A tinkerer on YouTube has busted open his Steam Deck to suit it with a customized water cooling system. The venture is featured in a 15-minute video, as YouTuber Diy Papi takes you thru the workings of his water-cooled gaming handheld contraption.
Valve’s OLED transportable is at the moment our greatest gaming handheld PC of alternative, and you may learn all about why in our Steam Deck OLED evaluation. Nevertheless, this YouTuber clearly has greater concepts than Valve. Water cooling the Steam Deck doesn’t simply contain attaching the equipment to the machine, however fully overhauling it in a rough-and-ready vogue.
The mod required the backplate to be “mutilated,” with it reduce open for meeting. The modder then attaches waterblocks to the important thing elements, and hooks them as much as tubes and a pump unit to flow into water by way of them. At first, the contraption is all held in place with electrical tape, but it surely’s later strapped to the deck utilizing cable ties and screws.
“Will or not it’s value it? I already know the reply to that, it’s a giant fats no,” says the maker. Papi is upfront and trustworthy concerning the venture, with it being extra about whether or not he can do it, not if he ought to.
The outcomes positively didn’t appear value it, because the water-cooled Steam Deck solely managed to hit 70°C, which wasn’t too far off the height temperature of the OLED mannequin he was working concurrently.
One YouTube commenter identified that Papi’s setup is perhaps inefficient, as he at the moment has it cooling the warmth protect, somewhat than the AMD APU die itself. If he had been to strap the water block to the Steam Deck’s innards correctly, there could also be some real outcomes.
Final yr TikToker Vurathayho confirmed off an analogous venture, besides with desktop water-cooling {hardware}. The ridiculous setup managed to get the temperature all the way down to 58°C, even when working Cyberpunk 2077.
The Steam Deck wasn’t meant for water cooling, however it might probably make a giant distinction to a desktop PC, not simply by way of temperature discount, but additionally quietness. Should you observe our information on the right way to water cool your PC information, you’ll be up and working with the information to hit peak efficiency.
