I’ve not been slow while writing news stories this evening, I have throttled my performance to protect myself. In this I may have something in common with the Steam Deck. Valve tweeted earlier today to let users “in the midst of a heatwave” know that at temperatures over 35 degrees centigrade, the Steam Deck may not run at its best.
“For our friends in the midst of a heatwave, a quick note about Steam Deck in high temperatures,” reads the tweet. “Steam Deck performs at its best in ambient temperatures between 0° and 35° C. If the temperature gets higher than this, Steam Deck may start to throttle performance to protect itself.”
A bit more detail about this – Steam Deck’s APU runs well at temperatures up to 100°C. At 100°C, it will start to throttle performance, and at 105°C it will shut down. Again, this is to protect itself (and you) from damage.
— Steam Deck (@OnDeck) July 19, 2022
In a followup tweet, Valve offered more detail of what exactly is happening. “Steam Deck’s APU runs well at temperatures up to 100°C. At 100°C, it will start to throttle performance, and at 105°C it will shut down. Again, this is to protect itself (and you) from damage,” it says. If you’re using the Steam Deck in an environment that’s over 35° C, in other words, it’s more likely that the APU will exceed the temperatures it’s designed for.
For those not aware, the UK is currently in the midst of a historic heatwave, with temperatures reaching an all-time high of 40.3°C in parts of the country on Tuesday.
While it may not do well post-climate collapse, we like the Steam Deck plenty. Earlier today James published his picks of the best games to play on the Steam Deck.