The new Steam Deck OLED doesn’t just have significant changes to its display. However, until recently it was not clear how much these changes might affect the device’s performance. A new teardown of the Steam Deck OLED by YouTubers GamersNexus has revealed all the details, including significant improvements to the cooling system and a cleaner design.
During the showdown, a detailed comparison of the new version of the Steam Deck with the original was made. Some of the discoveries were expected, such as AMD’s slightly reduced chip size due to the switch from 7nm to 6nm manufacturing process. However, many other changes were unexpected.
One of the most noticeable and important innovations is the change in memory. Previously, the device had four fairly large memory chips distributed throughout the board, but now there are only two, and they are much smaller. The orientation of the chips has also changed, which is due to the rotation of the main AMD APU by 90 degrees.
Thanks to this, the Steam Deck OLED has a cleaner path for air to pass through the device, which improves its cooling. This effect is enhanced by moving some power components from the center of the board to the edges, which allows the cooling system to remove heat from these components faster and more efficiently.
In addition, Valve has reduced the number of small components, streamlining the overall design and eliminating the need for multiple elements for functions such as power regulation. This not only reduces production costs – potentially making console production more profitable for Valve – but also helps reduce heat generation.
Other changes noted in the GamersNexus video include modifications to the main cooler/cooling system. The cooler is now installed in such a way that it pulls more air from the front rather than from the motherboard. The thickness of a number of radiator fins has also been increased.
The combination of these changes should improve the cooling efficiency of the Steam Deck OLED, focusing efforts not on cooling the entire device, but on dissipating heat from the AMD APU. This, in turn, can allow for slightly higher clock speeds in certain situations, while reducing cooler noise.
