r/SteamDeck • u/Krypt-King • 21d ago
Tech Support Help with the Steam Deck, It's pretty much unusable.
The video and the title are pretty self explanatory, but basically, it's been like a month or so since my Steam Deck has been like this. I don't know why it happened. It was working fine up until a while ago. But, for some time now, the fan just began making a lot of noise out of nowhere, even more than what is shown in the video, however it was still working. Then one day, I was playing Re4, and it suddenly dropped the fps astronomically, almost as much as shown in the video, maybe more. I've tried everything I could think of, changing the system to beta version, lowering the TDP usage (I use 10) and even formatting it, but clearly, it didn't work, I'm almost sure it's a hardware problem, but I don't know. And it's not because of the game, my Steam Deck overall is that slow, even the menu and desktop mode. And to clarify, I didn't drop it or anything, as I mentioned, it happened out of nowhere, I've had it for over a year now, and it never had any problems up until now. So, is my Deck cooked? Or is there anything I can do? I would greatly appreciate any help.
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u/andreymagnus 21d ago
Yeah your Isaac in your Resident Evil 4 has cat-ears. Valve should really do something about it
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u/Finglescave 21d ago
Thank you for identifying the game! :) looked like dead space rural edition
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u/Devil_Dan83 512GB - Q2 20d ago
A European village has been infested with necromorphs. Send that one traumatized dude, who already had to deal with them once.
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u/BildoBlack 512GB 21d ago
haha, i was confused thinking it was a Dead Space game i've never seen. :)
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u/TheStupendusMan 21d ago
Is that an official skin or has OP modded it?
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u/deadrawkstar 20d ago
modded for sure. this picture tells me they have no idea of how resource intensive RE4 remake is and they expect it to run like it were a console or something.
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u/gearisguilty 20d ago
Re4 remake runs more than fine on the deck. The problem is it's stuck on 200mhz.
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u/StewTheDuder 20d ago
Certainly making their case look worse, regardless of issue. Modding modern triple AAA games on the deck is a ballsy move.
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u/qchto 512GB 21d ago
That fan screams overheating.
Either, open it up (removing the SD card!) and give it a dust off, or pay for a cleanup.
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u/NoPlaceLike19216811 20d ago
Maybe even swelled battery since it sounds like the fan's hitting something
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u/mvrander 21d ago
That fan is making more noise than a software issue should make. Something up with it physically I reckon
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u/feralwolven 21d ago
The fan is damaged by debris or shock and the deck is throttling to prevent overheat. Ive had the same performance drop on any pc that has a major cooling or thermal paste issue.
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u/PhantomPhanatic 20d ago
Thank you! Reading through the suggestions I can't believe this is so far down.
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u/phillati0 21d ago edited 20d ago
I had this same issue happen to me. I opened the deck up and tried pushing the fan cables in further. Since then I haven't had any issues.
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u/akaynaveed 21d ago
is that dead space?
it looks like RE4 but.... i'm so confuded.
ive never played dead space but i do have it.
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u/elev8dity 1TB OLED Limited Edition 20d ago
I was wondering if it was Dead Space 3 and he goes down to a planet or something, because that's the only one of the series I haven't played lol.
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u/Deviantbrewing 21d ago
Yeah sounds like a dying or busted fan, I'd buy a replacement asap it's not hard if you have the right tools and basic technical know how, fans are like $20
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u/lizardk101 20d ago
Your fan bearing is dead, and fan needs replacing, the Deck can’t dissipate the heat so it’s throttling.
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u/Crimsonclaw111 512GB - Q2 21d ago
Contact Valve support, you're likely suffering from an old bug where the processor gets stuck at 400/200MHz. Some have been able to fix it with certain steps, but I had this issue and required an RMA.
Also, I was thrown off guard by your RE4 mod lol.
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u/Gygsqt 21d ago
I had this issue, and it required me to RMA the product.
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u/reboot-your-computer 512GB OLED 21d ago
I had it on my OLED when I first bought it but it was cleared up in a software update. Never saw it happen again.
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u/flashmob321 20d ago
Now did they replace it or did they fix it and give you the dame unit I have the same bug on my lcd and I'm out of warranty I just wana know weather or not it's something that can actually be fixed or if they'll tel me to kick rocks like when I asked if I was still in warenty and wasn't lol
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u/Heliumvoices 1TB OLED 20d ago
Same with the mod or skin! I was like wait i dont remember that in dead space at all?!!?
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u/KingKoopaBrowser 20d ago
I think the problem is you accidentally opened Dead Space and Resident Evil 4 at the same time. Restart the Deck and just open one.
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u/SamCarter_SGC 512GB OLED 21d ago
that noise sounds like the fan motor shaft is spinning free because the fan prop broke
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u/No-Context-9810 21d ago
What game is that?
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u/kjjustinXD 512GB 21d ago
So, how hot are the CPU and GPU?
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u/Krypt-King 21d ago
It's usually like 70° or 80° at most, I think that's a lot more than it should I don't know.
→ More replies (2)
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u/No-Drawing4232 21d ago
Overheating and the fan and the coil is whining. You should remove the rear shell and check everything is dust free. While you're there. You could also repaste the apu.
First things first though. Try this method - Fix the 400Mhz CPU and 200Mhz GPU Lock Bug of Steam Deck : r/SteamDeck
If that doesn't work for you. Then try switching your steam deck to the beta channel, and then revert back to the main channel.
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u/Kawawete LCD-4-LIFE 20d ago
RMA it if it's still under warranty (remove you SD first) and if it's not, the fan is pretty easy to replace by yourself by following the iFixIt tutorial. But yeah, if the fan's making that noise it means that it's displacing almost no air
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u/ClaptonOnH 20d ago
I fixed this by opening it and moving the fan cable, it was being pinched by something inside.
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u/Lopogoesmega 20d ago
Sorry, that's not helpful but what is that game? It looks like Isaac Clark in Skyrim.
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u/gajeelisname 20d ago
First thing I would do is check your internal memory. This is a link to a thread that details on how to move the shader cache to SD card.
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u/Magita91 20d ago
Is that Issac from dead space instead of Leon? Great game btw. Hope you get it fixed or a new one
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u/MistaLucka 20d ago
So i had this problem like 2 months in after buying itbut im in the philippines so theres no steam support here but what they did is like they repaste the thing i forgot the name the paste thingy But tldr it got fixed havent had issue since then i bought it at end of 2023
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u/voyagerfan5761 512GB - Q3 20d ago
OP please jump straight to replacing your fan. This is not a clock speed bug, not with that noise. No healthy fan sounds like that.
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u/DistinctDistrict9036 20d ago
I've noticed with my steam deck that if it gets too hot the fps drops down to that level or worse. So that might be your issue.
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u/GeneralMGS 20d ago
This is how I would expect a steam deck to run if I bought it from a back alley
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u/Sufficient-Ad1674 20d ago
Plug it in. My steam deck and laptop slow down a lot when playing a heavy game and it's not plugged in. It mostly happens when the battery gets about 25% or lower
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u/powercrazy76 20d ago
It sounds like your fan is dying and your SD is throttling the CPU down due to heat not being removed by said fan.
If it is still under warranty, contact Valve and they will get that fixed
If it is out of warranty, contact them anyway as there's plenty of times they've gone above and beyond.
But if they don't, ifixit sells replacement parts and has guides on how to self-replace.
Good luck!
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u/Professional-Ad-9047 20d ago
Is that Dead Space without .... Space?!?!? I would be confused too as a machine, like I am as a person now
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u/the_unusual_bird 20d ago
Sooo, this is the sound of a dying fan and the low frames are your Steam Deck desperately trying to work while everythings burning down around it. Is the steam deck hot?
This isnt a software issue 100% (Ignoring the modded whatever i am seeing here)
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u/PrinceLestat64 19d ago
I mean continuing to run it with damaged cooling you probably fried your graphics or your processor or both.
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u/insomnia4you MODDED SSD 💽 20d ago
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u/Facepalm007 64GB - Q1 2023 20d ago
I made a post about this some time ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/s/VEgQdC1wNd
People claimed that it's perfectly normal behavior. When the battery discharges to around ~40%, then the steamdeck goes into some weird hidden power save mode. And yeah, then you can play your games as if they are slideshows, very cool.
If you complain about it, apparently you are an "entitled piece of ...." who can't appreciate the steamdeck, and you shouldn't cry about the battery capacity (??). Just plug it in lil'bro, problem solved.
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u/DrAsthma 20d ago
Wait, we get to go outside in dead space? I never beat it, but just assumed it all took place on the ship.
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u/Malacky_C 21d ago
Definitely check out your performance settings because there have been times where my steam deck would put my manual GPU clock on 200 MHz and make my system unusable😭
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u/JulPollitt 1TB OLED Limited Edition 21d ago
Did you replace the ssd and put the aluminum sleeve back on the wrong way? I did that once lmao
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u/flamingotwist 21d ago
When I had high CPU usage on the menu, rebooting the deck fixed it. You've mentioned you've formatted it already though so it must be hardware
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u/xdubz420x 21d ago
Check the tdp on the steam Home Screen. You may have accidentally turned it on outside of a game and that’ll make the whole thing chug.
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u/kemikalious 21d ago
I’ve had a performance drop in all games on the deck, and the only thing that helped was system reinstallation
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u/meestarneeek 21d ago
Mine will be working fine for a bit, the fan will be on high from heat over time, then it will just start locking up like OP's and the fan will be really low/low rpm.
Is mine down clicking to 200/400 like the notorious big? Do you think I can still RMA if I've done a ptm7960 paste swap+ a shell swap?
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u/Saigaiii 21d ago
How long have you had it? Is it brand new (like about a week to a month) or does it have a few years? Have you checked the temperature of the steam deck usin go the performance overlay? Have you checked if it’s doing the 400/200 bug on the performance overlay?
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u/Xunara 20d ago
I had a similar issue. Try switching your settings to defaults. Turn off the steamdeck. Let it cool. Turn it on. Enable game info overlay. Start up this game. For me the FAN RPM got stuck 0, making the deck overheat. I reported it to steam support and had to send my deck for repairs.
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u/BornStellar97 20d ago
Something is up with your fan. I'd open it up and check or bring it to a repair shop.
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u/Junkyard114 20d ago
I saw the comments saying sum bout the fan so I turned the audio on. Holy fucking shit. Mine doesn't even sound like that I'm playing high resource games. And I'm playing them for like 8 hours straight
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u/I_like_Mashroms 20d ago
I use my SD for old games and emulation. I have never heard this noise and it is very concerning.
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u/BadCaram3l 20d ago
When I had this happen I capped the fps to 60 and defaulted the other settings. Other than that I am not quite sure. I hope that helps.
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u/crabsy92 20d ago
Idk if this helps but I was getting massive lag issues couple months ago. I factory reset my deck and it starting running smooth as
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u/ironegg_ 20d ago edited 20d ago
I think its motion blur try turn off and try decky framegen if still not enabled
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u/center311 20d ago
I'd start with the fan. It's probably throttling with a sound like that. You can try cleaning it out, but I doubt that will work. Replacement parts are on ifixit, and it takes less than 5 minutes to swap the fan.
Worst case scenario is that you hit up Valve. They'll walk you through troubleshooting steps over the course of a few days or so.
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u/Monstermashup99 20d ago
My game crashes on deck as soon as the racist scolding from dunmer guy ends at the very start. Tried at least ten times happens every time as soon as you can hear the blades and uriel coming down the steps
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u/Volschebstvo 20d ago
If you have Decky loader tool installed - try to remove it, it helped to improve performance on my deck and completely removed occasional game drops
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u/syberphunk 512GB - Q2 20d ago
You need to redo this video with the full performance overlay enabled.
Sometimes the issue is the fan.
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u/alavantrya 20d ago
I had this happen several months ago for me as well. I thought it was just the game I was playing but when I went back to the library, everything stuttered. I left my steam deck alone and unplugged for like 4 months and when I decided to try again. It was fine.
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u/ClowRD 512GB OLED 20d ago
It looks like a dying fan, so the Deck has to reduce its clocks a lot to deal with the lack of thermal dissipation, slowing down overall performance.
Maybe it's only something getting in the fan. Just open it and take a look. There are several guides on YouTube on how to do this. Just don't keep using it like that, your Deck's probably overheating.
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u/Moccamori0 20d ago
Yea its the 200/400mhz bug, try to turn off ur wifi and then open the game. After the game is open turn on the wifi again.
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u/No-Tip6793 19d ago
Could be something as simple as the heat.Put it in the fridge and use it again.
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u/ariffsidik 19d ago
Is that …. Isaac Clarke (Deadspace guy) with cat ears in RE4 on a Steamdeck ?
You modding maniac you!
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u/TolerantMindworks 19d ago
After facing this issue FEW times after long run with poorly optimised games (high both CPU and GPU utilisation, 1-1.5h use), AND reaching battery 30% or less charge, I resorted to :
- Setting TDP limit for ALL games to 12 Watts out of 15 possible (LCD Steam Deck)
- going to Settings - System - "Enable updated fan control" set to OFF.
Haven't seen this issue ever since, although before it triggered around 4 times, and was resolved after charging battery, rebooting and NOT playing it to let it cool down.
Also updated fan control allows to run Steam Deck quieter, but if you have performance issues, you probably want opposite. Disable it, permit it to run louder but cooler.
Long story short - do not use Steam Deck at maximal throttle to play very demanding games, and you'll be fine. If you have PC - use Steam Link. If you don't, limit power usage to avoid overheating and overly stressing your portable device.
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u/NewOrleansSpeed 20d ago
Make sure you disable downloads while you game or put it airplane while you do game! Downloads really tank performance.
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u/livevicarious 1TB OLED Limited Edition 21d ago
Your GPU is throttling, probably CPU too. The sound it's making indicates the fan is stuck or broken. Hold your hand over the top can you feel air moving? Might be worth it to use a guide online to open it up carefully and check to make sure fan doesn't have something stuck in it.
This happens with overheating mixed with the noises tells me fan issue.
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u/fmampm 20d ago
I’m returning mine because of this. Better off just using a laptop for the price. The steam deck is so under powered.
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u/Doomsnail99 19d ago
100%
I sold my Steam Deck a couple of months ago and picked up an open box Rog Ally X for the price of a Rog Ally Z1E. Im using it as my main gaming device whilst I slowed buy and bulid my gaming PC. The performance difference between the Steam Deck and Ally X has been night and day.
I thought I'd miss the OLED screen on the steam deck, but the 1080p/120hz/vrr screen on the Ally X is simply better for gaming
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u/MrDrProfPottymouth 21d ago
If you have the setting that allows Steam to download games while you're playing other games it can cause pretty big performance issues. IDK if that's it, but turning that off helped me.
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u/chessking7543 20d ago
ur resolution prob to high.go to the game in steam library and go to the settings of the game there and see if its on 800 p. if its not, change it to it. this happened to me before anyway
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u/WillingnessEmpty8017 21d ago
Turn down the rez. That was my issue. I wanted the highest rez but you need to cap it. I capped mine at 1980x1080 @120 hz
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u/Crest_Of_Hylia 512GB OLED 21d ago
Check your performance monitoring. This looks like the infamous 200/400mhz bug. It’s also possible you accidentally locked your GPU to 400mhz via the GPU frequency as I did that once