RAM, CPU, GPU, screen size, and system-specific features are all the same across the board. There are some superficial options, like the most expensive version comes with a different bag and some virtual items, but in terms of how each Steam Deck differs, they’re all near-identical excluding the hard drive size. It's unclear why Valve decided to change the specs, but I'm guessing those who were unaware of the change, and have already made their purchase, may have something to say.The most important element to consider when purchasing a Steam Deck is how much storage you’ll need. Which you couldn't really fit in a Steam Deck anyway. Though it is worth nothing that even a x2 NVMe SSD will be twice as quick as a standard SATA SSD, and far slicker than an old spinning platter hard drive. If you look at the difference in performance on the Phison website (opens in new tab) between the E13 and E08 controllers, you're talking about potentially halving the peak writing performance of the drive. If it includes a code like -E08 (Phison's Gen3 x2 controller) then your Deck is one of those with a drive running on a Gen3 x2 interface. So, you want to check whether your code ends with -E13T, too, or something else entirely. That seems to be a custom 2230 SSD using Phison's Gen3 x4 E13 controller. Our 512GB review model has a Phison ESMP512GKB4C3-E13TS drive. Under Devices, go to Storage Drives, and tap the Hard Disk Drive. Then search Device Viewer in the Applications Menu search bar.

If you want to find out which version you have, hold down your Steam Deck's power button and select Desktop Mode. (Update: Responding to a request for comment, Valve said that users won't notice a difference except in 'extremely uncommon cases.') Valve is adamant that the change won't affect gaming performance. In our testing, we did not see any impact to gaming performance between x2 and x4.Ī quick check on the Wayback Machine (opens in new tab) confirms this detail was only added after May 28, since May 27 clearly states both 256GB and 512GB drives will run on the x4 NVMe interface, as reported by Hardware Luxx (opens in new tab). *Some 256GB and 512GB models ship with a PCIe Gen 3 x2 SSD.

Under the storage heading in the spec table, the Steam Deck site (opens in new tab) now reads:Ģ56 GB NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4 or PCIe Gen 3 x2*)ĥ12 GB high-speed NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4 or PCIe Gen 3 x2*)

256gb steam deck