Valve issues Steam Deck heat warning: Ambient temperature should not exceed 35℃

Recently, many parts of the world have been affected by high-temperature weather. Recently, the World Meteorological Organization issued a warning that this round of high-temperature weather will last at least until next week and may affect many peoples. Summer heatwaves continue to affect not only humans but devices of all kinds.

Many European countries are facing more extreme high-temperature weather. For example, the temperature in the UK has exceeded 40 ℃, setting a record. For this reason, Valve officially issued a high-temperature warning, suggesting that Steam Deck holders should not play games in the hot outdoors. Valve says that the Steam Deck performs best at ambient temperatures ranging from 0°C to 35°C, and if the temperature exceeds the limit, the built-in protection mechanism of the Steam Deck will limit its performance.

The AMD custom SoC on the Steam Deck runs at 100°C without failure, but once the limit is exceeded, the Steam Deck will force it to run at a lower frequency. In the worst case, the Steam Deck will cut power completely to prevent the device from overheating and damaging the device.

Valve is not the first device manufacturer to issue a similar warning. About a week ago, Nintendo issued a similar warning, advising players not to play the Nintendo Switch in an outdoor high-temperature environment, with a maximum safe ambient temperature of 35°C. Nintendo also recommends that players should clean the air inlet and air outlet of the Nintendo Switch and leave at least 10cm of space around the perimeter.

In the hot summer, it is best for players to go back indoors if they want to play games.