If you are fortunate sufficient to trace down a Steam Deck, chances are high you have already skilled the sweaty palm syndrome with this handheld console — simply as our very personal Jess Conditt did in her evaluate. Worse but, the machine is susceptible to throttling and even crashing as a consequence of overheating, to the purpose the place modders got here up with their very own inventive options. For the remainder of us who do not wish to void the guarantee, although, Hong Kong-based Unitek is now providing the Cooler Dock Pro for Steam Deck. This is basically Valve’s official dock boosted with a thermoelectric cooler — just like the one which comes with the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate — on the again, for those who do not thoughts paying the additional $30.
Much just like the official dock, Unitek’s model cushions your Steam Deck — or any transportable system, for that matter — with a strip of sentimental silicone, and there is a brief USB-C cable dangling from the again for connecting to the console. The thermoelectric cooler, RGB-lit fan and metallic contact plate are all housed inside a hinged module, which permits for minor tilt angle adjustment whereas supporting the Steam Deck.
The Cooler Dock Pro comes with a set of ports just like these on Valve’s dock, however with some positioned on the entrance as a substitute — the latter embrace two USB-A and one USB-C (as much as 10Gbps), accompanied with two RGB lights. On the again, you get a USB-C PD socket (as much as 100W passthrough), HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 and Gigabit LAN. It’s price noting that this dock helps Multi-Stream Transport i.e. daisy-chaining a number of screens within the console’s Linux desktop mode. If you are utilizing only one video output, you may rise up to 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 120Hz; however for those who’re utilizing each ports, then it is both twin 4K at 60Hz, or 8K at 30Hz on one and 1080p at 60Hz on the opposite.
Unitek has added one additional USB-C port on the left, which is devoted to the cooler module. If you wish to use simply the cooling operate whereas on the go i.e. no shows nor equipment linked to the dock, you possibly can merely plug an influence financial institution into that 10W USB-C socket.
Unitek claims that whereas operating Apex Legends, the Steam Deck’s common floor temperature was round 46°C (114.8°F), however when used with the Cooling Dock Pro, this determine dropped all the way down to 34.5°C (94.1°F) — falling inside the advisable ambient temperature vary. For a extra excessive check, we ran Forza Horizon 5 on extremely graphics settings, during which case the Steam Deck would usually fail to start out a race, but it surely managed to final for round six minutes on the Cooling Dock Pro. The firm added that when lowered to excessive graphics settings, the sport would crash after round 45 minutes of gameplay, however with its dock, it saved operating even after an hour. Of course, your mileage might differ from one recreation to a different, but it surely’s extra about prolonging your Steam Deck’s lifespan.
The $119 Unitek Cooling Dock Pro is now accessible for pre-order, with shipments ranging from round mid-December. There’s additionally a less expensive $89 Cooling Dock for individuals who solely want an HDMI 2.0 port (capped at 4K at 60Hz), although it will not be delivery till Q1 2023. It needs to be famous that there is not any energy provide included with both mannequin (however they do include a 2-meter 100W USB-C cable), whereas Valve’s $89 official dock features a 45W brick. Chances are it’s possible you’ll have already got a appropriate energy provide; Unitek recommends that you’re going to want 60W or above to get essentially the most out of the Cooler Dock Pro.