Alex is quite a rare creature. He seems to have enough general knowledge on how to get something to work, yet he manages to have this jank yolo approach that could only be tolerated by a company who is ran by someone that routinely drops 1k+ pieces of hardware.
its a fairly admirable quality amongst maintenance and prototype engineers, in both instances it doesnt matter how/why something works, all that matters is that it works so the tolerance for jankyness is SUPER high.
I watch this channel for Alex and his craftsman ship alone. The whole team is great, but he is so laid back and doesn't give off the hyper gen z vibe that this channel is trending toward in recent years. Any vid with him in the shop gets my view.
I think that even though most companies dislike this kind of modding, somewhere valve's people are just looking at this video and think "you go linus, unlock full potential"
@@cheezyfriez12 you are free to change the OS to your liking, I can't imagine what you would even do with a modchip on it. It'd be the same as putting one on your pc and I haven't seen anyone do that in a hot minute.
My favorite part is that valve did officially acknowledge this mod. They did not endorse it but they did say that this is something someone has done. I forget if they acknowledged it was LTT that did or just that someone did effectively strap an external heat sink to a steam deck
That soldering job looks so solid, just the shine, the perfect cone form, no sign of microfractures; it was GLORIOUS. 😉 Love your practical engineering, calm demeanor, and positive outlook and DIY attitude, Alex! Also, past Alex is a cool dude too.
There’s a kind of magic when the community is allowed to make upgrades to an already finished product with the manufacturer being totally chill about it
Honestly the fact that any of that is even reasonably possible for anyone to do is just incredible. Like imagine being in the design meetings and someone is like, "well i know it will probably reduce our profits a bit, but let's just make that modular or at least swappable for the end user" and everybody else is like, "you know what? That's a great idea, we will do that." What other company in any sector would do that? Fucking incredible.
@@fabiandrinksmilk6205 This is one of the biggest reasons I bought one. I am pretty sure I can fix and replace stuff over time and upgrade it so I felt it was good to go. I also bought a cheap used ssd before getting the steam deck in hand knowing I could upgrade it. Valve was very smart with this.
What helps valve is they have the only money printing machine on this planet, and all this is doing is driving their money printing machine more because now the steam deck is the definitive handheld, so if anything this is increasing their profits not hurting them by making this thing right to repair friendly and similar
I really like how valve makes this actually user upgradeable, way better than the switch, I would order one if I had a use for it, I don't use my switch nearly enough to justify buying a steam deck.
Mine is showing up in a couple days. It’s gonna be my new mobile pc because I get way to nervous bringing my desktop with me to LAN parties (they aren’t dead yet!) I’m gonna put windows on it after a bit of seeing what steam os is like. And I may be looking into these upgrades too.
I've had my Switch for 2 years and my Deck for 3 months. I have already put more hours with the Deck than the Switch. Having access to PC games on the go or in bed with good performance was a litteral game changer
@@taxevasion2403 yeah i feel like theres really only a select few games people will get when they get a switch (only counting games you would play on your own or online with friends) like me for example; i would get pokemon and zelda but thats probably it. where as with a steam deck i could get all types of games such as rogue lites, rpgs, shooters, building games too. the steam library is ever growing and a faster rate than the switch library.
dbrand naming their case for what is effectively the "nintendo switch killer" the "killswitch" is a brilliant marketing move. someone got a raise for that one.
1:09 Linus being the anime protagonist that he is, completed with an ahoge 3 adverts within the first 2 minutes of the video is some anime level stuff lmao
To be fair, Linus did challenge companies a while back to send them their engineering samples for constructive criticism since so many were making dumb mistakes.
@@christopherjc54 the higher you are, the more out of touch you are. Company also suffers this internally and it tends to be one giant echo chamber. Linus is a consumer as well a professional so he's a good pick
I personally don't find it that brilliant. It sounds nice but isn't feasible realistically. Producing custom shaped batteries is pretty hard for companies, doubt you'd have any luck with DIY. You just won't have good ergonomics with a standard battery shape. Battery packs are kind of what solves this problem though it's not integrated to the device itself, but they are a suitable contender to providing external power. Turning Steam Deck's internal battery into external battery is more appropriate and works well for a lot of scenarios although you have the problem of keeping the battery near the thing at all times and deal with the wire.
Alex is really developing as a confident entertaining host and you can really tell he's getting comfortable (or amazing faking) and he's getting better and projects. Super entertaining arc.
For d-brand. I would totally consider a case+kick stand + battery combo thing, even if it needs a cable out the top, and if the battery were not huge. 5kmah would be fine for me, maybe. I think that would be cool. I think the switch has some accessories like that.
The steamdeck is already pushing the limit on whats comfortable to hold in your hands; I'd just get an external battery + cable, that way the extra battery can live on your lap or in your pocket.
Think of those old phone cases with a built in battery, giving you stupid amounts of usage time. Now imagine the case with ample room for your fingies, raised a bit for cooling intake, but otherwise the whole back of the steam deck is just a huge battery bank.
Another cool mod I've seen is someone glued in little microswitches that the triggers will hit if you pull them all the way. They're not wired in to anything, but they don't have to be. You can configure Steam Input to treat that final bit of pull as a different input, so you only actually need the switches to provide the tactile feedback.
As a new Linux user this year, I agree doubly so, as seeing how cool the steamdeck was gave me the push to actually try linux on my current hardware, now my desktops, laptops, and soon a small server will all be running various Linux distros, predominantly "Garuda Linux" as it's my favorite so far, the automatic backups on update or new software install, plus the recovery control from grub has saved me from several noobish errors, and the little "Garuda Gamer" utility is handy for lazily installing stuff like Proton GE, or all the emulators I could ever want
@@UNSCPILOT If you would like to deepen your Linux knowledge I highly suggest installing base arch and customising it to your liking. You can ofcourse take some inspiration from garuda. But I learned a lot from composing everything myself :) And it's honestly not as hard as everyone makes it out ro be😅
I really like seeing the intro at the beginning of an LTT video, I know Linus and team have been playing with leaving it out but the "new" 3D intro which we've had for quite some time now is just awesome, short, the music fits perfectly with the animation and you just know you're in for a good time.
That's actually good ideas for Valve if they want to do a v2 : improve cooling, hall-effect thubsticks, and much more. I really hope the deck stays as a product and a lineup
Or send out as an upgrade package for 1.0 hardware users! Prusa 3D Printers do something similar for their machines and they are super popular and nice to bring older hardware up to the current design as much as possible.
@Clarissa 1986 This extremely long message looks phenomenal on my amoled display, nice bright white letters and pure black background, if this is junk it's extremely enjoyable junk
Hey Alex, here’s an idea for the backpack. Radiator, sealed reservoir, and battery go in the backpack. The radiator needs to be one of those 1u-style radiators where air flows left to right instead of top to bottom (like the alphacool UT60) then the backpack needs to be breathable on the sides, but then soft tubing can go to the deck over the shoulder
@DvX Official exactly the point, as a mechanical engineer we don't really care if it looks pretty, it just has to work. It's not like we need to solder a complete pcb or something.
@@dvxofficial2395 actually they are ALL welding. Welding and soldering are in fact completely interchangeable words. Synonyms of each other. However, the distinction commonly comes up when referring to the materials used. You use entirely different metals when welding vs what people typically think of when soldering. However, they are in fact the same thing. Heat up metal to join things together. That's their entire job.
This is quite entertaining to watch. The whole time Linus was literally giggling like a little school boy with all the mods Alex had done (including their sponsor's product!) . I love this video. GG guys.
What I was curious about was replacing some of the plastic on the back with an aluminum plate and having the small chips dissipate heat to it + have some of the heat in the air of the intake dissipate into it. It’s a lot less obstructive and maybe below the burn limit
@@bradhaines3142 not neccicerily, macbooks have done this for years without scorching people. Since heat always moves from high temp to low, most of the heat would be drawn away from your hands to the cooler sections of the back exposed to the air. Aluminium sinks heat to air really well so if you had some fins on it i dont think youd actually get much hotter than the plastic would. could be intresting to test though
A dedicated battery case would be great for the steam deck. One that has a similar chunky heatsink like the one Linus put on but lower profile with the fan on the top of the heatsink pulling air out the deck. This as a packaged case would be the bomb!
There’s a massive battery bank you can get by this company called Baseus for $60 on amazon. It’s listed as a steam deck accessory. There’s even ways to mount that power bank onto the back of the deck without interfering with functionality.
The idea about a conversion kit or upgrade kit would be amazing! @linustechtips if you sold this as a more refined upgrade-at-your-own-risk set I would shell out the money!
Yes please. That should come from valve as a modular swappable package, combo battery, kickstand, extra cooling. Valve, you know you can modify the existing hardware to accommodate this with no extra weight or form factor changes other than a door and hidden brackets with tiny pad connectors for electrical pre-wired to a standard accessory config ready to go from factory for add-ons that you can sell. Optional official hall effect sticks also with contact pads instead of lol soldiered wires. Get cookin' Gabe! This is awesome!
That might be a "Steamdeck 2.0" kind of feature, but I will say it's interesting, I think I'd rather it got a little thicker just to host more fans and heatsinks inside though rather than the hilarious tower cooler they have here, as well as a even larger battery. The biggest wishlist Item I could add is just a full-sized M.2 2280, since a larger drive can accommodate more storage, cache, and speed plus a heatsink to help it keep cool and last longer. Oh and that power management chip deffinitly needs way, way better cooling, 90+ degrees sounds too much like my old 2012 laptop struggling to run Fallout 4 and nearly melting down, even with the fan screaming at full tilt XD
@@UNSCPILOT It might be a bit difficult for a 2280. 2230 SSDs have lower power consumption and thus better heat handling. I think a battery pack case that doubles as a kickstand could work though
Unless someone beats them to the punch, like Linus. He has the means to create conversion kits or upgrade kits and sell them directly to us. When that enavidialy does succeed, maybe the SteamDeck2.0 would be modular by design! Somebody get the CEO of Steam on the phone!
This might or might not make you feel better but you'd have approximately a 90% chance of getting it through TSA without them even noticing it exists. Thats only because they have an abysmal detection rate for actual weapons so you'd probably be ok.
It's kinda wonderful to see where Steam releasing the Steam Deck and the community goes wild on experimenting the device 'hidden potential'. This might give some insight for Steam on what consumers love about what to add on the newly improved model (if they decide to do it). Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the preorder to open in the South East Asia region. T.T
3:33 You can use clonezilla to clone the old installation disk to the new one before even opening the steam DECK, and then resize the home partition, with gparted live or similar, and then you replace the ssd. Yes you can go the full restore way but it's not needed.
I just reserved a 64GB Steam Deck on the 30th of September and they already asked me to confirm my order yesterday,which was way faster than I was expecting. I used to mod PSPs so modding this should be fun.
Just got mine, and frankly I am super impressed with sd card performance for loading times, so I'm glad Ill be able to wait to do something like this (the ssd maybe not the other stuff haha), BUT still awesome that I can without too much hassle :D
@@ConnorH2111 here it makes sense. It's battery powered all in one device that you can carry around. A console has triple digit power consumption, and in a lot of cases used older or esoteric tech while claiming to be the cutting edge. Here the selling point is literally: "Hey, it ain't the best but it's capable and you can carry it around. Plus it's fully fledged x86 computer" and they're delivering.
Remember all the nintendo peripherals for the gameboy, gameboy color and gameboy advanced that you could combine to make a real abomination? This has sort of the same energy. It's impressive through. Good job.
the rest of the mod is neat, but those hall effect sticks are something I've wanted for years, and contemplated designing my own for my steam controller. This is amazing and the #1 reason I was so absolutely excited when valve made the analog sticks modular. I ALSO love these, because them being modular means they're able to be modified/used for personal projects.
simplest upgrade ever was totally worth doing myself and can tell you it's easier than it looks. Take your time and do it right, and the whole process can be done by a kid if you give them proper instruction ❤ I mean that encouragingly FYI: Whether you're 8, 18 or 80, there's no bad age to start learning how to mod your own electronics!
@@I_was_a_Bullfrog I can not state how easy it is to do. Even if you do it badly, and there's way to much solder, and it looks hideous and the wire jacket gets all melty, it'll still work just fine. Don't sweat it at all. Even if you've got shaky hands You'll be fine. alternatively, there's probably a local maker place, or if you're in school a lab that someone would be glad to either show you or just do it for you right quick. also, for the true bastardization(which still probably works fine), you can buy "electrically conductive wire glue" and just glue the wire down.
@@Secret_Takodachi thanks for the encouragement :) I'm an electrical engineer and been soldering for 30+ years, but I absolutely agree with you, anyone can do it and I love your positive attitude.
What?? We need more!!! What's the new battery life in different applications? What's the fps difference in a bunch of games? how much have loading times improved???? This needs a part 2.
I LOVE all dbrand sponsored videos on LTT, they are always cool, with a bit of humor between Linus and dbrand, and always hits an interesting theme Dbrand, sponsor them more! =D
i dont know how much valve invest in hardware development, but the amount of free R&D they are getting from LTT is mindblowing (maybe not really free, but hey dirt cheap)
If you think Valve hasn't tried all this at first, you are probably sorely mistaken. The probably started with a huge cooler and ssd and shrunk it down until they fit the price target
Not just LTT, but the whole community. That's the nature of open hardware and free software: people do whatever they want with it, and you get to learn from all of it!
When they started the hardware lab 10+ years ago it already costed many millions of dollars. Then they built the most advanced automated consumer electronic production system in the USA for the Steam Controller (at that time; there is video on their channel). Then they changed the headquarters to make the lab bigger, so now IIRC they have 2 floors for hardware work. So, yeah, they already spent quite a lot for a software company.
Definitely hope they take that battery stand in to consideration, really nice idea. They could, in theory, design one that can host a battery the way you did it, or horizontally for larger batteries. (simple extending grip on a rotating part should do it, or elastic) It'd need to be slightly wider if they want to support larger batteries properly, but it's doable.
those electro magnetic joysticks sound amazing, really hoped there would be versions for other controllers since Im looking for replacing the ones on my dualshock 4 controller and feel like putting in another potentiometre one would just prolonge the lifespan by a bit before the problems start again
The same company made replacements for joy cons, and a 3rd party switch pro controller (king kong 2 pro) With how their model works, its either a adapter for their king kong 2 or another 3rd party controller (unless another company make another design that works differently)
They are working on Switch version. The hall effect joysticks aren't drop in replacement, and works differently than potentiometer, so you can't just replace the component. They make controllers with the joystick in it.
The company makes their own controllers, tho they're for Switch, Android and PC only (tho it might work with Xbox) I've bought the King Kong Pro 2 about 2 months ago and it's really nice so far.
@@madmax2069 I bet they still use pots because they're cheaper to make than the Hall effect sensors and magnet assembly. Maybe they should splurge a bit next time...
Steam deck arriving tomorrow. I certainly won't be able to do everything you've done, but you're coverage has definitely cemented my desire for it to arrive!
At 18:04 it says, right there, FAN at 2516 RPM and since the external fan is connected to the interal one ... either both fans are running or someone broke a solderpoint.
I love that the Steam Deck can be repaired and upgraded by the user. It's the finishing blow to any other handheld or stationary console currently on the market.
I love every sponsor the dbrand does with you guys. "Hey market this thing and you can basically say whatever you want as long as it's funny". Plus more Alex is always better!
now all you need to do is 3d print a case attachment to hold one of those mini keyboards to solve the issue of the terrible screen keyboard the steamdeck has
@@waffle911 wanted to leave same answer, thermal epoxy might change temp for charging chip a little bit, but in general as any custom mod every mod will differ, so that video data should be enough to have general idea.
@@illansuu9572 I'm sure they can find a game that had its performance throttled at least a bit by high temps, besides loading time tests in a bunch of apps? Battery life tests in different uses like watching RUclips, gaming? This video needs a part 2
I wonder in Valve is going to take these kinds of mods into consideration if they decide to make a second revision steamdeck. Just double or triple up on the cooler surface area and make the center of the back quite a bit more chonky so you can fit in the larger cooler and fan and maintain peak boost through your entire gaming session. As long as it is the same thickness or less compared to the grips and triggers then it won't matter. Plus you can borrow any space below the fan for additional battery cells.
It's crazy how little I care about this thing EXCEPT for the analog stick upgrades. I kinda want a video specifically on those stick modules. After so many switch controllers and even playstation and xbox controllers. Stick drift triggers some PTSD in me. When you actually TIGHTENED the deadzone I nearly died inside.
Yes. I only watched after seeing it mentioned in the WAN clip. On the thumbnail: New skin, storage swap....who cares about those things. Nothing worth a video.
@@robertlivingstone8733 that would have been true in the beginning. Now though, there are already a ton of teardown videos, including ones by Valve and Linus as well. That is enough of a guide for storage swap.
2:27 Wait, did I hear that right? Micron sent LMG an engineering sample so THEY could test it for Micron? Are we going to start seeing "LMG Tested" in product advertising in the next few years?
a part of me hopes valve reaches out to ltt to get this design so they can actually make it mainstream accessible for consumers (because holy shit i want this so bad)
14:40 That's funny because I've powered my steam deck using a large anchor battery with a 1,000 watt hour capacity. It was able to keep my steam deck charged and running for 40 hours. If yours will keep the Deck charged for 10 hours then it's probably about 250 to 300 watt hours.
now imagine having like 6 those little 30mm 3tb ssds in a mini itx system! I'm definitely ready for the "end" of 2.5" and 3.5" drives being used in normal systems. EDIT: also the fact that they're a great trade off to soldered on storage, due to not taking a huge amount of extra space, and other obvious reasons.
seeing how often you guys solder, and how... interesting your soldering skills seem to be, I kinda wish you had a soldering specialist position there. you could do so much more, you could do better, more intricate hard mods, in-house fix most stuff, etc. sadly I don't live in Canada but I know a lot of people would apply!
I would love if the Steam Deck 2 had a thicker body while still having the controller like grips on the side...it doesn't need to be that thin in the middle, so just make it thicker for more battery and performance
@@emperorfaiz Unfortunately it would increase just as much as in this video, which is why they didn't do it since many consider it already too heavy, it would also be way to expensive to significantly decrease the weight because of the fancy materials that would be required... Don't get me wrong though, if i modded a Deck i would make 1:1 the same changes, just make the back as thick as the highest point of the controller part, while leaving some finger space and completely fill it with battery, storage and cooling all in a neat package!
Yeah, I was thinking that location would be perfect for an aftermarket battery pack (as seen in the video). You just need to make sure you don't cover the air intake.
Same here. The Deck's display doesn't seem as god awful as the OG Switch displays (not that I've seen it in person, Valve won't sell the Deck or the Index in NZ) but the move to OLED on the Switch was a massive improvement. There are almost certainly OLED screens available at that size and shape, I assume they didn't use one for cost saving/leaving a few easy upgrades for a 2nd iteration/upgraded model down the line
Alex is quite a rare creature. He seems to have enough general knowledge on how to get something to work, yet he manages to have this jank yolo approach that could only be tolerated by a company who is ran by someone that routinely drops 1k+ pieces of hardware.
its a fairly admirable quality amongst maintenance and prototype engineers, in both instances it doesnt matter how/why something works, all that matters is that it works so the tolerance for jankyness is SUPER high.
I watch this channel for Alex and his craftsman ship alone. The whole team is great, but he is so laid back and doesn't give off the hyper gen z vibe that this channel is trending toward in recent years. Any vid with him in the shop gets my view.
Whoever keeps hiring these people is clearly great at picking gems.
@@anon_y_mousse and good at making powerpoints!
He's amazing
I think that even though most companies dislike this kind of modding, somewhere valve's people are just looking at this video and think "you go linus, unlock full potential"
"yeeee linus, modding go brrrr!" -valve
Honestly, if they designed a steam deck 2 with an easy and user-friendly heatsink add-on, I wouldn't even mind paying for it separately.
valve is just that way, and i hope it stays the same
I see your point, but they are definitely more worried about software Modding/modchips, piracy and all that.
@@cheezyfriez12 you are free to change the OS to your liking, I can't imagine what you would even do with a modchip on it. It'd be the same as putting one on your pc and I haven't seen anyone do that in a hot minute.
valve : "you can open and repair your steam deck, but you really shouldn't be doing it"
those guys : "let's slam a heatsink on that bad boy"
Right? Haha
My favorite part is that valve did officially acknowledge this mod. They did not endorse it but they did say that this is something someone has done. I forget if they acknowledged it was LTT that did or just that someone did effectively strap an external heat sink to a steam deck
yeah just so if you mess anything up it's no their problem.
That soldering job looks so solid, just the shine, the perfect cone form, no sign of microfractures; it was GLORIOUS. 😉 Love your practical engineering, calm demeanor, and positive outlook and DIY attitude, Alex! Also, past Alex is a cool dude too.
Lol i just started reading it in Bateman's voice
F
@@Noah-lj2sg Agreed past Alex sucks. I bet he gives future Alex all sorts of extra work to finish.
I loved the soldering job. Especially loved the use of heatshrink so the wires don't short, that was a really good omission 😋
@@Noah-lj2sg Hes like Red Jeff, he will be back!
There’s a kind of magic when the community is allowed to make upgrades to an already finished product with the manufacturer being totally chill about it
I know right?
Valve are just the best
Wish the fans were plug and play cause I’d fuck up the soldering knowing me. I’d send it off to iFix it and have them make these modifications.
Why wouldn't the manufacturer be chill about it? The point where they probably won't be so chill is when you do this and then submit a warranty claim.
@@wck Most companies now adays are against "Right to repair" . . . Kind of a big deal.
Honestly the fact that any of that is even reasonably possible for anyone to do is just incredible. Like imagine being in the design meetings and someone is like, "well i know it will probably reduce our profits a bit, but let's just make that modular or at least swappable for the end user" and everybody else is like, "you know what? That's a great idea, we will do that." What other company in any sector would do that? Fucking incredible.
I don't even think it drops their profits. People are buying it because it's so consumer friendly. That's some extra sales.
@@fabiandrinksmilk6205 This is one of the biggest reasons I bought one. I am pretty sure I can fix and replace stuff over time and upgrade it so I felt it was good to go. I also bought a cheap used ssd before getting the steam deck in hand knowing I could upgrade it. Valve was very smart with this.
What helps valve is they have the only money printing machine on this planet, and all this is doing is driving their money printing machine more because now the steam deck is the definitive handheld, so if anything this is increasing their profits not hurting them by making this thing right to repair friendly and similar
I really like how valve makes this actually user upgradeable, way better than the switch, I would order one if I had a use for it, I don't use my switch nearly enough to justify buying a steam deck.
even if you wanted one you couldn't get one lol
@@Josifer4GAppFire bruh
Mine is showing up in a couple days. It’s gonna be my new mobile pc because I get way to nervous bringing my desktop with me to LAN parties (they aren’t dead yet!) I’m gonna put windows on it after a bit of seeing what steam os is like. And I may be looking into these upgrades too.
I've had my Switch for 2 years and my Deck for 3 months. I have already put more hours with the Deck than the Switch. Having access to PC games on the go or in bed with good performance was a litteral game changer
@@taxevasion2403 yeah i feel like theres really only a select few games people will get when they get a switch (only counting games you would play on your own or online with friends) like me for example; i would get pokemon and zelda but thats probably it. where as with a steam deck i could get all types of games such as rogue lites, rpgs, shooters, building games too. the steam library is ever growing and a faster rate than the switch library.
dbrand naming their case for what is effectively the "nintendo switch killer" the "killswitch" is a brilliant marketing move. someone got a raise for that one.
Remember when they told everyone it's pronounced "da-brand" that guy got fired
This thing will not put a dent on switch sales
congratulations, you got the joke!
@@K4inan says the 6 years old who only plays kids' games
@@youcefdz5598 I think your IQ is in the low 40s
Man I love the back & forth relationship LTT & Dbrand have. Actually makes me not skip ad spots because they're Genuinely entertaining.
Your soldering skills are flipping amazing
Thanks
IF YOU ARE READING THIS IF I SEE YOU IN PUBLIC WITH YOUR STEAM DECK YOU BETTER LET ME PLAY IT OR ELSE 😡
@@allhandsonsteamdeck1440 no
16:32 A battery kickstand for both the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch (and all other portable PCs/consoles to come), THAT'S BRILLIANT!
1:09 Linus being the anime protagonist that he is, completed with an ahoge
3 adverts within the first 2 minutes of the video is some anime level stuff lmao
You know you have good connections when companies send you basically engineering samples to test if they even work
…too see if they break? i’d send something to LTT to see how it breaks.
To be fair, Linus did challenge companies a while back to send them their engineering samples for constructive criticism since so many were making dumb mistakes.
@@christopherjc54 the higher you are, the more out of touch you are. Company also suffers this internally and it tends to be one giant echo chamber. Linus is a consumer as well a professional so he's a good pick
Just like Dave2d with laptops
@@Vysair Not just a professional but the money to hire competent employees to help with the testing.
Battery kickstands actually sound like a brilliant idea, especially considering I can hinge it away from the body if it's getting warm
Also it would be pretty much just plug and play, unlike the other mods shown. Which would be great. Most people are not technical.
Brotha
I personally don't find it that brilliant. It sounds nice but isn't feasible realistically. Producing custom shaped batteries is pretty hard for companies, doubt you'd have any luck with DIY. You just won't have good ergonomics with a standard battery shape.
Battery packs are kind of what solves this problem though it's not integrated to the device itself, but they are a suitable contender to providing external power. Turning Steam Deck's internal battery into external battery is more appropriate and works well for a lot of scenarios although you have the problem of keeping the battery near the thing at all times and deal with the wire.
@@akippnn looks like a worthy sacrifice to me, seems easy enough to reproduce the way they did it
@@akippnn What do you mean standard battery shape, there isn't really a standard. There's like 50.
I love that everything can be solved with a heatsink.
The hilarious relationship between LTT and dbrand has genuinely moved me to buy their products.
Marketing goal achieved.
Watching this on my genuine dead cow backed iphone
Actually a really nice skin, really suits the apple aesthetic
I kinda want to see a compilation of LTT vs DBrand segways lol
I’m actually getting an iPad Pro soon and I will be ordering my first dbrand skin because of LTT
@@rustler08 that is implying they don't make good products?
Alex is really developing as a confident entertaining host and you can really tell he's getting comfortable (or amazing faking) and he's getting better and projects. Super entertaining arc.
"Fake it tell you make it" was some of the best advice I ever got.
Kpp
Ñq
I guess we can thank Linus for letting us skip the boring but still for some people the somewhat useful sponsors segway
A lot of linus ads have products i can't have. I understand he lives in canada so the ads are centred around that region
@@AbdallahTeach not always just sometimes it's centered around a certain region
For d-brand. I would totally consider a case+kick stand + battery combo thing, even if it needs a cable out the top, and if the battery were not huge. 5kmah would be fine for me, maybe. I think that would be cool. I think the switch has some accessories like that.
The steamdeck is already pushing the limit on whats comfortable to hold in your hands; I'd just get an external battery + cable, that way the extra battery can live on your lap or in your pocket.
the kilo (1000) and milli (1/1000th) eliminates eachother, you might aswell just say 5Ah. ;)
Wow, 5 kmah must be the weirdest mush up of prefixed I've seen. It's just 5 Ah
Think of those old phone cases with a built in battery, giving you stupid amounts of usage time. Now imagine the case with ample room for your fingies, raised a bit for cooling intake, but otherwise the whole back of the steam deck is just a huge battery bank.
They should call Anker. I know they can do it ;)
Another cool mod I've seen is someone glued in little microswitches that the triggers will hit if you pull them all the way. They're not wired in to anything, but they don't have to be. You can configure Steam Input to treat that final bit of pull as a different input, so you only actually need the switches to provide the tactile feedback.
So, they act like the Index triggers? That's cool.
@@joshjlmgproductions3313 Or the ones on the steam controller, yeah.
Or how the PS5 controller work
sounds cool, what games would that be used in though?
Ooh... That could be perfect for GameCube games
Great video. The best since the HDMI cable test. This is really awesome because it is actually making something people want.
What valve has done for Linux gaming the past years...
They have my eternal gratitude
Valve will most likely be the reason for more developers to make linux ports of their games. Its crazy man.
I run windows with launchbox as a frontend.
Windows VM with gpu passed through
As a new Linux user this year, I agree doubly so, as seeing how cool the steamdeck was gave me the push to actually try linux on my current hardware, now my desktops, laptops, and soon a small server will all be running various Linux distros, predominantly "Garuda Linux" as it's my favorite so far, the automatic backups on update or new software install, plus the recovery control from grub has saved me from several noobish errors, and the little "Garuda Gamer" utility is handy for lazily installing stuff like Proton GE, or all the emulators I could ever want
@@UNSCPILOT If you would like to deepen your Linux knowledge I highly suggest installing base arch and customising it to your liking. You can ofcourse take some inspiration from garuda. But I learned a lot from composing everything myself :)
And it's honestly not as hard as everyone makes it out ro be😅
I love how they made sure to add Linus's face to the pads
15:26 "Alex guffaws loudly" "Linus laughs softly" - Whoever is doing the CC is doing a great job lmao
I really like seeing the intro at the beginning of an LTT video, I know Linus and team have been playing with leaving it out but the "new" 3D intro which we've had for quite some time now is just awesome, short, the music fits perfectly with the animation and you just know you're in for a good time.
that's what makes him such a good fit for this company. It's amazing
That's actually good ideas for Valve if they want to do a v2 : improve cooling, hall-effect thubsticks, and much more. I really hope the deck stays as a product and a lineup
*cough cough HDR OLED cough*
Or send out as an upgrade package for 1.0 hardware users! Prusa 3D Printers do something similar for their machines and they are super popular and nice to bring older hardware up to the current design as much as possible.
@Clarissa 1986 it's lifespan is actually very good now
@Clarissa 1986 This extremely long message looks phenomenal on my amoled display, nice bright white letters and pure black background, if this is junk it's extremely enjoyable junk
@Clarissa 1986 do you like microled at least?
Hey Alex, here’s an idea for the backpack. Radiator, sealed reservoir, and battery go in the backpack. The radiator needs to be one of those 1u-style radiators where air flows left to right instead of top to bottom (like the alphacool UT60) then the backpack needs to be breathable on the sides, but then soft tubing can go to the deck over the shoulder
Bs idea man... Could as well use an oxygen tank... What a wank
They could call it the PortaPack.
@@anon_y_mousse I like PortaPoly, since it increases the polygons and sounds like Port-a-Potty 😂
@@tito_me_doe676 I was thinking along those lines, but yours is better.
Like a Camelback!
As a mechanical engineer, that soldering job is of the exact level I would do if I had to solder something quickly 🤣
Isn't soldering electrical... Then Welding and brazing mechanical?
@DvX Official exactly the point, as a mechanical engineer we don't really care if it looks pretty, it just has to work. It's not like we need to solder a complete pcb or something.
As a member of Association of mechanical engineer
I agree
@@dvxofficial2395 actually they are ALL welding. Welding and soldering are in fact completely interchangeable words. Synonyms of each other. However, the distinction commonly comes up when referring to the materials used. You use entirely different metals when welding vs what people typically think of when soldering. However, they are in fact the same thing. Heat up metal to join things together. That's their entire job.
@@williameldridge9382 I think, not 100% though, that it is solder when you don't melt the material you are metal gluing and weld when you do.
This is quite entertaining to watch. The whole time Linus was literally giggling like a little school boy with all the mods Alex had done (including their sponsor's product!) . I love this video. GG guys.
What I was curious about was replacing some of the plastic on the back with an aluminum plate and having the small chips dissipate heat to it + have some of the heat in the air of the intake dissipate into it. It’s a lot less obstructive and maybe below the burn limit
@@bradhaines3142 then I guess what you can do, is to sandwich it with a piece of plastic/rubber.
@@bradhaines3142 not neccicerily, macbooks have done this for years without scorching people. Since heat always moves from high temp to low, most of the heat would be drawn away from your hands to the cooler sections of the back exposed to the air. Aluminium sinks heat to air really well so if you had some fins on it i dont think youd actually get much hotter than the plastic would. could be intresting to test though
Remake the whole case in gold and have it passive cool.
Plus Yvonne has another thing to complain about.
@@bradhaines3142 you're holding the grips, not the backplate.
@@bradhaines3142 blood cooling
A dedicated battery case would be great for the steam deck. One that has a similar chunky heatsink like the one Linus put on but lower profile with the fan on the top of the heatsink pulling air out the deck. This as a packaged case would be the bomb!
Zerolemon makes nice power banks for phones. Wish they could design something for Deck
Battery case with an integrated USB-C portable display and a bluetooth for xbox controller and you have a on the way setup ez
There’s a massive battery bank you can get by this company called Baseus for $60 on amazon. It’s listed as a steam deck accessory. There’s even ways to mount that power bank onto the back of the deck without interfering with functionality.
The idea about a conversion kit or upgrade kit would be amazing! @linustechtips if you sold this as a more refined upgrade-at-your-own-risk set I would shell out the money!
I love how on the top right it says: Compliment Alex's soildering when they are talking about it
Love your hair poking up perfectly in the middle during the Linode ad XD 1:15
Yes please. That should come from valve as a modular swappable package, combo battery, kickstand, extra cooling.
Valve, you know you can modify the existing hardware to accommodate this with no extra weight or form factor changes other than a door and hidden brackets with tiny pad connectors for electrical pre-wired to a standard accessory config ready to go from factory for add-ons that you can sell. Optional official hall effect sticks also with contact pads instead of lol soldiered wires.
Get cookin' Gabe! This is awesome!
That might be a "Steamdeck 2.0" kind of feature, but I will say it's interesting, I think I'd rather it got a little thicker just to host more fans and heatsinks inside though rather than the hilarious tower cooler they have here, as well as a even larger battery.
The biggest wishlist Item I could add is just a full-sized M.2 2280, since a larger drive can accommodate more storage, cache, and speed plus a heatsink to help it keep cool and last longer.
Oh and that power management chip deffinitly needs way, way better cooling, 90+ degrees sounds too much like my old 2012 laptop struggling to run Fallout 4 and nearly melting down, even with the fan screaming at full tilt XD
@@UNSCPILOT It might be a bit difficult for a 2280. 2230 SSDs have lower power consumption and thus better heat handling. I think a battery pack case that doubles as a kickstand could work though
Unless someone beats them to the punch, like Linus. He has the means to create conversion kits or upgrade kits and sell them directly to us. When that enavidialy does succeed, maybe the SteamDeck2.0 would be modular by design! Somebody get the CEO of Steam on the phone!
The backpack battery is really a great idea guys
Imagine going through TSA with that thing and trying to explain to them that you didn't turn it into some sort of bomb. 😂
No can ever take the Ultimate Steamdeck on a airplane. To an untrained this is definitely a DIY explosive
@@Eden_Fire Yeah, TSA is totally calling this an IED
_me trying to get a bomb through TSA disguised as a steam deck_
they will take it away because they want this amazing piece of hardware for themselves
This might or might not make you feel better but you'd have approximately a 90% chance of getting it through TSA without them even noticing it exists. Thats only because they have an abysmal detection rate for actual weapons so you'd probably be ok.
It's kinda wonderful to see where Steam releasing the Steam Deck and the community goes wild on experimenting the device 'hidden potential'. This might give some insight for Steam on what consumers love about what to add on the newly improved model (if they decide to do it).
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the preorder to open in the South East Asia region. T.T
Sad Thai Noises
Steam Deck 2 just HAS to be perfect, since there will be no Steam Deck 3
@@jackofthelantern1545 ahhhh...... Totally forgot about that. lol
@@jackofthelantern1545 Steam Deck 2: Episode 1
Same in South America.
When a steam deck has more storage than my tower
3:33 You can use clonezilla to clone the old installation disk to the new one before even opening the steam DECK, and then resize the home partition, with gparted live or similar, and then you replace the ssd.
Yes you can go the full restore way but it's not needed.
That battery pack is so huge it could be used as an Anker... ok, I'll show myself out.
👏
I just reserved a 64GB Steam Deck on the 30th of September and they already asked me to confirm my order yesterday,which was way faster than I was expecting. I used to mod PSPs so modding this should be fun.
Glad to see you guys give UFD the shoutout. His steam deck hot-rodding def deserves the recognition.
Just got mine, and frankly I am super impressed with sd card performance for loading times, so I'm glad Ill be able to wait to do something like this (the ssd maybe not the other stuff haha), BUT still awesome that I can without too much hassle :D
ME too was gonna upgrade ssd but not arsed now
Remember when the glorious pc masterace use to shit on consoles for holding back gaming? Now look at you all creaming over this 720p 30fps console 😂
@@ConnorH2111 well it's portable and lets us play PC games on the go. you don't need it to be super powerful lmao
They need to do a liquid cooling version. With whiskey.
@@ConnorH2111 here it makes sense. It's battery powered all in one device that you can carry around.
A console has triple digit power consumption, and in a lot of cases used older or esoteric tech while claiming to be the cutting edge.
Here the selling point is literally: "Hey, it ain't the best but it's capable and you can carry it around. Plus it's fully fledged x86 computer" and they're delivering.
I saw the scorpion at the 3:30 mark and about jumped out of my chair.
I thought it was real 😂
Remember all the nintendo peripherals for the gameboy, gameboy color and gameboy advanced that you could combine to make a real abomination? This has sort of the same energy.
It's impressive through. Good job.
If only we could get some official way to do this or a model that worked like this
I had attachable speakers and a lighted magnifier on my DMG. Probably still have them in a box somewhere.
the rest of the mod is neat, but those hall effect sticks are something I've wanted for years, and contemplated designing my own for my steam controller. This is amazing and the #1 reason I was so absolutely excited when valve made the analog sticks modular.
I ALSO love these, because them being modular means they're able to be modified/used for personal projects.
simplest upgrade ever was totally worth doing myself and can tell you it's easier than it looks. Take your time and do it right, and the whole process can be done by a kid if you give them proper instruction ❤
I mean that encouragingly FYI: Whether you're 8, 18 or 80, there's no bad age to start learning how to mod your own electronics!
@Secret_Takodachi the soldering is the part that freaks me out
@@I_was_a_Bullfrog I can not state how easy it is to do. Even if you do it badly, and there's way to much solder, and it looks hideous and the wire jacket gets all melty, it'll still work just fine. Don't sweat it at all. Even if you've got shaky hands You'll be fine.
alternatively, there's probably a local maker place, or if you're in school a lab that someone would be glad to either show you or just do it for you right quick.
also, for the true bastardization(which still probably works fine), you can buy "electrically conductive wire glue" and just glue the wire down.
@@Secret_Takodachi thanks for the encouragement :) I'm an electrical engineer and been soldering for 30+ years, but I absolutely agree with you, anyone can do it and I love your positive attitude.
That soldering job is Tinder profile-worthy.
Really needed my daily dosis of Linus
So true
me too kid
U mean tech tips
it’s dose 🤓🤓🤓
This is giving me major "Gameboy Colour with a pile of accessories" vibes and I love it.
GOD THIS SOLDERING IS SOOO GOOD!!! Even my dad couldnt do it better and he is... a dad!
What?? We need more!!! What's the new battery life in different applications? What's the fps difference in a bunch of games? how much have loading times improved???? This needs a part 2.
Linus: "This is my Steamdeck, right."
Alex: "If you want it." (You are the boss)
This really made me look into both the Steam Deck, the joysticks AND the case.
I'm searching for that heatsink video now too.
soldering job was amazingly done man!!
and man, the result you made with the battery, d-brand should consider do it for the retail version
my ultimate redneck deck challenges you with its 4TB external drive gorilla glued to the back lmao
I LOVE all dbrand sponsored videos on LTT, they are always cool, with a bit of humor between Linus and dbrand, and always hits an interesting theme
Dbrand, sponsor them more! =D
I can't hear a Linode ad without Dawid appearing the the forefront of my mind going, "LINOOODE"
i dont know how much valve invest in hardware development, but the amount of free R&D they are getting from LTT is mindblowing (maybe not really free, but hey dirt cheap)
If you think Valve hasn't tried all this at first, you are probably sorely mistaken. The probably started with a huge cooler and ssd and shrunk it down until they fit the price target
Not just LTT, but the whole community. That's the nature of open hardware and free software: people do whatever they want with it, and you get to learn from all of it!
When they started the hardware lab 10+ years ago it already costed many millions of dollars. Then they built the most advanced automated consumer electronic production system in the USA for the Steam Controller (at that time; there is video on their channel). Then they changed the headquarters to make the lab bigger, so now IIRC they have 2 floors for hardware work. So, yeah, they already spent quite a lot for a software company.
@@kazioo2 well, to be fair they also make a fuckton of money with their 30% cut on sales on Steam
@@pixelmaster98 facepalm.
This totally brings back the days of old when we could find so many 3rd party Gameboy parts that would turn the already brick into an unwieldly brick.
With a Camera and Printer. . .
@@hammerheadcorvette4 hahaha good old power brick....
@@AlqaZen People need to look that up, to think the Gameboy had a camera and printer back then was insane !
@@hammerheadcorvette4 not to mention a whole ass sewing machine LOL
Definitely hope they take that battery stand in to consideration, really nice idea.
They could, in theory, design one that can host a battery the way you did it, or horizontally for larger batteries. (simple extending grip on a rotating part should do it, or elastic)
It'd need to be slightly wider if they want to support larger batteries properly, but it's doable.
those electro magnetic joysticks sound amazing, really hoped there would be versions for other controllers since Im looking for replacing the ones on my dualshock 4 controller and feel like putting in another potentiometre one would just prolonge the lifespan by a bit before the problems start again
It's basically the same kind of thing that's in a Dreamcast thumbstick. I don't get why console manufacturers still use pots on their controllers.
The same company made replacements for joy cons, and a 3rd party switch pro controller (king kong 2 pro)
With how their model works, its either a adapter for their king kong 2 or another 3rd party controller (unless another company make another design that works differently)
They are working on Switch version.
The hall effect joysticks aren't drop in replacement, and works differently than potentiometer, so you can't just replace the component. They make controllers with the joystick in it.
The company makes their own controllers, tho they're for Switch, Android and PC only (tho it might work with Xbox)
I've bought the King Kong Pro 2 about 2 months ago and it's really nice so far.
@@madmax2069 I bet they still use pots because they're cheaper to make than the Hall effect sensors and magnet assembly. Maybe they should splurge a bit next time...
Wow, Alex's soldering job was amazing! Great job.
I love the little tuft of hair on Linus sticking straight up during the ad read😂
Steam deck arriving tomorrow.
I certainly won't be able to do everything you've done, but you're coverage has definitely cemented my desire for it to arrive!
At 18:04 it says, right there, FAN at 2516 RPM and since the external fan is connected to the interal one ... either both fans are running or someone broke a solderpoint.
The Noctua fan turns on a little bit later than the internal fan, seems like the external fan turns on when the internal one is at about 3000RPM. -AC
Great to see. At 18:56 you really should have had a child running past shouting 'yehhhh'
I love that the Steam Deck can be repaired and upgraded by the user. It's the finishing blow to any other handheld or stationary console currently on the market.
I love every sponsor the dbrand does with you guys. "Hey market this thing and you can basically say whatever you want as long as it's funny". Plus more Alex is always better!
now all you need to do is 3d print a case attachment to hold one of those mini keyboards to solve the issue of the terrible screen keyboard the steamdeck has
Does it not use the same keyboard with the touchpads that the Steam Controller had? I think that one worked quite well.
LTT never disappoints with their crazy projects.
Praise Alex
Praise Alex
Praise Alex
I wish you guys had shown before and after performance. I love that you got Doom locked at 60, but HOW much better is it than the Unmodded one?
I think they covered that in a previous video where they first hot-rodded it with the heatsink.
@@waffle911 wanted to leave same answer, thermal epoxy might change temp for charging chip a little bit, but in general as any custom mod every mod will differ, so that video data should be enough to have general idea.
As a steamdeck user i would say that the performance in of itself isnt that different but it is much much cooler
they said same performance just cooler and more quiet
it won't push more fps if you cool it better, it's capped
@@illansuu9572 I'm sure they can find a game that had its performance throttled at least a bit by high temps, besides loading time tests in a bunch of apps? Battery life tests in different uses like watching RUclips, gaming? This video needs a part 2
I'll be travelling a lot for work so I'm super tempted to pick one up 🤔
it's worth it.
linus never fails to somehow break everything he touches
The soldering was great!!!
extremely common alex W and even more common eathan W
Good to have you back
I wonder in Valve is going to take these kinds of mods into consideration if they decide to make a second revision steamdeck. Just double or triple up on the cooler surface area and make the center of the back quite a bit more chonky so you can fit in the larger cooler and fan and maintain peak boost through your entire gaming session. As long as it is the same thickness or less compared to the grips and triggers then it won't matter. Plus you can borrow any space below the fan for additional battery cells.
I’m from the future. They just made one with a OLED screen 🎉 that’s it. 😂
Now Dbrand needs to make a SEGWAY mount for the steamdeck, so that you can do a SEGUE on a SEGWAY. plus they could put a custom skin on the Segway.
Very excited for backpack to arrive
In all seriousness, that detachable heatsink needs to become a commercially available thing. It's such a great feature to be able to use.
Linus: I want us to use my name less and refer to the company as "LTT".
Also Linus: Let's put my face on as many surfaces as possible.
Linus Windows 11 default wallpaper
That was the best LTT video I've watched. Linus looked STOOOOKED
That is officially the greatest steam deck ever you have outdone yourselves also ps good soldering job
Wonder what the cost implications would be for the upgraded joysticks if offered by valve as an option in some way.
Ordered SteamDeck yesterday after months of waiting for email... can't wait for it to come.
It's crazy how little I care about this thing EXCEPT for the analog stick upgrades. I kinda want a video specifically on those stick modules. After so many switch controllers and even playstation and xbox controllers. Stick drift triggers some PTSD in me. When you actually TIGHTENED the deadzone I nearly died inside.
Yes. I only watched after seeing it mentioned in the WAN clip. On the thumbnail: New skin, storage swap....who cares about those things. Nothing worth a video.
@@robertlivingstone8733 that would have been true in the beginning. Now though, there are already a ton of teardown videos, including ones by Valve and Linus as well. That is enough of a guide for storage swap.
I love Alex he is getting even better, and it's a joy watching him
Dang, his soldering skills are top notch👌
2:27 Wait, did I hear that right? Micron sent LMG an engineering sample so THEY could test it for Micron? Are we going to start seeing "LMG Tested" in product advertising in the next few years?
a part of me hopes valve reaches out to ltt to get this design so they can actually make it mainstream accessible for consumers (because holy shit i want this so bad)
14:40 That's funny because I've powered my steam deck using a large anchor battery with a 1,000 watt hour capacity. It was able to keep my steam deck charged and running for 40 hours. If yours will keep the Deck charged for 10 hours then it's probably about 250 to 300 watt hours.
now imagine having like 6 those little 30mm 3tb ssds in a mini itx system! I'm definitely ready for the "end" of 2.5" and 3.5" drives being used in normal systems.
EDIT: also the fact that they're a great trade off to soldered on storage, due to not taking a huge amount of extra space, and other obvious reasons.
seeing how often you guys solder, and how... interesting your soldering skills seem to be, I kinda wish you had a soldering specialist position there. you could do so much more, you could do better, more intricate hard mods, in-house fix most stuff, etc. sadly I don't live in Canada but I know a lot of people would apply!
The facts it’s being used without the fan is astonishing. If my 64gb model fan ever stops I’m pretty sure it would just blowup.
I would love if the Steam Deck 2 had a thicker body while still having the controller like grips on the side...it doesn't need to be that thin in the middle, so just make it thicker for more battery and performance
As long as the weight isn’t significantly increased because of the thickness increase, I really don’t mind.
@@emperorfaiz Unfortunately it would increase just as much as in this video, which is why they didn't do it since many consider it already too heavy, it would also be way to expensive to significantly decrease the weight because of the fancy materials that would be required...
Don't get me wrong though, if i modded a Deck i would make 1:1 the same changes, just make the back as thick as the highest point of the controller part, while leaving some finger space and completely fill it with battery, storage and cooling all in a neat package!
Yeah, I was thinking that location would be perfect for an aftermarket battery pack (as seen in the video). You just need to make sure you don't cover the air intake.
It's gonna take some doing, but I'm excited for the inevitable oled screen replacements.
And the eventual watercooling "upgrade" videos.
It doesn't have an OLED screen? Wow. Fail.
@@littlejackalo5326 oh no, they didn't add another 100+ bucks to the price just to have an OLED screen. How dare they.
Same here. The Deck's display doesn't seem as god awful as the OG Switch displays (not that I've seen it in person, Valve won't sell the Deck or the Index in NZ) but the move to OLED on the Switch was a massive improvement. There are almost certainly OLED screens available at that size and shape, I assume they didn't use one for cost saving/leaving a few easy upgrades for a 2nd iteration/upgraded model down the line
"So wait, have we been gaming this whole time completely fanless?. . . . woooooooow" - Linus had a Owen Wilson moment😂
That's pretty crazy. I feel like I'd wait a few years before I attempt to perform any jerry-rigging to my cool new Steam Deck lol.
Man, imagine upgrading your devices as if you actually own them. Looks awesome.
Remind me again. Have we done an Ultimate Joy Con? I'll settle for a new shell and an Electromagnetic Joystick at this point.
I like how nobody talks about Linus hair on 1:10 as if it were normal now, get Denis away from your hair.