Twitter user Belly Jelly rose to fame last week when they discovered and shared a way of expanding a Steam Deck’s M.2 2230 slot to an M.2 2242 one, prompting owners who weren’t afraid of experimenting with the device to open their handhelds up to install some M.2 adapters that would enable the support of longer, 2242 SSDs. Steam Deck designer Lawrence Yang has now taken to the same social media platform to denounce this modification, warning owners of the portable that doing so could result in overheating problems, something that is apparently sure to lead to a shortened lifespan. “Please don’t do this,” Yang pleaded after reading PC Gamer’s coverage on the subject and explaining that the charger IC would get very hot if the system’s thermal pads were moved. Yang also warned that the increased power demands of most M.2 2242 drives would result in a hotter-running system.
The pcb appears to work fairly well for adapting a 2242 m2 to the steam deck, it doesn't collide with anything on the motherboard or put any extra strain on any cables. However, it does make the heat spreader bow a tiny bit. The back plate reassembled without issue. pic.twitter.com/4j4LVbS0NG
— Belly Jelly (@TheSmcelrea) June 21, 2022
Hi, please don’t do this. The charger IC gets very hot and nearby thermal pads should not be moved. In addition, most 2242 m.2 drives draw more power and get hotter than what Deck is designed for. This mod may appear to work but will significantly shorten the life of your Deck. https://t.co/Kmup7Zov13
— Lawrence Yang (@lawrenceyang) June 25, 2022
Hot Hardware brought the modder’s Twitter overview to our attention, where we learned that the new SSD “doesn’t collide with anything on the motherboard or put any extra strain on any cables.” Somewhat worryingly, though, the mod did “make the heat spreader bow a tiny bit.”
For anyone wondering which SSD the modder went with, its a 512GB KingSpec PCIe 3.0 x2 that tops out at around 1100 MB/s. Sadly there’s still no way to jam one of the best NVMe SSDs(opens in new tab) in there, since they come in at a standard 2280 form factor, but at least the 2242’s are a little easier to get hold of(opens in new tab) than 2230 NVMe SSDs are. Which could make sticking 1TB of storage into your Deck pretty simple.
Source: Lawrence Yang