Image: Valve / Kotaku
Today, Valve released a long-awaited update to its laptop. SteamOS 3.2 brings a lot of fun changes to both the operating system and the Steam client itself, allowing Remote Play Together, changes to some visual and custom elements, and the ability to change the screen refresh rate. Fan noise updates, however, will definitely be hot (sorry) discussed on the internet.
In essence, a continuing problem with the Steam Deck is that in order not to explode this handheld computer, its fan is usually turned on. And by usually I mean: Everyone. On. B. Time. And it’s strong! It blows easily past my tinnitus caused by heavy metals to produce enough sound to actually reach pitch. I got used to it (I also have hearing loss), but others were not so happy.
The noise has inspired iFixit to sell new fans that, if you’re in the DIY spirit, are fairly easy to replace and offer a quieter solution. But for those of us who prefer not to open the device, SteamOS 3.2 allows you to adjust the fan curve by reducing it so that the device does not start singing in its mezzo-soprano range.
This is where things will probably get hot (again, sorry) online. By reducing the fan speed, the device will become hotter. How hotter? Well, PC Gamer measured the change to 10 ° C (that’s a change of 18 ° in Freedom units) a few weeks ago in just one example. It was enough for them to think that this update is not worth considering the potential impact on the life of Steam Deck.
Photo: Kotaku
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Digital Foundry had a slightly more nuanced approach; essentially fan speed, temperature and usage – all mixed together to give different results. So you are likely to see a rise in temperature from 4 ° or 5 ° to as high as 10 ° C. According to them (as well as mine, to be honest), as this is still within the expected operating temperatures for the device you will probably not encounter problems.
This is no different from debating whether to leave your computer on all the time or turn it off when you’re not using it. As a professor of science once told me, “The heat is real,” so yes, operating the device at high temperatures is nothing. But technically, unless we press the device to temperatures where it is not designed to work, why should we have a problem?
I do not want to reject this debate too quickly. According to an old military manual on the life expectancy of electronics, 10 ° C can halve the life expectancy of a device. Of course, there are so many factors to keep in mind that this is likely to be a debate that we will continue to have on Twitter and Reddit.
I guess the only real way to find out is to buy about a dozen Steam Decks, get them to play the same scene in something like Cyberpunk 2077 in four or five years, set half of the lower fan curve while the other half use the original Settings . Then we will see who will die first. Until such science is achieved, it may be best to leave the old fan curve settings on if sound is not so important to you. You will probably come across a source of opinions and facts full of anecdotes and internet math about this one detail. Until we get into Steam Deck for a few years and start seeing real results, we just won’t know one way or the other.
I leave it to the comments section to discuss further.
Correction 27.05.2022 13:45 ET: Corrected mathematical error.
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