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Steam Deck M.2 Replacement Video
- Thread starter Speedwagon
- Start date
- Hardware
Dream-Knife
Banned
Awesome Valve made this video.
CamHostage
Member
Disappointing that it's difficult to replace, although m.2 really isn't made for popping in and out like a USB drive, so it makes sense for them to not prioritize storage replacement when building this portable.
At some point in future generations, all of this might be semi-moot, since high-speed memory cards are pushing as hard as SSD to evolve storage. SD Express, which uses a PCIe/NVMe interface and some changes to the SD pin layout, has cards coming onto the market in 2022 at nearly 1GB/s, and there's already an updated version passed by the SD Association with transfer speeds approaching 4GB/s. (Compact Flash is at that 4GB/s mark, but it's harder to find devices that use it.)
These cards are highly expensive for even the 1GB/s variety right now (CF prices are about $150-200 for a 128GB card), and it wouldn't matter with Steam Deck anyway because its card reader does not list support for the SD-EX format according to the specs. Still, I'd be happy to see the next Deck and also Switch Pro adopt these faster cards in the future.
gizmodo.com
www.bhphotovideo.com
At some point in future generations, all of this might be semi-moot, since high-speed memory cards are pushing as hard as SSD to evolve storage. SD Express, which uses a PCIe/NVMe interface and some changes to the SD pin layout, has cards coming onto the market in 2022 at nearly 1GB/s, and there's already an updated version passed by the SD Association with transfer speeds approaching 4GB/s. (Compact Flash is at that 4GB/s mark, but it's harder to find devices that use it.)
These cards are highly expensive for even the 1GB/s variety right now (CF prices are about $150-200 for a 128GB card), and it wouldn't matter with Steam Deck anyway because its card reader does not list support for the SD-EX format according to the specs. Still, I'd be happy to see the next Deck and also Switch Pro adopt these faster cards in the future.
New Spec Gives SD Cards a Massive Boost in Speed
As resolutions and file sizes continue to grow, it’s important for storage —especially removable storage—to keep up, and with the SD Association’s new SD 8.0 spec, memory cards have just gotten a massive bump to their top-end speed.
gizmodo.com
CFexpress: The Next Serious Media Format
All new media formats deserve a short explanation of benefits and compatibility, so here's the lowdown on the latest: CFexpress.
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baphomet
Member
Disappointing that it's difficult to replace, although m.2 really isn't made for popping in and out like a USB drive, so it makes sense for them to not prioritize storage replacement when building this portable.
At some point in future generations, all of this might be semi-moot, since high-speed memory cards are pushing as hard as SSD to evolve storage. SD Express, which uses a PCIe/NVMe interface and some changes to the SD pin layout, has cards coming onto the market in 2022 at nearly 1GB/s, and there's already an updated version passed by the SD Association with transfer speeds approaching 4GB/s. (Compact Flash is at that 4GB/s mark, but it's harder to find devices that use it.)
These cards are highly expensive for even the 1GB/s variety right now (CF prices are about $150-200 for a 128GB card), and it wouldn't matter with Steam Deck anyway because its card reader does not list support for the SD-EX format according to the specs. Still, I'd be happy to see the next Deck and also Switch Pro adopt these faster cards in the future.
New Spec Gives SD Cards a Massive Boost in Speed
As resolutions and file sizes continue to grow, it’s important for storage —especially removable storage—to keep up, and with the SD Association’s new SD 8.0 spec, memory cards have just gotten a massive bump to their top-end speed.
CFexpress: The Next Serious Media Format
All new media formats deserve a short explanation of benefits and compatibility, so here's the lowdown on the latest: CFexpress.
Did you watch it? It's maybe 5 minutes of work with 2 screwdrivers. There's nothing difficult about it
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Guilty_AI
Member
On a desktop yeah, obviously, but it isn't much different than replacing or upgrading stuff on a laptop.
From what they said, they don't recommend it not because its hard to replace but because a different SSD model from theirs may cause adverse effects. There's also the fact that, according to them, opening the case can reduce the Deck's impact resistance.
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ethomaz
Banned
Actually from the two notebooks I have here all of them have easy M.2 slots… removing the notebook back cover you can already plug in the SSD directly.
So it is easier in notebooks.
Guilty_AI
Member
No, when meddling with a notebook you also need to follow all the procedures they said such as disconnecting the battery or using that string in your arm.
The only thing that may be "harder" is removing one or two extra layers of metal but thats hardly an issue when opening a device like this.
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ethomaz
Banned
You don’t need that.
In fact some notebooks have different covers for battery and SSDs… so you won’t even open the battery place.
There is extra layers of cover in deck so it is not easier like notebooks.
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Guilty_AI
Member
You do mate. It won't 100% for sure damage your device, but it may.
Even technicians assembling and disassembling desktops in speciallity shops use those string things and - of course - make sure the PSU is turned off.
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hououinkyouma00
Member
Cool video, and as somebody that repairs computers/phones for a living it's always interesting to see the inside of these devices (I also love it when Spawnwave does his teardown videos).
It seems Valve know better, and want to educate people prior to release. Most companies would release nothing and simply hope it takes awhile for people to find out, but Valve know better at least. Which is cool in my book. Though how they made the "oopsie" of putting the ESD band on the gloves is beyond me?
It seems Valve know better, and want to educate people prior to release. Most companies would release nothing and simply hope it takes awhile for people to find out, but Valve know better at least. Which is cool in my book. Though how they made the "oopsie" of putting the ESD band on the gloves is beyond me?
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CrustyBritches
Gold Member
This is pretty fucking easy.
Many PC mobos have the NVMe slot on the bottom of the board. Swapping it entails unplugging your PC, removing case screws and panels, unplugging and removing GPU, unscrewing mobo, and replacing it while lifted. The amount of effort seems to be about the same.
MachRc
Member
im guessing if you really do want to replace this , you'd have to buy a m2 mini usb stick and clone the original to the replacement first?
pretty cool you can easily boot windows on it and clone it off the steam
It would be nice to upgrade my 256 to a 1tb down the line, this looks super easy.
pretty cool you can easily boot windows on it and clone it off the steam
It would be nice to upgrade my 256 to a 1tb down the line, this looks super easy.
BusierDonkey
Member
That's a lot of ribbon cables...
Looks pretty easy to work on though, cables have a pretty straightforward routing and all the screws look easy to find and access. It actually looks easier to work on than the WiiU gamepad which had tiny ribbon cables going through panels, or even the Joycons which had them routed around tight corners.
It actually looks similar to the average laptop in terms of complexity which generally aren't too hard to work on. I'm glad they made the "custom" analog units easy to get out. Here is the "custom" unit, btw:
Your run of the mill low-end Alps unit with a bunch of cheap plastic parts inside.
To change them out when they fail (which they will) you can de-solder the hard mounts and re-solder in another $1.25 "custom" unit. I imagine Valve will charge more for their pre-assembled unit.
Looks pretty easy to work on though, cables have a pretty straightforward routing and all the screws look easy to find and access. It actually looks easier to work on than the WiiU gamepad which had tiny ribbon cables going through panels, or even the Joycons which had them routed around tight corners.
It actually looks similar to the average laptop in terms of complexity which generally aren't too hard to work on. I'm glad they made the "custom" analog units easy to get out. Here is the "custom" unit, btw:
Your run of the mill low-end Alps unit with a bunch of cheap plastic parts inside.
To change them out when they fail (which they will) you can de-solder the hard mounts and re-solder in another $1.25 "custom" unit. I imagine Valve will charge more for their pre-assembled unit.
fersnake
Member
MrTroubleMaker
Member
nice to see the internals
Beelzebubs
Member
The only thing easier than this is my mum....... All it takes is one screw......