The new Valve Steam Deck OLED didn’t just change the screen: Almost every part of the device has had some sort of revision, from the screws to the power topology of the motherboard. Some of these changes happened silently in the Voyager platform refresh for the Steam Deck, but the majority of large changes are brand new. Memory underwent relocation and now uses better modules, the cooling solution has had its fan flipped and thickened, and the controller component PCBs have had some consolidation and durability improvements. In this tear-down of the new Steam Deck OLED, we’ll compare the new Steam Deck vs. the original, old Steam Deck “LCD” model.
Would be interesting in seeing the thermal and fan noise results.
Whilst I have no plans on buying the OLED edition, it did make me question that decision a couple of times watching these reviews come in. The LCD edition, with its quirks, is serving me just fine.
I’m also impressed with how candid Valve is bring with both their system & repairability improvements. Just wish other corporations did the same.
Valve seems to be firmly within the category of enthusiast run company. The heads of EA, Microsoft, etc clearly don’t game. Valve is clearly run by people who do and want their hobby to have a better environment. It’s the only expectation I have for their consistent pro consumer behavior. That or the fact that it’s been wildly profitable so why stop.
It makes me sad to think what will happen in the distant future when those people are no longer in charge. But for now, we get to enjoy their reign.
A large portion of the stock is held by employees so that may stay consistent for a good long while. Valve isn’t hurting, they’re able to continue to put out side projects like this and none of their competitors have really stood strong in the face of what they’re doing
The crux is that as long as Steam has no real competitor, Valve will have fuck-you-ima-tinker-with-side-projects money. The Steam Store is an infinite money printer.
Their biggest competitor though they could get 30% market share by giving away free games and signing exclusivity deals, instead of, you know, making a good gamestore. I don’t think we need to worry to much.
Well, maybe if GabeN retires, but im still hopeful.
Pro consumer behaviour like refusing to sell the Deck in Australia because of our Consumer protection laws?
Taki Udon went pretty in-depth with thermals in their review. The already great thermals have been drastically improved. The OLED runs cooler in general and does a better job of keeping the heat away from your hands. The fan is quieter than the old model. I linked to the part of the video where they discuss thermals, but the whole video is pretty interesting.