Calling all Steam Deck users

  1. 512GB Steam Deck
  2. I assumed I would from the beginning. If they’d offered a larger Steam Deck to start with, I probably would have tried for it!
  3. I am using 1TB SanDisk Ultra UHS-I MicroSD as my secondary. I almost wish I’d gone for the top-of-line (Extreme?), but it was noticeably more expensive, so this is really just me being jaded about load times! It’s all still significantly faster than any spinning platters would be (@Crystalyne I wouldn’t go any slower than the SanDisk Ultra, certainly).
  4. I haven’t, and I don’t think I will, honestly. I’m more likely to just juggle what games are currently installed based on what I’m actually playing at a given moment. I do get excitable as to choice, though, which is why I wanted the elbow room of the microSD card. Cyberpunk 2077 alone takes up a healthy chunk of storage, after all…
  1. 256GB. Faster storage then the eMMC in the base model, but bot as expensive as the 512GB model, so a nice in between.

  2. Of course.

  3. I did. 400GB, was on sale at the time. Pretty much flawless, any differences in speed or whatever, I don’t notice.

  4. Nooo. I’m tempted to upgrade the joysticks to hall effect, but for now, I don’t want to mess around with the internals.

1 Like
  1. 64 GB.

2 & 3. I haven’t yet been able to use the Deck due to external factors (namely ordering it to my residence in the States while overseas) but on 4, yes I am considering upgrading the memory just 'cause 64 GB can be filled with a particularly aggressive sneeze.

  1. 512GB
  2. No
  3. Yes, 1TB, but haven’t needed to use it yet.
  4. No, no plans.
  1. What capacity did you order?
    64GB, knowing that i could upgrade anytime for cheaper

  2. Are you finding that you need more space?
    No, I use a 512GB SD-Card and always only have the game installed that i am playing

  3. Have you used a MicroSD card to expand storage, and if so, how has that experience been?
    Experience is very good, compared to a friends internal drive there is not that much difference in regards to practical speed

  4. Have you swapped out a larger M.2 2230 SSD, and how was that experience?
    Changed one on a friends deck with the ifixit-kit & Youtube Guide, was very easy.

have a really easy path to get them in volume

Take my money!

3 Likes

1)i got the 64gb
2)Yes
3)Yes two 256gb
4)No because i can’t find one with good speed, storage, and for a good price

  1. 512gb
  2. Not yet
  3. Strictly used for a windows 10 install that I never use lol
  4. Not yet. Would love a 1TB option someday.
  1. 512GB
  2. Yes I would like to install windows and steam os and have at least 512gb available for both
  3. Yes 2 512gb cards
  4. Not yet but I can do it.
  1. 256gb. Ordered before I knew the SSD could be swapped out fairly easily.
  2. Not really, as I’ve mostly been playing Vampire Survivors :slight_smile:
  3. Yes, I have a 1TB card, and it’s been plenty. Would have preferred to have a 1TB SSD instead, but they are way too expensive vs a card.
  4. Not yet.
  1. 512 GB
  2. Yes
  3. Yes, I bought a 1 TB card. It’s been ok but not great. The OS doesn’t yet have an easy way to choose where to install games from the library, and once the microSD card became unmounted (I think after a software update) which was annoying. Performance is ok but not great.
  4. Not yet, I’m holding out for a 2 TB drive.
1. 512G
2. Yes absolutely 
3. Just ordered a 512G SanDisk, haven't received it yet. I would have preferred to buy a Micron 2TB but I only found them on shady site with a ridiculous price! Paying premium with probably no warranty or service
4. No, because of availability/ridiculous price. Only found one listing on ebay for some generic WD coming from china

Might want to post this question on reddit to get a wider pool of peoples, I made an account just to comment in hope that you will be selling some SSD loll

1: 1TB
2: Way more. Could only fit around 6 or 7 big games seeing they are 60-100GB each
3: Yep. Using 1TB sandisk ultra already full after half a week of using.
4: Yep. Bought 64GB because the price of 512GB was 30 more than getting 64GB plus 1TB from ebay. Experience was great. Structural integrity now compromised because i removed backplate and now it squeaks/creaks, but storage increase was well worth it. I now use PM991 1TB, but i desperately need 2TB.

1 Like

What capacity did you order?

64gb

Are you finding that you need more space?

Yes

Have you used a MicroSD card to expand storage, and if so, how has that experience been?

Yes. I threw in a 512gb SD card right away. Playing games off of it is absolutely fine, but downloading games to the SD card is painfully slow. I have 500mb internet, but at most, games are installed to my SD card at 18mb/s

Have you swapped out a larger M.2 2230 SSD, and how was that experience?

No, because getting 2230 SSDs at high capacities is difficult, and I don’t feel comfortable chancing it with one from eBay.

  1. 256GB and 512GB
  2. Yes! Especially when running both SteamOS & Windows.
  3. Yes, but it’s slower and flakier.
  4. Nope - having trouble sourcing a larger one in Switzerland, and would prefer a 2TB option.

1 - 512
2 - yes
3 - yes. It works ok.
4 - no. I would like to get a 2TB internal drive for it.

If you have a Steam Deck:

  1. What capacity did you order? 64GB
  2. Are you finding that you need more space? Yes
  3. Have you used a MicroSD card to expand storage, and if so, how has that experience been? Yes, fine but £/GB on >512 is poor
  4. Have you swapped out a larger M.2 2230 SSD, and how was that experience? No

I would like to replace the internal eMMC with an NVMe, but only if the £/GB were competitive to mediocre large capacity NVMe drives in my market.

There’s very little benefit to faster SSD storage when compute is the main bottleneck for the deck (hence similar loading times for eMMC and NVMe).

Looking at PC part picker, that’s about £120 for 2TB and £65 for 1TB.

  1. What capacity did you order?

64GB with the intention of upgrading it myself.

  1. Are you finding that you need more space?

Yes I like to not only have a larger library but I also like to add mods, which take up a lot.

  1. Have you used a MicroSD card to expand storage, and if so, how has that experience been?

Yes a 512GB for now, it’s okay I’ve seen issue with some games were performance would take a slight hit, so had to disk swap some games from external / internal

  1. Have you swapped out a larger M.2 2230 SSD, and how was that experience?

Yeah 512GB which was rather easy, it also gave me an opportunity to repasted the deck with Hydronaut. But even for the size the market price is out of control. It’s the main reason I did not go with a 1TB at the time, and a major reason of thinking of saying f-it and installing a 2242.

I really hope you guys can be a saving grace that the community has been asking for. A 2TB is really what I’m hoping for.

  1. Ordered a 64 because it was user replaceable.
  2. The Emmc was slow and small. Fine for Indy games but I could only fit one modern game at a time.
  3. The sd card experience was similar to the emmc speeds with what sd cards I had on hand. Within a week I upgraded.
  4. I did swap the m.2 for a 1 TB. I actually saw a Reddit post on cutting down a 2280 to 2230 size and checked prices and noticed the 2280 1tb were only 80$ at the time vs the 2230 1tb were 250-300$. So I figured it was worth a shot. Cutting the pcb was fine going slow and steady with a razor and I carved out the semi circle for the screw mount and covered the end with electrical tape. I’ve had it in place for 6 months without issue.

Taking apart the steam deck itself was a little unnerving the first clip but after that it came apart fine. Went back together without any creaks or squeaks too. In the future I’ll likely open it back up for the Hall effect stick upgrades as well.

I would love to have a two terabyte SSD in my Steam Deck, because as it stands I can only have one or two AAA games installed at a time.