Valve’s still busy upgrading and improving its handheld PC gaming console, the Steam Deck. The company just announced that the latest beta update would improve the audio and cooling systems. Two things many owners have asked for.

To be more specific, the latest SteamOS 3.2 beta (released on May 19th) includes improvements to the fan curve, updates the fan controller, increases the max volume, and squashes a few bugs for improved performance.

We’ve also just shipped an update to the SteamOS Beta channel for Steam Deck, with an updated fan controller, audio improvements, and more. As a reminder, these changes are in beta for testing, so please let us know if you have feedback! Details here: https://t.co/mMXM6MFIuG pic.twitter.com/2qgLEV7yyc

— Lawrence Yang (@lawrenceyang) May 20, 2022

For example, one of the main changes is Valve has “fixed an issue where the OS fan control would not automatically resume after waking up the device from sleep.” And while our first thought would be that the Steam Deck will be louder due to fan adjustments, the changelog claims the fan controller is smarter, more stable, and quieter overall.

Either way, it’s been well-documented that the Steam Deck can get pretty warm while playing games, and we’ve seen reports of it even shutting off. We’re not sure if that’s a hardware issue, but Valve seems to think it can fix it with software updates.

And finally, it looks like the latest SteamOS 3.2 beta release added some new internal resolution options for games to pull from. Then, it will fix some audio problems to offer higher in-game volume levels and help remove white noise for an improved gaming experience.

We’re hopeful that this new update will tone down its noisy fan, and hey, at least you’ll be able to increase the game volume to drown it out.

via TechRadar