The fact Valve actually sells replacement parts priced reasonably, for a device that is fairly easy to take apart, is HUGE for the refurbished market (and cheap people like us who want to buy refurbished Steam Decks!). Wish more companies would follow their lead! Interesting that they let the joystick ship like that though, and you would think they would re-paste every refurbished device before sale. Curious how much of a difference PTM7950 would be vs the paste you used, which looked like Noctua? Awesome video as always man!
It would be cool to test and see if it made a difference and yes, I love they went out of their way to allow users to repair the device as well as providing support to have easy access to parts and even allowing of third party replacement options.
if you ever take the back panel off the steam deck again make sure there is no micro sd card in the micro sd card reader. Those have been known to snap in half if left in while taking the back panel off.
@10:45 It's hard to tell from here, but it looks like the reason the temps haven't improved much is because the cpu is using a little more power, thanks to having more thermal headroom it just goes as hard as it can up to that temperature
The way I saved money on my Steam Deck was by getting the 64GB version while it was on sale and upgraded the ssd to 1TB myself. From Valve the 1TB Steam Deck is like $600, with this method it was only $400!
Did the same thing. Bought the 64gb version, then eventually installed a 2TB SSD. Got SteamOS and Windows 11 in separate partitions, and installed Clover. Been my primary gaming device, and even bought a relatively cheap stand dock and hook the baby up to my TV for couch gaming with an Xbox Controller.
Did you add how much the SSD cost to it? Cause otherwise this comparison is moot lol The 512 (or 1TB OLED) models are kind of "limited edition", they have more than just a bigger SSD, they have anti glare screens and a special carrying case, and some digital goodies. Not saying it's worth it for the premium price, but it is stuff you miss out on.
@@Dorrajif he bought the non OLED model then I don’t see the difference other than SSD size. A 1tb ssd for this should only be between $45-$60 so depending on how much the deck was, yeah it could be a very smart buy. Hell, he could probably put in a 2TB and still have it cost less than from valve tbh.
@@minecraftvsmasterz I'm just saying, you can't take a comparison, go "and I added this thing that costs money to it", and not add that to the comparison. He didn't even get the numbers right, he said he got the 64GB version, which is the LCD version, since there is no 64GB OLED version, and then compared it to the OLED 1TB version, since there is no 1TB LCD version. So the proper comparison, using current prices, is the 64GB deck, which is $350, vs the 512GB deck, which is $450. If you added a $50 SSD (which most decent branded 1TB NVMEs are more than that, but I digress) to it, then it was $400 for a 1TB LCD deck, which is great compared to $450 for half the storage! I never said it isn't worth it, I just think the comparison is moot if you don't add the price of what you added to it, and use the correct numbers.
@@Dorraj I’m unaware of what sizes are available in what options, I’ve never really looked into it tbh. But that’s what I meant is I figured it was the LCD option, just assuming an OLED isn’t that cheap. And yes I agree most high end or extremely reputable ssds are gonna cost more than $50. He should have better mentioned the numbers but I think we both understood what he was trying to get at. And like you said, the anti-glare screen is also a thing worth mentioning, because that is one thing I know about them because I remember seeing it when it launched. Kinda dumb tbh I think they should all have the same screen and you could just option the anti-glare. I do still think though that for someone who is capable and confident of taking the device apart should consider the options though.
3:00 Have you noticed after taking it apart, and reassembling the Deck that the rigidity go away? 7:27 You're supposed to use the Steam Deck case, using the top lid up, to take apart the steam deck so you're not mashing the joysticks and buttons on your table.
The temperatures don't often change that much with Steamdeck cooling upgrades, but it will drastically reduce the fan speed needed to maintain that temp and have a more liveable device.
Btw, under Settings -> System, there's a setting at the bottom called "Enable updated fan control" that's turned on by default. If you turn it off, it will make the device a lot noisier, but iirc, it can lower temps by a noticable amount. And btw, this runs Linux, your favorite OS /s.
Oddly I leave mine in the dock mostly and have it connected to a 1080p monitor and keyboard/mouse where I run games on it while waiting on stuff on my main computer. It makes a nice little second computer if you don't mind Linux and/or KDE.
If you don't use desktop mode and only play steam games, you never actually interact with Linux. But once you want to run epic or anything else, that's when the pain starts.
The "setting issue" in Half life is probably gyro. When you put your finger on the stick it is capacitive like a phone screen so it activates the gyro and make the aim feel wobbly as you move around.
So somethings to point out. Maybe some of this was lost in editing, but here is a list: 1) Do not open and remove parts of the Steam Deck (like the SSD), without letting the battery get to around 25%, and putting it in battery storage mode in the BIOS. 2) Make sure to disconnect the battery before removing parts like the SSD. 3) A few expert modders have tested thermal paste on the deck, and most conventional TIMs don't do what the stock Valve thermal paste does. The others are too liquidy and are not as effective. You need to use something more akin to Thermalright TFX. The consistency is just a little different.
@@ARCx9 If I understand, it is because there is still residual power flow. What I posted is from Ifixit, and they are the official vendor of replacement parts for the Steam Deck.
@@ARCx9 Because you need to make sure you have flushed all power from things like the capacitors. The points I posted above are from the instructions posted by Ifixit, the official vendor for Steam Deck replacement parts.
@@ARCx9 So step one is to make sure you are less of a risk of fire if you accidentally puncture the battery. The storage mode part is an extra precaution recommended by Valve themselves. One more tip, the inside of the Steam Deck case is a great surface to lay the deck face down while working.
Yeah, crap like MX4 or the Noctua, Dawid used, pumps out way too easy The paste used by VALVE is "dry" by default and has less tendency to pump out. It takes more thermal cycles.
Got my Deck as an Xmas present in 2022 and it's been awesome. I'm going to be putting Gulikit Hall Effect sticks in it the minute they develop any drift.
I think the "stick drift" you're referring to in Ratchet & Clank & Half-Life 2 is actually the gyro support kicking in. Your analog sticks have capacitive touch domes that can enable gyro aiming on supported games, Half-Life 2 is definitely set up for that, as will be L4D2 and even TF2.
Honestly, the Steam Deck is what the Switch should have been. Ergonomically sound, powerful enough with enough tech behind it to allow to to play pretty much anything Only complaint is them sticking with typical drift-prone joysticks. I will never understand why every company under the sun makes them like that. Hall effect sensors are literally cents more expensive, and will last so much longer. Valve could have just made them for the deck as 3rd party companies have done already. I just don't get it.
I love my Switch, it's much cheaper, easier to use, has much longer battery runtime and a huge games library. The user base of the Switch completely dwarfs that of the steamdeck, and for good reason.
@@LauLex The Deck is plenty easy to use, almost to a fault. Like the "great on steam deck" verification is unnecessarily strict, even something like "one button might not match up" will cause it to not be properly verified. You're completely wrong about battery life btw. The Switch has a 15.95 Wh battery that gets up to 9 hours of battery life, while the Deck has a 50 Wh battery with up to 13 hours of battery life. The price is literally the same as a steam deck, with the 64GB Deck being $350, and the currently available switch being $350. Both can use an SD card as expandable storage, tho you can just easily open up the deck to slap an NVME SSD into it, which you cannot with the Switch. Also, "As of June 2024, there are 4,693 games available for the Nintendo Switch". There are over 12,000 *deck verified* games alone. And as I said before, the verification process is very strict, so the number of actually playable games on the deck is much closer to the 100K games available on Steam. Not even counting the endless emulateable games from the NES all the way up to the Switch. And the user base of the Switch is higher because 1. Nintendo is a much larger company than Valve, that has been a player in the game much longer than Valve, and is a much more known name than Valve. 2. The Switch has been out for like 5 years longer than the Deck. 3. People are scared of stuff like emulation, because of companies like nintendo which fight against people who want their games to be accessable. The Steam Deck literally plays Switch games better than the Switch does. Like cmon bro.
@@Dorraj id like to add that while i dont own a steam deck, i have the first version of the switch. and everything about it sucks. stickdrift on both sticks and 2 pro controllers happened in less than 1/2 year in, most games cost 50€+ and it creaks, like you cannot properly grip it. and i handled it very well. if i didnt have a switch already, id buy the steamdeck in a heartbeat. everything i heard about it sounds great (apart from the sticks, which will probably develop stickdrift, but it cant be worse than nintendo, sooo...) that you can buy replacement parts is really nice (and maybe the most important bit)
@@lionletsplay6283 yeah I didn't even mention that too, games go on sale for dirt cheap all the time on steam, unlike Nintendo games which seemingly never go on sale. And as you saw in the video, the joysticks are super simple to replace. Literally just 3 screws and a ribbon cable, just buy some hall effect sticks for replacement and never have drift issues again (which you can actually do with the joycon too btw, I just don't think the process is as simple)
saying the switch "should have" been anything other than what it is, presupposes that there were any greater goals than selling more copies of mario and pokemon. there were not. it was a minimum viable product to ship more copies of mario and pokemon.
It makes sense there wouldn’t be much referbed ones available. Most people will either be really happy with it or are returning it for being faulty. If they arnt happy with it or came to sudden financial issues eBay or the local listings would get the cash quicker
Dude, it's called refurbished because it was a faulty unit that was "refurbished" by replacing parts to create a working deck. Refurbished doesn't mean used and returned in working order. This is a previously faulty unit that was returned, Valve fixed it and sold it. Do you not understand what refurbished means ? Possibly, because you can't spell the word, so how could you do any research on it? Jesus wept into his Christ Crispies cereal and they got all soggy. I thought I was dumb.
I dont know how mentally impaired you are not to know that refurbed is short for refurbished but there is good extra evidence to your brain damage in that you cant even read a full comment. I even say they were probably returns for being faulty. The only thing I left out is a good portion of those faulties are probably also unrepairable and get cannibalised for other repairs@@Boogie_the_cat
At this point, there's basically no need to buy devices brand new any longer. Refurbishing has become so good over the years - you barely notice the difference. 👍🏼 Nice vid, keep it up.
@@turrican4d599 Clicking sticks were problem since the launch of the device even on brand new devices. Probably wasn't the reason why the device was returned so it was ignored.
Yes, MangoHud. Very nice and useful. (I'm a Linux gamer) It's cool that it has some presets in place to give you whatever level of detail you're looking for. Usually, you have to use GOverlay to configure MangoHud.
I keep wandering,if i can force myself to play some games with a steam deck - like combination of the mobile phone and a steam-deck like cover with jopads. I tried,but couldn't.
Still mad at Micro Center for not opening a location around here in Madison, Wisconsin. Sucks because there’s 2 in Chicago.. over 2+ hours away!! Btw you can open that Valve tag without cutting it by using a safety pin or clip
I bought the oled version 3 weeks ago. Some pointers - Increase UMA from 1G to 4G. Buy an anti-glare screen protector. Swap the nvme to a 2TB drive. Install Cryo Utilities and run recommended settings(allows you to run all unsupported games). Install Decky loader. Buy a DBrand killswitch case.
@@LauLex Why? That completely removes the portability of a handheld. You can't carry a desktop around but you can carry a Steam Deck around very easily
Might get some heat into it from the charging circuit, but the steam deck doesn't have any turbo mode that activates when it is docked or plugged in like the Ally
Its crazy how good the Steam Deck is but for anyone looking to buy one definitely get the OLED as its so much better in almost every way (especially the screen and battery life)
As owner of a Asus Rog ally. Im really a fan of these devices. Its amazing what these units can do. Where i was a gamer on a big rig. Since i have the ally. Im almost not using my normal pc.
PTM7950 works wonders on the LCD deck. Or really anything in general. But specifically my LCD deck fared very well from it. Also put it on an OLED deck. It works well there too, but the OLED doesn't need it like the LCD does. Cheers.
@@thetruestar6348 theres a program called emudeck. in a few clicks u have emulators for pretty much everything installed with folder structures, and buttons all mapped and there's a second app with it that can scan all your games and add them to your steam library. u just need to add bios/firmware for systems like switch/ps1. best emulation device I've ever used.
@@thetruestar6348 It is, and Emudeck is relatively simple to set up. I'd say retroarch is good enough (since it's just on steam and a very easy download away) but the retroarch on steam has outdated and nowhere near the same amount of emulators as the main version. The best way to play Switch games on the go is with Ryujinx on the Steam Deck. It literally plays Switch games better than an actual Switch. Don't tell Nintendo tho lol
@@thetruestar6348 Yeah is amazing for emulation! You can emulate everything until PS3/Xbox360 and Wii-U. Wii-U emulation is almost perfect, the Deck only struggles with PS3 and Xbox 360 what should be obvious for a handheld although some select PS3 games run absolutely great on the Deck.
Nice! I got my Steamdeck used with all the original packaging and another 1tb sd card, usb-c hub and a ps5 controller for 200$. Then i sold the controller and modded the deck with the money i got out of it. New backplate, new thermal paste, new fan and a custom heatsink. So now i got a super silent Steamdeck with 25*C cooler temps with a clear backplate for 200$ :D i absolutely love this thing. It cant replace my PC, but for mobile gaming sessions it is absolutely great.
2:46 I love to see that somebody else recognized the ergonomic issues with the switch and everything that copied it. Why is the right stick so far down? Is Valve the only company which took a look on both human hands and discovered that the right thumb is not mounted to the wrist? I tried the Steam Deck myself (borrowed from a friend) but had to buy an ASUS ROG Ally in the end. Because so many of my favorite games did not run on Steam OS (Linux) properly. Most issues were caused by Anti cheat software. The Steam Deck is still the better handheld, the OS is way ahead and the ergnomics are far superior since the Ally copies the Switch-layout...
I bought a refurbished one the day they announced they went live. 256gb LCD. It was IMMACULATE in every single way. It really is a great way to save some money on one as well. I don't get why people think they might be dodgy somehow. I agree though the only issue with them is literally stock issues.
Great stuff! I love the OLED version I got for my wife. She loves it too, probably more than I do. Super handy to have it on a trip. And if you play it at home you can stream a game running on your main gaming PC. Pretty solid performance too for such a dated device. The OS is just awesome.
I got a 64GB model refurbished back when they first introduced them. I upgraded the M.2 to a 1TB and other than that, the unit came in pretty much brand new condition. It's fun to use on the go and have a dock for my Bedroom TV and one to my Computer and have a KVM on it too. I'm actually very surprised it worked very well with the KVM Switch so I can easily switch from my computer to the deck when I want to do some testing or just play around with it.
On the fence about getting one. Want to be able to finance direct from valve. And with my luck, the second I buy one, a new version will be announced. Refurbished like new pride takes some of the sting out, and the ability to easily replace parts helps as well.
Dawid, i own both an LCD and OLED steam deck. Steam Decks tend to develop creaks later in life. If you have that issue, use some plastic safe lubricant on the clipping points after taking apart the steam deck. Then its solid again!
I feel like they've replaced the left stick because it was worn but they left the right stick as is. Usually the left stick is the first to experience issues, but if you're doing professional refurb, you should never replace just one or you'll end up with different feeling sticks and the other is sure to have issues soon after.
hi Dawid, sorry to bug you but I was wondering what kinda music you're using, particularly at the 1:51 mark, it's really calm and I like it, good video by the way!
This actually seems like a reasonable option provided the shipping to my country doesn't nuke whatever price decrease there is with insane fees to the point you may as well buy one new (or new-ish) from local shops.
I have the OLED steam deck and played a good bit of Cyberpunk 2077 on it, it's remarkably playable. Your eyes kind of adjust to the lower settings and framerate eventually. It also made launching the game on my PC's 1440p monitor feel like I was playing it in IMAX again lmfao
Steam Deck is awesome and the fact that you can buy it directly from Valve refurbished for cheaper makes it even more awesome. I have just the LCD version but I can't complain. For what it is and how much it costed me it's amazing and it makes me spend more money on Steam so mission accomplished for Valve I guess. Don't forget to enable system wide FSR in the three dots overlay to get better performance and better battery life.
The FSR in the overlay never has worked for me. I had the 512GB LCD version and now I have the 512GB OLED version, in both cases the FSR never done a damn thing, besides just always reading it was off.
the images used for temp before and after show low load low temp on the repaste and high load high temp on the before... kinda defeats the purpose to not use similar load conditions?
Not a lot of refurbs get back to Valve to re-sell, because they're so easy to fix yourself. IFixit sells almost every part for the thing, and with the most common failure point being the joysticks, and the low cost and high quality of the Gulikit hall sensor replacements makes the thing pretty much unbeatable as far as user servicing goes - you don't even need to solder them anymore like you used to have to. Just slap a 2TB drive in the thing and you'll be set for handheld gaming for a long, long while.
I purchased a refurb steam deck. Unfortunately the unit came with faulty touchpads. The replacement had a faulty B button. Another replacement after that had entire left hand controls unresponsive. The latest, which I decided to keep, but still ambivalent about, has wobbly trigger buttons. Yeah, so a huge YMMV on this one, there's no guarantee that you'll get a good unit, let alone a working one.
respect to steam for creating one of the best hand held console and most repairable and actually caring for the environment and selling refurbished consoles at reasonable prices
Guilikit, (the people who make the King Kong series of controllers) make a very easy to swap in Hall Effect Joystick replacements, very much worth the cost and effort to upgrade.
As of current posting for us stateside, looks about 359.00 (not sure if that includes shipping and etc) but hey, great video dude!! I wish I could get one and try to play some of my epic games store titles (Death Standing and Sable comes to mind)
Best feature: Remote play on the steam deck. If you have a desktop with steam installed, you can remote play on your pc from the steam deck. Just plug it into your TV, connect a bluetooth gamepad und play remote on your pc. No noise in the living room and no other console comes close to the performance.
If you did indeed drop the CPU temps by 10oC by repasting, that's a huge improvement but you were in battery mode in the after shot, so that probably explains it better.
now you have a steam deck in hand it would be nice to see you check out the 3rd party options for stick replacements. Also the common thing people recommend for thermals PTM7950
This is how we got mine in January (256 LCD) and it was definitely worth it. Especially when we had half of the cost covered by Steam gift codes from the in laws from Xmas to bring the cost down to $125 out of pocket.
Love my Deck, I have the smallest SSD though and for ages games filled it up with their caches, even when uninstalled. Steam seem to have fixed it now though, when I uninstall a game the cache goes as well!
Dude, please do a video of local game streaming. I use Moonlight because the steam streaming doesn't work reliably in my case. I'm playing Elden Ring like this, anywhere at home.
Would be interested to see you compare the lcd vs the oled. I had an LCD one I barely used and I replaced it with the OLED which I use all the time. Everything about the OLED just feels better.
I was literally talking to my coworker who brought hers to work last night about getting one. I, too, only saw one for the first time last night. Im highly debating on it as I want a PS Portal (I only have my Playstation consoles) but Id take a chance on a SteamDeck and maybe revive my old Steam account.
As someone from the UK I can't believe how many stores Micro Center seem to be opening lately. Over here that's all companies seem to be doing over the last 10-15 years is closing stores and that seems to be more and more lately. Online shopping is killing retail here, why do you bother going out when you can get what you want delivered next morning or in some areas with certain retailers the same day...
![Eminem - Like My Shit [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vx_IMvFkrfA/mqdefault.jpg)
The fact Valve actually sells replacement parts priced reasonably, for a device that is fairly easy to take apart, is HUGE for the refurbished market (and cheap people like us who want to buy refurbished Steam Decks!). Wish more companies would follow their lead!
Interesting that they let the joystick ship like that though, and you would think they would re-paste every refurbished device before sale. Curious how much of a difference PTM7950 would be vs the paste you used, which looked like Noctua?
Awesome video as always man!
The greatest technician that's ever lived.
the greatest technician that`s ever lived
Something something your mom
The greatest technician thats ever lived.
It would be cool to test and see if it made a difference and yes, I love they went out of their way to allow users to repair the device as well as providing support to have easy access to parts and even allowing of third party replacement options.
When disassembling a steam deck, I highly suggest setting it face down in its case
if you ever take the back panel off the steam deck again make sure there is no micro sd card in the micro sd card reader. Those have been known to snap in half if left in while taking the back panel off.
Ya... always double check. RIP my 512gb sd card. qwq
That’s how I broke my 256 gig sd card with a 100% just cause 3 save on it (it doesn’t support steam cloud)
@10:45 It's hard to tell from here, but it looks like the reason the temps haven't improved much is because the cpu is using a little more power, thanks to having more thermal headroom it just goes as hard as it can up to that temperature
Yes, it's using more power, and running higher clock speeds due to the extra thermal headroom.
Next video: trying a 360 Aio on a steam deck
airbus a380 jet engine on a steam deck*
Ls swapped*
rtx 4090 to m.2 >:)
UFD tech has done some fun mods. LTT did a fan tower cooler on... Some hand held. Forget which. Maybe steam deck
Why limit yourself with such peasant AiO? It would be better if he gone with 420mm :3
The way I saved money on my Steam Deck was by getting the 64GB version while it was on sale and upgraded the ssd to 1TB myself. From Valve the 1TB Steam Deck is like $600, with this method it was only $400!
Did the same thing. Bought the 64gb version, then eventually installed a 2TB SSD. Got SteamOS and Windows 11 in separate partitions, and installed Clover. Been my primary gaming device, and even bought a relatively cheap stand dock and hook the baby up to my TV for couch gaming with an Xbox Controller.
Did you add how much the SSD cost to it? Cause otherwise this comparison is moot lol
The 512 (or 1TB OLED) models are kind of "limited edition", they have more than just a bigger SSD, they have anti glare screens and a special carrying case, and some digital goodies. Not saying it's worth it for the premium price, but it is stuff you miss out on.
@@Dorrajif he bought the non OLED model then I don’t see the difference other than SSD size. A 1tb ssd for this should only be between $45-$60 so depending on how much the deck was, yeah it could be a very smart buy. Hell, he could probably put in a 2TB and still have it cost less than from valve tbh.
@@minecraftvsmasterz I'm just saying, you can't take a comparison, go "and I added this thing that costs money to it", and not add that to the comparison.
He didn't even get the numbers right, he said he got the 64GB version, which is the LCD version, since there is no 64GB OLED version, and then compared it to the OLED 1TB version, since there is no 1TB LCD version.
So the proper comparison, using current prices, is the 64GB deck, which is $350, vs the 512GB deck, which is $450. If you added a $50 SSD (which most decent branded 1TB NVMEs are more than that, but I digress) to it, then it was $400 for a 1TB LCD deck, which is great compared to $450 for half the storage! I never said it isn't worth it, I just think the comparison is moot if you don't add the price of what you added to it, and use the correct numbers.
@@Dorraj I’m unaware of what sizes are available in what options, I’ve never really looked into it tbh. But that’s what I meant is I figured it was the LCD option, just assuming an OLED isn’t that cheap. And yes I agree most high end or extremely reputable ssds are gonna cost more than $50. He should have better mentioned the numbers but I think we both understood what he was trying to get at. And like you said, the anti-glare screen is also a thing worth mentioning, because that is one thing I know about them because I remember seeing it when it launched. Kinda dumb tbh I think they should all have the same screen and you could just option the anti-glare. I do still think though that for someone who is capable and confident of taking the device apart should consider the options though.
3:00 Have you noticed after taking it apart, and reassembling the Deck that the rigidity go away? 7:27 You're supposed to use the Steam Deck case, using the top lid up, to take apart the steam deck so you're not mashing the joysticks and buttons on your table.
But this is Dawid, so...
The temperatures don't often change that much with Steamdeck cooling upgrades, but it will drastically reduce the fan speed needed to maintain that temp and have a more liveable device.
Always wear headphones anyways, never heard my fan.
Btw, under Settings -> System, there's a setting at the bottom called "Enable updated fan control" that's turned on by default.
If you turn it off, it will make the device a lot noisier, but iirc, it can lower temps by a noticable amount.
And btw, this runs Linux, your favorite OS /s.
Disabling the updated fan control noticeably improves the temps, I can tell just by feeling mine with my hand.
Oddly I leave mine in the dock mostly and have it connected to a 1080p monitor and keyboard/mouse where I run games on it while waiting on stuff on my main computer. It makes a nice little second computer if you don't mind Linux and/or KDE.
Lie Nux, sponsored by Linoooooode
@@Saprophyte2 Add an Apple Magic Trackpad, and you've got the setup I'm typing this on right now.
If you don't use desktop mode and only play steam games, you never actually interact with Linux. But once you want to run epic or anything else, that's when the pain starts.
The "setting issue" in Half life is probably gyro. When you put your finger on the stick it is capacitive like a phone screen so it activates the gyro and make the aim feel wobbly as you move around.
I AM SIMPLE MAN. I SEE DAWID, I CLICK DAWID, I WATCH DAWID, I PRESS LIKE FOR DAWID. I AM SIMPLE MAN.
i stroke it to dawid
@@bigbrawler7078nah
ok corn guy
I DAWID DAWID
I've never seen anyone so proud to be simple minded.
Of course there's stickiness on the right stick. It's a stick.
So somethings to point out. Maybe some of this was lost in editing, but here is a list:
1) Do not open and remove parts of the Steam Deck (like the SSD), without letting the battery get to around 25%, and putting it in battery storage mode in the BIOS.
2) Make sure to disconnect the battery before removing parts like the SSD.
3) A few expert modders have tested thermal paste on the deck, and most conventional TIMs don't do what the stock Valve thermal paste does. The others are too liquidy and are not as effective. You need to use something more akin to Thermalright TFX. The consistency is just a little different.
What's the point of step 1 if you are doing step 2?
@@ARCx9 If I understand, it is because there is still residual power flow. What I posted is from Ifixit, and they are the official vendor of replacement parts for the Steam Deck.
@@ARCx9 Because you need to make sure you have flushed all power from things like the capacitors. The points I posted above are from the instructions posted by Ifixit, the official vendor for Steam Deck replacement parts.
@@ARCx9 So step one is to make sure you are less of a risk of fire if you accidentally puncture the battery. The storage mode part is an extra precaution recommended by Valve themselves. One more tip, the inside of the Steam Deck case is a great surface to lay the deck face down while working.
Yeah, crap like MX4 or the Noctua, Dawid used, pumps out way too easy
The paste used by VALVE is "dry" by default and has less tendency to pump out. It takes more thermal cycles.
Got my Deck as an Xmas present in 2022 and it's been awesome. I'm going to be putting Gulikit Hall Effect sticks in it the minute they develop any drift.
I think the "stick drift" you're referring to in Ratchet & Clank & Half-Life 2 is actually the gyro support kicking in. Your analog sticks have capacitive touch domes that can enable gyro aiming on supported games, Half-Life 2 is definitely set up for that, as will be L4D2 and even TF2.
3:10 FINALLY SOMEONE SAID THAT
Truth!
Dawid: "It feels like you could savage someone. That's cool. I like that. "
😅😅😅😅
But Dawid! that’s illegal, don’t do that. It could prevent you from making videos. We wouldn’t want that.
Honestly, the Steam Deck is what the Switch should have been. Ergonomically sound, powerful enough with enough tech behind it to allow to to play pretty much anything
Only complaint is them sticking with typical drift-prone joysticks. I will never understand why every company under the sun makes them like that. Hall effect sensors are literally cents more expensive, and will last so much longer. Valve could have just made them for the deck as 3rd party companies have done already. I just don't get it.
I love my Switch, it's much cheaper, easier to use, has much longer battery runtime and a huge games library. The user base of the Switch completely dwarfs that of the steamdeck, and for good reason.
@@LauLex The Deck is plenty easy to use, almost to a fault. Like the "great on steam deck" verification is unnecessarily strict, even something like "one button might not match up" will cause it to not be properly verified.
You're completely wrong about battery life btw. The Switch has a 15.95 Wh battery that gets up to 9 hours of battery life, while the Deck has a 50 Wh battery with up to 13 hours of battery life.
The price is literally the same as a steam deck, with the 64GB Deck being $350, and the currently available switch being $350. Both can use an SD card as expandable storage, tho you can just easily open up the deck to slap an NVME SSD into it, which you cannot with the Switch.
Also, "As of June 2024, there are 4,693 games available for the Nintendo Switch". There are over 12,000 *deck verified* games alone. And as I said before, the verification process is very strict, so the number of actually playable games on the deck is much closer to the 100K games available on Steam. Not even counting the endless emulateable games from the NES all the way up to the Switch.
And the user base of the Switch is higher because 1. Nintendo is a much larger company than Valve, that has been a player in the game much longer than Valve, and is a much more known name than Valve. 2. The Switch has been out for like 5 years longer than the Deck. 3. People are scared of stuff like emulation, because of companies like nintendo which fight against people who want their games to be accessable.
The Steam Deck literally plays Switch games better than the Switch does. Like cmon bro.
@@Dorraj id like to add that while i dont own a steam deck, i have the first version of the switch. and everything about it sucks. stickdrift on both sticks and 2 pro controllers happened in less than 1/2 year in, most games cost 50€+ and it creaks, like you cannot properly grip it. and i handled it very well. if i didnt have a switch already, id buy the steamdeck in a heartbeat. everything i heard about it sounds great (apart from the sticks, which will probably develop stickdrift, but it cant be worse than nintendo, sooo...) that you can buy replacement parts is really nice (and maybe the most important bit)
@@lionletsplay6283 yeah I didn't even mention that too, games go on sale for dirt cheap all the time on steam, unlike Nintendo games which seemingly never go on sale.
And as you saw in the video, the joysticks are super simple to replace. Literally just 3 screws and a ribbon cable, just buy some hall effect sticks for replacement and never have drift issues again (which you can actually do with the joycon too btw, I just don't think the process is as simple)
saying the switch "should have" been anything other than what it is, presupposes that there were any greater goals than selling more copies of mario and pokemon. there were not. it was a minimum viable product to ship more copies of mario and pokemon.
It makes sense there wouldn’t be much referbed ones available. Most people will either be really happy with it or are returning it for being faulty. If they arnt happy with it or came to sudden financial issues eBay or the local listings would get the cash quicker
Dude, it's called refurbished because it was a faulty unit that was "refurbished" by replacing parts to create a working deck.
Refurbished doesn't mean used and returned in working order.
This is a previously faulty unit that was returned, Valve fixed it and sold it.
Do you not understand what refurbished means ? Possibly, because you can't spell the word, so how could you do any research on it?
Jesus wept into his Christ Crispies cereal and they got all soggy.
I thought I was dumb.
Refurbished does not mean used.
I dont know how mentally impaired you are not to know that refurbed is short for refurbished but there is good extra evidence to your brain damage in that you cant even read a full comment. I even say they were probably returns for being faulty. The only thing I left out is a good portion of those faulties are probably also unrepairable and get cannibalised for other repairs@@Boogie_the_cat
At this point, there's basically no need to buy devices brand new any longer. Refurbishing has become so good over the years - you barely notice the difference. 👍🏼
Nice vid, keep it up.
They should have refurbished the right stick better.
@@turrican4d599 Clicking sticks were problem since the launch of the device even on brand new devices. Probably wasn't the reason why the device was returned so it was ignored.
As I recall, the performance overlay is Mangohud.
Yes, MangoHud. Very nice and useful. (I'm a Linux gamer) It's cool that it has some presets in place to give you whatever level of detail you're looking for. Usually, you have to use GOverlay to configure MangoHud.
I keep wandering,if i can force myself to play some games with a steam deck - like combination of the mobile phone and a steam-deck like cover with jopads.
I tried,but couldn't.
I would love to see a video of you going through mods on the deck Hall effect joysticks, ssd, shell swap, buttons, maybe the deck hd screen.
Ifixit sells the oem parts directly!
Also can include tools for the job as a kit.
Still mad at Micro Center for not opening a location around here in Madison, Wisconsin. Sucks because there’s 2 in Chicago.. over 2+ hours away!!
Btw you can open that Valve tag without cutting it by using a safety pin or clip
I bought the oled version 3 weeks ago. Some pointers - Increase UMA from 1G to 4G. Buy an anti-glare screen protector.
Swap the nvme to a 2TB drive. Install Cryo Utilities and run recommended settings(allows you to run all unsupported games).
Install Decky loader.
Buy a DBrand killswitch case.
Or just get a powerful gaming desktop after spending all that cash on a steamdeck 😂
@@LauLex Why? That completely removes the portability of a handheld. You can't carry a desktop around but you can carry a Steam Deck around very easily
@@crestofhonor2349 Windows Handheld exist those and works the same
@@LauLex you mean gaming laptop?
I'd use a Jsaux ModCase. It's cheaper, whilst also giving similar performance.
“Dawid broken in”
I would trust Dawid with any of my electronics more than any major company tbh
10:45 you are in battery mode in the after shot, so it should be cooler and quieter.
Rookie mistake
Might get some heat into it from the charging circuit, but the steam deck doesn't have any turbo mode that activates when it is docked or plugged in like the Ally
I can't wait for the inevitable wild upgrade video
The steam deck is such a refreshing device. Finally something that’s intended as an open source paradise that’s easy to repair and affordable.
Its crazy how good the Steam Deck is but for anyone looking to buy one definitely get the OLED as its so much better in almost every way (especially the screen and battery life)
As owner of a Asus Rog ally. Im really a fan of these devices. Its amazing what these units can do. Where i was a gamer on a big rig. Since i have the ally. Im almost not using my normal pc.
PTM7950 works wonders on the LCD deck. Or really anything in general. But specifically my LCD deck fared very well from it. Also put it on an OLED deck. It works well there too, but the OLED doesn't need it like the LCD does. Cheers.
Steam Deck is amazing! I have mine for over 1 year now and it was worth every cent! If you don't own one, get one! Absolutely worth it!
I heard it’s great for emulation
@@thetruestar6348 theres a program called emudeck. in a few clicks u have emulators for pretty much everything installed with folder structures, and buttons all mapped and there's a second app with it that can scan all your games and add them to your steam library. u just need to add bios/firmware for systems like switch/ps1. best emulation device I've ever used.
I got a 1TB OLED model recently. Absolutely blown away by the things this little machine is capable of! Love it!
@@thetruestar6348 It is, and Emudeck is relatively simple to set up. I'd say retroarch is good enough (since it's just on steam and a very easy download away) but the retroarch on steam has outdated and nowhere near the same amount of emulators as the main version.
The best way to play Switch games on the go is with Ryujinx on the Steam Deck. It literally plays Switch games better than an actual Switch. Don't tell Nintendo tho lol
@@thetruestar6348 Yeah is amazing for emulation! You can emulate everything until PS3/Xbox360 and Wii-U. Wii-U emulation is almost perfect, the Deck only struggles with PS3 and Xbox 360 what should be obvious for a handheld although some select PS3 games run absolutely great on the Deck.
Nice! I got my Steamdeck used with all the original packaging and another 1tb sd card, usb-c hub and a ps5 controller for 200$. Then i sold the controller and modded the deck with the money i got out of it.
New backplate, new thermal paste, new fan and a custom heatsink.
So now i got a super silent Steamdeck with 25*C cooler temps with a clear backplate for 200$ :D i absolutely love this thing.
It cant replace my PC, but for mobile gaming sessions it is absolutely great.
6:45 am just drinking tech stuff.
2:46 I love to see that somebody else recognized the ergonomic issues with the switch and everything that copied it. Why is the right stick so far down? Is Valve the only company which took a look on both human hands and discovered that the right thumb is not mounted to the wrist? I tried the Steam Deck myself (borrowed from a friend) but had to buy an ASUS ROG Ally in the end. Because so many of my favorite games did not run on Steam OS (Linux) properly. Most issues were caused by Anti cheat software. The Steam Deck is still the better handheld, the OS is way ahead and the ergnomics are far superior since the Ally copies the Switch-layout...
I bought a refurbished one the day they announced they went live. 256gb LCD. It was IMMACULATE in every single way. It really is a great way to save some money on one as well. I don't get why people think they might be dodgy somehow. I agree though the only issue with them is literally stock issues.
Great stuff! I love the OLED version I got for my wife. She loves it too, probably more than I do. Super handy to have it on a trip. And if you play it at home you can stream a game running on your main gaming PC. Pretty solid performance too for such a dated device. The OS is just awesome.
I got a 64GB model refurbished back when they first introduced them. I upgraded the M.2 to a 1TB and other than that, the unit came in pretty much brand new condition.
It's fun to use on the go and have a dock for my Bedroom TV and one to my Computer and have a KVM on it too. I'm actually very surprised it worked very well with the KVM Switch so I can easily switch from my computer to the deck when I want to do some testing or just play around with it.
wow never realized how easy it was to do the service on the steam deck this is insane great job steam !
If only I was north American, In the UK the refurbished 512gb is 570cad while the new one was closer to 700.
I'm guessing it's your GST?
@@yippy7951 ye it means that by default all tech is like 20% more expensive
@@oog1417 Damn that's rough. I thought our 10% was really bad 😆
2:52 I'm glad someone acknowledges this
On the fence about getting one. Want to be able to finance direct from valve. And with my luck, the second I buy one, a new version will be announced. Refurbished like new pride takes some of the sting out, and the ability to easily replace parts helps as well.
Dawid, i own both an LCD and OLED steam deck. Steam Decks tend to develop creaks later in life. If you have that issue, use some plastic safe lubricant on the clipping points after taking apart the steam deck. Then its solid again!
I feel like they've replaced the left stick because it was worn but they left the right stick as is. Usually the left stick is the first to experience issues, but if you're doing professional refurb, you should never replace just one or you'll end up with different feeling sticks and the other is sure to have issues soon after.
hi Dawid, sorry to bug you but I was wondering what kinda music you're using, particularly at the 1:51 mark, it's really calm and I like it, good video by the way!
This actually seems like a reasonable option provided the shipping to my country doesn't nuke whatever price decrease there is with insane fees to the point you may as well buy one new (or new-ish) from local shops.
gulikit has hal effect thumbstick replacements for it, no more stick drift
I have the OLED steam deck and played a good bit of Cyberpunk 2077 on it, it's remarkably playable. Your eyes kind of adjust to the lower settings and framerate eventually. It also made launching the game on my PC's 1440p monitor feel like I was playing it in IMAX again lmfao
Love my Oled, take it to work everyday to play during lunch.
In the before and after from the repaste you had the steamdeck plugged in in the before but but in the after.
That might also alter the performance
Steam Deck is awesome and the fact that you can buy it directly from Valve refurbished for cheaper makes it even more awesome. I have just the LCD version but I can't complain. For what it is and how much it costed me it's amazing and it makes me spend more money on Steam so mission accomplished for Valve I guess.
Don't forget to enable system wide FSR in the three dots overlay to get better performance and better battery life.
The FSR in the overlay never has worked for me. I had the 512GB LCD version and now I have the 512GB OLED version, in both cases the FSR never done a damn thing, besides just always reading it was off.
the images used for temp before and after show low load low temp on the repaste and high load high temp on the before... kinda defeats the purpose to not use similar load conditions?
Not a lot of refurbs get back to Valve to re-sell, because they're so easy to fix yourself. IFixit sells almost every part for the thing, and with the most common failure point being the joysticks, and the low cost and high quality of the Gulikit hall sensor replacements makes the thing pretty much unbeatable as far as user servicing goes - you don't even need to solder them anymore like you used to have to.
Just slap a 2TB drive in the thing and you'll be set for handheld gaming for a long, long while.
Got refurbished one a few months ago. Totally worth it.
I purchased a refurb steam deck. Unfortunately the unit came with faulty touchpads. The replacement had a faulty B button. Another replacement after that had entire left hand controls unresponsive. The latest, which I decided to keep, but still ambivalent about, has wobbly trigger buttons. Yeah, so a huge YMMV on this one, there's no guarantee that you'll get a good unit, let alone a working one.
As a south Floridian, microcenter is a HUGE need for us
@DawidDoesTechStuff next video, "Upgrading this Refurbished Steam Deck" hall effect joysticks, buttons, nvme, etc?
The refurbished decks are a really solid deal. I really hope that Steam starts selling refurbished OLED units soon.
What is crazy is I live in Miami and if it wasnt for your plug, I wouldn't even know the microcenter was opening..
respect to steam for creating one of the best hand held console and most repairable and actually caring for the environment and selling refurbished consoles at reasonable prices
Guilikit, (the people who make the King Kong series of controllers) make a very easy to swap in Hall Effect Joystick replacements, very much worth the cost and effort to upgrade.
Oh dear Dawid, soon you will have the LCD 2tb and the OLED 2TB as i do ... they are freaking wicked if you have a wife/and or kids
Pickup an oled model when you can and do the cryo utilities might be video worthy
I legit just got a 256gb used steam deck for 200 bucks usd on ebay with case and charger barely looks used honestly
Stuff like this always seems like a prime candidate for a thermal pad instead of paste
Hey dawid
myself and one of my friends think valve is useing Mangohud for its overlay, valve is just applying a custom config
They are
@@elek101 yeah, it's obvious. As soon as it popped up, I went "that's Mangohud."
As of current posting for us stateside, looks about 359.00 (not sure if that includes shipping and etc) but hey, great video dude!! I wish I could get one and try to play some of my epic games store titles (Death Standing and Sable comes to mind)
That's it. Valve, start selling these things in Australia! Some of us kinda sorta really want them!
64gb and upgrading Ssd is best price to performance
Dawid can read my mind... I was just looking in to getting one of these.
Best feature: Remote play on the steam deck. If you have a desktop with steam installed, you can remote play on your pc from the steam deck. Just plug it into your TV, connect a bluetooth gamepad und play remote on your pc. No noise in the living room and no other console comes close to the performance.
Why not just play on the desktop that already has Steam installed?
If you did indeed drop the CPU temps by 10oC by repasting, that's a huge improvement but you were in battery mode in the after shot, so that probably explains it better.
4:33 it actually shows each thread cause the Steam Deck only has 4 cores
I got my steam deck like this, worked out perfectly.
Got it, put in a 1tb ssd and a 512gb micro sd too and your good to go for a long time!
The dead zone for the sticks is wayy over the top, dig around in settings and reduce them.
MICRO CENTER!!!! My personal heaven. I'm very happy to live within 25 minutes of 2 locations between VA and MD.
It looks like the clock speed on the CPU went up after the thermal paste. I'd call that a success. Awesome video as always, Dawid!
now you have a steam deck in hand it would be nice to see you check out the 3rd party options for stick replacements. Also the common thing people recommend for thermals PTM7950
8:25 or a little lego :)
I finally made it to a Micro Center. It was way more pricey on average than the other places I've been.
It did not live up to the hype.
Noticed the temperature tests was with the charger connected before the repaste. Does not this affect the powerlimit off the APU?
I personally would also try with PTM7950. That is what I use for my steam deck. Plus the JSAUX backplate keep my steam deck really cool
i picked up a 256 refurb a little over a year ago here in the Scotland (it shipped from the netherlands) i love it.
Try changing the deadzones in settings for the sticks to feel much more responsive.
This is how we got mine in January (256 LCD) and it was definitely worth it. Especially when we had half of the cost covered by Steam gift codes from the in laws from Xmas to bring the cost down to $125 out of pocket.
"That feels like you could savage someone with it. I like that."
I got one. Died day 1. Sent for RMA. They changed the mainboard.
Got it back
It works
10/10 i love steamdeck
For now, Valve is THE user friendly company. Someone from their team also mentioned potential trade-in option for Deck2, which would be awesome.
I'm honestly shocked it took you this long to get a steam deck
Love my Deck, I have the smallest SSD though and for ages games filled it up with their caches, even when uninstalled. Steam seem to have fixed it now though, when I uninstall a game the cache goes as well!
Dude, please do a video of local game streaming. I use Moonlight because the steam streaming doesn't work reliably in my case.
I'm playing Elden Ring like this, anywhere at home.
I purchased a refurbed 512 GB Steam Deck a few months ago and have been very pleased with it. It looked like brand new and fuctions great.
one day maybe ill be able to get one in australia :/
You deserve the experience of a brand new Steamdeck OLED! Its a minor difference really but the weight reduction noticably improves the ergonomics.
Would be interested to see you compare the lcd vs the oled.
I had an LCD one I barely used and I replaced it with the OLED which I use all the time. Everything about the OLED just feels better.
OLED is a major upgrade - highly recommended.
I was literally talking to my coworker who brought hers to work last night about getting one. I, too, only saw one for the first time last night. Im highly debating on it as I want a PS Portal (I only have my Playstation consoles) but Id take a chance on a SteamDeck and maybe revive my old Steam account.
You can also access the BIOS and under volt the CPU and GPU which is awesome. Definitely reduced the amount of heat the steam deck puts out.
As someone from the UK I can't believe how many stores Micro Center seem to be opening lately. Over here that's all companies seem to be doing over the last 10-15 years is closing stores and that seems to be more and more lately. Online shopping is killing retail here, why do you bother going out when you can get what you want delivered next morning or in some areas with certain retailers the same day...
We love you dawid
Definitely needs a bigger audience!
That’s for sure!