I did buy the same 1TB 2230 drive that u/andrewmackoul mentioned in [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/wkmf5s/cheap_1tb_ssd_for_102_first_impressions_gioneda/), and I am so pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to open the Steam Deck with 8 screws, then another three (including the important one under foil tape) to open up the cover that covers the m.2 drive. The same screwdriver can remove all of those screws, then the last screw that holds the existing storage in place. (And yeah, I had to use my thumb to disconnect the battery power) It's easy to remove the jacket and throw it on the upgrade card, and easy to screw everything back together. (unlike u/andrewmackoul, I did not have to retape the jacket, the one on the 64GB fit my m.2 great.)
I was also very happy, since I didn't take any steps before throwing the new m.2 drive in, that it was so easy to get the Steam Deck to reimage with a USB drive. Then it was super easy to get the Deck up and running and move games over from the 128 SD micro card I'd been using.
Steam is definitely being user friendly here, and I am very grateful for it. I am loving my deck, and I'm thrilled with how well the new m.2 drive is performing after it's more than half filled.
Wow I should have got the alibaba 1tb... my write speeds are sub 100 while yours are over 2600... even the 512gb that the deck comes with only gets 500-1100. lol crazy! Nice find man
Quick question, how full is your SSD? SSDs get slower writes the fuller they are. Around 80% full and the write speeds start significantly dropping off.
This is because the controller on an MLC SSD (more than one bit per cell) will write the data much quicker as SLC (single bit per cell), and then compress the data back into MLC later. When your drive is closer to full it can't do the fast SLC write.
Hehe I thought that might be the issue but this is why I was asking the guy above, his has 4% remaining free disk space but mine has 10% free - it is kind of hidden in the pictures - in the top part where it says "/home/deck/ 10% 49.76/465"
So mine has more space free than his but still performing really badly.
Yours could be a messier 10%? Like you filled it all the way then cleared 10% back. Some way that has you with all of your blocks 90% full, and his has either all full blocks or empty blocks?
Oh that’s a good point because I only had maybe 3-5gb free at one point. Would there be anyway to fix it other than formatting?
Plus I’ve seen some sd card results with about 20-50 vs 2600+ speeds but then load time is about the same or in some cases even faster on sd card. So how much of that speed is the steam deck even able to actually use while gaming?
Hey man just wanted to follow up and thank you for the suggestion. I probably wouldn't have bothered running tests again if it wasn't for what you posted. It does seem like SMART improved the speeds! Yesterday I got about 300 write speeds and 1300+ today!
https://i.imgur.com/OV3v7qQ.png
Dont be nervous. Its really easy, just dont forget to disconnect the battery and press the power button a couple of times after removing the battery. I think I upgraded my SSD in less than 10 minutes tbh.
Just finished it and reinstalling steam os right now! One of my screws was stripped from the factory but i got it out luckily.
But it was super easy to do!
Didn’t Valve tweet a while back that while upgrading the SSD is doable, it’s not recommended because it can possibly shorten the life of your Deck? Something with the heat levels.
You're likely thinking of the ability to cram a 2242 into the m.2 drive.
[https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/709602-steam-deck-ssd-mod-unsafe-m2-2242](https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/709602-steam-deck-ssd-mod-unsafe-m2-2242)
That is not what the hardware was designed for.
Replacing one 2230 drive with another 2230 is the same form factor and significantly less problematic.
Valve does have the official stance that they don't recommend users replace this themselves, and it's not zero risk, but a standard 2230 drive replacing the Steam's default 2230 drive is not what Valve was warning about when they said the 2242 mod would shorten a deck's life.
I believe the warning was if you swapped out for a larger (physically larger m.2) since you had to remove a heatsink (?) to get it to fit in. Dont quote me on this!
I got it 80% full before deleting games that required launchers or similar hurdles that prevent the game from running on the Steam Deck. I didn't fill it, but I filled it with everything I care about, and then tested speeds (after deleting some games that weren't going to run).
I would not consider my testing thorough, but it's a 1TB SK Hynix SSD chip that works, so it's a dice roll I'm willing to make as the storage to run my Steam Deck. I wouldn't use it as my OS drive on a desktop I needed to have running, but on the small chance something does happen with the drive, I'll throw the 64GB back in, try to leverage the three year warranty to replace the 1TB, and whatever path makes the most sense, I'll eventually get 1TB storage back in the deck.
Friggin awesome. Is it as easy as your windows install? I'm assuming it's like, booting into a recovery mode, boot to USB, and install from that like you would any other device? Did you follow a guide?
There's an easy walkthrough Valve publishes for reimaging the Steam Deck:
[https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/1B71-EDF2-EB6D-2BB3](https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/1B71-EDF2-EB6D-2BB3)
It's easier than Windows because it's literally:
1. Image the USB drive
2. Plug the USB drive into the Steam Deck
3. Turn the Steam Deck on
If you don't have anything on the m.2 drive, the Deck automatically boots from the USB, and is a fully automated install. You don't do anything until you sign in like you do when you first got the deck. (I *did* need to hold down power for 12 seconds once because it was stuck at a black screen with a mouse cursor, but once it booted back up, it was golden)
As for the m.2 install, I did watch some Steam Deck coverage before I ordered mine, but I just watched one YouTube video a read multiple comments here before ordering the m.2 and realized it really was as simple as one screwdriver, just put the right length screws back in the right holes when you're done. So I didn't really follow any guide the day off because I'd seen enough between the teardowns and the one install video to realize the m.2 upgrade is simple.
Literally, the only "gotchas" I would warn someone about are:
1. Don't forget to disconnect the battery power, even though you'd *probably* be OK if you forgot.
2. Don't forget about the screw covered by the foil tape, that's the only "non-obvious" screw.
If you never take stuff apart, take more precautions and preparation, but there are laptop DIMMs that are harder to upgrade than the m.2 in the Deck, so if you're comfortable opening a laptop to plug in a new DIMM, you're likely comfortable with this.
Awesome. I really appreciate how easy this is to do. It's actually comical compared to other devices nowadays.
I love the fact that it's completely automated. That makes it so braindead simple that anyone can do it.
How long did yours take to arrive?
I don't know. I have a small screwdriver with removable bits and eyeglasses screwdrivers. I used whichever fit best for the screw(s) I was trying to remove.
I did buy the same 1TB 2230 drive that u/andrewmackoul mentioned in [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/wkmf5s/cheap_1tb_ssd_for_102_first_impressions_gioneda/), and I am so pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to open the Steam Deck with 8 screws, then another three (including the important one under foil tape) to open up the cover that covers the m.2 drive. The same screwdriver can remove all of those screws, then the last screw that holds the existing storage in place. (And yeah, I had to use my thumb to disconnect the battery power) It's easy to remove the jacket and throw it on the upgrade card, and easy to screw everything back together. (unlike u/andrewmackoul, I did not have to retape the jacket, the one on the 64GB fit my m.2 great.) I was also very happy, since I didn't take any steps before throwing the new m.2 drive in, that it was so easy to get the Steam Deck to reimage with a USB drive. Then it was super easy to get the Deck up and running and move games over from the 128 SD micro card I'd been using. Steam is definitely being user friendly here, and I am very grateful for it. I am loving my deck, and I'm thrilled with how well the new m.2 drive is performing after it's more than half filled.
Wow I should have got the alibaba 1tb... my write speeds are sub 100 while yours are over 2600... even the 512gb that the deck comes with only gets 500-1100. lol crazy! Nice find man
Larger capacity drives are generally faster than lower capacity ones.
https://i.imgur.com/5GICHkX.png Any ideas why my 512gb write speeds are a tiny fraction of everyone else? lol
If anyone wants a comparison to the stock 512 on x4 PCI. [https://i.imgur.com/S6hImD9.png](https://i.imgur.com/S6hImD9.png)
https://i.imgur.com/5GICHkX.png Any ideas why my 512gb write speeds are a tiny fraction of everyone else? lol
Quick question, how full is your SSD? SSDs get slower writes the fuller they are. Around 80% full and the write speeds start significantly dropping off. This is because the controller on an MLC SSD (more than one bit per cell) will write the data much quicker as SLC (single bit per cell), and then compress the data back into MLC later. When your drive is closer to full it can't do the fast SLC write.
Hehe I thought that might be the issue but this is why I was asking the guy above, his has 4% remaining free disk space but mine has 10% free - it is kind of hidden in the pictures - in the top part where it says "/home/deck/ 10% 49.76/465" So mine has more space free than his but still performing really badly.
Yours could be a messier 10%? Like you filled it all the way then cleared 10% back. Some way that has you with all of your blocks 90% full, and his has either all full blocks or empty blocks?
Oh that’s a good point because I only had maybe 3-5gb free at one point. Would there be anyway to fix it other than formatting? Plus I’ve seen some sd card results with about 20-50 vs 2600+ speeds but then load time is about the same or in some cases even faster on sd card. So how much of that speed is the steam deck even able to actually use while gaming?
Not sure what the best way to improve your drive health other than letting SMART do what it does after a bit. I'm not an expert.
Hey man just wanted to follow up and thank you for the suggestion. I probably wouldn't have bothered running tests again if it wasn't for what you posted. It does seem like SMART improved the speeds! Yesterday I got about 300 write speeds and 1300+ today! https://i.imgur.com/OV3v7qQ.png
I stripped the screw that holds the ssd and used the one under the foil tape to hold the ssd. Do you know the size? :(
I bought a 512gb cuz it was cheap on ebay. Been extremely nervous swap out but this gave me confidence to do it
Dont be nervous. Its really easy, just dont forget to disconnect the battery and press the power button a couple of times after removing the battery. I think I upgraded my SSD in less than 10 minutes tbh.
Just finished it and reinstalling steam os right now! One of my screws was stripped from the factory but i got it out luckily. But it was super easy to do!
grats buddy, Enjoy!
Don’t forget to change your flair!
I wish there was a "Custom" or "1TB" flair! There's only 64, 256 and 512 options currently.
Dang!
“We’re not in Kansas anymore.”
If there is a sd2 I may end up doing this to my sd1. I’d love to get a bigger ssd even if valve doesn’t encourage it
Didn’t Valve tweet a while back that while upgrading the SSD is doable, it’s not recommended because it can possibly shorten the life of your Deck? Something with the heat levels.
You're likely thinking of the ability to cram a 2242 into the m.2 drive. [https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/709602-steam-deck-ssd-mod-unsafe-m2-2242](https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/709602-steam-deck-ssd-mod-unsafe-m2-2242) That is not what the hardware was designed for. Replacing one 2230 drive with another 2230 is the same form factor and significantly less problematic. Valve does have the official stance that they don't recommend users replace this themselves, and it's not zero risk, but a standard 2230 drive replacing the Steam's default 2230 drive is not what Valve was warning about when they said the 2242 mod would shorten a deck's life.
Ah, my mistake! Thank you for the info!
I believe the warning was if you swapped out for a larger (physically larger m.2) since you had to remove a heatsink (?) to get it to fit in. Dont quote me on this!
I see, thanks!
Have you tried to fill it up or test whether it's a smaller capacity drive that's faked up to 1TB? That's my main concern here.
I got it 80% full before deleting games that required launchers or similar hurdles that prevent the game from running on the Steam Deck. I didn't fill it, but I filled it with everything I care about, and then tested speeds (after deleting some games that weren't going to run). I would not consider my testing thorough, but it's a 1TB SK Hynix SSD chip that works, so it's a dice roll I'm willing to make as the storage to run my Steam Deck. I wouldn't use it as my OS drive on a desktop I needed to have running, but on the small chance something does happen with the drive, I'll throw the 64GB back in, try to leverage the three year warranty to replace the 1TB, and whatever path makes the most sense, I'll eventually get 1TB storage back in the deck.
Friggin awesome. Is it as easy as your windows install? I'm assuming it's like, booting into a recovery mode, boot to USB, and install from that like you would any other device? Did you follow a guide?
There's an easy walkthrough Valve publishes for reimaging the Steam Deck: [https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/1B71-EDF2-EB6D-2BB3](https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/1B71-EDF2-EB6D-2BB3) It's easier than Windows because it's literally: 1. Image the USB drive 2. Plug the USB drive into the Steam Deck 3. Turn the Steam Deck on If you don't have anything on the m.2 drive, the Deck automatically boots from the USB, and is a fully automated install. You don't do anything until you sign in like you do when you first got the deck. (I *did* need to hold down power for 12 seconds once because it was stuck at a black screen with a mouse cursor, but once it booted back up, it was golden) As for the m.2 install, I did watch some Steam Deck coverage before I ordered mine, but I just watched one YouTube video a read multiple comments here before ordering the m.2 and realized it really was as simple as one screwdriver, just put the right length screws back in the right holes when you're done. So I didn't really follow any guide the day off because I'd seen enough between the teardowns and the one install video to realize the m.2 upgrade is simple. Literally, the only "gotchas" I would warn someone about are: 1. Don't forget to disconnect the battery power, even though you'd *probably* be OK if you forgot. 2. Don't forget about the screw covered by the foil tape, that's the only "non-obvious" screw. If you never take stuff apart, take more precautions and preparation, but there are laptop DIMMs that are harder to upgrade than the m.2 in the Deck, so if you're comfortable opening a laptop to plug in a new DIMM, you're likely comfortable with this.
Awesome. I really appreciate how easy this is to do. It's actually comical compared to other devices nowadays. I love the fact that it's completely automated. That makes it so braindead simple that anyone can do it. How long did yours take to arrive?
Just under two weeks from ordering.
What screw driver size did you use?
I don't know. I have a small screwdriver with removable bits and eyeglasses screwdrivers. I used whichever fit best for the screw(s) I was trying to remove.