Please Don't Huff Fumes From Your Steam Deck - uh oh, stiiiiiinkyyyyyyyy

article: (https://gizmodo.com/valve-steam-deck-fumes-safetly-1851095728)
archive: (https://archive.is/ShNjM)​

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Please Don't Huff Fumes From Your Steam Deck​

Valve is telling some Steam Deck users its best to avoid getting high on their own supply.​

By
Kyle Barr
Published 5 hours ago

Are you enjoying that new Deck smell a little too much? Valve’s support staff are now telling users that they shouldn’t be huffing the exhaust from the Steam Deck’s grills for their health and safety, though there’s no recorded issue with folks taking a hit off their electronics’ cooling vents.

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Does the new Steam Deck’s air taste better than before? We have to admit that wasn’t an aspect of our most recent tests with the device.Photo: Jorge Jimenez / Gizmodo

One of the newer memes to come out of Valve’s new OLED Steam Deck has been folks saying they enjoy taking a bump off the air streaming out of the handheld console’s exhaust grills. As IGN reported, one Steam Deck user on the r/SteamDeck subreddit posted a screenshot of a conversation with Valve’s support staff asking, “Is it safe to inhale the exhaust fumes from the top vent of a Steam Deck?” noting they actually enjoy the aroma of the warm gamer air. Steam support responded that it “is generally not recommended” that you take a pull from the Deck’s ports.

“While there are no safety concerns with general usage, directly inhaling the device’s vent fumes should be avoided,” the support account wrote. “We understand it may be a meme, but please refrain from this behavior for the safety of your health.”

The subreddit Steam Deck fans took this in stride, joking that “at least we truly lived,” while others said nothing would stop them from getting that next Deck hit. Gizmodo contacted Valve for additional comments on the potential risks of breathing in Steam Deck fumes, but we did not hear back immediately.

Now, on its face, the air coming from the Steam Deck shouldn’t be caustic or dangerous. The device doesn’t rely on any other cooling mechanisms than the usual heat sink, airflow, and cooling fan solutions. The new version of the Deck did advertise updated thermals and a more efficient APU. Teardown comparisons of the old handheld console to the new one show how Valve modified the Steam Deck’s heat sink and flipped one of the cooling fans upside down. None of that should make a difference to the overall breathability.

Valve’s response is generally expected from any company who doesn’t want to be responsible for folks sucking on their electronics’ air vents. Still, by talking up the meme, Valve might only help inspire more folks to join in. Just don’t start blaming us when users start reporting “Deck Lung” from taking a toke of that thick gaming air.

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editorial memery:
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This article posted in Slow Times® by a TORnigger™
 
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TenMilesWide said:
What could possibly be in the exhaust to make it unsafe? Is it not just a fan blowing over an aluminum or copper heat sink?
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I can't fathom what they are talking about. It must be overzealousness... I hope.

Either way, heat management is largely why I won't buy a "gaming laptop" or a Steam Deck. We have tons of great tech but cooling solutions on the smaller scale are simply not where they need to be.
 
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TheDarknessGrows said:
Either way, heat management is largely why I won't buy a "gaming laptop" or a Steam Deck. We have tons of great tech but cooling solutions on the smaller scale are simply not where they need to be.
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It seems pretty cool. Warning: LTT video.

But companies would rather invest in their own tech so they don't have to pay royalties for this company.
 
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TheDarknessGrows said:
Either way, heat management is largely why I won't buy a "gaming laptop" or a Steam Deck. We have tons of great tech but cooling solutions on the smaller scale are simply not where they need to be.
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The steam deck is a case where everything is optimized as it should be. Have had no issues with the standard model docked or undocked besides battery life, back gets a little toasty but it never actually causes any visible issues with performance. OLED model is even better with it's 6nm chip. Valve's hardware is actually very impressive.

TenMilesWide said:
What could possibly be in the exhaust to make it unsafe? Is it not just a fan blowing over an aluminum or copper heat sink?
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No fucking clue, either. looks like standard thermal paste too.
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Maybe there's normally offgassing from the stuff but usually it's no issue cause there's no vent from a laptop or desktop pointing up at your face? Feels like if this were true though the nintendo switch would've been in hotter water than just people complaining about the shitty joysticks.
 
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I do wonder if the plastic shell itself would be of any reasonable risk, this could be extrapolated to basically any laptop too, though. ABS is said to put off potentially dangerous fumes if you're melting it in a 3d printer in a closed space, but I don't know enough materials wise to say if this would apply at all to it being heated well below melting point. I'd doubt it would be of any concern, especially over the short term, but it's interesting.
 
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Toolbox said:
The steam deck is a case where everything is optimized as it should be. Have had no issues with the standard model docked or undocked besides battery life, back gets a little toasty but it never actually causes any visible issues with performance. OLED model is even better with it's 6nm chip. Valve's hardware is actually very impressive.
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It is really impressive.

But I can't get myself to buy a Steam Deck or a rival model over a computer. These small, boutique game decks aren't made for me anyway. I want a Steam Deck that is optimized like a top of the line Windows XP SP2 machine. I'll pay 150 or 200 bucks for that.

Cyberpunk is for the computer. But No One Lives Forever is for the game deck. And I'd probably play that way more.

I'm just weird though.
 
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TenMilesWide said:
What could possibly be in the exhaust to make it unsafe? Is it not just a fan blowing over an aluminum or copper heat sink?
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Plastics offgas for quite a while after they're cast. This is what "new car smell" is and it's slightly toxic. Cars are tested to make sure the degrading plastics don't produce TOO much harmful gas. It would be accelerated by heat. It'll probably give them a 0.0001% higher chance of getting lung cancer from sniffing it.
 
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