Rare Steam Deck Prototype with Ryzen 7 3700U Shown in Detail
Bringus Studios YouTube channel received rare engineering sample of Steam Deck marked POC2-34, provided by an enthusiast using the pseudonym SadlyItsDadley. The console was one of the earliest prototypes of Valve's handheld system, and its demonstration provided a glimpse into the innards of a device created long before its release.
The prototype is based on AMD Ryzen 7 3700U processor with integrated Vega graphics, supplemented with 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD. The device's BIOS reports support discrete GPU, although it was not possible to actually verify this. Instead of the final square touchpads, they used large round sensors, and the sticks themselves are noticeably smaller. The shape of the body has also changed - the palm rests have a different shape, and the lid can be easily removed to access the filling.
Found on SSD unique version of SteamOS, built on September 30, 2020 — almost 18 months before the final product was launched. The system included three pre-installed accounts, but the main one, labeled "34," could not be accessed. The author of the video copied the original drive to a backup to keep the primary data intact.
This engineering prototype gives an idea of Steam Deck development stages in fall 2020, when the console was still in the prototyping phase. The device is valued by collectors at over $3000.
