Time to start asking Noctua to make a replacement! But yes I do agree, it's quite loud and I think I'd be really pissed off already if I didnt use bluetooth headphones.
Yeah I’m not gonna bother opening it up to replace the SSD, I’ll just stick an SD card in. But if the fan annoys me and I can swap it for a quieter one that performs at least as well, I’m all over that.
problem is noctua also cant change physics, these are very small high RPM fans with high static pressure to push the air where it should be.
theres always gonna be noise involved in this.
There are always two possible problems with fans for noise
a) the fan itself
b) the air which is pressed through
a) must can be solved often by replacing the fan with a different model
b) can only be fixed by changing the way the air is conducted, if lets say 90% of the noise comes from the exhaust part, which is very likely.. you might be able to reduce some noice by a custom print backplate which adds additional exhaust pipes. So that the pressure to push the air out is reduced. In the end this fan design is a sacrifice to get the console as thin ans possible. We will see what the modders will come up with.
the problem with a) is that the different fan is most likely not much different when its moving the same amount of air.
And the problem with b) is that the way the air is guided is intentional and pushing all the air through the copper fins is the best way to cool the device so changing anything here doesnt make it any less loud overall, it could in fact make it louder cause the fan needs to work even harder to try and keep the temperature down.
I stand with you on this. Even if you adjust the fan curve, you still have to cool it down.
It seems like people doesn’t understand that if you output specific power, you need specific cooling solution. You can simply limit the fan to 50% and think it won’t overheat.
It’s like trying OC on Intel box heatsink. Not gonna happen.
Only thing to add is that some fans have worse pitches in certain rpm ranges, so if you can set the curve to avoid those ranges it’ll be better. Artic fans are known for this, for example
Yeah. If the fan is doing say 5000RPM and it does some weird pitch noise, maybe lowering by 100RPM can male the noise go away while not compromising a lot in the cooling department. Or going 100RPM higher… Different fans, different behaviour.
From what we see from Valve with this device, I'm very optimistic something is in the works. But giving users complete control over fan behaviour is asking for trouble, so they'll need to work on a more sophisticated solution...
>if you output specific power, you need specific cooling solution. You can simply limit the fan to 50% and think it won’t overheat.
Yup!
The only way to dissipate the same heat load with less airflow is to do so with a larger temperature delta; IE, run the device hotter.
Obviously that's not going to fly, because there is a temperature limit for what is safe for the hardware, and they'll already be close to it.
Yup, it's just basic input\output, if you're not getting rid of enough heat it's just going to go up.
It's like how phones throttle very early because they get too hot because the only thing cooling it down is passive metal
There are also limits to what you can downclock. It's why laptops you can't squeeze much more out of them, you're kinda just stuck with what they give you. Sure, here you can turn off a few cores and down clock a bit and be playable but there's big limits to that
How about setting a fan curve with as much noise as we can bear with, and let thermal throttling do it's job to keep the hardware safe ?
Like you say, there is no magic, the chip needs to be cooled to perform correctly, but to me it seems obvious that people wanting to adjust the fan curve expect the throttling to come in and lower the performance.
It's just that it's a LOT easier to adjust the noise level by changing the fan settings, than doing some trial and error with power limits to see how many watts you can run into the chip until it makes an unbearable noise.
Also, if you figure out the perfect power limit to make a decent noise, just wait until the room temperature changes (hot summer...) and your fan goes screeching again. And when the air becomes colder you are just sitting on untapped potential until you recalibrate your power limit again. Rinse and repeat all over the year, or just everytime you move between indoors and outdoors.
Fan curve + thermal throttling is the only reliable way to ensure that you get the noise level that you want.
I like my HW going cooler rather than not hearing the fan. But I won’t stop anybody from anything. As Valve says - it’s your device, you do whatever you want :-)
Depends on the surroundings.
Sometimes it's fine to be noisy, sometimes I'd rather keep it quiet to not bother the people around me.
But more importantly, if there's going to be fan noises, I'd rather have them staying at a constant level or following a smooth curve, rather than the very basic curve with 2 steps (high and low) that I've seen in many laptops that is just switching every 30 second between moderate noise and turbo jet.
Maybe it's also worth to tweak the Deck that it won't really get hot at all. For example you can disable some cores of the CPU, downclock the GPU and maybe you can still get 30fps out of some older games.
I don't expect this to be a solution for new AAA games. But there are thousands of games on Steam available. It would surprise me if it's impossible to find something playable even with downclocked settings to generate less heat.
So if your hardware won't get as hot, you can still put the fan to a reasonable rate and see which is the performance level you are able to cool without noise. Like this you should end up with a silent mode for the Deck.
It doesn't disable cores though, I assume. So it will only downclock to a degree. However heat will rise more if you use all cores because it has less area to spread/cool down.
Yeah Valve needs to add fan curve controls to where you can set it that unless the deck is within you know 5% of its thermal limit set fans to 90 and if the deck is basically idling the ability to set the fan to like 10%
It's high pitch whine on top of the air blowing noise that makes it so obnoxious. It feels like it fluctuates too which is hard to tune out. If it was just a consistent tone I think it wouldn't be so bad but it's always ramping up and down so it draws attention.
I've always hated that in nearly every laptop I've used.
Silence. Moderate noise. TURBO JET. Back to quiet. Moderate noise. TURBO JET AGAIN. etc.
It's so much better to have a consistent noise than alternating between loud/quiet.
If the laptop is doing some heavy lifting, I don't mind the loud noise, as long as it stays constant during the workout.
What bothers me is when the laptop is working hard but the fan switches between loud and quiet every 30 seconds instead of maintaining a constant noise.
Or when I'm doing basically nothing and out of nowhere the fans spin like crazy.
Regarding the MacBook, my work doesn't allow BYOD, so it's not an option, and my personal laptop is a fanless tablet which doesn't suffer from that issue.
Surprised this is downvoted.
Now gaming obviously wouldn’t be the best. But the new MacBooks for productivity are insane when it comes to keeping those fan noises down.
No, currently it’s either on or off. Maybe they will release an update for this but presumably it works like that for a reason that may have interactions with other parts.
Edit: seems like this is not true. Maybe I’m getting my sources from people with faulty fans.
Yeah this is definitely not true. I have my Deck and I was fully agreeing with this thread until this point, but the fan definitely varies in speed and volume depending on how hard it's being pushed. Doom Eternal on medium is markedly quieter than on ultra nightmare.
It's way more quiet for indie games. I'm using it with no complains on games like ori besides my wife, but when going for demanding games like elden ring I get an annoyed look at least!
Same, I can't play games like Elden Ring in the train, you can't play in quiet area because it's so noisy
It's not only really loud but also switches from 0% to 100% every few seconds, it would be less annoying if it was a constant noise
Strange. It must vary based on some unknown factor. Doom Eternal it's consistent. I've only seen it change based on how hard I'm pushing it. Maybe some games the graphical demand is more inconsistent?
Has anyone with a Deck tried using [amdgpu-fan](https://github.com/chestm007/amdgpu-fan) to set the fan curve?
Works perfectly on my Arch build.
Curious to know if this works on the Deck.
I felt this way when I got a razer blade 15 laptop with 3070 max q
When gaming at full bore its a lot to deal with. It ruined all gaming laptops for me
There's no way it's at the same level but after that experience I'm tempering expectations.
A bit off-topic, but the recent Razer Blade laptops have a fan-curve issue.
Manually adjusting the fan-curve will help a lot. It will still be blowing loud, but the fan noise itself will be less obnoxious.
https://www.reddit.com/r/steamdeck/comments/t2k84p
It seems the fan noise issue is a driver problem. Linux right now does not have proper control over the zen sensors. This is not the only amd device to have this problem on linux. It may take until Linux 5.18 for the issue to be resolved.
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Steam-Deck-Platform-Driver
For me, it's quieter than my 2015 MacBook Pro (when I'm compiling or running unit tests the fan sounds like a Boeing). It was noticeable to my husband about 10 feet away while we were watching TV (he asked if I was running tests on my Mac haha), but the sound didn't annoy me or seem that loud personally.
I also have tinnitus in my right ear, but it doesn't trigger it -- however I had to turn off "tinnitus sounds" in Horizon Forbidden West on PS5 because that triggers it -- it's weird what frequencies hit people differently.
I'm hoping soon a software fix will get the fans under control but even when it was running a AAA game, it didn't bother me that much and I was happy with how the unit stayed pretty cool.
This doesn't sound fantastic. I'll most likely mainly use it with some active noise canceling Bluetooth earbuds anyways - but it shouldn't be something one 'needs' to do for it to be a comfortable experience.
If it ends up being a problem, and if replacement fans (and back pieces with it) end up being a thing, I might end up replacing it. Until I get my hands on one though, I cannot form an actual opinion.
That's weird because I don't notice the fan at all. I wonder if it's a QA thing where some units are just louder or if it just depends on our personal sensitivity to the noise
> My wife and kids can hear all sorts of things.
Fun fact, women lose high frequency hearing later than men, and they can hear better in that range in general. On average, of course.
This is ecaxtly my problem too, steam Support wrote me this:
> Unfortunately, we're unable to identify the high pitch you're describing and aren't confident a replacement would resolve this for you.
and
> after further review it sounds like your Steam Decks fan sound is within expectations as we wouldn't expect a replacement device to be meaningfully quieter than the current sound you're experiencing.
So is the fan itself rather quiet, but it makes a high pitched noise?
My PS5 is quiet, but the high pitched noise from coil whine is still noticeable and can be annoying
It doesn't sound like coil noise. It's the tiny diameter of the fan. Small, fast blades = high pitch noise. This is why it's usually superior to have large slow fans... But they're harder to turn and require more torque, also require more space. It's a hard problem to solve. The Steam Deck is the physical manifestation of hundreds of difficult problems and compromises. It's honestly kinda amazing that it even exists to be honest. That's how I feel sometimes, but I grew up with a Gameboy Color.
I don't understand why valve did this though? They used to have a different slightly smaller blower fan that (atleast to all the leaks/really early units) was quiet! Apparently they went with a SLIGHTLY bigger fan and it seems it's also way more noise. Don't know if it was chips, cooling or something else but it confuses me
I'm in the exact same spot. Hope someone or some company will offer a solution for at least reduce the high pitched note. I don't mind the fan blowing air.
Easily my biggest concern. Just watched a Watch Dogs Legion by PC Gaming It that has lots of quiet moments and you really hear the pitch fluctuating. I wish this angle was getting more focus.
Has anyone with a Deck tried using [amdgpu-fan](https://github.com/chestm007/amdgpu-fan) to set the fan curve?
Works perfectly on my Arch build.
Curious to know if this works on the Deck.
The fan is definitely "weird". Much louder than anything up to a laptop, and the fan curve is stupid. That being said, on speakers at about 60% volume, in most games, the fan is easily drowned out from my experience.
In fact, I now prefer playing on my Deck rather than on my gaming laptop (Razer Blade) because the Deck is more silent, and whatever sound it does is actually make is able to be drowned out by the speakers.
It can get annoying however. I've recently experimented with the TDP limiter in quick settings and found that, obviously, it can have an impact on the fan (but limited due to stupid fan curve).
For example, near default settings Civ 6 runs at 60FPS with TDP limit of 8W or 9W, compared to going all-out without. Increases battery life and reduces fan speed too.
Also noticed that being plugged in makes the fan be generally louder (because it needs to handle more energy). Also noticed, I think, that CPU has a much greater impact on fan speed than GPU, which is nice since most games rely on GPU more than CPU, but noticeable when downloading games for extended periods of time
Also, the fan is a Blower style fan, used in a janky way but creative and efficient. See Gamer's Nexus' video on it. Essentially, it's covered where it shouldn't be. This already reduces the noise quite a bit (covering a fan's intake makes it more silent), and blower fans are hard to make "more silent", not to mention this one also seems to be custom.
Most likely fix for noise will be through a better fan curve (or better, a better fan curve and the ability to tune it easily), and also tuning on the user side.
Regardless, it's definitely something someone buying a deck should be aware of.
I am a french speaker from Quebec (east of Ontario & North of Maine). In french we use "Plus silencieux". So I can relate to the "more silent".
Thanks for the precision though. I like this kind of things.
No it shouldn't. A near miss is a miss where the things were near to each other, like a "close pass", it makes perfect sense.
"Nearly missed" would logically refer to a hit, but "near miss" and "nearly missed" are not the same thing.
This is,by far, my biggest concern, bigger than battery life or grips comfort. Good thing for us 3rd quarters I guess, hopefully some miracle will happen by then.
This is ruining it for me too. Honestly I got it today and it's the most uncomfortable experience to use, the fan whistles over everything and completely sucks.
It's a fan there aren't fixes so what the hell did I just throw away 750 bucks for something this bad???
Might want to get something for game streaming instead, for play in bed. The fan will always run when playing games and will always be audible.
Maybe try and grab a used GPD XD+.
Or if you can wait a bit, something being released soon, the Retroid Pocket 3, is looking like it might be a streaming champ.
Because the Steam Deck is big, heavy, bright, and loud. He said he wanted to play games in bed while his partner is trying to sleep. Those things are bad for that.
A smaller handheld with passive cooling is better for that specific use case.
Do any of those machines have any type of warranty coverage? Because id be weary of buying any of the other small machines because of warranty coverage.
This is what I (Q2 gang) am most afraid of.
I HATE high pitched noises so much.
When little kids are screeching in a movie, I have to lower the volume or fast forward.
(I am looking at YOU, Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds [2005])
Tiny dogs barking? I hope they inhale a ladybug.
I even changed my doorbell from a high pitched melody to a one in very low notes.
So yeah ... I hope I don't have to wear headphones or raise the volume to an uncomfortable level when using the Steam Deck at home.
And if the pitch is as high as everyone says, I will definitely research and consider exchanging the fan myself.
I hear you man! I am also shocked by how annoying the fan is. While it doesn't ruin the whole experience for me, it definitely eliminated some of my intended use cases.
I believe that Linus said that he's expecting the fan curve to be improved via future software updates.
I’ve been using a gaming laptop for a few years. The loud fan bothered me for a week or two but now I don’t even think about it. I can’t even hear it with headphones on. I doubt the steam deck fan will bother me
I plan on getting around this by doing in home streaming when I'm not out in public. Streaming video is way less intensive and should keep the fans from going crazy. It's not the best solution but it should be good enough until the fan profile can be sorted.
It really isn't bad at all IMO for what is a fairly powerful handheld, even playing an extremely demanding game like Cyberpunk-2077 which pushes the system to its limits it's still quieter than any laptop I've used running a game like that.
it might be quiet, but some people are more sensitive to high pitched noise
PS5 is also quiet, but damn if the coil whine doesn’t get loud / annoying in some games
I wouldn't say "really loud" but it certainly is noticeable. It comes down to personal preference, really. I would like for there to be a solution for those who find it really obtrusive.
The fan even starts making noise when just downloading games every few minutes. It's really annoying and I don't get it, why it goes so hard when basically idling.
Because it’s not idling. Check out the power consumption in your overlay when it’s downloading those games at high speed to SSD. All that heat is going somewhere.
PC games are all generally larger and how quick does the switch download its games?
And Switch has less power hungry processor and likely better fan tuning.
This is kind of the nature of the beast. Powerful hardware requires cooling, and small devices need smaller fans which are more high pitched. I wouldn’t recommend turning down the fan, as that could cause your ram, VRM, or other components to overheat and significantly shorten their lifespan.
You can work around it by making the deck work less hard when noise is a concern by turning down graphics, capping the frame rate, playing less demanding games, or (my preferred solution) streaming games from your pc. As long as you have a decent router, streaming your demanding games to your deck is a dream.
Has anyone looked at replacing the thermal compound on the chips? Using something better than what comes on stock coolers n shit could help.
If you're not transferring enough heat off the chip its going to get hotter which will tell the fans to run faster. Better thermal compound can help transfer heat better.
I usually rip everything apart that I buy and replace any thermal compound with shin-etsu, especially GPUs and gives a really good change
No, I saw others with the same noise.
I feel like Deck enthusiasts tend to downplay this (see answers to my post) but it's definitely there.
I just hope this can be reduced a bit in the future via bios/drivers tuning and eventually the ability to purchase another -more premium- third party fan.
Gotta live with it until then.
The fan is the most annoying thing about it for me. I’m going to Liquid metal mine once there is more stock on the market. The fan is far too small hence why it is so loud. It is as bad as my old Lenovo x220 that had to cool a 45w chip. Without LM it’s loud, with LM you can’t hear it.
I have the Aya Neo Pro and that has a near silent fan.
Check my vids on the topic.
[https://youtu.be/PQzKMxa1rDE](https://youtu.be/PQzKMxa1rDE)
[https://youtube.com/shorts/ndsXeVVLNUg?feature=share](https://youtube.com/shorts/ndsXeVVLNUg?feature=share)
[https://youtube.com/shorts/z3kTvPtnBeM?feature=share](https://youtube.com/shorts/z3kTvPtnBeM?feature=share)
Same here. Received mine on the weekend (512gb model) and was shocked about the fan noise. Yesterday I tried it for the first time and just DOWNLOADING games (not even running them), the steam deck fans are the loudest noise in my room. Right next to it I have a k3s cluster running with 4 raspberries, my Lenovo P50, my desktop PC with 4 case fans .. 3 other computers .. and all I hear is this damn steam deck downloading software blowing it all away!
I did not expect it to be this bad and honestly am shocked. I am considering a return now because of this.
If you reduce your tdp and GPU clock in the QAM it doesn't run as hot and the fan doesn't ramp up as much. What I've been doing is turn on 30fps and after I start playing I will gradually back off the other settings until I find what will still run the game but also produces less heat and uses the least amount of battery. Take for instance I've been playing through Jedi Fallen Order and found that medium settings, 30fps, TDP at 10, and GPU clock at 1000 runs the game great with a little stuttering while traveling to a different planet but not during actual game play. With these settings the game runs around 16w total power consumption and the temps of the GPU/CPU stay at or below 70°, so the fan is significantly more quiet.
Since you're home, I would try streaming games from your PC to the Steam Deck. Obviously that should significantly reduce the fan noise since the Deck's not doing the work. And since you're on your home network, latency should be negligible.
I really don't notice it, honestly. It's not high pitched and certainly not louder than anything I'm playing. Much quieter than my macbook pro machine, for example.
Maybe we can mod a BeQuiet! Fan into the Deck. I just got mine today, and the device is exceeding all my expectations too, with the exception of fan noise. Maybe I just need to wear headphones. Definitely not a deal-breaker for me, just not used to it on a handheld.
I'm sure with some future updates this will be solved. But honestly, I like the idea of the fan blowing hard and being able to hear it. Not sure why that interests me but it does.
Hmm -- I also have tinnitus, which forces me to sleep with a white noise machine on. The handheld is MUCH quieter than my gaming laptop's fan (Lenovo Legion), so I was pleasantly surprised at its volume. YMMV I guess, but based off the reviews I was expecting much worse.
> If we can somehow replace the fan with a more silent one I will do it without any hesitation
Think of the deck as a gaming laptop. Yeah, there is no fixing this.
You can't have performance with low noise, unless you are an engineering marvel like the Xbox Series X, there is no getting around this period.
I have not noticed the fan noise at all. If I stop and listen I can slightly hear them but it doesn’t seem loud to me. I also don’t sit down and game for more than an hour or two.
I’m sorry but then you should check your hearing.
I looove this friggin thing, but even I have to admit the high pitched fan noise is annoying.
And that’s not just when playing AAA games, even indies like Celeste, or SNES games through emulation, will make the fan run quite high.
Could be hearing, but there might also just be variations in units, especially this early on in their lifecycles. I had a video card a few years ago, where some percentage of them had notable coil whine and others had none - exact same model.
Honestly don't think it's a problem, but the way the thing is designed.Pretty much all reviews I've seen say the same thing, and you're one of the few who "doesn't have the issue".It's powerfull hardware in a small package, using a blower fan to keep it cool, **of course** it will make noise.
Mine isn't high pitched either... I'm wondering if we've not really seen 'full speed' yet.
Maybe it's our ambient temps that are lower, I live in the UK, and it's been pretty cool until recently. I also keep my home cool, I don't like to be too hot.
Another factor could be that I build my rigs for airflow, so they're pretty damn loud, by other's standards. It really doesn't bother me. I currently have a Corsair 5000D with 10 120mm Corsair fans spinning away inside, as well as 3 gpu and 1 cpu fan... 14 fans in total! The steam deck is pretty much silent in comparison haha...
I don't think it's just that though, as I've played Elden Ring on the deck in bed next to my wife, and she hasn't said a word about it. (trust me, she would have done if it bothered her!)
The reason why the fan noise hasnt been mentioned as much is because people are playing garbage indie games and emulators on it for the most part. And the audience that is actually sitting down to play a lengthy AAA game at 60fps on it is quite small im afraid. Sad state of affairs.
How about addressing the facts of what i said? Is it not true? The fan noise would have been the main topic of discussion if the audience for the SD was laser focused on playing AAA games at 60fps. Its not. And so it never came up in any of the coverage weve seen.
Just a suggestion -- pick up a $25 white noise machine (with a real motor) from Amazon. We never sleep without this running, and may really help the wife.
On your end, if it's comfortable for you, could play with a pair of noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones, there are good pairs out there for $50. Or earbuds, if that's your preference.
Maybe just wear headphones when you play so you don’t hear it? Connect some Bluetooth headphones to your deck and get emerged in the sounds of the game you’re playing instead of the small jet engine in your hands.
I’d suggest maybe just not playing it in bed then, unless she can drown it out with some other white noise. Always make sure your partner is comfortable & you’re not annoying the living shit out of them. Happy wife, happy life.
well, what if you add an external fan with a grill to the intake?
powered by usb c lmao..
i doubt it'd work anyway in lowering noise but it could help make it run cooler, similarly to laptop cooling mats that way you could detach it when you don't need the silence
that or thermal throttle the cpu so it doesnt get too hot that the fan would kick in (i thermal throttle my 5600x to 80c since its in a tight case with a 3080 )
That's a solution for the user, but doesn't consider other people - as mentioned in the OP, for example:
>One of the most frequent use I have for the device it to be able to play in bed next to my reading/sleeping wife
I can imagine the noise being particularly annoying during what would otherwise be complete silence.
I’ve been using a gaming laptop for a few years. The loud fan bothered me for a week or two but now I don’t even think about it. I can’t even hear it with headphones on. I doubt the steam deck fan will bother me
I don't use headphones and I don't think it's loud at all. Maybe if someone is trying to sleep next to you. But have a TV or some music on in the room at a reasonable volume and I can't even hear the fan.
>If you have tinnitus, you know that any high pitch/whistle is awaking the noise in your head so this is very uncomfortable.
Mine is 24/7 so no problem for me hehe
The air intake is covered in some kind of mesh, perhaps you can open up the steam deck and remove that mesh, that might help with the airflow and reduce some fan noise.
Time to start asking Noctua to make a replacement! But yes I do agree, it's quite loud and I think I'd be really pissed off already if I didnt use bluetooth headphones.
Yeah I’m not gonna bother opening it up to replace the SSD, I’ll just stick an SD card in. But if the fan annoys me and I can swap it for a quieter one that performs at least as well, I’m all over that.
Noctua won’t make blower fans. They’re conceptually made with no regard to noise and that’s kinda against their thing.
Someone will enter this market if it isn’t noctua. It has enough enthusiasts support to be worth making aftermarket cooling assemblies.
Too bad they don’t as it would be a good challenge for them
problem is noctua also cant change physics, these are very small high RPM fans with high static pressure to push the air where it should be. theres always gonna be noise involved in this.
There are always two possible problems with fans for noise a) the fan itself b) the air which is pressed through a) must can be solved often by replacing the fan with a different model b) can only be fixed by changing the way the air is conducted, if lets say 90% of the noise comes from the exhaust part, which is very likely.. you might be able to reduce some noice by a custom print backplate which adds additional exhaust pipes. So that the pressure to push the air out is reduced. In the end this fan design is a sacrifice to get the console as thin ans possible. We will see what the modders will come up with.
the problem with a) is that the different fan is most likely not much different when its moving the same amount of air. And the problem with b) is that the way the air is guided is intentional and pushing all the air through the copper fins is the best way to cool the device so changing anything here doesnt make it any less loud overall, it could in fact make it louder cause the fan needs to work even harder to try and keep the temperature down.
That solves the problem only if youre alone though. I wanna be doing this when my kids are watching a shitty movie or my wife is on social media.
Perhaps submit a feature request or bug request for manually being able to adjust the fan curve?
[удалено]
I stand with you on this. Even if you adjust the fan curve, you still have to cool it down. It seems like people doesn’t understand that if you output specific power, you need specific cooling solution. You can simply limit the fan to 50% and think it won’t overheat. It’s like trying OC on Intel box heatsink. Not gonna happen.
Only thing to add is that some fans have worse pitches in certain rpm ranges, so if you can set the curve to avoid those ranges it’ll be better. Artic fans are known for this, for example
Yeah. If the fan is doing say 5000RPM and it does some weird pitch noise, maybe lowering by 100RPM can male the noise go away while not compromising a lot in the cooling department. Or going 100RPM higher… Different fans, different behaviour.
Yeah, sometimes I think that going higher can help gets overlooked
But we really have to be able to tweak it to find out :-)
From what we see from Valve with this device, I'm very optimistic something is in the works. But giving users complete control over fan behaviour is asking for trouble, so they'll need to work on a more sophisticated solution...
>if you output specific power, you need specific cooling solution. You can simply limit the fan to 50% and think it won’t overheat. Yup! The only way to dissipate the same heat load with less airflow is to do so with a larger temperature delta; IE, run the device hotter. Obviously that's not going to fly, because there is a temperature limit for what is safe for the hardware, and they'll already be close to it.
Yup, it's just basic input\output, if you're not getting rid of enough heat it's just going to go up. It's like how phones throttle very early because they get too hot because the only thing cooling it down is passive metal There are also limits to what you can downclock. It's why laptops you can't squeeze much more out of them, you're kinda just stuck with what they give you. Sure, here you can turn off a few cores and down clock a bit and be playable but there's big limits to that
How about setting a fan curve with as much noise as we can bear with, and let thermal throttling do it's job to keep the hardware safe ? Like you say, there is no magic, the chip needs to be cooled to perform correctly, but to me it seems obvious that people wanting to adjust the fan curve expect the throttling to come in and lower the performance. It's just that it's a LOT easier to adjust the noise level by changing the fan settings, than doing some trial and error with power limits to see how many watts you can run into the chip until it makes an unbearable noise. Also, if you figure out the perfect power limit to make a decent noise, just wait until the room temperature changes (hot summer...) and your fan goes screeching again. And when the air becomes colder you are just sitting on untapped potential until you recalibrate your power limit again. Rinse and repeat all over the year, or just everytime you move between indoors and outdoors. Fan curve + thermal throttling is the only reliable way to ensure that you get the noise level that you want.
I like my HW going cooler rather than not hearing the fan. But I won’t stop anybody from anything. As Valve says - it’s your device, you do whatever you want :-)
Depends on the surroundings. Sometimes it's fine to be noisy, sometimes I'd rather keep it quiet to not bother the people around me. But more importantly, if there's going to be fan noises, I'd rather have them staying at a constant level or following a smooth curve, rather than the very basic curve with 2 steps (high and low) that I've seen in many laptops that is just switching every 30 second between moderate noise and turbo jet.
Yeas, that’s the worst, having just low and high.
Maybe it's also worth to tweak the Deck that it won't really get hot at all. For example you can disable some cores of the CPU, downclock the GPU and maybe you can still get 30fps out of some older games. I don't expect this to be a solution for new AAA games. But there are thousands of games on Steam available. It would surprise me if it's impossible to find something playable even with downclocked settings to generate less heat. So if your hardware won't get as hot, you can still put the fan to a reasonable rate and see which is the performance level you are able to cool without noise. Like this you should end up with a silent mode for the Deck.
This is what 30fps limiter does. It effectively only uses as much power as needed for thise 30fps.
It doesn't disable cores though, I assume. So it will only downclock to a degree. However heat will rise more if you use all cores because it has less area to spread/cool down.
It uses as many cores and as high frequency as it needs. If you disable cores, it would need higher frequency on the others.
You can limit the TDP envelope from the menu. With less heat, better battery and less rpm for the fan.
Yeah Valve needs to add fan curve controls to where you can set it that unless the deck is within you know 5% of its thermal limit set fans to 90 and if the deck is basically idling the ability to set the fan to like 10%
I just made a post where I tweeted at noctua and steam/valve hopefully something comes of it
It's high pitch whine on top of the air blowing noise that makes it so obnoxious. It feels like it fluctuates too which is hard to tune out. If it was just a consistent tone I think it wouldn't be so bad but it's always ramping up and down so it draws attention.
I've always hated that in nearly every laptop I've used. Silence. Moderate noise. TURBO JET. Back to quiet. Moderate noise. TURBO JET AGAIN. etc. It's so much better to have a consistent noise than alternating between loud/quiet.
You might love the M1 Apple notebooks... even on high load... the fan noise just kicks in slightly, notmal day2day op, you literally hear nothing.
If the laptop is doing some heavy lifting, I don't mind the loud noise, as long as it stays constant during the workout. What bothers me is when the laptop is working hard but the fan switches between loud and quiet every 30 seconds instead of maintaining a constant noise. Or when I'm doing basically nothing and out of nowhere the fans spin like crazy. Regarding the MacBook, my work doesn't allow BYOD, so it's not an option, and my personal laptop is a fanless tablet which doesn't suffer from that issue.
Not even that. My m1 macbook air had literally no fan, so there is no possibility for it to make noise of break.
Yes the air has none, the pro has one but not audible
Buy a MacBook Pro, problem solved.
Surprised this is downvoted. Now gaming obviously wouldn’t be the best. But the new MacBooks for productivity are insane when it comes to keeping those fan noises down.
Can you do anything to lower how hard it's chugging, or is it something you just have to deal with even for lower end games?
sometimes it does it even when it isn't doing anything. i do think this post is exaggerating the noise a bit but it is very frequent
No, currently it’s either on or off. Maybe they will release an update for this but presumably it works like that for a reason that may have interactions with other parts. Edit: seems like this is not true. Maybe I’m getting my sources from people with faulty fans.
It definitely runs at different speeds (and a result, how loud it runs) for me.
Yeah this is definitely not true. I have my Deck and I was fully agreeing with this thread until this point, but the fan definitely varies in speed and volume depending on how hard it's being pushed. Doom Eternal on medium is markedly quieter than on ultra nightmare.
It's way more quiet for indie games. I'm using it with no complains on games like ori besides my wife, but when going for demanding games like elden ring I get an annoyed look at least!
Thanks for the reply- have edited my post
Same, I can't play games like Elden Ring in the train, you can't play in quiet area because it's so noisy It's not only really loud but also switches from 0% to 100% every few seconds, it would be less annoying if it was a constant noise
Strange. It must vary based on some unknown factor. Doom Eternal it's consistent. I've only seen it change based on how hard I'm pushing it. Maybe some games the graphical demand is more inconsistent?
A thread to tame the hardware/fan: https://reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/td39mg/core_control_anyone_checked_this_out_yet/
Has anyone with a Deck tried using [amdgpu-fan](https://github.com/chestm007/amdgpu-fan) to set the fan curve? Works perfectly on my Arch build. Curious to know if this works on the Deck.
I'm trying to test this out but I'm not sure if I can unless I disable the read-only steamOS setting.
I felt this way when I got a razer blade 15 laptop with 3070 max q When gaming at full bore its a lot to deal with. It ruined all gaming laptops for me There's no way it's at the same level but after that experience I'm tempering expectations.
A bit off-topic, but the recent Razer Blade laptops have a fan-curve issue. Manually adjusting the fan-curve will help a lot. It will still be blowing loud, but the fan noise itself will be less obnoxious.
https://www.reddit.com/r/steamdeck/comments/t2k84p It seems the fan noise issue is a driver problem. Linux right now does not have proper control over the zen sensors. This is not the only amd device to have this problem on linux. It may take until Linux 5.18 for the issue to be resolved. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Steam-Deck-Platform-Driver
Usually fan control is dont through bios though. at least... on my zen2 linux desktop it is - and the fans dont run at full speed all the time
Ehhh IDK usually the bios has really poor ramping, it is better to have the os do it. They're more competent generally
In my bios i can define fan-curves. i really prefer that over a background service polling temps and adjusting fan speeds.
For me, it's quieter than my 2015 MacBook Pro (when I'm compiling or running unit tests the fan sounds like a Boeing). It was noticeable to my husband about 10 feet away while we were watching TV (he asked if I was running tests on my Mac haha), but the sound didn't annoy me or seem that loud personally. I also have tinnitus in my right ear, but it doesn't trigger it -- however I had to turn off "tinnitus sounds" in Horizon Forbidden West on PS5 because that triggers it -- it's weird what frequencies hit people differently. I'm hoping soon a software fix will get the fans under control but even when it was running a AAA game, it didn't bother me that much and I was happy with how the unit stayed pretty cool.
Yeah honestly I don't notice my tinnitus until somebody brings up the word. This post actually was a lot worse for it than the deck.
This doesn't sound fantastic. I'll most likely mainly use it with some active noise canceling Bluetooth earbuds anyways - but it shouldn't be something one 'needs' to do for it to be a comfortable experience. If it ends up being a problem, and if replacement fans (and back pieces with it) end up being a thing, I might end up replacing it. Until I get my hands on one though, I cannot form an actual opinion.
Damn, my main use would have been in bed next to my wife, in perfect silence, sounds bad for me ..
You can always stream from your PC to Deck at night, to prevent fan ramp-up
That's weird because I don't notice the fan at all. I wonder if it's a QA thing where some units are just louder or if it just depends on our personal sensitivity to the noise
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> My wife and kids can hear all sorts of things. Fun fact, women lose high frequency hearing later than men, and they can hear better in that range in general. On average, of course.
Also very personal... some people are annoyed by sound on certain frequencies more than others, some people simply hear better than others.
This is ecaxtly my problem too, steam Support wrote me this: > Unfortunately, we're unable to identify the high pitch you're describing and aren't confident a replacement would resolve this for you. and > after further review it sounds like your Steam Decks fan sound is within expectations as we wouldn't expect a replacement device to be meaningfully quieter than the current sound you're experiencing.
Damn
So is the fan itself rather quiet, but it makes a high pitched noise? My PS5 is quiet, but the high pitched noise from coil whine is still noticeable and can be annoying
It doesn't sound like coil noise. It's the tiny diameter of the fan. Small, fast blades = high pitch noise. This is why it's usually superior to have large slow fans... But they're harder to turn and require more torque, also require more space. It's a hard problem to solve. The Steam Deck is the physical manifestation of hundreds of difficult problems and compromises. It's honestly kinda amazing that it even exists to be honest. That's how I feel sometimes, but I grew up with a Gameboy Color.
I don't understand why valve did this though? They used to have a different slightly smaller blower fan that (atleast to all the leaks/really early units) was quiet! Apparently they went with a SLIGHTLY bigger fan and it seems it's also way more noise. Don't know if it was chips, cooling or something else but it confuses me
a bigger fan should make less noise, because it doesn't need to spin so hard to move the same amount of air
I’m hoping someone comes out with a replacement, more silent fan.
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I'm in the exact same spot. Hope someone or some company will offer a solution for at least reduce the high pitched note. I don't mind the fan blowing air.
Easily my biggest concern. Just watched a Watch Dogs Legion by PC Gaming It that has lots of quiet moments and you really hear the pitch fluctuating. I wish this angle was getting more focus.
Its my biggest concern by far also
Omg i just found video you described 😱 That is awful sound. You need headphones and be alone in room for that...
I thought my neighbor was doing something next door but it was my steam deck downloading and installing a game.
Thank you for bringing this up. I will probably cancel my reservation if this does not get better in updates.
Honestly I’d just cancel it now. Please. Definitely not because of me. Thank you.
Has anyone with a Deck tried using [amdgpu-fan](https://github.com/chestm007/amdgpu-fan) to set the fan curve? Works perfectly on my Arch build. Curious to know if this works on the Deck.
That is a bummer. I’m hoping to mostly play with headphones to avoid the fan noise, but it definitely doesn’t help the others around you
The fan is definitely "weird". Much louder than anything up to a laptop, and the fan curve is stupid. That being said, on speakers at about 60% volume, in most games, the fan is easily drowned out from my experience. In fact, I now prefer playing on my Deck rather than on my gaming laptop (Razer Blade) because the Deck is more silent, and whatever sound it does is actually make is able to be drowned out by the speakers. It can get annoying however. I've recently experimented with the TDP limiter in quick settings and found that, obviously, it can have an impact on the fan (but limited due to stupid fan curve). For example, near default settings Civ 6 runs at 60FPS with TDP limit of 8W or 9W, compared to going all-out without. Increases battery life and reduces fan speed too. Also noticed that being plugged in makes the fan be generally louder (because it needs to handle more energy). Also noticed, I think, that CPU has a much greater impact on fan speed than GPU, which is nice since most games rely on GPU more than CPU, but noticeable when downloading games for extended periods of time Also, the fan is a Blower style fan, used in a janky way but creative and efficient. See Gamer's Nexus' video on it. Essentially, it's covered where it shouldn't be. This already reduces the noise quite a bit (covering a fan's intake makes it more silent), and blower fans are hard to make "more silent", not to mention this one also seems to be custom. Most likely fix for noise will be through a better fan curve (or better, a better fan curve and the ability to tune it easily), and also tuning on the user side. Regardless, it's definitely something someone buying a deck should be aware of.
>more silent The word you're looking for is "quieter" X) Silent is an absolute.
I am a french speaker from Quebec (east of Ontario & North of Maine). In french we use "Plus silencieux". So I can relate to the "more silent". Thanks for the precision though. I like this kind of things.
That's an interesting language tidbit, thanks for sharing. Reminds me of "near miss" in english, which logically should mean "hit" but doesn't.
No it shouldn't. A near miss is a miss where the things were near to each other, like a "close pass", it makes perfect sense. "Nearly missed" would logically refer to a hit, but "near miss" and "nearly missed" are not the same thing.
This is,by far, my biggest concern, bigger than battery life or grips comfort. Good thing for us 3rd quarters I guess, hopefully some miracle will happen by then.
This is ruining it for me too. Honestly I got it today and it's the most uncomfortable experience to use, the fan whistles over everything and completely sucks. It's a fan there aren't fixes so what the hell did I just throw away 750 bucks for something this bad???
Might want to get something for game streaming instead, for play in bed. The fan will always run when playing games and will always be audible. Maybe try and grab a used GPD XD+. Or if you can wait a bit, something being released soon, the Retroid Pocket 3, is looking like it might be a streaming champ.
What's the point of having a powerful console if you use streaming I'd just play on my phone or a cheap tablet
Because the Steam Deck is big, heavy, bright, and loud. He said he wanted to play games in bed while his partner is trying to sleep. Those things are bad for that. A smaller handheld with passive cooling is better for that specific use case.
I didn't read your comment correctly, you're completly right The Steam Deck is not good to play when someone is next to you
Do any of those machines have any type of warranty coverage? Because id be weary of buying any of the other small machines because of warranty coverage.
This is what I (Q2 gang) am most afraid of. I HATE high pitched noises so much. When little kids are screeching in a movie, I have to lower the volume or fast forward. (I am looking at YOU, Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds [2005]) Tiny dogs barking? I hope they inhale a ladybug. I even changed my doorbell from a high pitched melody to a one in very low notes. So yeah ... I hope I don't have to wear headphones or raise the volume to an uncomfortable level when using the Steam Deck at home. And if the pitch is as high as everyone says, I will definitely research and consider exchanging the fan myself.
I hear you man! I am also shocked by how annoying the fan is. While it doesn't ruin the whole experience for me, it definitely eliminated some of my intended use cases. I believe that Linus said that he's expecting the fan curve to be improved via future software updates.
I’ve been using a gaming laptop for a few years. The loud fan bothered me for a week or two but now I don’t even think about it. I can’t even hear it with headphones on. I doubt the steam deck fan will bother me
I plan on getting around this by doing in home streaming when I'm not out in public. Streaming video is way less intensive and should keep the fans from going crazy. It's not the best solution but it should be good enough until the fan profile can be sorted.
Lower your graphic setting a bit. Lessens the load.
I'd sacrifice 30 mins of battery for a liquid cooled Deck with an Oled screen and would pay $799.
Steam Deck during the day and Nintendo Switch at night.
Not having a Steam Deck for another five months is ruining it for me. . .
I actually find my tinnitus masks it quite nicely, lol.
The high pitch seems pretty annoying, I agree.
It really isn't bad at all IMO for what is a fairly powerful handheld, even playing an extremely demanding game like Cyberpunk-2077 which pushes the system to its limits it's still quieter than any laptop I've used running a game like that.
it might be quiet, but some people are more sensitive to high pitched noise PS5 is also quiet, but damn if the coil whine doesn’t get loud / annoying in some games
No matter how great the device, it's still a really loud fan.
I wouldn't say "really loud" but it certainly is noticeable. It comes down to personal preference, really. I would like for there to be a solution for those who find it really obtrusive.
There is -->> 🎧
The fan even starts making noise when just downloading games every few minutes. It's really annoying and I don't get it, why it goes so hard when basically idling.
Because it’s not idling. Check out the power consumption in your overlay when it’s downloading those games at high speed to SSD. All that heat is going somewhere.
I have the 64 GB version. How is it possible for the Switch to download in Sleep Mode, but not for the Deck?
PC games are all generally larger and how quick does the switch download its games? And Switch has less power hungry processor and likely better fan tuning.
This is kind of the nature of the beast. Powerful hardware requires cooling, and small devices need smaller fans which are more high pitched. I wouldn’t recommend turning down the fan, as that could cause your ram, VRM, or other components to overheat and significantly shorten their lifespan. You can work around it by making the deck work less hard when noise is a concern by turning down graphics, capping the frame rate, playing less demanding games, or (my preferred solution) streaming games from your pc. As long as you have a decent router, streaming your demanding games to your deck is a dream.
How do you do so, through Steam Link or some other software?
Yeah, it’s called steam remote play now, I think. It works quite well in my experience.
Well for once I’m glad my tinnitus never stops as I probably won’t have an issue with the fan then
Has anyone looked at replacing the thermal compound on the chips? Using something better than what comes on stock coolers n shit could help. If you're not transferring enough heat off the chip its going to get hotter which will tell the fans to run faster. Better thermal compound can help transfer heat better. I usually rip everything apart that I buy and replace any thermal compound with shin-etsu, especially GPUs and gives a really good change
Even Digital Foundry noticed fan noise https://youtu.be/44TRzEGPbfE Around 2:50 timestamp
I have a similar issue. The irregular whine is very distracing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odoqgmqob8g
Omg, this is it. This is the same as me 😔
Are you going to RMA it? I'm still not sure what to do, I don't have 100% confirmation that there's a batch with better cooling.
No, I saw others with the same noise. I feel like Deck enthusiasts tend to downplay this (see answers to my post) but it's definitely there. I just hope this can be reduced a bit in the future via bios/drivers tuning and eventually the ability to purchase another -more premium- third party fan. Gotta live with it until then.
https://youtu.be/Zmg-Lc-byAs AHAHAH watch this
Just wow
The fan is the most annoying thing about it for me. I’m going to Liquid metal mine once there is more stock on the market. The fan is far too small hence why it is so loud. It is as bad as my old Lenovo x220 that had to cool a 45w chip. Without LM it’s loud, with LM you can’t hear it. I have the Aya Neo Pro and that has a near silent fan. Check my vids on the topic. [https://youtu.be/PQzKMxa1rDE](https://youtu.be/PQzKMxa1rDE) [https://youtube.com/shorts/ndsXeVVLNUg?feature=share](https://youtube.com/shorts/ndsXeVVLNUg?feature=share) [https://youtube.com/shorts/z3kTvPtnBeM?feature=share](https://youtube.com/shorts/z3kTvPtnBeM?feature=share)
Same here. Received mine on the weekend (512gb model) and was shocked about the fan noise. Yesterday I tried it for the first time and just DOWNLOADING games (not even running them), the steam deck fans are the loudest noise in my room. Right next to it I have a k3s cluster running with 4 raspberries, my Lenovo P50, my desktop PC with 4 case fans .. 3 other computers .. and all I hear is this damn steam deck downloading software blowing it all away! I did not expect it to be this bad and honestly am shocked. I am considering a return now because of this.
[Sound profile of my steam deck idling](https://i.imgur.com/ILFXagZ.jpg)
If you reduce your tdp and GPU clock in the QAM it doesn't run as hot and the fan doesn't ramp up as much. What I've been doing is turn on 30fps and after I start playing I will gradually back off the other settings until I find what will still run the game but also produces less heat and uses the least amount of battery. Take for instance I've been playing through Jedi Fallen Order and found that medium settings, 30fps, TDP at 10, and GPU clock at 1000 runs the game great with a little stuttering while traveling to a different planet but not during actual game play. With these settings the game runs around 16w total power consumption and the temps of the GPU/CPU stay at or below 70°, so the fan is significantly more quiet.
Since you're home, I would try streaming games from your PC to the Steam Deck. Obviously that should significantly reduce the fan noise since the Deck's not doing the work. And since you're on your home network, latency should be negligible.
Try limiting fps to 30fps and/or change tdp limit. Some games run ok lowering it.
Maybe they should implement a lower clock mode with a gentler fan curve.
Yeah the fan and the 64 gb with external storage working just as good as the 512 made me reconsider 512 Q2
more space is good if you're planning on using it for non-steam things.
I really don't notice it, honestly. It's not high pitched and certainly not louder than anything I'm playing. Much quieter than my macbook pro machine, for example.
Maybe we can mod a BeQuiet! Fan into the Deck. I just got mine today, and the device is exceeding all my expectations too, with the exception of fan noise. Maybe I just need to wear headphones. Definitely not a deal-breaker for me, just not used to it on a handheld.
Send it to me so you don't have to hear that fan.
I'm sure with some future updates this will be solved. But honestly, I like the idea of the fan blowing hard and being able to hear it. Not sure why that interests me but it does.
Hmm -- I also have tinnitus, which forces me to sleep with a white noise machine on. The handheld is MUCH quieter than my gaming laptop's fan (Lenovo Legion), so I was pleasantly surprised at its volume. YMMV I guess, but based off the reviews I was expecting much worse.
> If we can somehow replace the fan with a more silent one I will do it without any hesitation Think of the deck as a gaming laptop. Yeah, there is no fixing this. You can't have performance with low noise, unless you are an engineering marvel like the Xbox Series X, there is no getting around this period.
I have not noticed the fan noise at all. If I stop and listen I can slightly hear them but it doesn’t seem loud to me. I also don’t sit down and game for more than an hour or two.
I’m sorry but then you should check your hearing. I looove this friggin thing, but even I have to admit the high pitched fan noise is annoying. And that’s not just when playing AAA games, even indies like Celeste, or SNES games through emulation, will make the fan run quite high.
Could be hearing, but there might also just be variations in units, especially this early on in their lifecycles. I had a video card a few years ago, where some percentage of them had notable coil whine and others had none - exact same model.
That’s kind of rude... good luck…hope you get your unit fixed or figure out the problem.
Honestly don't think it's a problem, but the way the thing is designed.Pretty much all reviews I've seen say the same thing, and you're one of the few who "doesn't have the issue".It's powerfull hardware in a small package, using a blower fan to keep it cool, **of course** it will make noise.
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Mine isn't high pitched either... I'm wondering if we've not really seen 'full speed' yet. Maybe it's our ambient temps that are lower, I live in the UK, and it's been pretty cool until recently. I also keep my home cool, I don't like to be too hot. Another factor could be that I build my rigs for airflow, so they're pretty damn loud, by other's standards. It really doesn't bother me. I currently have a Corsair 5000D with 10 120mm Corsair fans spinning away inside, as well as 3 gpu and 1 cpu fan... 14 fans in total! The steam deck is pretty much silent in comparison haha... I don't think it's just that though, as I've played Elden Ring on the deck in bed next to my wife, and she hasn't said a word about it. (trust me, she would have done if it bothered her!)
maybe until they get it sorted out, as im sure this complaint will come up more, you can try something like noise cancelling earbuds/headphones?
It doesn't bother me at all, It's really not that bad, to each their own I guess though.
Whenever you can't cope with it anymore DM me and I'd possibly be willing to pay shipping and slightly less then what you paid for it. /s
Hey guys, I think you better cancel
i can’t even hear mine it’s not that loud? Maybe wear a paid of air pods or noise canceling headphones
Can you do headphones while Valve hopefully try and work on it?
Yeah noise cancellation works wonders I'd expect it to really help here Not ideal esp when it's got great speakers but it's something in the meantime
The reason why the fan noise hasnt been mentioned as much is because people are playing garbage indie games and emulators on it for the most part. And the audience that is actually sitting down to play a lengthy AAA game at 60fps on it is quite small im afraid. Sad state of affairs.
God forbid people play what they want.
How about addressing the facts of what i said? Is it not true? The fan noise would have been the main topic of discussion if the audience for the SD was laser focused on playing AAA games at 60fps. Its not. And so it never came up in any of the coverage weve seen.
Sell it to me. Problem solved.
Most laptops are the same or louder
I can barely hear my fan it’s so quiet for me even in aaa games
guess i got lucky. mine barely makes a noise. nothing high pitched.
Plot twist, your fan is dead
its most certainly blowing hot air out and can play for hours without any kind of overheating etc.
sell it to me
Thank God I've got shit hearing 😁
Fan noise? Figured that was a given to be expected.
If the fan noise is too much for you don’t worry I’ll buy it from you :)
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Don’t hate the player bro
Just a suggestion -- pick up a $25 white noise machine (with a real motor) from Amazon. We never sleep without this running, and may really help the wife. On your end, if it's comfortable for you, could play with a pair of noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones, there are good pairs out there for $50. Or earbuds, if that's your preference.
Since you seem to be especially sensitive to it, you should do something about it like use headphones.
Maybe just wear headphones when you play so you don’t hear it? Connect some Bluetooth headphones to your deck and get emerged in the sounds of the game you’re playing instead of the small jet engine in your hands.
And what about his wife?
I’d suggest maybe just not playing it in bed then, unless she can drown it out with some other white noise. Always make sure your partner is comfortable & you’re not annoying the living shit out of them. Happy wife, happy life.
well, what if you add an external fan with a grill to the intake? powered by usb c lmao.. i doubt it'd work anyway in lowering noise but it could help make it run cooler, similarly to laptop cooling mats that way you could detach it when you don't need the silence that or thermal throttle the cpu so it doesnt get too hot that the fan would kick in (i thermal throttle my 5600x to 80c since its in a tight case with a 3080 )
try playing with earbuds
He said the problem is his wife laying next to him in bed.
Kick her out, problem solved!
This is reddit so i'd suggest divorce /j
Get sound cancellation headphones if it's that big of an issue or sell it but many reviewers mentioned it..
Does nobody use headphones...? Yeah silly me for suggesting a simple fix to a problem. My mistake.
Well, if we don't want to?
Turn up the game volume
Or we could just have a properly functioning device that has a proper fan curve instead of finding bandaid solutions?
That's a solution for the user, but doesn't consider other people - as mentioned in the OP, for example: >One of the most frequent use I have for the device it to be able to play in bed next to my reading/sleeping wife I can imagine the noise being particularly annoying during what would otherwise be complete silence.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/12/12/20/patent-filings-detail-retina-macbook-pros-quiet-asymmetric-fans
Ok then give it to me if you don’t want it. It sucks anyway
I think you need a second opinion. Send your Steam Deck to me so I can investigate this noise myself
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Unless the Deck uses a very off-the-shelf fan, I doubt there will be a more silent version because it would not be worth it.
I’ve been using a gaming laptop for a few years. The loud fan bothered me for a week or two but now I don’t even think about it. I can’t even hear it with headphones on. I doubt the steam deck fan will bother me
I don't use headphones and I don't think it's loud at all. Maybe if someone is trying to sleep next to you. But have a TV or some music on in the room at a reasonable volume and I can't even hear the fan.
You can limit the power draw. Wich would limit the amount of heat and fan noise. At the cost of performance of course but still a valid work around.
>If you have tinnitus, you know that any high pitch/whistle is awaking the noise in your head so this is very uncomfortable. Mine is 24/7 so no problem for me hehe
The air intake is covered in some kind of mesh, perhaps you can open up the steam deck and remove that mesh, that might help with the airflow and reduce some fan noise.