Valve's handheld Steam Deck is best known for its potential as a handheld gaming PC, but as it turns out, the Deck can also be used as a mini-PC in its own right, even after the screen has been broken and the Deck has been broken down for parts. Earlier today, YouTuber ETA PRIME showcased a video where he successfully extracted the motherboard and SoC from a Steam Deck to create a mini-PC.
So, how exactly was this done, and what makes it possible? The "how" is surprisingly simple: with the board intact, all ETA PRIME needed was to add an M.2 drive and attach an extra heatsink to get most of the way there after mounting the affair on some plastic. Then, the mostly-naked Deck internals were connected to a USB-C power hub doubling as a docking station, complete with 3 USB inputs and 1 HDMI out to allow the new Deck mini-PC to start successfully running on a monitor in "Docked" mode.
