Since being announced last summer, the Steam Deck has tried to stand out as being something more than just a handheld games console. Of course, that is its primary function, but with the Steam Deck now supporting Windows, it's quickly become apparent that it's more of a mobile PC. However, it's not infallible, and like any other piece of hardware, it can only stand so much. With the recent heatwaves, the company has issued a warning about the potential for overheating.A couple of posts on the Steam Deck Twitter page have made it clear that the system runs anywhere between 0 and 35 degrees Celsius. Due to the high temperatures that many experienced at the start of this week, such as in the UK which saw record-breaking figures, Valve urges people to be careful, as exposing the Deck to temperatures higher than 35 degrees may "throttle" the performance. The follow-up tweet says that the APU, or Accelerated Processing Unit, can withstand 100 degrees, but at 105, the device will shut down. The post goes on to say that this is to protect both the machine and the user.This is not the first time a warning has been issued regarding overall performance. Last month, Valve urged Steam Deck users not to install a large SSD, insisting that this will "shorten the life" of the device. This came about after someone managed to do exactly that. The user, who goes by TheSmcelrea on Twitter, swapped out the standard 2230 Solid-State Drive for a 2242 one instead. The latter is said to come with faster read and write speeds, though it is physically larger than the former. While they were able to close up the Deck, Valve suggests that others not attempt this.
With production of the Steam Deck ramping up, it's becoming a force to be reckoned with in the mobile market. While it seems that the Switch is its main competitor, the fact that Valve's offering can run Windows and basically be used like a standard PC, with support for mouse and keyboard, shows that it's in a league of its own. One person even managed to program a simple game on the device.
Given Valve's past history with unsuccessful hardware projects, many are pleasantly surprised with how well the Steam Deck is performing. It did have quite a lot to live up to, but evidently the company has managed to knock it out of the park and possibly set new heights for what's possible in portable gaming.
