Steam Deck Tear-Down: Build Quality, Disassembly, & VRM Analysis

Our Valve Steam Deck tear-down and full disassembly shows all the parts, PCBs, cooling design, and talks about component-level details of the VRM and ICs. Sponsor: EVGA X570 Dark on Amazon: https://geni.us/C8Tq GN 3D Coaster Packs are now on back-order! https://store.gamersnexus.net/product... (This amazing 4-pack of fully custom coasters that we designed and made uses high-quality materials and vibrant, PC-centric designs that you won't get anywhere else. It also supports the weeks of testing we do on content like this! Last time, stock sold out in about 36 hours. Make sure you back-order soon!) If you missed it, we have a full hardware review of the Steam Deck on the channel already:    • Valve Steam Deck Hardware Review & Analysi...   (WATCH THIS VIDEO for full details on thermal design, airflow design, power, gaming benchmarks, and more on the Valve Steam Deck) Get an anti-static electronics GN ‘Volt’ Modmat, in stock and shipping NOW: https://store.gamersnexus.net/product... GN 10-piece Toolkits are IN STOCK & SHIPPING NOW: https://store.gamersnexus.net/product... We also went through the specs of the Steam Deck here:    • Valve Steam Deck Console Specs, LP-DDR5, P...   Watch our factory tour series:    • Electroplating & Nickel Plating Factory To...   Like our content? Please consider becoming our Patron to support us:   / gamersnexus   ​ This tear-down of the Steam Deck talks about the battery, the fan and replacement fans (wasn’t easy to find!), heatsink design, screw placement, MOSFET, inductor, voltage regulator, and battery charging IC specs, and more. We’ll cover the VRM current capabilities in this as well, with a lesson on how they work and what they do (for anyone new to this stuff to get introduced). Our hardware review of the Steam Deck is already live on the channel and covered everything else, like battery life, but our focus here is “repairability,” access, overall build quality, and design details. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Steam Deck Teardown & Component Analysis 01:24 - Walk Around of the Steam Deck 02:12 - Steam Deck vs. Switch vs. Switch OLED Comparison 02:53 - Opening Up the Steam Deck 06:00 - Basics of the Thermal Design (See Other Video) 12:17 - Explaining a VRM & Why It Matters 13:45 - Power Component Analysis 14:58 - Power Capabilities 16:15 - VRM Layout & Configuration 17:50 - Teaching Moment for These Parts 19:02 - Battery Charging Circuit Quality 20:56 - MORE TEAR-DOWN 22:10 - So Much Thermal Paste 24:40 - Cables & Connections 28:30 - Controller Boards 30:06 - Conclusion: Build Quality, Shortcomings, & Highlights ** Please like, comment, and subscribe for more! ** Links to Amazon and Newegg are typically monetized on our channel (affiliate links) and may return a commission of sales to us from the retailer. This is unrelated to the product manufacturer. Any advertisements or sponsorships are disclosed within the video ("this video is brought to you by") and above the fold in the description. We do not ever produce paid content or "sponsored content" (meaning that the content is our idea and is not funded externally aside from whatever ad placement is in the beginning) and we do not ever charge manufacturers for coverage. Follow us in these locations for more gaming and hardware updates: t:   / gamersnexus   f:   / gamersnexus   w: http://www.gamersnexus.net/ Host, Test Lead, Writing: Steve Burke Testing: Patrick Lathan Research: Patrick Stone Video: Andrew Coleman Video Production: Keegan Gallick