This week we’re finally addressing the single biggest issue with the $ 400 portable PC. We’re talking about the fan.

When the deck launched, it shipped with an extremely noisy fan to cool its AMD Zen 2 and rdna 2 Silicon. It ran constantly, even when I was n’t doing anything with the system, and was always ramping up even in relatively lightweight games like Vampire survivors.

The Reddit community found that Valve ships the deck with one of two different fans, one from Delta and another from huaying. Ifixit ca n’t say whether you’ll be able to swap out for a better one when replacement parts are available.

We’re aware of the noise issue, but it will depend on what’s available to us. We’re trying to source the ones without the noise.

This week, Valve did take a big step towards improving the system with a beta software update. The system is now dead silent when idle, until or unless you warm up the chip by downloading some content or opening up big folders of games at a minimum minimum minimum.

The system hits speeds of 65 degrees Celsius before raising fan speed to a new tier. The system is usually waiting until the system reaches 65 degrees celsus.

We’ve just shipped an update to SteamOS for steam deck in the beta channel. This update includes a new os-controlled fan curve, support for changing in-game screen refresh rate, and more.

None of Valve’s tweaks fixed the whine. The delta fan still has a tiny jet engine scream. The fan may not ramp up as quickly.

Electrical tape was created by u-oligarchyambulance on Reddit. Simply pressing on the back of the steam deck’s shell, near the valve logo, was enough to deaden the whine.

The fan’s whine was all but obliterated. But it’s mostly the rushing of air now, not a screech.

If you open your steam deck, please be careful to be careful. If you’ve open your deck, you should be careful.

We do n’t recommend changing the airflow path, or if there might be ill side effects – like heat or wear.

Opening up the deck is a teensy bit harder than some make it out to be. I do n’t know if I’d recommend it to just anyone anyone.

A fan problem is hardware, not just software, says CNN.com’s Ivan Watson. If valve does n’t have a plan or a recommendation to deaden the sound, I’m guessing more than a few gamers will take matters into their own hands.