks to the Deck having native support for a Docked mode and being entirely usable from within it, transforming it into a mini-PC ready to rock isn't all that difficult. The only real software issue that ETA PRIME encountered was the inability to perform BIOS updates without a battery attached, even though the system could run entirely off of wall power. While ETA ultimately attached a battery to circumvent this, he pointed out that the SteamDeck-BIOS-Manager available on GitHub may perform updates without a battery connected.

With the unit confirmed operational and connected to a 1080p, 120 Hz monitor, ETA PRIME tested Steam Deck mini-PC gaming performance across various games. Cyberpunk 2077 tested at 900p, Low settings with FSR Balanced enabled and managed a mostly stable 40 FPS. Forza Horizon 5 ran at the same 900p/FSR Balanced resolution settings but with Medium settings instead, averaging around 70 FPS. Meanwhile, Hades II ran at High Settings and 1080p with a primarily stable 120 FPS, with ETA noting that Medium would likely stabilize the FPS target entirely. 

Finally, Spider-Man Remastered was run at 900p, Medium Settings with FSR 3.1 Frame Generation enabled, allowing the game to manage a fully playable ~75 FPS average. That's not bad for a handheld Steam Deck ripped down to its bare essentials to create a mini-PC—not bad at all. At this rate, a Steam Machine revival is becoming more feasible by the day.

PC storage manufacturer Sabrent just launched a discreet USB hub that connects semi-permanently to the Steam Deck. The Sabrent USB Type-C 3-Port Gaming Hub for Steam Deck is just $30 on Amazon, and it gives Steam Deck users a neat way to have ready access to three USB ports (2x USB-A 3.2, 1x USB-C 3.2 with PD) on their handheld consoles.

The current official Steam Deck Docking Station is a pretty good solution if want to convert your portable handheld into a full-on gaming console. However, it’s not designed to be a portable solution, and would be awkward to tote around if you want to use the Steam Deck while charging it, attaching external storage, and using a wired peripheral simultaneously. While you could use one of the best USB hubs to do the same, they won’t attach to the Steam Deck as cleanly, and you might end up with a spaghetti of cables if you use them.

The Sabrent Gaming Hub for the Steam Deck is specifically built for the console. It has a form-fitting design, meaning you can leave it plugged into your handheld console semi-permanently. Aside from allowing you to attach multiple devices at the same time to the Steam Deck, it also moves the USB-C attachment point to the back, meaning you don’t have to look at a USB cable sticking out of the top of your console if you’re gaming while charging.

One more thing that Sabrent seems to have done right is ensuring the dock’s compatibility with multiple operating systems. Many users modify their consoles by dual-booting or replacing SteamOS with Windows, Linux, or even macOS. Sabrent knows this, so it ensured that the dock would work with those operating systems too.

It’s unfortunate, though, that the Gaming Hub does not have an HDMI port. So, if you have no other hubs at home, you need a display that offers a USB Type-C with DP Alt Mode connectivity to use your Steam Deck with a big screen. Alternatively, you can just get a dedicated desktop dock to use at home, like Sabrent’s DS-SDNV 7-in-1 Steam Deck Dock, and then attach it to the Gaming Hub so you don’t have to keep plugging and unplugging the hub. 

The Sabrent dock costs just $29.99, making it a relatively affordable device. It’s also the average price point of other Steam Deck docks, meaning you don’t have to pay a premium just to get a portable USB dock that fits nicely on your handheld console.

Game Recording is the latest feature to be added to Valve's Steam client, and while the solution is currently in beta, its features and Steam Deck compatibility make it seem quite promising. This is especially true compared to solutions like Nvidia Share and AMD ReLive, which also function as gameplay/desktop recorders using the built-in video encoders of modern GPUs. Let's discuss this feature in more depth and what makes it stand out compared to existing solutions before showing you how to set it up.

The new Steam Game Recording feature functions in one of three modes: No Recording/Disabled, Background Recording/Enabled, and Manual Recording. The first and the latter are self-explanatory, but that Background Recording feature is where things get interesting. If you've used AMD ReLive or Nvidia Share (formerly Shadowplay), you'll be familiar with this functionality as "Instant Replay," which lets you set a time span/storage buffer for constantly recording gameplay but only saving the last X amount of time when you feel like it.

So, why use this new Steam Game Recording feature if you already have access to ReLive or Share on desktop? There are a few different reasons. For one, you shouldn't lose much performance since Steam's solution will also use your modern GPU's built-in video encoder unless you disable it intentionally. More importantly, Steam's Game Recording works seamlessly into the Steam Overlay and includes a snappy, easy-to-use clip editor that lets you cut and trim your actual clips far quicker than is possible with Share or ReLive.

In terms of features and overall usability, Steam Game Recording would already be better than Nvidia Share and ReLive based on that alone, with the caveat that those solutions also support streaming to Twitch and such, not just streaming/sharing to Steam servers or exporting as MP4. Another exceptional feature of Steam Game Recording is actually found in developer/API support, which allows developers to have key game events like loading screens, player deaths, and so on marked in the editing timeline.

The greatest caveat of Steam Game Recording is that it will only work with games that properly support the Steam Overlay or don't break it with your favorite mods enabled. You'll still need to fall back on one of the vendor recording options or good 'ol OBS for those use cases.

How To Enable Game Recording on Steam (Beta)

1. Opt into Steam Client Beta if you haven't already through Settings window -> Interface -> Client Beta Participation.
2. Once opted in, Game Recording should appear as a selectable option in the Steam Settings window, as pictured below.

3. You can now choose your desired Steam Game Recording mode and change the corresponding hotkeys as you please. You'll also be able to set maximum replay buffer time with a corresponding storage estimate. 

How To Enable Game Recording on Steam Deck (Beta)

1. Like with the Desktop version, you'll need to manually opt into a Beta to utilize Game Recording on Steam Deck. This means navigating through Steam Button -> Settings Menu -> System Menu and enabling "Beta" beside the System Update Channel option beneath "Beta Participation." You'll be prompted to restart your Deck after this.
2. Once opted into Beta, pressing the Steam button and scrolling down the Settings Menu will reveal the presence of a new Game Recording sub-menu. It has the same configuration options as the Desktop version. Be mindful of your Deck storage when configuring your replay buffer.

3. You can now use Steam Deck's Game Recording and clip editing functionality. To prevent performance issues in-game, I recommended saving clip editing after you've exited or at least paused the title in the background. The visible gap you can see in my timeline screenshot below happened because I did not do this on my first try.

On May 9, Valve's Steam OS received a preview update for Steam Deck LCD and OLED models that added overclocking support into the BIOS of the launch LCD model, among other boons. This Steam OS 3.6.0 preview update, dubbed "Remote-Controlled", is already available for download on existing Steam Decks by simply opting into the Preview channel in your Update settings.
We've included a quick summary of the key patch notes.

Steam OS 3.6.0 Preview Patch Note Highlights

• The BIOS for Steam Deck LCD now has overclocking controls.
• Other BIOS fixes and adjustments, including being able to set SD card as boot device.
• Compatibility improved for various Bluetooth audio devices, as well as Apple AirPods.
• Arch Linux base and Linux kernel have both been updated, and future system updates should be quicker.
• Finer control of wake-from-Bluetooth.  Support for Bluetooth A2DP and BAP have also been added, as well as a Flatpal-related issue causing temp files to accumulate.
• Display updated to improve uniformity/Mura Compensation, display color balance at low brightness, and gamma uniformity.
• Graphics driver updated to Mesa 24.1, which should come with lots of performance and accuracy improvements.
• Desktop mode now uses KDE Plasma 5.27.10 as a desktop environment, with thumbnail previews for videos in file browser and improved support for microSD cards.
• Patches to Deck Dock support and firmware will improve VRR display support and add HDMI CEC features.
• A ton of miscellaneous fixes.

Most of the patch notes fall roughly into the categories of "compatibility fix" or "polish". Of course, core updates to underlying Linux components including the graphics driver should manifest performance improvements in games, and those looking for the most cutting-edge performance possible on Steam Deck— especially modified Deck LCDs— can relish in the new existence of OC settings in the BIOS. 

For the most part, though, the most impactful patch notes will be the minor fixes, like "Improved reliability of microSD card usage scenarios", or "Worked around misdetection of some SanDisk microSD cards". The update itself is titled for new settings added to pick which Bluetooth devices can wake the system from a suspended state, which includes only controllers by default.

The release of Valve’s Steam Deck in 2022, following the Nintendo Switch’s massive success after its launch in 2017, has created a booming, competitive gaming handheld market, spanning across consoles and the PC. Handheld PCs existed before the Steam Deck (technically, decades before the Steam Deck), but Valve’s accomplishments on the gaming front helped push the market toward its current state of regular Steam Deck alternative releases and competitive hardware. But just how competitive is that hardware, really, and how much should you be willing to spend on it here in mid-2024?

Before we get too deep into that discussion though, it’s important to establish that, thanks largely to current power and thermal limits, the Steam Deck LCD, starting at $399, is still the baseline for handheld gaming power. That’s true even though there are much more expensive alternatives. The Steam Deck has capabilities similar to modern consoles (including very light ray tracing or RT support in some titles), but is most akin to a last-gen Playstation 4 Pro. This includes the ability to play titles like Elden Ring above 30 frames per second.

This may change at some point, but for now, the only way to get a truly high-end, on-the-go gaming experience is by using one of the best gaming laptops. Handhelds are perfectly capable of delivering an enjoyable gaming experience between 30-60 fps in most modern games, though.

Gaming Handhelds Differences Explained

Essential differences between gaming handhelds, explained

Before meaningful comparisons can be made between the different handhelds, we should establish some basic terminology. Much of this will be familiar to hardware enthusiasts and experienced PC builders. But for those considering a handheld as their first foray into PC gaming, defining some basics will be important for understanding the pros and cons of competing devices.

• Operating System — The operating system software your handheld runs will determine which online storefronts you can access (or at least access most easily) and therefore what games are available to you. Walled-garden handheld consoles tend to be more locked down than the majority of the handheld PCs below, but that can also make them easier for novices to navigate and use.
• SoC — The combined system-on-a-chip of the gaming handheld, which combines the central processing unit (CPU) with the graphics processing unit (GPU).
• RAM — Since your random access memory, or RAM, has to be shared by the CPU and GPU in  devices like these handhelds, higher RAM speeds and capacity are helpful. In general, higher speeds can increase frame rates, and higher capacities are great for future-proofing. Even the entry-level Steam Deck LCD offers 16GB, and some devices are starting to leverage 32GB for some performance boons and extra GPU buffer.
• Display Panel Type — Display panel type will determine how a display handles colors and the degree of ghosting and input lag. OLED and IPS are best in this use case. But cheaper versions of IPS can be underwhelming.
• Display Resolution and Refresh Rate — Higher display resolution means higher clarity, but also makes games much harder to run on handheld-class hardware. The same applies to refresh rate, in that it will be tough or impossible to run AAA games on modern handheld hardware at refresh rates above 30-60 Hz.
• Display VRR Support — Variable Refresh Rate is a display and GPU feature that allows the screen’s refresh to sync with the frame rate of your games, with minimal impact on input lag and generally improved perceived smoothness. VRR also has some power-saving applications. It’s usually called G-Sync or FreeSync; The latter being particularly common in these mostly AMD-based handhelds.

Handheld Game Compatibility and Valve Proton

Handheld Game Compatibility and Valve Proton

A major factor in the success of the Steam Deck has been the Proton compatibility layer, maintained by Valve Software on Github. Proton is also bundled in the Linux Steam client, and is built into SteamOS to enable easy compatibility with most Windows games on Steam. There are some major exceptions to Proton compatibility on Steam Deck, though, including the anti-cheat software required for some major multiplayer titles. Most recently, this includes pretty much everything using EA anticheat, including Battlefield V.

The Steam Deck can also run Windows, but will often achieve its best performance on SteamOS due to its ability to leverage pre-cached shaders for Steam Deck titles. This allows the Steam Deck to reduce shader compilation stutter in some titles that otherwise don’t have the feature in their Windows release. This means most performance targets are smooth once you’ve picked the correct graphics settings. 

Ray tracing pretty much ensures a 30 fps or worse experience if you enable it in anything, though — if the game is playable at all. Mostly rasterized games (like Doom Eternal with RT reflections enabled) might be playable, but most full RT games (like Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition) simply will not be playable on Deck’s limited hardware. If in doubt, enable resolution scaling, disable RT, and even consider disabling AA.

Outside of Steam Deck and other Linux handhelds having access to Proton, Windows generally offers the best game compatibility and graphics settings flexibility. A proper console like the Switch OLED will have a more limited library and graphics settings, but can still turn around locked-ish 30 fps to a surprisingly playable effect in intensive titles like Doom Eternal. Of course, Nintendo’s own games tend to run at 60 FPS, with more stylized than realistic graphics — and you get those Nintendo exclusives on Switch, of course.

Steam Deck Alternatives

The Main Steam Deck Alternatives

Sub-$500 Steam Deck Alternatives

When shopping solely in the sub-$500 range for a Steam Deck alternative, your options are still quite limited. What few choices there are either opt for ARM and Android (which is starting to improve but is still less optimal for gaming today), or are just weaker than the Steam Deck overall. Perusing the used market can improve the situation, though that comes with its own risks.

In this range, your screens will usually be resolution-limited to 720p or 800p, though the streaming-centric PlayStation Portal has a 1080p screen.

• Nintendo Switch OLED — Released 2021. Runs Nintendo’s custom Switch OS and a custom Nvidia Tegra X1 SoC. If all you care about is gaming and you don't want to deal with the complexities PCs, the less-powerful Switch OLED and its family of devices may still be compelling— but you may also want to wait, as there are rumors of a successor on the horizon. It uses a 7-inch OLED screen.
• Asus ROG Ally Z1 — Released 2023. Runs Windows 11. The Ally uses an AMD Ryzen Z1 SoC, which should not be confused for the Z1 Extreme SoC with AMD’s best iGPU, Radeon 780M. It supports a high-voltage-plug-only Turbo mode that brings performance of the device closer to on-battery Deck and ROG Ally Z1 Extreme, but is otherwise roughly ~35% slower in games. Uses a 7-inch IPS screen.
• Ayaneo Pocket Air — Released 2023. Runs a custom Android distribution. Mostly just a very fancy, compact, entry-level ARM gaming handheld, particularly for Android titles and emulation. Uses a 5.5-inch OLED screen.
• PlayStation Portal — Released 2023. Runs a custom, heavily-locked down Android distribution. Intended for streaming only from a PlayStation 5. Has an 8-inch IPS screen.

$500+ Steam Deck Alternatives

The best Steam Deck alternative right now actually might just be the Steam Deck OLED, which is a refreshed model at a higher price. While more powerful Ryzen 7840U, Ryzen 8840U, and Ryzen Z1 Extreme handhelds exist, these handhelds are really at their best when plugged into a wall or 65W+ power bank, and exhibit very similar performance to the Steam Deck when running on battery. The big reason to look at alternatives is if they have specific features or specifications that appeal to you — like the ROG Ally’s VRR or improved eGPU support, or if you want Windows 11 preinstalled.

Nearly every device in this pricing bracket has a 1200p, 120 Hz screen except Deck OLED. This is nice in theory, but can be a tough target to hit with modern games, particularly without using heavy image scaling or sticking to 2D games.

• Steam Deck OLED — Released 2023. Runs SteamOS. Mostly identical internal specs to Steam Deck, but a massively-improved OLED screen with great HDR support. Our own Deck OLED review was quite favorable, and other outlets point toward Deck OLED being the leading option, as long as it’s within your budget, due to the excellent screen.
• Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme — Released 2023. Runs Windows 11. The first major competitor to the Steam Deck in terms of hardware power, providing superior gaming performance when plugged into an appropriate power source. It achieves this thanks to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme SoC, which is akin to the 7840U, with an identical core layout and Radeon 780M iGPU. Has a 7-inch IPS screen like the Steam Deck LCD, but the screen is generally considered much better.
• Lenovo Legion Go — Released 2023. Runs Windows 11. Leverages the Ryzen Z1 Extreme SoC like ROG Ally does, and has a larger 8.8-inch screen than Deck or Ally with a higher 2560 x 1600 resolution. Mostly ideal for users who want more screen real estate. Also slightly more performant than other Z1X devices in Performance mode.
• MSI Claw — Released 2024. Runs Windows 11. The only handheld on this list to leverage Intel hardware instead of AMD hardware, or the Nvidia hardware present in the Switch. Can perform better (~5%) than the Ryzen Z1 Extreme handhelds in select games, or dramatically worse in others, as benchmarked by GamersNexus. 
• Orange Pi Neo — Released 2024 — but currently only in China. Runs Manjaro Linux. Uses AMD’s Ryzen 7840U SoC or 8840U SoC depending on kit, but entry-level at ~$500 is currently the cheapest 7840U handheld by a significant margin.
• Ayaneo Air 1S — Released 2023. Runs Windows 11. Uses AMD’s Ryzen 7840U SoC, but in one of the most compact form factors of the high-end handhelds due to its 5.5-inch screen.
• Ayaneo Kun — Released 2023. Runs Windows 11. Another Ayaneo Ryzen 7840U option with a roomy 8.4-inch screen.

Note: This category would normally include some of GPD’s devices, but they all seem to be mid-refresh and so both past-gen, and current-gen GPD hardware cannot be ordered from the company’s site at the time of writing.

Upcoming Handheld Devices: Reasons To Wait

Upcoming Devices: Reasons To Wait

Ayaneo is preparing multiple new devices, seemingly for release around the same time. Its most unique upcoming offering is the Flip DS, which crosses the modern Deck form factor with that of legacy Nintendo dual-screen handhelds. But there are also more traditional Next Lite and Flip KB handhelds on the way from Ayaneo. These are all slated to be 7840U-, 8840U-based, or weaker handhelds.

Alternatively, startup Playtron has announced an ambitious plan to take on Valve with a new Linux distribution called PlaytronOS and matching custom handhelds. These handhelds will most likely leverage Qualcomm's high-end Snapdragon X Elite chips, or at least be optimized for them, which at least sounds interesting due to the X Elite’s supposedly great gaming performance. Playtron’s goal is to provide a SteamOS-like unified Linux interface for all PC games, not just the ones on Steam.

The ever-churning GPD is mid-refresh cycle and preparing a slew of upcoming Ryzen 8840U handhelds. The GPD Win Mini 2024 looks like another compelling clamshell option for those who don’t need dual screens and who like VRR, while the Win Max 2 refresh looks to be ideal for those who like particularly large screens on their tablets. But these all fall within expectations of a market currently dominated by AMD’s Ryzen 7840U and 8840U CPUs at the high end.

What portable gamer fans are anticipating most is the seemingly impending release of the Nintendo Switch 2, and the likely price-to-performance advancements that will come with it. The latest Switch 2 leaks point toward that release being early in 2025— possibly around March, which is when the Nintendo Switch launched back in 2017. With much more competition in the form of the Steam Deck and its contemporaries, handheld gaming has never looked better— but like with all PC hardware, it can often seem enticing to wait a little longer.

Valve’s Steam Deck isn’t a gaming powerhouse. Its custom Zen 2 "Van Gogh," 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.4 - 3.5 GHz may seem a little dated now, as do the eight RDNA 2-based compute units. But that’s not the point. It's there for those “grab and go” moments of gaming, not the latest triple-A titles that demand the Best Graphics Cards for Gaming. I’ve had my Steam Deck for over a year and in that time I have used it to play many 2D metroidvania titles, Stray and driven countless miles in Forza Horizon 5.

Nvidia offers the GeForce Now cloud gaming service, and until now it has been a pain to install. Thankfully, Nvidia has released a downloadable installer which simplifies the process. Essentially it will install Google’s Chrome browser along with a few tweaks to integrate it into your Steam library.

In this how to we will install GeForce Now on to my own Steam Deck and show how to connect to a server and play a game using the cloud service.

1. Press the Steam button on your Steam Deck and under Power, click on Switch to Desktop. This will take us from the gaming mode, into a traditional Linux desktop. You can navigate using the touchpad and the shoulder buttons, but it is far easier to use a USB C hub with a keyboard and mouse.

2. Open Firefox and go to the GeForce Now page and click on Steam Deck (Beta) Get Started to download the ZIP archive.

3. Go to the Downloads folder and double click on the GeForceNOWSetup.zip archive and extract it to your Downloads folder.

4. Open the GeForceNOW_Setup directory and click on GeforceNOW_Setup file. This is a BASH script. When asked what do you want to do with the file, select Execute.

5. A terminal will open and when asked, select 2) user and press Enter. This relates to the Flathub package manager which will install Google Chrome.

6. Wait for the installer to complete. The terminal window will auto close.

7. The Steam app will open. Click OK to acknowledge.

8. Return to Gaming Mode and navigate to the Non-Steam games section of your library. Select NVIDIA GeForce Now by pressing A on the controller.

9. Click Play to launch Google Chrome using the GeForce Now preset.

10. Make a note of the login details and code, press CTRL + T to open a new tab and visit geforcenow.com/login. This is a step which really benefits from a keyboard and mouse.

11. Complete the signup process to connect your GeForce Now account to the Steam Deck.

12. From the GeForce Now interface, click on Go To Settings.

13. Connect or sync your existing Games library accounts. These are all of your Game libraries, Steam, Xbox, Epic, Ubisoft etc. You will need to follow the specific security / verification steps for each service that you use.

14. Return to My Library and you will see all of the games which can be run on GeForce Now.

15. Select a game and wait for the servers to become available. We chose to play Forza  Horizon 5 from our Steam library using a free server. We had to wait for 10 minutes before a server was available.

16. Play your game as normal.

17. Exit the game when done. This will return you to the Steam app.

18. To exit GeForce Now, press the Steam button and select Exit game. This will return you to the Steam Deck’s Steam app where you can play games directly on the Steam Deck.

Valve has released a major update to its open-source tool which facilitates running Windows games on Linux systems. Proton 9.0 is available now on GitHub, bringing support for a host of games that were only previously only playable using an experimental release. The Proton software, which is derived from the long-running Wine 9.0 project (released in January), has also been tweaked and tuned to be more friendly with Nvidia GPUs and high core count processors.

Considering newly playable titles first, some modern releases like The Finals, Dinogen Online, and The Lord of the Rings: Gollum are now said to be playable on this stable release of Proton 9.0. Some PC classics have also been warmly embraced, most notably several Command & Conquer titles, like Red Alert 2 and Yuri’s Revenge, Tiberian Sun and Firestorm.

Sometimes older games don’t like high core count processors and Proton 9.0 fixes this particular wrinkle in some older PC games which are also classics. Proton limits the number of CPU cores seen by the following titles so that they run more smoothly, or without obvious issues: Far Cry 2 and 4; The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition; Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light; Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, Dawn of War II, Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising, Dawn of War II – Retribution; Outcast - Second Contact; and Prototype. Adding the newly playable titles and high core count fixed titles gives us 25 new games for Linux users to enjoy.

In the intro, we mentioned an improvement for Nvidia GPU users. From Proton 9.0, NVAPI will be enabled by default for most games, says the GitHub page. The upshot is that GeForce users should be able to get more juice out of their hardware with less fuss.

Elsewhere in the release notes, we see a few notable specific fixes coming to players, or would-be players, of games like Microsoft Flight Simulator, Doom Eternal, Brawhalla, Civilization V, Final Fantasy XIV Online, a handful of Unity engine titles, Bayonetta, and Escape from Monkey Island.

Updates to vkd3d-proton, dxvk, and dxvk-nvapi should ensure better DirectX compatibility, and we have support for Steamworks SDK 1.59 for closer integration with Steam's latest features.

If you are keen to get Proton 9.0 on your system, the update should be rolling out now to users of the previous version(s), so you could just wait. Those new to Proton or wishing to give the update process a prod could search for Proton 9.0 in their Steam Library.

Nvidia's GeForce Now streaming service now has a streamlined install script specifically for Steam Deck, available from Nvidia's download page. GeForce Now streaming on Steam Deck is technically nothing new, as our header image and prior postings show, but now Nvidia is providing a greatly-streamlined process compared to the previous methods, which required you to install and configure your browser manually.

Basically, you won't be installing a dedicated Steam Deck application. Instead, Nvidia's recently-announced script assumes you haven't already installed Google Chrome through Steam Deck's Gaming Mode prompt, and part of the script includes installing and auto-configuring a Chrome shortcut to point directly to GeForce Now from Gaming Mode. Like with our past DOS_deck coverage, it's worth noting a setup like this can compromise web browsing without going to Desktop Mode to launch the browser without the now-forced GeForce Now shortcut.

As Nvidia points out in its blog post, this new installation method has dropped to coincide with last week's GeForce Now update, which improved gamepad support for browser users, including those on Steam Deck. The blog post notes that GeForce Now is also available in-app or install-script form for the other major handhelds, and even provides a manual Steam Deck GeForce Now installation guide. 

Since Chrome installed through Gaming Mode is easily the best browsing experience on Steam Deck, we recommend that GeForce Now users could also consider following Nvidia's manual install guide and using it with Microsoft Edge instead. Due to the way Steam (and by extension, Deck Gaming Mode) currently works, you can't configure two shortcuts pointing to the same browser without giving up one of them.

For those curious about GeForce Now on Steam Deck but on the fence, there are some upsides worth considering. As long as your Internet connection can maintain strong low latency with the server, streaming games from a server or home PC is way less intensive on battery life than rendering them on the handheld, even if Deck can handle the game already. At the very least, it should offer longer battery life because your Deck isn't handling the game.

The world of microelectronics keeps getting tinier. As size decreases, so does ease of use but that doesn't stop makers like Basically Homeless, as they're known as over at YouTube, from tinkering with some of the smallest most impractical peripherals we've come across. In his latest video, we get a close look at what he proclaims is the world's smallest gaming monitor. This super tiny monitor is connected to none other than our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi.

This isn't the first time we've seen the Raspberry Pi used in a super tiny gaming handheld. We recently covered an ultra-small Game Boy that upon closer inspection, appeared to sport a Raspberry Pi RP2040 on the main PCB. In today's project, however, Basically Homeless is using a Pi Zero to drive the tiny screen.

It's hard to imagine exactly how useful this display is for a handheld gaming device but the goal of this project is more for fun rather than practicality. In the video, we get a look at the module and Basically Homeless provides an overview of its specs. Unfortunately, details are scarce about the screen and where it comes from.

Driving the main operation is a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W. The tiny screen module measures in at 640 x 480 and has a diagonal span of under 6mm. For input, Basically Homeless is using a couple of joy-con modules that add buttons and analog joysticks to the Raspberry Pi. This makes it easy to operate as an all-in-one device.

Because this is using a Raspberry Pi, there are quite a few options out there when it comes to operating systems but Basically Homeless went with the tried and true Raspberry Pi OS. On this, he ran a Minecraft knockoff and managed to get the super tiny display to operate at 15 FPS.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, check it out over at YouTube where you can also follow Basically Homeless for future projects.

Valve's Steam Deck has done more for the world of handheld PC gaming than any other device in history, with the Steam Deck OLED improving several key aspects of the design. Valve hasn't issued any specific official numbers, other that to say in November 2023 that it has now sold "multiple millions of units" — meaning at least two million, but possibly quite a lot more than that. Many games are even adding "Steam Deck" settings to make them run better on the low-power hardware.

There are three core variants of the Steam Deck. The original launched with a base model that has a 64GB eMMC SSD and a 1280x800 LCD display, as well as that same display with a 256GB SSD. Then there was a premium 512GB model that came with a higher quality anti-glare LCD. Now, Valve has refreshed the Steam Deck with an OLED model that improves the display yet again, while also increasing battery capacity and tweaking a few other elements. The OLED model comes in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB variants.

Whatever model you purchase, you can benefit from doing an aftermarket upgrade with an SSD you buy and install on your own. All models come with a single M.2 2230 slot for storage, as well as a microSD card slot. Adding a microSD card isn't hard at all, but performance from such devices can be quite limiting. But if you want good performance with smooth game loads, you should get the SSD.

The original LCD model comes with a 64GB eMMC storage drive, which uses an M.2 SATA interface. It costs $349, the 256GB model costs $399, and the 512GB variant costs $449. The newer OLED model is available with 512GB for $549 or 1TB of storage for $649. All the SSD models use a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, though there's not much point in buying a new PCIe 3.0 drive these days — PCIe 4.0 drives work just fine in the Steam Deck and are readily available.

Below, we'll show you how to upgrade the SSD in your Steam Deck. Note that the specifics of the teardown are slightly different for the OLED model — it has Torx screws and the EMI shield is slightly changed, with a sticky cable that goes across it — but in general the same steps will apply.

SSD prices are on the rise, though M.2 2230 SSDs were already more expensive than the normal 2280 models. As such, prices have been relatively static in the 2230 realm, even dropping $10–$20 in some cases. We're going to assume anyone looking to upgrade a Steam Deck will be sensible and try to get either a 1TB or 2TB drive — anything less seems superfluous.

1TB drives start at around $70, while the 2TB drives can cost $160 or more. That's above pricing for standard SSDs but is still far better than what Valve charges for higher-storage models. Anyone who knows how to use a screwdriver shouldn't even consider paying extra for a Valve-certified SSD, not when you can get larger and faster drives for less. 

Valve charges $100 to go from the 512GB to the 1TB OLED Steam Deck, but you could do the same for $30 less — or get a 2TB drive for as little as $122.50 with the WD SN740. And yes, that's an AliExpress link, but that's where we picked up the WD SN740 that we reviewed.

Steam Deck SSDs Quick Look

How to Upgrade the Steam Deck SSD

Before you install your new SSD into the Steam Deck, you need to decide how you're going to get the SteamOS and your existing library of games (and any other apps) onto the disk. You can either clone the contents of the old drive to the one one before you install the new SSD or you can install the new SSD and then install SteamOS and redownload all your games.

To clone your old SSD, you need a couple of things. First, you must have  an enclosure -- ideally one of the best SSD enclosures -- that you can use to connect the new drive to a USB-C port on the Steam Deck. But you also need either a microSD card you can boot from (to boot Clonezilla, the cloning software) or a USB hub / dock you can connect to the USB port so you can boot Clonezilla from a USB Flash drive at the same that the enclosure is connected. 

After you have cloned your old SSD or decided that you're going to install SteamOS, follow these steps:

1. Shut down the Steam Deck — you don't want it in sleep mode when you swap out the storage device. Some say you should disconnect the battery when swapping out the SSD, but honestly, we skipped that step.

2. Remove the eight small Phillips screws on the bottom of the Deck (Torx screws on the OLED model). 

3. Pry the case open with a thin plastic wedge.

4. Remove the EMI shield. An aluminum EMI shield covers the SSD slot, secured by three more Phillips screws. One of the screws is hidden beneath some metallic tap, so peel that back but keep it because you don't want to potentially interfere with the WiFi reception. Some slightly sticky thermal pads hold the metal shield in place, so after you've removed the screws, you'll need to lift the shield carefully.

This is the one noteworthy difference between the original Steam Deck and the Steam Deck OLED. There's a cable that goes across a black EMI shield, which is also secured using Torx screws. You'll need to disconnect the cable to get access to the M.2 slot underneath. The M.2 slot is oriented vertically rather than horizontally, but otherwise the steps should be the same.

You can see that the original Valve SSD comes with yet another EMI shield around it, and it's secured by one final screw. 

5. Unscrew and remove the old SSD.

6. Slide off the foil wrap, and then put it around your new SSD. 

7. Install the new SSD

8. Reinstall the EMI shield and rear panel, tightening all screws.

If you cloned the old SSD, you're done. Follow the steps below if you need to install SteamOS. if you need more detail than we offer here, Valve has a helpful support page detailing how to reinstall SteamOS on the Steam Deck.

9.  Download the drive image, 

10. Create a bootable USB install disk using Rufus. Note that you'll need a USB Type-C stick or an adapter — we used a spare Samsung T7 Touch 1TB SSD that we had lying around, but there are far cheaper options like this SanDisk 32GB stick.

11. Boot off the USB device. To do this, plug the USB install disk into the Steam Deck, hold down the volume down button, press and release the power button, then release the volume button after you hear the power on sound. 

In a minute or so, you'll be greeted with the Linux interface. 

12. Since the SSD is blank, click the "Re-image Steam Deck" icon on the desktop, and after a minute and a couple of button clicks, the Steam Deck will boot to the SteamOS welcome screen.

Steam Deck Benchmark Test Setup

After upgrading our Steam Deck SSD, we ran benchmarks on all the drives. You can find links to all the drive reviews in the boxout, though some of them were originally reviewed before we began including Steam Deck tests. We've also put together a list of the best Steam Deck SSDs. Here we've simply provided all of the benchmark results.

Performance in the Steam Deck tends to be capped by the processor and interface speed, so there's not a huge difference between most of the drives we've checked — with the original 64GB eMMC drive being the major exception. Testing with a Steam Deck also limits our options a bit compared to our normal Windows testing. We timed several common scenarios as our primary view of performance, and also ran some synthetic tests with KDiskMark — sort of a Linux clone of CrystalDiskMark.

The SteamOS installation can hit the storage relatively hard, so we timed how long it took to re-image SteamOS, plus the subsequent restart and boot to the welcome screen. We also timed the OS update to the latest version available, which differed depending on when we tested the drive in question — we started on July 10, 2023, but SteamOS seems to get at least one monthly OS update. We also timed the standard boot sequence for SteamOS.

Besides the OS testing, we wanted to check how long it took to install a game. Because we want to compare the performance of the upgraded SSDs with the base model 64GB eMMC drive, that somewhat limits what we can do. For example, installing any game larger than 45GB isn't possible on the eMMC drive. We opted for installing Hollow Knight, a 2D platformer that runs nicely on the Deck. 

This ends up being seriously bottlenecked by the Wi-Fi connection of the Steam Deck, which limits download speeds to around 250~350 Mbps in our testing. YMMV. Steam will also install Proton 7.0 and some other software the first time you install the game, but we didn't include that time in our testing. We uninstalled and reinstalled Hollow Knight multiple times on each SSD, to ensure the consistency of results.

We also checked battery life while running Hollow Knight for one hour. We fully charged the Steam Deck (after getting battery life below 80%), loaded Hollow Knight and our most recent save, and began a stopwatch. Screen brightness was set to 40%, with dimming and sleep disabled. After 60 minutes, we check the battery percentage remaining and use this to provide an estimate of total battery life.

Finally, for KDiskMark, we used the default 1GB test size and gathered the sequential and random read/write speeds. We ran KDiskMark at least three times, keeping the best results. Note that these figures are more theoretical and likely don't reflect how the storage speed will impact your daily use of the Steam Deck, since most tasks are not purely storage limited. We also gathered SSD temperatures while running KDiskMark to see how hot the drives get.

Steam Deck SSD Benchmarks

Here are the results of our performance testing of the various SSDs, compared with the base 64GB eMMC drive. Our base drive was a Foresee FE2H0M064G-B5X10, though it appears different parts may be used depending on when you purchase the Steam Deck. We're testing with a recovery image from July 7 (steamdeck-recovery-4.img.bz2).

Our primary benchmarks focus on real-world results, including battery life and SSD temperatures. Boot times for the various SSDs ranged from 25 to 27 seconds for all of the SSDs, with the eMMC drive landing at 34 seconds. Similarly, disk re-image times were between 39 and 46 seconds, except for the eMMC drive that took 105 seconds. We also have the initial SteamOS boot time (for device setup) taking 58–62 seconds on the SSDs, and 75 seconds on the eMMC drive.

Other testing reveals game install times ranging from 42–52 seconds, though here we have to exercise caution as Wi-Fi speeds are not entirely reliable and consistent. We tested in the same location each time, but we saw as much as a 20 second difference between runs on the same drive at times. The real culprit appears to be the Steam network side, which seems to attempt to only send data as fast as a device can receive it, so the first 10 seconds or more can be quite a bit slower depending on "luck."

Launching Hollow Knight results in a one second difference between the fastest and slowest SSDs, 11.1–12.1 seconds. The eMMC drive however takes over 50% longer than even the slowest M.2 2230 SSD we've tested. SSD temperatures show more variation, with the coolest running drive reporting 54C while the hottest running drive reaches 66C and it's no surprise that the WD SN740 2TB gets the worst result on thermals. (We're not convinced the eMMC drive accurately reports temperature, as it stayed at 35C throughout testing.)

Battery life is an estimate, and after one hour running Hollow Knight, the Steam Deck shows between 18–20 percent battery life remaining. With one percent steppings, dividing 60 minutes by 0.18, 0.19, and 0.20 (the amount battery life dropped) gives the 300, 316, and 333 minutes results.

None of these charts here show a significant enough difference in performance to allow any of the SSDs really stand out. Even the QLC-based SSDs appear to be just fine for Steam Deck use, and you can generally pick any modern M.2 2230 drive and get reasonable results.

Synthetic testing shows a much wider range of performance between the SSDs, largely because the synthetic nature of these tests removes the rest of the system from the equation. Installing and launching games, as well as booting and updating SteamOS, all depend on both storage and CPU performance. KDiskMark is a lightweight test that only stresses the storage solution.

We've ordered the charts loosing according to importance. Sequential read speeds are often the biggest bottleneck for booting the OS and loading a game, and at queue depth of one, we measured between 1,650 and 2,770 MB/s of throughput — with the eMMC only delivering 268 MB/s. Sequential QD1 write speeds were lower, ranging from 1,435–1.755 MB/s, with the eMMC drive at 189 MB/s. We do have QD8 sequential read/write charts, but those are more marketing material than anything that truly tells how these consumer drives might stack up.

Random read/write performance is also important, but again it's only QD1 testing that provides a meaningful real-world correlation. Here we see the drives ranging from 12,336–19,745 4K IOPS, with the eMMC drive at 4,856 IOPS. Notice how much the margin has shrunk here compared to sequential speeds, and you can see why the eMMC drive is still generally sufficient (though limited in capacity). The QD1 random writes are higher and range from 50,200–65,007 IOPS, with the eMMC drive at 6,800.

QD32 results are up to 11X higher than the QD1 results on reads, and up to 3X higher on writes, but nearly all real-world input/output to an SSD happens at QD1–QD4, with most of it at QD1. Don't put too much thought into the QD32 numbers, in other words.

Closing Thoughts on Upgrading the Steam Deck SSD

Regular M.2 2280 SSDs are quite a bit less expensive than most of the 2230 drives. The exception, should you be willing to go there, is the WD SN740 OEM drive. You won't get a warranty, which is part of why the drives are so cheap, but they're still plenty fast and work well — even if they run hotter than the other drives.

M.2 2230 prices are coming down, largely thanks to the increased availability of devices that require such drives, the Steam Deck and Asus Ally being the primary candidates. The Ally can use the same drives tested here, though as a device that supports PCIe 4.0 drives, you can get a larger performance difference. But for most people, the Ally will also spend most of its SSD busy time doing game downloads and installations, and the Wi-Fi connection will be a bigger bottleneck than even the slowest (non-eMMC) drive.

Upgrading the Steam Deck storage is relatively simple and painless. Valve cautioned against end-user SSD mods with 2242 SSDs, and we would echo that advice, but plenty of 2230 drives are available and won't require any modifications. If you're reasonably competent, upgrading to a larger 2230 SSD should only take 30 minutes at most — excluding the time you'll need to either clone the old disk or redownload the OS and all of your games.

Vladimir Putin recently approved a list of development plans for the Kaliningrad region of Russia, and it surprisingly listed creating a Steam-like ecosystem, including a handheld device, among the key goals. Part of a new nine-point plan handed down from Putin to PM Mikhail Mishustin, the new Russian gaming platform should include desktop and portable hardware, an OS, and a cloud system for gaming. The plans, spotted by PCGamer, indicate that PM Mishustin has a “period of execution” until June 15 to assess and organize the production of the gaming machines and ecosystem.

From a machine translation of the official instructions, we know that this nine-point plan was precipitated by a meeting in January concerning economic development in Kaliningrad. Third on the list is the diktat regarding developing a whole new gaming ecosystem.

“Consider the issue of organizing the production of stationary and portable game consoles and game consoles, as well as the creation of an operating system and a cloud system for delivering games and programs to users,” says the Putin-approved instruction.

We see that PM Mishustin needs only to consider and create outline plans for the gaming ecosystem before the period of execution, which is set for June 15, 2024. Of course, preparing meaningful plans is still a big task, but it should be achievable enough for Mishustin to feel relatively safe standing on balconies.

Local media has already been pondering the feasibility of Russia creating a viable gaming ecosystem from scratch. Industry figures in Russia reportedly agreed that a meaningful timescale would be five to 10 years. However, given the experience deficit and time constraints, the platform might be as much as 15 years behind platforms like Steam, technologically speaking, by the time it launches.

Other reports examine why the Kaliningrad region might have been chosen for this games industry project. Kaliningrad is a Russian enclave sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, with access to the Baltic Sea, and operating as a special economic zone (with tax and customs duty breaks, etc). The region is also home to a recently opened silicon production facility estimated to produce 200 million silicon wafers annually.

It would be better for Russian gamers if the Ukraine war ended, and sanctions followed suit, so AMD, Intel, and Nvidia hardware could be put back on the menu. If not, a ‘Russian Steam Machine’ might have to run on Baikal processing power or adopt some limp Chinese chips, for example. Russia probably has less work to do on the software side, as it already has Astra Linux for the OS, which could be made more PC gaming-friendly using Proton, following the Valve / Steam playbook.

One of the holy grails of emulation is to create a viable Steam Deck SD device, for playing old Nintendo DS games. Retro Handhelds recently took a look at the topic, and provided details of its own Deck DS modding project. There are challenges with the project, and we'll look at some of the other Steam Deck DS alternatives as well.

Note that while the mod is called bot Steam Deck DS and Deck 3DS, "DS" is considerably more accurate since no 3D is at work here. The Deck is also (controversially) powerful enough to emulate the newer Nintendo Switch, not just its DS lineage. It can even run Elden Ring faster than a PS4, which potentially let's it be the one handheld device to emulate them all.

Retro Handhelds cites u/TyePower's Deck DS post made on February 19, 2024 as the primary inspiration for their own Deck DS project. TyePower's rendition was highly streamlined compared to most past renditions seen on the Steam Deck subreddit, but all of them have various elements of imperfection. For now, we'll focus more on the Retro Handhelds Steam Deck DS project.

Retro Handhelds initially tried the project with a QLED 7-inch display, which unfortunately made only one screen work at a time. The active display would swap depending on whether the device was in gaming or desktop mode. Steam Deck DS projects will require the use of desktop mode for dual screen gaming, and Retro Handhelds upgraded to a ROADOM 7-Inch IPS display and adopted TyePower's use of the Rolling Square "Edge Pro Tablet Kit" to facilitate that.

The full Retro Handhelds blog post goes into some more details, including how to configure the now-delisted Citra 3DS emulator (BYOE) for the dual-screen setup in desktop mode. Getting a functional Steam DS setup is one thing, but creating something that feels like a Nintendo DS while also being fully self-contained naturally requires more effort. Given the difficulties involved, simply buying a used/refurbished DS would prove much easier (but not give you access to a full library of games, naturally).

We want to highlight a few other Deck DS projects, which show how much of an evolution Retro Handhelds' and TyePower's Deck DS mods are compared to their predecessors.

Above are two other Deck DS projects. The first was posted last month by u/HanzoNumbahOneFan, and shows the mod running Mario & Luigi and leveraging Deckmate mounting. It was one of the most streamlined mods of the time. Going back six months, there's also u/Impossible_Dog175's proof of concept running Dark Souls II, which now seems like the least practical of the extended Deck DS family.

Another alternative to all these Steam Deck mods might end up being Ayaneo's Flip DS, which is based on the same juicier-when-plugged-in spec as Asus ROG Ally, though it doesn't have the Ally's VRR or the Deck OLED's image quality. However, it does include dual touchscreens out of the box, which allows it to close up nicely and avoids the hacked together aesthetic of most mods.

While none of the Deck DS projects we've seen yet are leveraging an OLED top screen, one could in theory use a 7-inch OLED instead of the IPS LCDs we usually see. Dual OLEDs with touch support would potentially be the best solution, provided someone can make it work properly. And if that happens, Nintendo might like to have a word or two with the creators...

The Steam Deck OLED showed minor burn-in after a 1,500-hour stress test conducted by YouTuber Wulff Den. OLED displays are inherently susceptible to burn-in, and the Steam Deck OLED is no exception. While 1,500 hours or 63 days is a long time, the OLED model of the Deck experienced burn-in much quicker than the Switch OLED, which Wulff Den demonstrated experiencing burn-in at around 3,500 hours.

Since their inception, image retention, known colloquially as burn-in, has been a critical issue with OLED displays. After all, static images or static portions of moving content (like UI elements or TV channel logos) are common. The latest OLED panels, however, come with newer designs that are supposed to mitigate the risk of burn-in.

Wulff Den decided to test the Steam Deck OLED and compare it to a Switch OLED that he had previously tested. The comparison wasn't made purely because they're similar products, as the two devices on the sub-pixel level are almost identical and may even come from the same manufacturer.

For the test, an in-game screenshot of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was put on the screen (same as he did for the Switch OLED) with some color testing bars at the top since there was extra room on the Deck's larger display. Additionally, he set the brightness to 100%, and since the screenshot and color bar were in SDR, the brightness was roughly 600 nits, though the Deck can do 1,000 nits in HDR.

The test was stopped at the 1,500-hour mark, and there were faint but certainly noticeable signs of burn-in. The black-white bar pattern was the most visible due to the high contrast, which isn't surprising. The colors quickest to burn in on the sub-pixel level were red and blue, leaving green as the most resilient color. Size is an important factor in burn-in risk, and since the red sub-pixels are the smallest on the Deck's OLED display, that they burned in isn't surprising. However, the blue sub-pixels are the largest, yet they burned in the most, according to Wulff Den.

As for the UI elements in the Zelda screenshot, the only one that seemed to stick were the hearts at the top-left corner. Since the hearts are pure red, it makes sense that they would be the one part of the UI that caused burn-in. That being said, the burn-in was pretty minor and much harder to discern than the burn-in caused by the color bars.

It's unclear why the Steam Deck OLED experienced burn-in much quicker than the Switch OLED, but Wulff Den speculates that brightness could be the cause. The Switch OLED caps out at 400 nits, and while the OLED Deck is technically only 50% brighter, more brightness requires exponentially more power. Wulff Den also cites a test conducted by fellow YouTuber The Phawx, who tested burn-in with HDR content at 1,000 nits and saw clear burn-in after 750 hours; only 67% brighter to achieve worse burn-in within half the time.

Wulff Den reached out to Valve for comment on whether the OLED Deck employed any anti-burn-in technologies, such as adjusting the UI incrementally over time, and Valve said it did not. However, Valve said it wasn't aware of any burn-in issues experienced by users "under normal use" and that the one-year warranty would cover burn-in.

Although burn-in can be concerning, Wulff Den concludes that the risk can easily be mitigated by reducing brightness and disabling HDR, saying users should "be careful blasting your brightness, this thing can get bright. 600 nits is no joke, 1,000 nits in HDR is just ridiculous." Playing on an external monitor is another option, especially for users who are sinking hundreds of hours into the same game.

Today at Amazon, you can find the Corsair MP600 Core Mini SSDs available at new all-time low prices. The Corsair MP600 Core Mini 1TB SSD usually goes for around $94 but right now can be purchased for $69. The 2TB MP600 Core Mini SSD is listed at $169 down from its usual rate of around $199.

These SSDs are smaller in form factor compared to 2280 drives but this makes them ideal candidates for handhelds like the Valve Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally, as well as Microsoft's Surface Pro devices. If you've been waiting to expand your storage, now is a good time to act.

Read our review of the Corsair MP600 Core Mini 2TB SSD for benchmark performance details.

Both of these SSDs have very similar specifications and differ mainly in capacity. They both use PCIe 4.0 x4 interfaces and can achieve very high read/write speeds of 5,000/3,800 MBps. Corsair provides a warranty for five years or up to 450TBW for the 2TB version (250TBW for the 1TB version).

Visit the Corsair MP600 Core Mini 1TB and 2TB SSD product pages at Amazon for more details and purchase options.

Users of the original Steam Deck have a few major display upgrade / repair options: stick with the original screen, upgrade to a DeckHD, or buy a full Steam Deck OLED replacement. The folks at Digital Foundry were shipped a pre-assembled DeckHD unit, which they performed some hands-on comparisons with, alongside the other major upgrade options. We've included DF's original video in an embed below and will discuss its findings in due course.

Before we get too deep into this, though, it's important to establish that a higher resolution is not always a better thing, particularly in the handheld form factor. The Steam Deck is meant to target 30-60 FPS at 720p-800p in its Verified titles, and boosting the resolution target by 50% on a handheld may not always provide acceptable performance, especially in modern games. It nearly guarantees a 45-50% loss in GPU performance at the same settings, which is only acceptable if you have lots of headroom to start with.

Of course, the beauty of the PC platform means you can still use resolution scale and related settings to adjust ambitious titles to the limits of a higher-res display in a handheld form factor. 2D titles and less demanding games will still fundamentally benefit from a 1200p display, but generally speaking, 3D games look best at native resolution or with great scaling regardless of your native res.

In Digital Foundry's extended testing, the DeckHD proves to be a surprisingly adequate competitor to the Steam Deck OLED, at least when both are set to SDR and similar color temperatures. In this case, it's definitely a strong improvement over the original Steam Deck LCD screen, and the $99 cost of both an original Deck Antiglare Screen and the DeckHD Antiglare replacement screen points toward the DeckHD being the superior option in overall spec.

Technically, you can get a regular old replacement Steam Deck LCD screen for much cheaper than the DeckHD or original Antiglare LCD screen, but the existence of the full Steam Deck OLED upgrade makes that a slightly less-appetizing option. However, the DeckHD also comes with the major caveat of requiring manual installation and even firmware updates for the screen every time Valve updates the Steam Deck, which seems like it would get irritating very quickly.

Overall, people who don't already own a Steam Deck are still generally advised to go with the Deck OLED if at all possible, since it's still the best experience with the least headaches. However, if you want to repair or upgrade an LCD Steam Deck, Digital Foundry convincingly argues that the DeckHD is a very worthy option, albeit one that may only be suitable for the most determined hardware tweakers.

Steam Deck maker Valve has made a plea — in the form of a support response — that users not deliberately inhale the exhaust fumes from the Steam Deck's vent. Apparently sniffing Steam Decks is a trend currently making the rounds on TikTok.

Here's the exact wording: 

"As with all electronics, it is generally not recommended you inhale the exhaust fumes on your device. While there are no safety concerns with general usage, directly inhaling the device's vent fumes should be avoided. We understand that it may be a meme, but please refrain from this behavior for the safety of your health."

We're not sure how much Valve's warning will discourage TikTok users given that the internet has a history of intentionally following bad/unhealthy/downright dangerous trends (and it's not limited to TikTok users). But just because you can... doesn't mean you should.

A Stories from Vent Sniffers is as Old as the OG Steam Deck Itself!

Steam Deck "vent sniffers" have been steadily increasing since the Deck launched in 2022 — at least, according to multiple discussion threads, posts, and tweets. People apparently can't resist the temptation of inhaling the fumes from the Steam Deck's exhaust vents, jokingly claiming that said fumes smell like fresh laundry and Cheetos, and cause hallucinations of Gaben himself. And the trend seems to be continuing with the newer Steam Deck OLED. 

While most discussions on Steam Deck vent sniffing are, understandably, not very serious, Valve's response shouldn't be ignored. While some people claim it's harmless, like any vents pushing air out of any device, there's a chance of micro levels of toxic fumes, dust, or impurities that would probably be better not directly inhaled into your lungs. This advisory from Valve applies to any portable device (or, well, any device) with a vent. 

This wouldn't be the first time people took a sniff from their electronic devices — though it's not always intentional. A quick look at Apple's support forums shows that there have been reports of Macbook Pros smelling like lemons and the iPhone 13 smelling like battery acid/nail polish. In those cases it seems like something was almost certainly wrong, so make sure to take action if you notice a strange smell emanating from your device, whether you're inhaling intentionally or not. 

If you have your heart set on 2TB of capacity for your Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, or other portable gaming system, you’re about to discover another great M.2 2230 SSD. The Silicon Power UD90 2230, which by name is a shorter version of the previous value champion UD90, is an excellent choice for upgrading your internal storage. It’s not limited to 2TB; it is designed for 500GB and 1TB, but like most QLC drives, it’s best at higher capacity. Performance feels good enough, and you know what to expect from Silicon Power - a less expensive alternative to otherwise identical hardware from better-known manufacturers. But that’s not to say the UD90 2230 is without its surprises.

The UD90 2230 performs well in PCIe 3.0 mode and in the Steam Deck - which is restricted to PCIe 3.0 - but, as expected from QLC flash, it doesn’t peak as high with PCIe 4.0. Of course, there aren't many TLC options available at 2TB, with the best example being the OEM WD PC SN740 or its equivalent retail part in the WD Black SN770M. For QLC, there’s long been the OEM Micron 2400, but retail options have since ramped up, starting with the Sabrent Rocket Q4 2230, Addlink S91, Teamgroup MP44S, and the Inland QN446. This has put downward pressure on pricing, making 2TB fairly affordable for portable systems - which aren’t limited to gaming devices or even those with M.2 2230, as an extender works just fine for 2242 slots.

There is some question about whether or not a 2TB QLC SSD is needed: TLC options are more plentiful and performant at 1TB and below, and these drives also have had market pressure to lower prices. Portable systems universally have microSD slots and, in the worst case, can rely on external storage. However, these systems are often lovingly cared-for investments, and securing 2TB early for internal storage is tempting. That’s where drives like the UD90 2230 are best, but if you are on a strict budget, you can shave some off the price by going with QLC over TLC at lower capacities without too much loss, as demonstrated in this review.

Specifications

The Silicon Power UD90 2230 is available at 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB, with only the last two SKUs being currently available for purchase. Those two are at $68.97 and $165.97, respectively, during the time of review. However, prices are rapidly changing, so be sure to engage in comparison shopping. Silicon Power rates this model for up to 5,000 / 3,200 MB/s, with the 500GB model rated at up to 4,700 / 1,700 MB/s.

The relatively low sequential write performance for the 500GB model suggests that it’s QLC, which is both good and bad. It’s a good thing because it might be a less expensive option at that capacity than the standard TLC drives. The Addlink S91, which is QLC at 1TB and 2TB but not 512GB, uses BiCS5 TLC for the smallest capacity. TLC usually performs better, which is a negative for the UD90 2230, but on the other hand, BiCS5 is likely to be less efficient. Typically, QLC-based M.2 2230 drives don’t even have a 500/512GB option which makes the UD90 2230 a bit unique - if and when that SKU becomes available.

Silicon Power backs this drive with a 5-year warranty at up to 600TB of writes per TB capacity. This TBW rating is higher than competing QLC drives like the Inland QN446. That shouldn’t be an important consideration for this type of drive, but all else being equal, it could tip the scales in its favor.

Software and Accessories

Silicon Power has a bunch of software for download on its site. This includes an SSD toolbox, a versatile application that yields information on your system and storage with diagnostics and a way to update the drive’s firmware. SP’s other software ranges from file recovery to cloning to encryption, although freeware alternatives exist for many of these functions. Sometimes, it’s best to avoid OEM software solutions, although not all of them are in-house, as the file recovery download is Recuva. 

A Closer Look

This is your standard M.2 2230 SSD. The UD90 2230 is a single-sided drive with an SSD controller and a single package of NAND. 2TB of capacity means that this package is stacked with 16 dies (HDP) of 1Tb QLC, the effective limit of current technology.

Stacking more dies can be challenging for multiple reasons, such as maintaining signal integrity. With this same Phison E21T controller and 512Gb TLC dies, models like the Corsair MP600 Mini faced such an issue that could lead to data loss in specific circumstances. A firmware fix is the cleanest solution, and Phison put out a new revision. In rare scenarios performance is reduced with that fix, but that also is being addressed. No such issue applies here, though, as stacked QLC is immune.

You really have to hold one of these drives in your hands to fully grasp just how small it is, with the realization that this could pack in 4TB if it were double-sided. You always remember your first M.2 SSD, coming from either behemoth 3.5” HDDs or 2.5” SATA SSDs that once felt smallish. An M.2 2280 SSD feels tiny in comparison, and an M.2 2230 somehow reduces that by more than one-half more.

There’s a point here: be careful with these drives. They are delicate in some ways, but not in others. Luckily, it’s harder to bend these than full-length M.2 SSDs. Still, installation means working in a smaller space, so caution and patience are recommended. This is especially true when working with systems with a different offset for M.2 2230 or requiring an M.2 extender, as such installations are atypical. The UD90 2230 does not stand out in any particular way, but at least its single-sided nature does ensure easier handling.

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Comparison Products

The 2TB Silicon Power UD 2230, not to be confused with the M.2 2280 UD90, competes directly with other 2TB QLC drives. This includes the Inland QN446, Addlink S91, and the Sabrent Rocket Q4 2230. The Teamgroup MP44S is a 1TB QLC drive, which would compete with the 1TB UD 2230 - and we see it’s quite viable for the Deck - and the Inland TN436 is a 1TB last-generation drive. The fastest 1TB drives we’ve tested have TLC, including the Corsair MP600 Mini, the Sabrent Rocket 2230, and the Inland TN446. The 2TB TLC WD Black SN770M also makes an appearance. 

Steam Deck - General

To gauge general Steam Deck performance, we engage in a variety of typical storage situations with active time measurement. These activities include dealing with the default SteamOS through initial setup, re-imaging, initial booting, and booting in general. For game testing, we see how long it takes to install and boot the popular title Hollow Knight. For a full explanation of our testing procedure, see our Steam Deck storage testing article.

In terms of performance, the UD90 2230 fell in line with the rest of the QLC drives, like the Rocket Q4 2230, S91, and QN446. Any of these drives will be perfectly fine for the Steam Deck, and we have no trouble recommending QLC if you want a 2TB drive. 

Steam Deck - KDiskMark and Temperature

One of the most popular, if not the most popular, storage benchmarks is CrysalDiskMark (CDM), which we use in our own Windows-based SSD testing suite. This benchmark relies on Microsoft’s DiskSpd with templated test settings. CDM lets you quickly see how a drive performs against its idealized, rated specifications and the benchmark can also hint at a more “real world” feel with low queue depth I/O testing.

The Linux flavor of this benchmark, which is easy to install on the Steam Deck, is KDiskMark. The “K” refers to the KDE desktop environment used on the Deck. KDiskMark relies on the Flexible I/O tester, or FIO, instead of DiskSpd. For the temperature portion we use data from the SMART sensors on the drive which can be directly polled and from which the maximum temperature can be extracted.

We don’t see the UD90 2230’s magic under Linux with KDiskMark. Does this suggest under-the-hood optimization for Windows-based benchmarks or that filesystem? That would seem unusual, given that this drive will be purchased, at least partly, for use in the Steam Deck. However, the majority of portable gaming systems now sold are Windows-based. Windows and multi-boot are popular on the Deck, too. Not many sites test storage this definitively on both operating systems, so this might otherwise fly under the radar.

The maximum temperature hit pretty close to what we had with PCIe 3.0 mode in our standard desktop testing. These drives will get hotter when exposed to long gaming sessions at maximum system power draw. Higher temperatures can be expected in PCIe 4.0-capable systems, as well.

PC Trace Testing - 3DMark Gaming Storage Benchmark

Built for gamers, 3DMark’s Storage Benchmark focuses on real-world gaming performance. Each round in this benchmark stresses storage based on gaming activities including loading games, saving progress, installing game files, and recording gameplay video streams.

The UD90 2230 performs adequately in 3DMark and, in fact, appears to do better than the other QLC drives tested. 

PC Trace Testing – PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark

PCMark 10 is a trace-based benchmark that uses a wide-ranging set of real-world traces from popular applications and everyday tasks to measure the performance of storage devices.

The UD90 2230 performs excellently in PCMark 10, punching above its weight as it leads in several of the most critical benchmark categories.  

PC Transfer Rates – DiskBench

We use the DiskBench storage benchmarking tool to test file transfer performance with a custom, 50GB dataset. We copy 31,227 files of various types, such as pictures, PDFs, and videos to a new folder and then follow-up with a reading test of a newly-written 6.5GB zip file.

Copy performance in DiskBench brings the drive back down to earth. It’s closer to the QLC drives, like the QN446, in PCIe 4.0 mode. In PCIe 3.0 mode, it ballparks with the other 2230 SSDs. It still manages to eke out first place in that scenario, though.

PC Synthetic Testing - ATTO / CrystalDiskMark

ATTO and CrystalDiskMark (CDM) are free and easy-to-use storage benchmarking tools that SSD vendors commonly use to assign performance specifications to their products. Both of these tools give us insight into how each device handles different file sizes.

The UD90's 2230 overall pattern for ATTO looks solid. The UD90 2230, in fact, seems to outperform expectations, which is also demonstrated in previous benchmarks. If you think Silicon Power smuggled in higher-quality TLC flash here, we still see the tell-tale signs of QLC flash with CDM’s low queue-depth sequential write and random read results.

The UD90 2230 does stand out with regard to random write latency, though. Although the pSLC write latency range is significantly smaller than deviations for TLC and QLC would be, gains can still be realized from the native flash architecture. Micron’s 176-Layer QLC, for example, has better 4KB QD1 random write latency than its 176-Layer TLC, with both tests falling in pSLC. These architectures are similar but not identical, with QLC often having multi-planar optimizations and potentially a different effective cell size, which can impact program time and retention, much as is experienced differently across word lines positioned in an array.

This doesn’t explain why the UD90 2230 is faster than identical competitors here. We retested to ensure the results. We have indeed seen slower-than-expected results on some sampled drives with lower-grade flash, as with the Teamgroup Cardea A440 Pro. This is not to single out Teamgroup, as this flash sometimes makes its way into drives unintentionally. We’ve also seen higher-grade TLC from Micron, although that’s usually reserved for special drives like Teamgroup’s T-Create Expert.

We’re unaware of a special grade for this QLC, but the possibility exists. The firmware revision, at least, matches the standard UD90. We point out this discrepancy because it’s possible that reviewed drives might perform somewhat differently than the average purchased drive. We can say that the UD90 2230 appears to perform at least as well as expected in our Windows testing but check further below for SteamOS results. 

PC Sustained Write Performance and Cache Recovery

Official write specifications are only part of the performance picture. Most SSDs implement a write cache, which is a fast area of (usually) pseudo-SLC programmed flash that absorbs incoming data.  Sustained write speeds can suffer tremendously once the workload spills outside of the cache and into the "native" TLC or QLC flash. 

We use Iometer to hammer the SSD with sequential writes for 15 minutes to measure both the size of the write cache and performance after the cache is saturated. We also monitor cache recovery via multiple idle rounds.

QLC can’t escape poor native sequential write performance. The 2TB UD90 2230 writes at maximum speed in pSLC mode, up over 3.7 GB/s in PCIe 4.0 mode, for the entire length of its cache before falling to a QLC folding mode. The cache is massive, up to one-quarter of the drive’s capacity. This cache will shrink with drive usage while maintaining a 1/4th ratio to free user capacity. Folding performance ends up being around 100 MB/s. This aggressive cache requires some rapid recovery to help hide the performance pitfall. 

Power Consumption

We use the Quarch HD Programmable Power Module to gain a deeper understanding of power characteristics. Idle power consumption is an important aspect to consider, especially if you're looking for a laptop upgrade as even the best ultrabooks can have mediocre storage.

Some SSDs can consume watts of power at idle while better-suited ones sip just milliwatts. Average workload power consumption and max consumption are two other aspects of power consumption, but performance-per-watt is more important. A drive might consume more power during any given workload, but accomplishing a task faster allows the drive to drop into an idle state more quickly, ultimately saving energy.

For temperature recording we currently poll the drive’s primary composite sensor during testing with a 24C ambient.

The UD90 2230 is as efficient as expected, which is to say it’s quite efficient indeed. It uses less power than the last-gen TN436 and also the TLC-based, high-performing SN770M.

The UD90 2230 hit a maximum of 67C in PCIe 4.0 mode during our testing, about 8C higher than in PCIe 3.0 mode. This is well below the first critical threshold at 83C. The drive will run hotter in an enclosed environment.

Test Bench and Testing Notes

We use an Alder Lake platform with most background applications such as indexing, Windows updates, and anti-virus disabled in the OS to reduce run-to-run variability. Each SSD is prefilled to 50% capacity and tested as a secondary device. Unless noted, we use active cooling for all SSDs.

Conclusion

While the Silicon Power UD90 2230 doesn’t do anything new, you don’t exactly need it to surprise. It’s a simple SKU designed to compete in the M.2 2230 space with a range of convenient capacities. It’s QLC-based to save on cost, and that’s where Silicon Power operates best. While it does bring better results in Windows, we suspect this is an anomaly, and your actual experience will be comparable to the alternatives. You should look at all prices for similar drives when you decide to make your purchase, at least if you're looking for a 2TB SSD. 

The one exception is if you have your heart set on TLC flash. Currently, the WD Black SN770M is the best TLC-based retail option for a 2TB, M.2 2230 SSD. It’s important for many devices that the drive be single-sided, which has made it more difficult for manufacturers to offer a 2TB TLC SSD in this form factor. It costs more to go with TLC, even when bringing in OEM options and rebrands. While TLC does provide the best performance, especially with a PCIe 4.0 host device, the SN770M may not be the best option if you’re concerned about heat and power draw.

The UD90 2230 is also available at 1TB and, unusually, 500GB. Our experience has been that QLC performs adequately and largely just as well at 1TB as it does at 2TB. This is especially true in PCIe 3.0 mode or on the Deck, but even with the full PCIe 4.0 link speed, you will usually not feel the difference between QLC and TLC. However, QLC has performance pitfalls in edge cases, which you can feel after long transfers and/or when the drive is fuller. If you plan to use a lot of space, going up to 2TB is probably worthwhile.

If performance is a high priority, TLC can be a better option at 1TB, but it’s definitely better than QLC at 500/512GB. The 500GB UD90 2230 will only have four dies and a smaller cache size, making it more prone to exhibiting its performance shortcomings. That said, if you’re just trying to clear the default 64GB drive on the Steam Deck, it can be a less expensive option and probably a better deal than going down to 256GB if you’re trying to match that launch 512GB. On the other hand, the 256GB Rocket 2230 is TLC-based and should perform well if you are okay with a fast, compact package.

Of course, that last bit is only a decision if you can even find the 500GB UD90 2230. At the time of the review, it was missing in action, but we would like to see it as an option to help fill out the 2230 SSD market.

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DIY building plans for an open source Intel NUC-based gaming handheld have been published on GitHub. YouTuber CNCDan is the brains behind the NUCDeck project, and he recently finished his seven-part video series documenting his work. In CNCDan’s final video, you can see the NUCDeck come together, with the tech DIY enthusiast ironing out the all-important controller section and its custom PCBs. Naturally, the final video ends with a quick PC gaming test session - does it make the grade as a DIY Steam Deck?

The YouTuber began the open source NUCDeck gaming handheld project with some very useful experience under his belt. In 2020 CNCDan completed his first handheld gaming PC project, based on an 8-inch Intel Atom tablet. More recently he collaborated with TechTuber Stonededge on the RetroLite CM4, a handheld powered by a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4.

CNCDan admits that he has spent more money than he cares to admit on the creation of this handheld NUC gaming device. Moreover, the thinking, planning, crafting, construction, and development time put into this open source project spans hundreds of hours.

You may be wondering about the specs. One of the appealing things about this project, though, is that it has been designed to accept any standard NUC motherboard you might be able to get, with minimal tweaks to the plans provided.

The YouTuber managed to pick up a used 7th Gen Core i5 NUC model as a donor device without spending too much. From the video, it looks like the motherboard was swiped from one of the standard 4x4 NUCs, not one of the extreme or gaming devices.

CNCDan reckons that the Core i5 and 16 GB of RAM foundation fitted in his NUCDeck build has enough power to run some well-known AAA games produced up until around 2013, as well as more modern titles with modest hardware demands. Games said to be playable on the system include Portal 2, Tomb Raider (2013), CS:GO, and Crysis. Some Wii, GameCube, and PS2 emulation testing also worked out.

Another important aspect of the NUCDeck design is its display, which provides a decent handheld experience across its 7-inch diagonal. Helping reduce the demand on the processor, the display used in the project offers a humble 1024 x 600 resolution. The DWIN display is said to deliver 700 nits max brightness and offers capacitive touch. Adding some unique / stylized design, CNCDan has also integrated a tiny info screen into the NUCDeck handheld. This extra display uses a 0.96-inch 80x160 pixel IPS panel.

A full list of components can be found at the project's GitHub page. This will provide information and links for batteries, joysticks, display drivers, triggers, RGB lighting, and even the screws and standoffs you need. The NUCDeck also features a Raspberry Pi Pico acting as a USB interface for the controls, and an MPU6050 3-axis gyroscope and a 3-axis accelerometer. Lastly, access to a 3D printer is required for the NUCDeck housing and buttons.

Intel officially stepped away from NUC devices this summer, and the NUC 13 Pro looks like the latest model that may be able to supply motherboards compatible with the NUCDeck as it stands. Asus is now known to be officially carrying forth the NUC torch, but its first project seems to be an Asus ROG gaming system, stepping up to replace the NUC Extreme line.