$3,000 Steam Deck Prototype Teardown Reveals Unique Features: Discrete GPU Support, Smaller Joysticks, and Circular Touchpads

Wandering through the labyrinth of the internet, I stumbled (somewhat literally) across this wild tale about a Steam Deck prototype—early days and all that jazz. You know, one of those hidden treasures that makes you wonder why it ever surfaced. So this YouTube dude, who goes by Jon Bringus, somehow got his hands on an old-school version, and naturally, he did what any passionate gamer would do—he took it apart like a fat kid unwrapping a candy bar. Can’t say I’d do differently, but still, props to SadlyItsDadley (weird name, right?) for lending it out.

Anyway, there’s this bit of paper in there, “POC2-34 Control 163” or whatever. It’s like archaeologists finding a note from ancient days. Gives you chills, thinking about Steam Deck’s evolution—from a concept to a beast. Funny thing, Jon even tried to game on this relic. Talk about taking a step back in time!

Now, this prototype’s got quirks—those touchpads? Hilariously huge. Like, trying-too-hard huge. Joysticks are on a diet, I guess, ‘cause they’re tiny. It’s got this vibe, you know? Retro yet weirdly cool.

Oh, and the guts! AMD Ryzen 7 3700U, 8G RAM—pretty solid. A 256GB SSD thrown in, and some old-school Intel Wi-Fi chip, with whispers of discrete GPU magic in there… although Jon didn’t crack that nut. Who could blame him?

Now, here’s where things get spicy. The man cloned the SSD—tech magic right there—only to discover an ancient SteamOS with three ghostly accounts. Spooky! The ‘34’ account, locked tighter than a drum, left him scratching his head. Shows it’s older than my favorite pair of jeans, given the date stamp was September 2020.

And Valve? Wow, they sure stirred the pot with the Steam Deck. Before it, Nintendo’s Switch was the handheld darling, but Valve pulled a Houdini and blew minds wide open. All those other gaming giants jumped in too—hello, Asus ROG, Lenovo Legion, and MSI Claw. Funny how competition just heats up like a summer afternoon.

So if you’re a fellow tech nerd—or just lost on the internet like me—keep an eye on Tom’s Hardware. Seriously. Discord-to-newsletter-to-your-brain, they’ve got the scoop on all this juicy tech stuff.

Who knew a prototype could be this entertaining? Anyway, where was I? Oh, right—time to dive back into this rabbit hole of madness.