Quick tip for anyone wanting to upgrade themselves, use the top half of the Decks included case to sit the Deck in for a flat working surface so you don't put pressure on or potentially damage the analog sticks.
Damagin the sticks like that would take real efford. Like hitting table with the deck.. But using the case makes it easier so deck wont move around. Also that "guitar pick" is completely useles. Just pull the covers from eighter end after removing the screws. Done it like 20 times by now.. Takes 2 seconds.
@@hornantuutti515720 times now, yeah you've stressed the plastic clips and it takes 2 seconds now. But first time it's pretty tight. I did an SSD swap, 1tb sabrent rocket.
@@hornantuutti5157I mean, we just watched Austin have to fiddle with his left stick because it was out of position when he plugged it in. Also, I think using a guitar pick or a bicycle tire wrench or something else that's plastic to open the deck is a good idea on the first open, it's way stiffer the first time you open it
I mean you’re gonna be using it for hundreds of hours presumably. The sticks can probably handle being set against a desk and being pressed in a direction or something
I bought a refurbished 256G Steam Deck, and mine looked pristine and works great. The only issue I had was that Valve forgot to include the charger, but they shipped one out to me immediately. I have been having a great time with it.
I got the 512 Refurbished model and it is just completely clean and new. I am honestly surprised by Value's efforts of making their products good for the price, especially for the refurbished models.
This wasn't a good example of "valves efforts" they just basically got this unit and resold it cheaper to someone else without fixing any issues at all
320$ is perfect. I would not pay 350$ for refurbished. Been burned to many times buying refurbished when i could have just spent the extra 30 -50$ to just have working new
I totally agree I feel that that comment about paying more money shouldn’t have been mentioned. The times folks are in no need to be spending extra money cause Austin said so lol.
I bought refurbished for my ps4 and it still works amazing, just has a loud fan but that’s a common complaint all around, not a refurbished quirk. It’s several years old after all.
Its also very likely that this one, in the condition its in, could have been one that failed QA testing and thus was "repaired" and sent back out as a refurb.
I just had my pair arrive and installed it today, calibration is a bit finnicky and the cable for the sensor may need to be adjusted on the right stick so it doesn't rub up against the main board (makes a really annoying clicking noise if it does that, but that can happen with the stock sticks), but other than that, no issues installing and I'm very happy with them. Took about an hour to install all in all.
Austin, the black sticker on the inside of the original steam deck back cover is a graphite pad specifically for heat dissipation. So there is already heat dissipation in the original cover.
So I also bought a refurbished 64GB Steam Deck from Steam. Mine also had a missing screw internally. The other two was able to keep everything in place without issues. I upgraded it immediately with a Micron 2TB SSD for $149.99 from Amazon. It was so worth it and the upgrade itself was fairly easy!
@@joeyhillers9460I think Western Digital makes a good 2230 SSD. Just search for a NVMe 2230 SSD and you should find something from a reputable brand. PCIE Gen 3 is good enough if it's all you find or really cheap. Gen 4 won't do much if anything for the Deck
@Nighterlev negative. Have two decks one with 2tb one with 1tb with heavy use, no temp changes or throttling etc. That was rumored in the beginning but simply not factual. Valve encourages users to tinker.Hence, i fixit site,
Or more likely the unit was dropped and the fan was intermittent passed vaulted testing but when Austin opened it up just tweeked it enough for issue to arise again eaither way someone’s kicking themselves over 15-25$s and half hour tinker time
I don’t understand the problem. He basically did diagnose the fan as being a faulty part. Trying to take apart that tiny little assembly apart to figure out if there’s any damage, potentially not even fixable damage, seems like way more work than it would be worth considering a replacement costs relatively little.
Do you honestly believe he and his team didn't try that? I assume they did, not everything is and has to be shown on camera, or even mentioned. Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen.
My favorite part of the JSAUX back is the other sets of back buttons - I put in the highest set and it has made those buttons SO much more usable for me.
The wires on the joysticks aren't supposed to stick out like that, you're supposed to make them sort of wrap around the module, otherwise the wire is going to be rubbing against its surroundings whenever you move the joystick.
That relief he showed when the fan fix worked is so relatable, I'm scared to death to mess with stuff like that but a few years ago my laptop had a serious fault so I had nothing to lose. I opened it fixed the two things that were wrong and I felt like a God damn genius.
The gullikit joysticks come with solder in place? That's so slick! I hate trying to add solder, well, honestly I hate soldering at all, but mostly because trying to get just enough solder is a nightmare for me. Also, is anyone else old enough to remember blower fans that size sounding like jet engines? I'm seriously impressed at how far fan technology has come in 30 years.
Heh, obviously a missing screw isn’t a big deal, but it does make me slightly question how diligently they’re inspecting this. Apparently 100 tests doesn’t include a thorough “once over” before shipping to confirm that everything is in the right place. Put another way, you wouldn’t expect a new unit to be missing a screw, right?
Well my SteamDeck was missing a Screw too, I bought it new. Thanks to ants crawling to the air vents I had to open the deck to check for dead ants... Strange that exact same screw was missing
There was a couple possibilities gong on with the fan. First, it would have been good to know if it was happening before it was opened up. Always good to establish a known state before doing work on something. It sounded like the blades were rubbing on the fan housing when it was in motion. The back shell could have caused a bit of extra pressure on the main board that carried over to the fan housing, slightly warping it. The bearing on the fan may have been going bad. Those fans usually have a few years in 'em at least before they start to fail, but maybe it was an overlooked failure. It's also possible that the refurb tech may have over-tightened the screws for the fan. Best case scenario for that would be unscrewing it and putting it back. If it were really over-torqued though, it's possible that the fan housing got slightly dented in and that was the cause of the rubbing. Still fixable, but annoying to remove the housing and flattening it out.
04:24 Speaking from Norwegian perspective, apparently a store here in Norway has been selling the Steam Decks with an American charger that constantly gives warning of "Slow Charging Detected" and isn't capable of charging the battery while the device is in use, and the Steam Decks hadn't been delivered to their customers with a proper Norwegian power adapter or charger. I doubt this would warrant a return to Valve by the store when they get them in return from the customers, but it may be a possible case of what might be the cause for some returns to Valve elsewhere.
It sounds like what we have in Australia, although the SteamDeck is only available via resellers online. Valve hasn't come out with an official Australian charger, so we're forced to use an adapter.
The Guli Kit has a v2 where you don't need to solder and are compatible with both types of steam deck models (if you uncertain, Google). Also JSaux has transparent fron shells and an RGB back shell, too.
So for people thinking on buying/upgrading the Steam Deck, I actually did some mods on my Steam Deck, now that "refurbished" are available I would go with 64gb and then spend 80$ on 1tb 2230 ssd. Then the backplate to run the steam deck cooler, it can decrease temp by 10 degrees! and fan noise obviously. For the joysticks I don't recommend the upgrade until you have joystick drift as it's not actually a noticeable upgrade, at least for me.
I liked my steam deck, but I love my ROG Ally. I just hope ASUS fixes the issues, but Valve has much much better support. I hope ASUS will start to pick up and try to match
Asus and support don't go well together, they'll probably just make a new one next year and forgot the previous model, unless they fix their division since out of all the team they have, I choose the cellphone division.
@@momenteimlicht Depends on what you wanna compare and what kind of emulation we're talking about. Performance? The Ally has better hardware so it'll run better. Simple as that. Of course if you aren't emulating games from the last decade then all that power is unnecessary and you'd be better off saving money and getting a Deck which starts at a significantly lower price. Like Xbox 360, and PS3 games run on a Deck just fine. You won't always be getting 60 fps but pretty much everything is well within the realm of playable. The Deck will struggle with Xbox One and PS4 games but the Ally is only gonna get you an extra 10fps at most in emulation so you can decide if that's worth the extra money or not. The Switch is hard to emulate cause of several things I don't feel like talking about so Switch games run at like 20fps on a good day with both the Deck and Ally. Then of course like I said before games from older generations can basically run perfectly on a smart refrigerator so if that's all you really wanna play you might as well just pick up a deck since it starts at $400 since the Ally starts at $700. With either you can also easily use a regular docking station to hook it up to your TV and connect a controller when you want a bigger screen. Set up? I'd probably give it to the Deck since dealing with the desktop mode is simply easier with the Deck's touchpads so downloading and organizing your ROMs and such is easier. Not that it's difficult on the Ally it's just a little annoying to navigate Windows with a touchscreen or joystick. Plus you can do some trickery to add the ROM to your steam library as a non steam game so they show up in the regular deck interface which is nice. With either one you can just download an emulator through Steam, like RetroArch, and simply point it to the folder with your ROMs so that part is basically the same experience.
Steam has such a great support that i will enjoy deck 1 for now and buy a new one when deck 2 is launched. After using it for a year now i think i will even swich to steam os on my desktop when it is released. Some games atleast yet wont support it bit those can be played with dualboot untill valve has got things working fully. No bloatware or other rubbish. Just works. Love the deck.
I been on the fence about getting one but seeing that they have refurbished ones now and also how easy they are to work on I'll probably get one in the near future
@@Yeshuah6 You really have nothing to lose (other than your money). The refurbished units come with the same 1 year warranty as a brand new one. So if you do encounter any issues, Valve will take care of you. It's worth it IMO, and had I not gotten a brand new one, I would have gotten a refurbished one. Only issue is they're out of stock.
@@Generic_TH-cam_Username_ All refurbished steam decks are guaranteed (as Valve says) to be of the same internal quality as brand new units. You may just get a slightly less than average shell with minor scratches or blemishes. Couple that with the same warranty as a brand new unit, it's a great deal. But like I mentioned in my other comment, the issue is stock. So you're likely better off getting a new unit anyways instead of potentially waiting a long time for a used one.
FYI - that version of the JSaux back case ceased manufacturing (or is) because the exposed metal plate gets too hot for a device that is held. They have a new one that doesn't have the exposed metal plate and open airvents.
To anyone actually wanting to go through this process of replacing the ssd, get at least a 500gb or 1tb. Trust me when you get it all done and set you don't want to have to replace it again in six months when you run out of storage.
@@Twist3rOffical Probably less than 10% of the games that release actually require that much space, and frankly, if it's that huge, it's most likely a VERY high-fidelity game and not worth trying to run on the Deck anyways.
Austin I highly doubt you will see this comment but over the course of multiple accounts i have had I have been watching you about 2 years prior to the house fire and im just so glad to see how you jumped back in and are still seeing just so much success. I particularly love the surprise item videos where your crew orders you stuff
I wonder if some of their refurbished Steam decks are ones that got damaged during the manufacture process. Perhaps a box of shells got scratched or something. They can't sell them at full price. I can't imagine a lot of people are returning them.
Fans have been an ongoing topic for the Steam Deck. On release, they were a bit loud, and Valve eventually patched it up with a software update. Much better. But then the Dbrand Killswitch was releasing soon (which is a Steam Deck case), and just before release, somebody noticed that the magnet on its kickstand was interfering with its fan, and causing some fan slowdowns. It turned out that this issue was only on a chunk of Decks, but Killswitch redesigned the case to not use magnets. If I'm not mistaken, they eventually gave all their customers the non-magnetic case after release months later, but gave their preorder customers the magnetic one earlier at no cost as well. It does make me wonder if you could have been an update away from a better fan, but I would doubt it if you got Apex Legends to play. You'd probably have to avoid the updates, which seems farfetched if you fiddled with it continuously over the weekend.
next time u try opening a steam deck, u can squeeze the sides after taking out the screws and it just comes off, no need to pry it open on the top and scuff it
Austin got one as good as almost new. A light scuff on the back wouldn't bother me. I'm not OCD about things like in my teens and 20s. I don't expect perfection from refurbs. As long as I'm saving $80 and the screen looks clean. I buy used all the time because I don't game as much as before. I find it a waste buying new if I hardly will play it. I only game maybe 30 minutes per day or sometimes not at all for weeks. My Vita slim and Switch Lite are both used and I love them more than any previous console/handheld I had. As long as they work like say the charging port, I could care less about cosmetic blemishes.
Issue, if the fan made that noise, quite like other companies, that wasn't refurbished. They plugged it in, turned it on, it worked, boxed it back up. Verizon does the same. With time being money and everyone not being inclined to do repairs you are probably better off just buying new.
not to pick nits, but, there is a very good chance you could have called valve and said you had a bad fan, and they would have warranty shipped you one free. But, you did well regardless. good job.
The fan issue was probably because something was stuck in it. My laptop fan used to sound like that and started shutting down on its own. I thought the fan was dead but Taking it apart and checking it out, I found that it was a plastic bit that was getting stuck there. I removed it and my laptop wasnt shutting itself down anymore. I guess it was making the fan not spin at a certain point and the laptop was shutting itself down to protect itself from overheating
That fan sounded like it could do with a quick clean and some grease. Can they be opened up to allow for that? It would be a really nice option, still $25 isn't bad at all. Yes I would 100% get a refurb one.
i myself have done all of those mods myself as well, just with tthe non soldering needed version of the sticks and a purple plate with different backbuttons and a 2 tb ssd
It seems like the QC on the refurbished steam decks is a bit all over the place, the fan is the main issue I've seen popping up quite often as well as the screen screws being too tight causing the LCD to have a ton of edgelight bleed
I wonder if it was the OG fan. They had several reports early on with how loud the fan was but they introduced a new fan 2 or 3 months after launch that was much quiter.
You have to realize that needed this person that had it before how to screen protector on a or the screen got broken on it so they sent it into steam and since the screens broken they're obviously going to replace it with a new screen so maybe that's why it looks so good.
I have a 64 steamdeck. I use it to play JRPGs and RPGs. Mostly older ones to a few years old. Playing Greedfall Tales Games minus newest. Sleeping dogs. Yakuza 0,1,2,3. There all one a 256 and 512 micro SD. I'm not having any issues. I use my gaming PC for more demanding games. Side note Hogwarts works better on the deck than my PC. Because the dev released a patch that wrecked performance for PCs.
64GB + a 256/512GB SD card is perfect for emulating PS2, Gamecube/Wii, PS3, Wii U (Wii U requires Wine AFAIK, as CEMU does NOT natively run on Linux, but i've heard it works well and it is easier to emulate than PS3)...
It really doesn't make sense to get anything else than the 64GB if you are planning on upgrading the SSD or just don't like the shiny screen (and won't use a screen protector, since that would completely invalidate the matte coating in the 512GB version)
Got the 2TB SSD (WD SN740, PCIe 4.0) on Ali for less than $150. Internet tells me the 64GB uses eMMC, 256 is PCI 3.0 SSD, and the 512GB is a 4.0 drive, explaining some speed differences. Worth noting: the Micro SD and the SSD utilize the same PCI lane - which is why the SD reads so damned well, and why, no matter what SSD you install, there will be a peak read/write around 600MB/s (up to - but not exceeding - 1GB/s, which is wellllll below the SSD's rated read/write speeds). I'd personally be upset, but concessions were made. As it's about 25-30% faster than my 256GB SSD, and I can still suspend active games for weeks on end without a need to reload/restart them every time it powers on (ie, works exactly how it did before), not a complaint for carrying around 8x more data!
Damn. I paid $575 for my 512gb from someone who played it once before he sold it to me, and it was in absolute mint condition. I would have rather paid $320 and upgraded it myself. I could have put a 1tb ssd and hall-effect thumbsticks in it and still paid less. But it still runs like brand new almost a year later, so 🤷
Or you could be like me and look second hand and get lucky. I got a 256gb steam deck with case and power cable for $180 and it works perfectly and still does after a few months from now. Got all of my extra crap for it (cuz im extra asf I guess lol) and it is still cheaper than the one gotten on here. Keep trying yall, get lucky, it will happen. AND TBH what this guy did for this steam deck is still honestly an amazing deal, the steam deck is that good.
Couple Things: 1) Do Not Open the Steam Deck if anyone has a Micro SD Card in the slot, It will Snap In Half. ( I don't recall seeing a "Warning!" in this video when Austin was opening the back) 2) You do not need the more expensive internal drives if you plan to run games on the SD card ( i have the 64GB model and bought a 512 SD card for $25 for my games and it runs perfect, and just a few seconds slower with games loading which is unnoticeable (check youtube reviews on loading speeds of SD cards vs internal storage of the steam deck). 3) Jsaux has a NEWER Back Plate that lowers temps by 7 degrees or more than the current back plate used in this video in reviews i have seen. The difference is a new cut out with a vents right in the middle where the fan is on the steam deck drawing in cooler air.
If you can get a new steam deck for $360 during the sales, it's only a $40 difference to the refurb and I don't think it's worth going refurb at that price.
Damn, so those 100 or so tests don't include making sure the fan is good or making sure the gpu works properly? Still waiting on my rma on my refurbished deck.
I got myself a brand new 512GB summer 2022. And my fan also was making that same noise. So I replaced the fan. So in other words. This happens to new units as well. You’re just as safe getting a refurb model.
The problem with charging $350 for refurbished $400 decks is that if it comes faulty you’d wish you had spent the extra $50. While having it $80 cheaper seems like the perfect discount to allow minor inconveniences. So $320 is a great price and def the most people would spend comfortably.
Don't know about the sticks for the Steam Deck but the Joy-Con Guli Kit sticks are not that great. Yes, they allegedly fix the drifting issue but the sticks are mushy as hell and don't have the same precision as the stock ones. It's impossible to move the sticks straight up or down without games registering a considerable deviation to one of the sides. It's immeditely apparent when calibrating them, and no amount of calibration fixes that. I've ordered 4 of them and they all exhibit the same problem. So yeah, if the Switch ones are anything to go by, i'd think twice before swapping out the sticks on the Steam Deck. You're getting rid of drift, which may or may not even come up, but getting objectively worse sticks just to achieve it.
$320 that’s nothing.. I got my steam deck 256gb for £70 in cash converters. All I seen was a hard shell case in the cabinet, at first I thought it was for the switch and asked about it, description was gaming handheld. Asked to see it they said it’s being sold as spares or repairs as it came into the store with a fault. I asked what was wrong they simply said the touch screen didn’t work. I bought it thinking maybe it needs a new screen or whatever but ended up needing to get into the bios by pressing volume + and the power button and putting it on battery mode. Worked fine since 😊
Those clear backings from JSAUX are… not good. The heat sink metal piece gets very hot while in use, and I’ve hurt my fingers on it while playing more demanding games… 😢 Just be warned, aesthetically they are great; functionally… not so much.
I filled up the storage on my 512 gig Steam Deck and I’m running Baldur’s Gate 3 off a fast micro sd card. It runs fine, if I’m leaving performance on the table I doubt it’s very much. Wife has the 64 gig Steam Deck, she runs potato graphic games, she hasn’t complained about the M.2 speed. 🤷♂️
I just ordered a new open box PIXEL 6 PRO 5G 512GB on ebay for $370 & can't wait to replace my Samsung A71 with it & start vlogging! But a Steam Deck, Ayn or any other handheld PC has been a dream of mine since I heard they were possible. As a disabled gamer girl who needs a portable way to edit scripts, play OG Diablo or other old PC games, and of course TH-cam 24/7, a Steam Deck would be LIFECHANGING...
My fan was grinding and making a lot of noise, I thought it was normal because a lot of people said the fans were noisy. After a year, I replaced my backplate with the JSAUX one and it somehow fixed it and now my fan is silent even when running over 4000 RPM. It seems to be an issue with backplates.
Kind of bummed the fan issue got by reman. Id imagine there is a test in place where cooling is ramped up and checked. It could be a fluke, but id suspect more so on it got by the team.
Btw i went to gamestop to sell my xbox series s because i didnt not need it any more and mind you i had a custom color contoler from microsoft design lab and it had the smallest scuff on it unles you really looked at it for 30 minutes and he offered me 10 bucks for a almost brand new xbox series s and custom color controller and had the audacity to ask if i wanted in store credit which was 10 bucks or cash that was 7 gamestop needs to be shut down im amazed at how well valve has been doing with the steam deck its an amazing thing and it should be got by everyone
The OG JSAUX plates are not that good, infact they make the airflow worse which may reduce the life of components like the ICs. The Elecgear sticks are better as they are a circle gate rather than square gated, but the Gulikit comes with an option for pre-soldered sticks and both A and B type compatibility through a switch on the PCB. You also need to re-calibrate using the button on the back of the PCB and through Konsole too.
Baldur's Gate is 141.81GB. IMHO, 512GB drives are under $60. That is dirt cheap and should really be the entry level NVME for a Steam Deck, if you can afford it.
Swap the sticks and get an anti glare screen protector and skip the case and get 512gb storage and you essentially can have the max model with the price of the lowest tier.
I got myself a new 64GB Deck last week, not refurbished, currently I'm waiting on a 1TB M.2 and an anti-glare tempered screen protector for it, all in all, my Deck is going to cost pretty much the same as the 256GB version, but it will have double the capacity as the 512 version and a protected anti glare glass, which even the 512GB doesnt have,
Interesting bit about 'refurbished' tech like this - the user can send back the item unopened to the vendor, and it will still be classified as refurbished. Dell Outlet stores operate in this manner.
I appreciate that steam sells refurbished units. I do not like the fact that the capacitive on the thumbstick is solderd and I think that there gullikit should sell one presoldered for those that do not want to deal with soldering. I would say if you are upgrading the storage just go for 1 TB or 2TB. Also at least for me an antiglare screenprotector is a must.
Quick tip for anyone wanting to upgrade themselves, use the top half of the Decks included case to sit the Deck in for a flat working surface so you don't put pressure on or potentially damage the analog sticks.
Damagin the sticks like that would take real efford. Like hitting table with the deck.. But using the case makes it easier so deck wont move around. Also that "guitar pick" is completely useles. Just pull the covers from eighter end after removing the screws. Done it like 20 times by now.. Takes 2 seconds.
@@hornantuutti515720 times now, yeah you've stressed the plastic clips and it takes 2 seconds now. But first time it's pretty tight. I did an SSD swap, 1tb sabrent rocket.
@@hornantuutti5157I mean, we just watched Austin have to fiddle with his left stick because it was out of position when he plugged it in. Also, I think using a guitar pick or a bicycle tire wrench or something else that's plastic to open the deck is a good idea on the first open, it's way stiffer the first time you open it
Give this man a medal
I mean you’re gonna be using it for hundreds of hours presumably. The sticks can probably handle being set against a desk and being pressed in a direction or something
I bought a refurbished 256G Steam Deck, and mine looked pristine and works great. The only issue I had was that Valve forgot to include the charger, but they shipped one out to me immediately. I have been having a great time with it.
I got the 512 Refurbished model and it is just completely clean and new. I am honestly surprised by Value's efforts of making their products good for the price, especially for the refurbished models.
All of them are out of stock 😒
@@Commando_Chaos they are all returns
@@linuxstreamer8910 I know
But they are out of stock
@@Commando_Chaos just gotta wait alittle for there to be more in stock
This wasn't a good example of "valves efforts" they just basically got this unit and resold it cheaper to someone else without fixing any issues at all
320$ is perfect. I would not pay 350$ for refurbished. Been burned to many times buying refurbished when i could have just spent the extra 30 -50$ to just have working new
I totally agree I feel that that comment about paying more money shouldn’t have been mentioned. The times folks are in no need to be spending extra money cause Austin said so lol.
I bought refurbished for my ps4 and it still works amazing, just has a loud fan but that’s a common complaint all around, not a refurbished quirk. It’s several years old after all.
Who know they might repeat the sale for new steamdecks on labor day.
Just buy new. Are you poor?
@@KA-vs7nl I buy refurbished and new, just depends on if the price drop is enticing enough for me to do so.
"Bruh" to the person who broke their steam deck to end up in Austin's hand.
Its also very likely that this one, in the condition its in, could have been one that failed QA testing and thus was "repaired" and sent back out as a refurb.
@@matthewjbauer1990 that doesn't explain the scuffs, especially on the power adapter
Also couldve been a Steam deck that someone returned it and not necessarily broken. But who knows. Mans got a great steam deck.
What are you on a bout? The condition it's in is near perfect @@matthewjbauer1990
Ah well, they got a new one so no biggie
If I'm not mistaken Gulikit sells Hall Sensing joysticks for the steam that DON'T involve soldering. I believe that's the new version they have
Yes
Yes. And it supports both rev A and B of joysticks (there are currently two different revisions) by the flick of a switch on the gulikit board.
Correct!
Yes they do. I got them and they were quite easy to install and configure.
I just had my pair arrive and installed it today, calibration is a bit finnicky and the cable for the sensor may need to be adjusted on the right stick so it doesn't rub up against the main board (makes a really annoying clicking noise if it does that, but that can happen with the stock sticks), but other than that, no issues installing and I'm very happy with them.
Took about an hour to install all in all.
This is one of the best things about the Steam Deck compared to other handhelds is that you can easily upgrade or fix components on the Deck.
exactly. All they need to do is come out with a board same case size for swap.
not sure if you guys just copium but all this talk is pure ambition@@DragonProtector
hm@@Ms7mido
even the battery can be swapped. no other makers do this.
exactly and it can run without a battery!@@gogereaver349
Austin, the black sticker on the inside of the original steam deck back cover is a graphite pad specifically for heat dissipation. So there is already heat dissipation in the original cover.
I’m still amazed at how easy it is to replace parts in the Steam Deck!
So I also bought a refurbished 64GB Steam Deck from Steam. Mine also had a missing screw internally. The other two was able to keep everything in place without issues. I upgraded it immediately with a Micron 2TB SSD for $149.99 from Amazon. It was so worth it and the upgrade itself was fairly easy!
Wow 2t for 150 is not bad. I would be happy with just 1t.
How much it cost the steam deck?
I bought the 64gb model new and upgraded to a 1TB ssd for cheaper than the 250 model. Totally worth it.
By chance, which SSD? Im looking at doing this
@@joeyhillers9460I think Western Digital makes a good 2230 SSD. Just search for a NVMe 2230 SSD and you should find something from a reputable brand. PCIE Gen 3 is good enough if it's all you find or really cheap. Gen 4 won't do much if anything for the Deck
Won’t this kind of situations cause issues with warranty?
@@Nighterlev oh okay. I’m in Europe and usually it’s different.
@Nighterlev negative. Have two decks one with 2tb one with 1tb with heavy use, no temp changes or throttling etc. That was rumored in the beginning but simply not factual. Valve encourages users to tinker.Hence, i fixit site,
It's a shame Austin did not try and diagnose the fan issue, it could have just been hitting a wire that was in the way.
And when he plops down the old fan on the desk you can hear the noise...it was probably the metal outershield being defective
It’s holding the missing screw 😹
Or more likely the unit was dropped and the fan was intermittent passed vaulted testing but when Austin opened it up just tweeked it enough for issue to arise again eaither way someone’s kicking themselves over 15-25$s and half hour tinker time
I don’t understand the problem. He basically did diagnose the fan as being a faulty part. Trying to take apart that tiny little assembly apart to figure out if there’s any damage, potentially not even fixable damage, seems like way more work than it would be worth considering a replacement costs relatively little.
Do you honestly believe he and his team didn't try that? I assume they did, not everything is and has to be shown on camera, or even mentioned. Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen.
My favorite part of the JSAUX back is the other sets of back buttons - I put in the highest set and it has made those buttons SO much more usable for me.
The wires on the joysticks aren't supposed to stick out like that, you're supposed to make them sort of wrap around the module, otherwise the wire is going to be rubbing against its surroundings whenever you move the joystick.
That relief he showed when the fan fix worked is so relatable, I'm scared to death to mess with stuff like that but a few years ago my laptop had a serious fault so I had nothing to lose. I opened it fixed the two things that were wrong and I felt like a God damn genius.
My co-worker already had one of these refurbs 3-4 weeks ago, shipped from Germany to the Netherlands. Could've been a mispicked item, it happens :)
How is somalia these days?
@@KA-vs7nl Wut?
7:03 those are finger cots, to put on your fingers while removing screws and components without causing static electricity spikes
The gullikit joysticks come with solder in place? That's so slick! I hate trying to add solder, well, honestly I hate soldering at all, but mostly because trying to get just enough solder is a nightmare for me.
Also, is anyone else old enough to remember blower fans that size sounding like jet engines? I'm seriously impressed at how far fan technology has come in 30 years.
The V2 gulikit sticks come with the joysticks.
@@juiciness So... Austin bought the wrong ones to try and save a buck and made more work for himself. LOL
@@TheZoenGaming The newer kits just came out. This might have been filmed a while ago.
@@juiciness Ah, that makes more sense than Austin cheaping out to try and hit a budget target.
Heh, obviously a missing screw isn’t a big deal, but it does make me slightly question how diligently they’re inspecting this. Apparently 100 tests doesn’t include a thorough “once over” before shipping to confirm that everything is in the right place. Put another way, you wouldn’t expect a new unit to be missing a screw, right?
Well my SteamDeck was missing a Screw too, I bought it new. Thanks to ants crawling to the air vents I had to open the deck to check for dead ants... Strange that exact same screw was missing
@@sevine4667Very interesting and strange. Maybe just a coincidence, unless there’s just something about that spot.
I like how you ran into some issues during your customization process. It portrays an accurate refurbished version experience.
There was a couple possibilities gong on with the fan. First, it would have been good to know if it was happening before it was opened up. Always good to establish a known state before doing work on something. It sounded like the blades were rubbing on the fan housing when it was in motion. The back shell could have caused a bit of extra pressure on the main board that carried over to the fan housing, slightly warping it.
The bearing on the fan may have been going bad. Those fans usually have a few years in 'em at least before they start to fail, but maybe it was an overlooked failure.
It's also possible that the refurb tech may have over-tightened the screws for the fan. Best case scenario for that would be unscrewing it and putting it back. If it were really over-torqued though, it's possible that the fan housing got slightly dented in and that was the cause of the rubbing. Still fixable, but annoying to remove the housing and flattening it out.
04:24 Speaking from Norwegian perspective, apparently a store here in Norway has been selling the Steam Decks with an American charger that constantly gives warning of "Slow Charging Detected" and isn't capable of charging the battery while the device is in use, and the Steam Decks hadn't been delivered to their customers with a proper Norwegian power adapter or charger.
I doubt this would warrant a return to Valve by the store when they get them in return from the customers, but it may be a possible case of what might be the cause for some returns to Valve elsewhere.
It sounds like what we have in Australia, although the SteamDeck is only available via resellers online. Valve hasn't come out with an official Australian charger, so we're forced to use an adapter.
The Guli Kit has a v2 where you don't need to solder and are compatible with both types of steam deck models (if you uncertain, Google).
Also JSaux has transparent fron shells and an RGB back shell, too.
Glad to hear they finally did a V2
So for people thinking on buying/upgrading the Steam Deck, I actually did some mods on my Steam Deck, now that "refurbished" are available I would go with 64gb and then spend 80$ on 1tb 2230 ssd. Then the backplate to run the steam deck cooler, it can decrease temp by 10 degrees! and fan noise obviously. For the joysticks I don't recommend the upgrade until you have joystick drift as it's not actually a noticeable upgrade, at least for me.
This was a great video and I might actually have to check out that backplate since it adds a little functionality to its form. Not just all looks.
I also checked them out and ordered the brown transparent back cover since it was 50% off
@@mikepotapa5773 I’m eyeing that red right now….
I liked my steam deck, but I love my ROG Ally. I just hope ASUS fixes the issues, but Valve has much much better support. I hope ASUS will start to pick up and try to match
Asus and support don't go well together, they'll probably just make a new one next year and forgot the previous model, unless they fix their division since out of all the team they have, I choose the cellphone division.
How good is the asus compared to the steam Deck in Emulation?
@@momenteimlicht Depends on what you wanna compare and what kind of emulation we're talking about.
Performance? The Ally has better hardware so it'll run better. Simple as that. Of course if you aren't emulating games from the last decade then all that power is unnecessary and you'd be better off saving money and getting a Deck which starts at a significantly lower price. Like Xbox 360, and PS3 games run on a Deck just fine. You won't always be getting 60 fps but pretty much everything is well within the realm of playable. The Deck will struggle with Xbox One and PS4 games but the Ally is only gonna get you an extra 10fps at most in emulation so you can decide if that's worth the extra money or not. The Switch is hard to emulate cause of several things I don't feel like talking about so Switch games run at like 20fps on a good day with both the Deck and Ally. Then of course like I said before games from older generations can basically run perfectly on a smart refrigerator so if that's all you really wanna play you might as well just pick up a deck since it starts at $400 since the Ally starts at $700. With either you can also easily use a regular docking station to hook it up to your TV and connect a controller when you want a bigger screen.
Set up? I'd probably give it to the Deck since dealing with the desktop mode is simply easier with the Deck's touchpads so downloading and organizing your ROMs and such is easier. Not that it's difficult on the Ally it's just a little annoying to navigate Windows with a touchscreen or joystick. Plus you can do some trickery to add the ROM to your steam library as a non steam game so they show up in the regular deck interface which is nice. With either one you can just download an emulator through Steam, like RetroArch, and simply point it to the folder with your ROMs so that part is basically the same experience.
The are taking buying back bad systems
Steam has such a great support that i will enjoy deck 1 for now and buy a new one when deck 2 is launched. After using it for a year now i think i will even swich to steam os on my desktop when it is released. Some games atleast yet wont support it bit those can be played with dualboot untill valve has got things working fully. No bloatware or other rubbish. Just works. Love the deck.
I went ROG Ally, but honestly I kind of wish i went Steamdeck. With the refurbs available, i'm tempted to pick one up as well!
I been on the fence about getting one but seeing that they have refurbished ones now and also how easy they are to work on I'll probably get one in the near future
@@Yeshuah6 You really have nothing to lose (other than your money). The refurbished units come with the same 1 year warranty as a brand new one. So if you do encounter any issues, Valve will take care of you. It's worth it IMO, and had I not gotten a brand new one, I would have gotten a refurbished one. Only issue is they're out of stock.
@@ma77bc yeah that sounds about right. I'll have to save up for it anyway.
@@Generic_TH-cam_Username_ All refurbished steam decks are guaranteed (as Valve says) to be of the same internal quality as brand new units. You may just get a slightly less than average shell with minor scratches or blemishes. Couple that with the same warranty as a brand new unit, it's a great deal.
But like I mentioned in my other comment, the issue is stock. So you're likely better off getting a new unit anyways instead of potentially waiting a long time for a used one.
FYI - that version of the JSaux back case ceased manufacturing (or is) because the exposed metal plate gets too hot for a device that is held. They have a new one that doesn't have the exposed metal plate and open airvents.
To anyone actually wanting to go through this process of replacing the ssd, get at least a 500gb or 1tb. Trust me when you get it all done and set you don't want to have to replace it again in six months when you run out of storage.
Just don't leave games sitting in your library forever...
@colbyboucher6391 it's called a game library for a reason, you don't throw out books and get new ones for your home library
@@Twist3rOffical You can download games in like ten minutes max though
@colbyboucher6391 most modern AAA games run more than 100gb
@@Twist3rOffical Probably less than 10% of the games that release actually require that much space, and frankly, if it's that huge, it's most likely a VERY high-fidelity game and not worth trying to run on the Deck anyways.
Austin I highly doubt you will see this comment but over the course of multiple accounts i have had I have been watching you about 2 years prior to the house fire and im just so glad to see how you jumped back in and are still seeing just so much success. I particularly love the surprise item videos where your crew orders you stuff
I wonder if some of their refurbished Steam decks are ones that got damaged during the manufacture process. Perhaps a box of shells got scratched or something. They can't sell them at full price. I can't imagine a lot of people are returning them.
Fans have been an ongoing topic for the Steam Deck. On release, they were a bit loud, and Valve eventually patched it up with a software update. Much better. But then the Dbrand Killswitch was releasing soon (which is a Steam Deck case), and just before release, somebody noticed that the magnet on its kickstand was interfering with its fan, and causing some fan slowdowns. It turned out that this issue was only on a chunk of Decks, but Killswitch redesigned the case to not use magnets. If I'm not mistaken, they eventually gave all their customers the non-magnetic case after release months later, but gave their preorder customers the magnetic one earlier at no cost as well.
It does make me wonder if you could have been an update away from a better fan, but I would doubt it if you got Apex Legends to play. You'd probably have to avoid the updates, which seems farfetched if you fiddled with it continuously over the weekend.
So they did "100 tests" on the refurbished unit and didn't notice a defective fan. Interesting.
Gulikit has ones for only a few dollars more that already have the sticks included and soldered on so you don't have to do it yourself.
2TB SSD can be placed inside it and you can get the Steam Deck SSD Upgrade kit with it too
next time u try opening a steam deck, u can squeeze the sides after taking out the screws and it just comes off, no need to pry it open on the top and scuff it
Always inspect and test prior to disassembling. "As far as I know it was fully functional out of the box." = the most famous last words ever.
Austin got one as good as almost new. A light scuff on the back wouldn't bother me. I'm not OCD about things like in my teens and 20s. I don't expect perfection from refurbs. As long as I'm saving $80 and the screen looks clean.
I buy used all the time because I don't game as much as before. I find it a waste buying new if I hardly will play it. I only game maybe 30 minutes per day or sometimes not at all for weeks.
My Vita slim and Switch Lite are both used and I love them more than any previous console/handheld I had. As long as they work like say the charging port, I could care less about cosmetic blemishes.
Bought an 1TB M2 for 90€ at amazon. now my old 64GB got an HUGE upgrade
Issue, if the fan made that noise, quite like other companies, that wasn't refurbished. They plugged it in, turned it on, it worked, boxed it back up. Verizon does the same. With time being money and everyone not being inclined to do repairs you are probably better off just buying new.
So, out of the 100 checks, they don't check the fan. They refurbished it, but literally not fixing the issue.
not to pick nits, but, there is a very good chance you could have called valve and said you had a bad fan, and they would have warranty shipped you one free. But, you did well regardless. good job.
The fan issue was probably because something was stuck in it. My laptop fan used to sound like that and started shutting down on its own. I thought the fan was dead but Taking it apart and checking it out, I found that it was a plastic bit that was getting stuck there. I removed it and my laptop wasnt shutting itself down anymore. I guess it was making the fan not spin at a certain point and the laptop was shutting itself down to protect itself from overheating
Just know Austin skipped a lot of steps not shown in his video to upgrade the SSD.
That fan sounded like it could do with a quick clean and some grease. Can they be opened up to allow for that? It would be a really nice option, still $25 isn't bad at all. Yes I would 100% get a refurb one.
Do you know if he has done a review on the asus rog ally yet? Been thinking of getting one over the steam deck.
i myself have done all of those mods myself as well, just with tthe non soldering needed version of the sticks and a purple plate with different backbuttons and a 2 tb ssd
Is it possible to have a link to Austin´s last shirt? Thanks!
It seems like the QC on the refurbished steam decks is a bit all over the place, the fan is the main issue I've seen popping up quite often as well as the screen screws being too tight causing the LCD to have a ton of edgelight bleed
I wonder if it was the OG fan. They had several reports early on with how loud the fan was but they introduced a new fan 2 or 3 months after launch that was much quiter.
You have to realize that needed this person that had it before how to screen protector on a or the screen got broken on it so they sent it into steam and since the screens broken they're obviously going to replace it with a new screen so maybe that's why it looks so good.
I bet the tape on the original backing muffled the fan noise when it spins faster.
80 dollars less, I would buy a new one
The screw missing is basically my spirit animal, any time i open anything i am always left with screws out
I have a 64 steamdeck. I use it to play JRPGs and RPGs. Mostly older ones to a few years old.
Playing Greedfall
Tales Games minus newest.
Sleeping dogs.
Yakuza 0,1,2,3.
There all one a 256 and 512 micro SD.
I'm not having any issues.
I use my gaming PC for more demanding games.
Side note Hogwarts works better on the deck than my PC. Because the dev released a patch that wrecked performance for PCs.
64GB + a 256/512GB SD card is perfect for emulating PS2, Gamecube/Wii, PS3, Wii U (Wii U requires Wine AFAIK, as CEMU does NOT natively run on Linux, but i've heard it works well and it is easier to emulate than PS3)...
It really doesn't make sense to get anything else than the 64GB if you are planning on upgrading the SSD or just don't like the shiny screen (and won't use a screen protector, since that would completely invalidate the matte coating in the 512GB version)
Got the 2TB SSD (WD SN740, PCIe 4.0) on Ali for less than $150. Internet tells me the 64GB uses eMMC, 256 is PCI 3.0 SSD, and the 512GB is a 4.0 drive, explaining some speed differences. Worth noting: the Micro SD and the SSD utilize the same PCI lane - which is why the SD reads so damned well, and why, no matter what SSD you install, there will be a peak read/write around 600MB/s (up to - but not exceeding - 1GB/s, which is wellllll below the SSD's rated read/write speeds). I'd personally be upset, but concessions were made.
As it's about 25-30% faster than my 256GB SSD, and I can still suspend active games for weeks on end without a need to reload/restart them every time it powers on (ie, works exactly how it did before), not a complaint for carrying around 8x more data!
You can purchase a brand new Steam Deck 64gb for £314.00 at present in the UK
Damn. I paid $575 for my 512gb from someone who played it once before he sold it to me, and it was in absolute mint condition. I would have rather paid $320 and upgraded it myself. I could have put a 1tb ssd and hall-effect thumbsticks in it and still paid less. But it still runs like brand new almost a year later, so 🤷
Or you could be like me and look second hand and get lucky. I got a 256gb steam deck with case and power cable for $180 and it works perfectly and still does after a few months from now. Got all of my extra crap for it (cuz im extra asf I guess lol) and it is still cheaper than the one gotten on here. Keep trying yall, get lucky, it will happen.
AND TBH what this guy did for this steam deck is still honestly an amazing deal, the steam deck is that good.
Couple Things:
1) Do Not Open the Steam Deck if anyone has a Micro SD Card in the slot, It will Snap In Half. ( I don't recall seeing a "Warning!" in this video when Austin was opening the back)
2) You do not need the more expensive internal drives if you plan to run games on the SD card ( i have the 64GB model and bought a 512 SD card for $25 for my games and it runs perfect, and just a few seconds slower with games loading which is unnoticeable (check youtube reviews on loading speeds of SD cards vs internal storage of the steam deck).
3) Jsaux has a NEWER Back Plate that lowers temps by 7 degrees or more than the current back plate used in this video in reviews i have seen. The difference is a new cut out with a vents right in the middle where the fan is on the steam deck drawing in cooler air.
Been a tech for 20 years. The plastic spudger is the best tool for opening things
If you can get a new steam deck for $360 during the sales, it's only a $40 difference to the refurb and I don't think it's worth going refurb at that price.
Just so everyone knows, they MUST put refurbished products thru a harder test and checks. This goes from tvs to life-saving devices
If you're installing your own ssd, why go for a mere 256gb
Damn, so those 100 or so tests don't include making sure the fan is good or making sure the gpu works properly? Still waiting on my rma on my refurbished deck.
I got myself a brand new 512GB summer 2022. And my fan also was making that same noise. So I replaced the fan. So in other words. This happens to new units as well. You’re just as safe getting a refurb model.
*I would go for the smallest storage too & upgrade the internal storage myself*
Is the storage actually the only difference between them?
@@ILikeCheesesticks Yes I believe so.
@@ILikeCheesesticks yes except the 512GB one as anti-glare glass
The problem with charging $350 for refurbished $400 decks is that if it comes faulty you’d wish you had spent the extra $50. While having it $80 cheaper seems like the perfect discount to allow minor inconveniences. So $320 is a great price and def the most people would spend comfortably.
I think the newest version of those sticks come with the sticks already soldered.
Cryobytes suggested not using that shell because the plate can actually burn you. And instead to use the newer jsaux one with the fan cutout.
Don't know about the sticks for the Steam Deck but the Joy-Con Guli Kit sticks are not that great. Yes, they allegedly fix the drifting issue but the sticks are mushy as hell and don't have the same precision as the stock ones. It's impossible to move the sticks straight up or down without games registering a considerable deviation to one of the sides. It's immeditely apparent when calibrating them, and no amount of calibration fixes that.
I've ordered 4 of them and they all exhibit the same problem. So yeah, if the Switch ones are anything to go by, i'd think twice before swapping out the sticks on the Steam Deck. You're getting rid of drift, which may or may not even come up, but getting objectively worse sticks just to achieve it.
$320 that’s nothing.. I got my steam deck 256gb for £70 in cash converters. All I seen was a hard shell case in the cabinet, at first I thought it was for the switch and asked about it, description was gaming handheld. Asked to see it they said it’s being sold as spares or repairs as it came into the store with a fault. I asked what was wrong they simply said the touch screen didn’t work. I bought it thinking maybe it needs a new screen or whatever but ended up needing to get into the bios by pressing volume + and the power button and putting it on battery mode. Worked fine since 😊
If your planning on replacing the shell refurb seems like such a good deal
Those clear backings from JSAUX are… not good. The heat sink metal piece gets very hot while in use, and I’ve hurt my fingers on it while playing more demanding games… 😢
Just be warned, aesthetically they are great; functionally… not so much.
I filled up the storage on my 512 gig Steam Deck and I’m running Baldur’s Gate 3 off a fast micro sd card. It runs fine, if I’m leaving performance on the table I doubt it’s very much. Wife has the 64 gig Steam Deck, she runs potato graphic games, she hasn’t complained about the M.2 speed. 🤷♂️
Picked up a 256gb , shipped from the Netherlands to the Scotland. Immaculate. It’s been flawless. Zero issues. Worth it
I just ordered a new open box PIXEL 6 PRO 5G 512GB on ebay for $370 & can't wait to replace my Samsung A71 with it & start vlogging! But a Steam Deck, Ayn or any other handheld PC has been a dream of mine since I heard they were possible. As a disabled gamer girl who needs a portable way to edit scripts, play OG Diablo or other old PC games, and of course TH-cam 24/7, a Steam Deck would be LIFECHANGING...
i'd want want the "frosted"screen from the maxed out one most of all
Theres a KingSpec 1TB SSD for the Steam Deck at around 41$. Better than 256gb and byfar more storage for 10+$
Hell no. Its just $80 away from a brand new one. Get the new one
My fan was grinding and making a lot of noise, I thought it was normal because a lot of people said the fans were noisy. After a year, I replaced my backplate with the JSAUX one and it somehow fixed it and now my fan is silent even when running over 4000 RPM. It seems to be an issue with backplates.
Mine had a similar issue and it was during winter. Now after a few updates and in the middle of summer it doesn't make that noise anymore
I bought that same back plate and it gets RIPPING hot. But it works. The fan doesn’t run as hard.
Please someone tell me where I can find the song that starts at 9:15. Thank you. Awesome episode as always
Kind of bummed the fan issue got by reman. Id imagine there is a test in place where cooling is ramped up and checked. It could be a fluke, but id suspect more so on it got by the team.
Btw i went to gamestop to sell my xbox series s because i didnt not need it any more and mind you i had a custom color contoler from microsoft design lab and it had the smallest scuff on it unles you really looked at it for 30 minutes and he offered me 10 bucks for a almost brand new xbox series s and custom color controller and had the audacity to ask if i wanted in store credit which was 10 bucks or cash that was 7 gamestop needs to be shut down im amazed at how well valve has been doing with the steam deck its an amazing thing and it should be got by everyone
The OG JSAUX plates are not that good, infact they make the airflow worse which may reduce the life of components like the ICs. The Elecgear sticks are better as they are a circle gate rather than square gated, but the Gulikit comes with an option for pre-soldered sticks and both A and B type compatibility through a switch on the PCB. You also need to re-calibrate using the button on the back of the PCB and through Konsole too.
Here in South Africa these go for around R18000 which is around 900 USD
Sadly when trying to replace the back my last screw got strip. And i was being extra careful and diligent.😢
Baldur's Gate is 141.81GB. IMHO, 512GB drives are under $60. That is dirt cheap and should really be the entry level NVME for a Steam Deck, if you can afford it.
Shouldn't the new joysticks be calibrated or is that already done in the factory?
the internal build & layouts way cleaner than the Ally does.
Gullikit makes a non solder Hall effect joy stick kit now, also jsaux has a better version of the clear backplate now too
A very realistic video when you try to upgrade something might go unexpectedly wrong like the fan. Nice job on the video!
As far as the fan, it will always sound higher than you would think that it should. At least that is what I noticed with mine.
Swap the sticks and get an anti glare screen protector and skip the case and get 512gb storage and you essentially can have the max model with the price of the lowest tier.
gulikit sticks have a calibration instruction in the documentation. dont unplug shit while the battery is connected if youre doing this yourself -_-
I got myself a new 64GB Deck last week, not refurbished, currently I'm waiting on a 1TB M.2 and an anti-glare tempered screen protector for it, all in all, my Deck is going to cost pretty much the same as the 256GB version, but it will have double the capacity as the 512 version and a protected anti glare glass, which even the 512GB doesnt have,
Did you have to backup or save the OS from the 64GB SSD before upgrading to a larger SSD??
Interesting bit about 'refurbished' tech like this - the user can send back the item unopened to the vendor, and it will still be classified as refurbished. Dell Outlet stores operate in this manner.
I appreciate that steam sells refurbished units. I do not like the fact that the capacitive on the thumbstick is solderd and I think that there gullikit should sell one presoldered for those that do not want to deal with soldering. I would say if you are upgrading the storage just go for 1 TB or 2TB. Also at least for me an antiglare screenprotector is a must.