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Published: August 8, 2023 | Source: @balila011 - Twitter/X | Author: Mark Campbell

Steam Deck modder gives Valve’s handheld a crazy RAM upgrade

Steam Deck modder gives Valve's handheld a crazy RAM upgradeModder creates the world’s first Steam Deck with 32GB of RAM

Steam Deck upgrades are not uncommon, with some of the more popular upgrades being for the system’s SSD and the system’s joy sticks. That said, there are Steam Deck users who have taken things to crazy levels, going so far as to remove the system’s soldered on RAM to give the handheld a 2x memory upgrade.Over on X, formerly Twitter, a user called @balika011 has modded Valve’s Steam Deck to upgrade the system’s default 16GB memory configuration to 32GB. This mod required their Steam Deck’s original memory chips to be desoldered and for new modules to be soldered into position. This upgrade also required BIOS patching to work, allowing the system to utilise 32GB of system memory.@balika011 has confirmed that Valve has not used glue on their back of the memory modules within their Steam Deck handheld, a factor that makes the upgrade a relatively easy one for modders with experience with BGA soldering. That said, we do not recommend users attempting this upgrade themselves unless they are very confident in their soldering skills.

Since Valve’s Steam Deck’s memory is utilised by both the system’s CPU and GPU (as both are part of the same SOC), upgrading Valve’s Steam Deck to feature 32GB of memory gives users both a CPU memory and a GPU memory upgrade. While this upgrade will not enable increased memory bandwidth for the system, it will give the system a performance boost in scenarios where games or applications would benefit from additional memory.

Since most games can run on a system with 16GB of combined CPU and GPU memory, we do not expect Valve to release a Steam Deck with this upgraded memory configuration anytime soon. Perhaps there will be a next-generation Steam Deck or Steam Deck competitor that will offer users more than 16GB of memory, but we do not expect to see such a handheld anytime soon. For a compact device like this, 16GB of memory is enough.

You can join the discussion on the world’s first Steam Deck with 32GB of RAM on the OC3D Forums.

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