Steam Decks 10% Off: 64GB eMMC $359, 256GB NVMe SSD $476, 512GB NVMe SSD

jack87

Mar 20, 2023 6:04 AM

992 Comments

Joined Feb 2010

jack87Mar 20, 2023 6:04 AM

992 Comments

Quote from T1NY

:

Sometimes I wish I never knew about this site. I probably would've had more money compared to the money I would be saving by buying things that are on sale

This is my problem too!

adma84

Mar 20, 2023 1:17 PM

446 Comments

Joined Oct 2007

adma84Mar 20, 2023 1:17 PM

446 Comments

Mine will be delivered Wednesday, thanks OP!

colklink77

Mar 20, 2023 2:00 PM

230 Comments

Joined Jun 2011

colklink77Mar 20, 2023 2:00 PM

230 Comments

Quote from DrRad

:

Battery life is just too poor for any major in-flight gaming. It's not a well optimized device and it's no fun trying to tweak every game to squeeze out power. Better off with a Switch. It needs to be fanless before it can be seen as a serious gaming device.

Anyone who doesn't know what they're talking about always use the phrase "not well optimized" as a catch-all.

Name another handheld x86 gaming PC with this performance at this price level.

Also, the Nintendo Switch has a fan inside of it. Does that not make it a "serious gaming device"?

Last edited by colklink77 March 20, 2023 at 07:03 AM.

2

colklink77

Mar 20, 2023 2:05 PM

230 Comments

Joined Jun 2011

colklink77Mar 20, 2023 2:05 PM

230 Comments

Quote from irrationalconsumer

:

Between a battery pack and this, might as well pick up a 3050 laptop from the other thread for $600 bucks. You get a full window machine that works right out of the box…

This is cool concept, but it definitely needs to be smaller with better battery life

You're comparing apples and oranges. Try holding that laptop in your hands while playing a game

1

Simoleon

Mar 20, 2023 2:36 PM

2.3K Comments

Joined Dec 2008

SimoleonMar 20, 2023 2:36 PM

2.3K Comments

Pardon my ignorance, but I see so many people getting a high capacity NVME drive *and* a large SD card for this. What's the purpose of the high s capacity for both internal and external storage? Is one for boot purposes, and one for storing the games themselves?

BigBoss44

Mar 20, 2023 3:05 PM

113 Comments

Joined May 2017

BigBoss44Mar 20, 2023 3:05 PM

113 Comments

Quote from Simoleon

:

Pardon my ignorance, but I see so many people getting a high capacity NVME drive *and* a large SD card for this. What's the purpose of the high s capacity for both internal and external storage? Is one for boot purposes, and one for storing the games themselves?

I think for more most people its that PC games take up a lot of space (some over 100gb). I also read somewhere on here that shaders only go on the NVME storage not sd cards hence the need for high capacity in both. But you can boot from either, I would imagine NVME is more efficient for launching games but others have tested both and seen little to no difference. I bought the 64gb version and just purchased the 512gb Samsung microSD that was recently on sale, we'll see how far that gets me.

olevelo

Mar 20, 2023 3:11 PM

449 Comments

Joined Feb 2014

oleveloMar 20, 2023 3:11 PM

449 Comments

Quote from Simoleon

:

Pardon my ignorance, but I see so many people getting a high capacity NVME drive *and* a large SD card for this. What's the purpose of the high s capacity for both internal and external storage? Is one for boot purposes, and one for storing the games themselves?

Depends on your use case. Some people are putting an entire Windows dual boot on an SD card, but keeping the internal for Steam OS only. Or a separate Batocera (emulation) card. Basically the SD card gives you flexibility to pop in and out for different things while a large internal storage gives you the best performance for regular games and OS. While Windows *can* be installed on a MicroSD, it's really not a great idea if used a lot due to the OS frequent writes to disk.

1

olevelo

Mar 20, 2023 3:16 PM

449 Comments

Joined Feb 2014

oleveloMar 20, 2023 3:16 PM

449 Comments

Quote from BigBoss44

:

I think for more most people its that PC games take up a lot of space (some over 100gb). I also read somewhere on here that shaders only go on the NVME storage not sd cards hence the need for high capacity in both. But you can boot from either, I would imagine NVME is more efficient for launching games but others have tested both and seen little to no difference. I bought the 64gb version and just purchased the 512gb Samsung microSD that was recently on sale, we'll see how far that gets me.

I read those same reports on speed differences. For many things it's neglible. But some games it goes from 30 seconds to 90 seconds. If that's one time per play session, not a huge deal. But if it happens more than once a day it can get annoying. Also some games end up with stuttering. The big thing for me is installing Windows on an SD isn't great with the frequent background writes by the OS... If you're only using it occasionally probably not a big deal, but considering i was just able to buy a 1TB WD SSD from aliexpress that's by all accounts genuine for $75, which is only $25-35 more than a 512GB MicroSD, I went with that. And if I need more space then an SD card will work great for expanding later.

randomchaos

Mar 20, 2023 5:21 PM

2.4K Comments

Joined Nov 2012

randomchaosMar 20, 2023 5:21 PM

2.4K Comments

Quote from Cam1596

:

Is this legit memory? Why is it in Russian or whatever language this is lol.

Yes, it should be legit. AliExpress is a site that ships from different China businesses/stores/suppliers.

You can search for drives on AliExpress to see what's cheapest. Samsung PM991a, WD SN740, or WD SN530.

I got a 1TB Samsung drive for $69. From my understanding, the steam deck is gen 3 only anyways, so just get whichever drive is cheapest in the size you'd like.

They have sizes up to 2TB.

Bazoogamoosh

Mar 20, 2023 6:27 PM

584 Comments

Joined Mar 2016

BazoogamooshMar 20, 2023 6:27 PM

584 Comments

Can anybody recommend any hard drives, I am new to these smaller ram looking drives, what speed should I be looking for? I saw a 4TB for $200 here on SD, if you can reference some SD links on HD for this, itll be much appreciated, I know there is a Steam Deck master somewhere with this information, so I get the best HD and price via SD, thanks community!

djstryker

Mar 20, 2023 6:32 PM

195 Comments

Joined Sep 2010

djstrykerMar 20, 2023 6:32 PM

195 Comments

Quote from Bazoogamoosh

:

Can anybody recommend any hard drives, I am new to these smaller ram looking drives, what speed should I be looking for? I saw a 4TB for $200 here on SD, if you can reference some SD links on HD for this, itll be much appreciated, I know there is a Steam Deck master somewhere with this information, so I get the best HD and price via SD, thanks community!

That deal is for a different size and form factor. You need the smallest one 2230 for the Deck and they mostly ship from China.

Bazoogamoosh

Mar 20, 2023 6:56 PM

584 Comments

Joined Mar 2016

BazoogamooshMar 20, 2023 6:56 PM

584 Comments

Quote from djstryker

:

That deal is for a different size and form factor. You need the smallest one 2230 for the Deck and they mostly ship from China.

It has to be 2230, and is Aliexpress really the only option? Your telling me I wont find a deal here on SD? I suppose I can use a 512GB microSD temporary until I find a deal....

Mythril

Mar 20, 2023 7:15 PM

38 Comments

Joined Dec 2015

MythrilMar 20, 2023 7:15 PM

38 Comments

why are 2230 SSDs only available on Ali, not seeing a lot of options from US based sellers. Not too keen on purchasing from ali, fakes, poor qc, worst case maybe spyware on these drives

1

olevelo

Mar 20, 2023 7:24 PM

449 Comments

Joined Feb 2014

oleveloMar 20, 2023 7:24 PM

449 Comments

Quote from Bazoogamoosh

:

It has to be 2230, and is Aliexpress really the only option? Your telling me I wont find a deal here on SD? I suppose I can use a 512GB microSD temporary until I find a deal....

It's not the only option. Amazon has a bunch, including the most recommended, the Sabrent Rocket. It's not the cheapest tho. But unlikely to see many deals on SD. It's a pretty niche market and there's not a lot of sales.

olevelo

Mar 20, 2023 7:28 PM

449 Comments

Joined Feb 2014

oleveloMar 20, 2023 7:28 PM

449 Comments

Quote from Mythril

:

why are 2230 SSDs only available on Ali, not seeing a lot of options from US based sellers. Not too keen on purchasing from ali, fakes, poor qc, worst case maybe spyware on these drives

First, they're available on Amazon and Newegg too. They just cost more. Second, you know they pretty much all come from China anyway, right? That's why it's cheaper, it's coming from the source (or closer to the source where they get better pricing). By all accounts the WD SN530 and SN740 are legit drives. There's a lot of issues with fake SD cards and USB drives because they're cheap to fake, but SSD's are much harder and so generally are fine. Even if they had spyware on them, the first thing you're going to do is wipe the partitions and start it from scratch. That's not a danger.

Steam Decks 10% Off: 64GB eMMC $359, 256GB NVMe SSD $476, 512GB NVMe SSD

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