Now that my Steam Deck LCD has been relieved of his duties as a daily driver desktop PC, I finally went ahead and replaced the Delta fan with a Huaying one. It turned out to be relatively easy to do ; and lo and behold, it is indeed quieter.

Recent adopters may or may not know there was a medium-sized kerfuffle about disparities in noise profiles of early Steam Deck units. It was proved and narrowed down to a difference between 2 fan models (see Gamers Nexus detailed analysis).

Obviously the one I got was a “bad” one, emitting a high pitched noise when running at full speed. I did not find it unbearable but it was still not ideal, particularly when using the SD in quiet environments.

Took me 2 years to get to the point where I figured it was an acceptable risk to attempt the replacement. How many of you did the same and kicked the Delta out of your unit ?

  • Zoot@reddthat.com
    2·
    5 months ago

    Doesn’t sound all too wild to me, except the keeping the deck on for extended periods of time… Definitely a good idea to restart it more than once a week… Hell, im very confident I have to power cycle it enough that I won’t make it to a week without a restart lol.

    I am constantly switching between desktop and gaming mode, and I like to power cycle it occasionally when doing so. Primarily to prevent any bugs from popping up

    • NeryK@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      1·
      5 months ago

      I have noticed that trying to return to gaming mode after a long period in desktop mode triggered a reboot more often than not. My impression was that Steam updates that occur in desktop mode would trigger a restart, when attempting to return to gaming mode. That made the SD feel janky, with long restart times.

      Don’t get me wrong, I found the SD to be a very versatile device, priced very competitively (compared to low-end gaming laptops for example). I will likely buy its successor if and when it comes out. As a portable gaming device, it’s the best deal around. As a daily driver PC, it’s okay but not great.

      • Zoot@reddthat.com
        2·
        5 months ago

        I completely got rid of my pc thanks to this haha. I mean its my media device, I play all my games, I even do dnd from it! With my Wacom its perfect for design/drawing all that fun stuff.

        I understand there are a few use cases that don’t work great on the deck, but personally… Its the best. My deck is getting a little old now, the control sticks are starting to wear out, and yet it still runs just as well as day 1. I will be buying a “replacement” soon, and likely will be able to still sell my old one for 100$ or so.