Coming with the most recent Beta replace for the Steam Deck, Valve’s made some adjustments to the fan curve, and it seems to be like all our prayers have been answered.
We, like a lot of you, observed how loud the Steam Deck is straight off the bat. But it surely’s actually the pitch that has been attending to folks, it appears. We measured it whirring as much as round 1,000Hz which is a reasonably insufferable be aware to should endure should you’re attempting to pay attention.
A recent beta update gave us hope that Valve was on the case, and that we would not should resort to sticking electrical tape up in our Decks. Though the fan whine was noticably quieter with the replace, it additionally meant the Deck could not fairly deal with the temperatures being thrown out underneath full load.
Now, Valve seems to have discovered a stability.
Not solely does the current Steam Deck beta replace appear to have negated the fan’s excessive pitch whine, it additionally manages to maintain the GPU temps at an affordable stage.
Our earlier testing noticed the Deck’s customized AMD GPU pushing 79°C in Euro Truck Simulator 2. These are the sorts of temps you’d count on from even the best gaming laptops, however are much less more likely to get away with for a handheld gaming system. You wish to squeeze each final ounce of longevity from the Deck, and sustaining temperatures like that would not have executed it any favours.
Hiya! We have simply shipped an replace to SteamOS for Steam Deck within the beta channel. This replace features a new OS-controlled fan curve, help for altering in-game display refresh charge, and extra. https://t.co/iukgqSfAcx pic.twitter.com/vLdwFzwF0XApril 28, 2022
Fortunately, because the replace the fan curve situation appears to have been addressed tenfold, and now Valve has these wild temperatures tamed. The Steam Deck now tops out at round 64°C underneath full load—rather more prefer it.
Our Wes said he was happy with the 10°C tradeoff within the earlier replace, and I might have been too truthfully, however we’re over the moon to see that Valve’s diligent devs have struck once more with their wizardry. Good kind.
