Almost the entire northern hemisphere is suffering from a heat wave, with the United Kingdom putting out alerts as they have exceeded 40º C for the first time in their history. A few days ago, Nintendo warned that It is not recommended to use the Nintendo Switch in a heat wave, and Valve has replicated the warning, this time targeting Steam Deck users.
Valve has issued a warning regarding the use of the Steam Deck in environments with extreme temperatures, in response to the heatwave and record highs experienced by the UK and Europe. As happened with Nintendo's announcement regarding the use of Ninetndop Switch in a heat wave, although it is not certain that it will be damaged, playing during heat waves may cause the system to suddenly turn off at a certain point. to prevent overheating of internal components.
The Steam Deck is also not a good idea to beat the heat
A tweet from the Steam Deck account reminds owners that the device works optimally between 0º C and 35º C. If the internal temperature exceeds this figure, a slowdown may occur.
Throttling is where the Steam Deck's APU limits its speed and therefore its performance level. This reduces performance and efficiency in order to prevent overheating and protect yourself.
The specific point at which throttling occurs with respect to APU temperature is 100º C. If it reaches 105º C, the Steam Deck will turn off to prevent the silicon from being damaged if it gets too hot for a long period of time. Once again, it is an inevitability to make portable products, which must be compact for use and therefore are more sensitive to the heat waves that we are experiencing and that are coming in the coming years.
Does this mean you shouldn't be using a Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch this summer? It's not a ban, but yes a warning not to be surprised if the system suddenly shuts down or is slower than normal. It is a system that comes in all CPUs so that they are automatically deactivated once a certain critical temperature arrives. It happens that portable systems are more prone to heat and therefore there are these warnings to users.
Source: TechRadar
