The Steam Deck's Big Controversy – New vs. Old Fans

The Steam Deck switched its fans in some retail units vs. review units, causing some controversy over perceived “noisiness” of the Steam Deck. This tests the Delta vs. Huaying review fans.
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The Steam Deck launched with a different review unit fan than some retail units are getting, resulting in consumers being unhappy with the noise produced by their Steam Deck. In response, you can control the fan speed (to minimize the noise – though this doesn’t fix the noise), replace the fan — which we show you how to do — or maybe just return the unit, but that’s assuming it’s bothering you. In this testing, we have like-for-like comparisons, including Steam Deck Delta fan noise captures vs. review unit (Huaying) fan noise captures.

This is the debut of our frequency spectrum analysis content, but also features something we’re very experienced in — which is noise level testing, except in a much more accurate chamber than ever before. We’re still learning frequency spectrum analysis, so our interpretation in some parts will be softer-handed than typically as we want to learn and gain confidence first, but we are already confident in the data collection and quality. This means that you have a lot to work with between our subjective noise comparisons and objective noise comparisons, allowing you to form your own opinion.

RELATED VIDEOS

You can find our in-depth hardware review of the Steam Deck here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeQH__XVa64

We reviewed the overall user experience & software of the Steam Deck here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUh2qtjZu4E

Our Steam Deck Teardown is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlsJB3narnk

Unboxing the Acoustic Chamber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n97ot-gXXVw

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Advanced Testing for the Steam Deck Fans
01:25 – The Different Fans
02:10 – Eliminate Your Own Bias!
03:38 – Noise Testing Chamber & Methodology
05:30 – Noise Levels (dBA Differences)
06:33 – Analysis & Sample Size
07:48 – Noise Samples for Subjective Listening
10:27 – Subjective Analysis
11:43 – Objective Analysis
13:51 – Limited Recourse If You Don’t Like Your Fan
16:00 – Delta Fan IS Higher Pitched and “Worse”
17:03 – Disassembling the Fans
17:30 – How to Replace the Steam Deck Fan
18:00 – Fan Physical Differences (Tear-Down)
20:15 – Conclusion
s & Future Plans

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Host, Test Lead, Editorial: Steve Burke
Testing, Editorial: Patrick Lathan
Video: Andrew Coleman
Video Production: Keegan Gallick
Special Thanks to Mike Chin