Is 6TB on a steam deck overkill?

[Diogenes]

I've engaged myself in something of a quest, a quest to see how much data I can pack into a Steam Deck without using a traditional dock like the Steam Deck Dock, while maintaining some element of it's mobility, while also hot swapping SD cards around as little as possible. My Steam Deck, it seems, has turned into my ultimate hobby.

I have ordered a Dock similar to this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baseus-Multiport-Adapter-MacBook-Surface/dp/B09V7982J8/ref=sr_1_21?crid=1WK0FJLSVF0SX&keywords=stream+deck+dock&qid=1676167550&sprefix=steam+deck+dock%2Caps%2C78&sr=8-21

It should be arriving today, at before 7PM GMT.

Now, I have a 1TB 2230 already here, in house. However, I have not fitted it into the deck yet. I'm lazy. I have to do it when I feel like I am ready to do it. Otherwise, I am afraid that I will make a mistake, when I force myself to do something and accidentally break something. I don't want to make a mistake with the Steam Deck. It's cost me too much to make a mistake with it as it is.

I have a 512GB SanDick Micro SD Card currently fitted, which I intend to replace with a 1TB version later on in the year, maybe at the end of the month? That 1TB card will then go into the Deck itself, to create a 2TB system, designed specifically for the Steam OS and Steam Games. Nothing, absolutely nothing else... Apart from a TB's worth of shader cache files... And Lord Gaben Meme's.

Now, on the Dock that I will be getting later today, which I intend to fit into place, on the back of the Deck, using strategically placed magnetic tape, I noticed that there are 2 card slots. 1 for a further 1TB Micro SD card, and one for a 1TB TF card. I intend to use these two cards for emulators from different generation emulators, to store their rom data on. Think of it as a 2TB mobile, bar top, arcade game emulation machine.

Finally, I intend to fit an external 2TB 2280 NVME into one of the USB ports on the Dock itself, paying careful attention not to block either the back plate buttons, or the air vent at the back of the deck. This will be used solely for multimedia, for when I connect my Deck to a TV using the HDMI connector. This will store movies, music, TV shows, comics, pr0n, and everything else.

*note: In hindsight, I may put emulator roms on the 2TB NVME, and use the 2 1TB cards mentioned earlier, for the purpose of storing my multimedia files. It seems to make more sense that way.

That will allow me, if I am right, to have a grand total of 6TB of recognised, usable data storage on the Steam Deck itself, between 3 SD cards and 2 NVME's, without having to have it anchored to the desk, via a traditional style Steam Deck Hub, while also avoiding the use of bulkier hard disk drives, such as 3.5" drives, which should also help to keep the over all weight down to as little as possible.

I have the plug and USB cable that I intend to use already, both of which are 45W+ Fast Charge peripherals.

At least one USB slot will likely be used for a wired Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. I like the Switch Pro Controller. I'm just wondering what I'll use it for first?

This will leave one USB slot free, in theory. Potentially, that could be used to upgrade to 8TB of data, but I don't really see what I would need 8TB of data for? Even for me, that seems like complete overkill.

From what I can gather, it should all work wonderfully well for what I intend to do with it. I don't predict any problems from using the drives.

2TB dedicated to Steam Games, 2TB dedicated to emulator packages, 2TB dedicated to multimedia, documents, pr0n and anything else that I can think of.

Doing it the way I intend to do it, would still give the Deck some mobility, without having to have it anchored to the desk like with a regular Dock, so that I can still use it in bed, which is what I want, while keeping the weight relatively low, while also having to change SD cards around as little as possible via hot swap etc.

Question is:

Is 6TB overkill for the Steam Deck?

[Waldherz]

Only you can decide how much storage you need.

I have almost 15TB of storage in my personal system and Im running out of free space.
But the 512GB of my steam deck is fine.

[Diogenes]

Originally posted by Waldherz彡:

Only you can decide how much storage you need.

I have almost 15TB of storage in my personal system and Im running out of free space.
But the 512GB of my steam deck is fine.

Ordinarily, I would agree. The problem with that is those ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ shader cache files.

For 64GB users like me, that can be a deal breaker, when you realise that half your data will be taken up by shader cache files.

That said, thankfully, the internal disk drive can be upgraded.

Had it been soldered in place, directly onto the board, it would have been an entirely different story.

Thankfully, it isn't, due to the wisdom of Sith Lord GabeN and the geniuses at Valve.

[tyl0413]

Yes, you want a NAS and high speed networking instead, after a certain point it makes much more sense.

[Diogenes]

Originally posted by tyl0413:

Yes, you want a NAS and high speed networking instead, after a certain point it makes much more sense.

But NAS drives only come in the 3.5" variety, don't they?

Doesn't that consume more power?

The one thing that I wanted to do, was keep it relatively light and portable.

I fear that I couldn't do that with a NAS drive.

[tyl0413]

Originally posted by Diogenes:

Originally posted by tyl0413:

Yes, you want a NAS and high speed networking instead, after a certain point it makes much more sense.

But NAS drives only come in the 3.5" variety, don't they?

Doesn't that consume more power?

The one thing that I wanted to do, was keep it relatively light and portable.

I fear that I couldn't do that with a NAS drive.

I admit I didn't read the whole post, obviously if you want to take all the storage on the go it's gotta be inside the device, I assumed you don't need to have everything all the time on the Deck so it's much cheaper and you can get more storage by getting a NAS than high capacity SSDs for the Deck and just download/stream anything you want from there while still holding all the data yourself so you don't have to rely on online storage.

[DudeAbides]

Originally posted by Waldherz彡:

Only you can decide how much storage you need.

I have almost 15TB of storage in my personal system and Im running out of free space.
But the 512GB of my steam deck is fine.

I'm running into the same issue, about the same amount of storage as you have on my main rig and it's running out. I'm trying decide my next step.. Maybe just delete some of the dozens of games I don't play. lol

and thanks OP I didn't realize NVME enclosures existed. I also want to expand my Steam Deck for more storage for emudeck emulation and not sure how to go about it other than buying a bunch of Micro SD cards

[Clone303]

i would say yes, i got the biggest Steam Deck and one 1TB SD card that is more then fine

[Diogenes]

Originally posted by RicketySprokets:

and thanks OP I didn't realize NVME enclosures existed. I also want to expand my Steam Deck for more storage for emudeck emulation and not sure how to go about it other than buying a bunch of Micro SD cards

I didn't either until I checked it out a few weeks back.

If the post helps someone else, somehow, then that's a bonus.

I'm just worried that I am going to burn my deck out at some point, with all the peripherals that I will have connected to the Deck via the Dock, which will be magnetised to the back of the deck.

I mean, there's going to be a control pad, HDMI cable, Ethernet Cable, and at least 1 NVME external USB drive connected to the back of the Deck, via the hub, as well as all the internal stuff, like the APU, NVME and Micro SD card.

[Bratty Patty]

256 GB Internal and 3 TB with MicroSD Cards. Got a Visa/Mastercard Sized Card where i can insert the MicroSDs. And this Card fits perfectly under the Steam Deck in its Case.

[Joshua Lee]

I think 1TB is not enough for me now. There are some online games cannot run in SteamOS without some little tweaks, but they can run in Windows without any extra work.

The tweaks for linux user, may not been able update as quick as the game update. So those games I need to install 2 copies of them.

I know exfat can do somethings, but It will cause issue in linux too.

2TB may be enough for me though.

If you are only playing game from Steam, 1TB should be find? Playing many AAA games with a long story that need huge space to storge at the same time, will easily make me forget what happened before the story. So usually, I only play one AAA game at a time.