I’m getting a 64gb steam deck probably next month. It will be used as a portable console and a desktop PC for work (desktop reliant websites). The most heavy game I’ll play is Stray (no 1st person shooters, MMOs or huge open worlds) with an hour or two of play time a day.
I plan to get a 3rd party dock, a screen protector and a case. I will wait until around black friday for those.
Is it necessary to get a ssd? Or will the 128gb micro SD card I have will be okay for one downloaded game at a time?
Main issue is the heat. Will a case make the SD hotter? Will having a JSAUX backplate or a fan matter to keep the console cooler during playing? From what I’ve read, people say the backplates will still get heated after so many minutes of playing. The fans seems to put vaccume pressure on the actual fan and will cause it to stop working in the near future. I want to prioritize coolness before getting everything else.
Don’t worry about the deck’s cooling, the built in fan is fine. It will work fine with a case as well as long as the case doesn’t cover the vents.
It’s possible to get by with a 64gb deck and microSD cards, but it can be difficult. Even if you don’t install any games to the internal storage, things like shader cache will still be saved to the internal storage and can fill it up. A faster, larger SSD is really nice. Opening the deck isn’t very hard (just make sure you use a proper size screwdriver, make sure it’s fully inserted in the screws before turning them, and don’t overtighten when you put them back).