RAM shortage hits Valve’s four-year-old Steam Deck, now available “intermittently”
Earlier this month, Valve announced that it was delaying the release of its new Steam Machine desktop and Steam Frame VR headset due to memory and storage shortages that have been widespread across the PC industry since late 2025. But these shortages are also occurring for already released products.
Valve had added a note to its Steam Deck page stating that the device would be “intermittently out of stock in some regions due to memory and storage shortages.” None of the three Steam Deck configurations listed by Valve are currently available for purchase, nor are any of the certified refurbished Steam Deck configurations that Valve sometimes offers.
Valve hasn’t announced any price increases for the Deck, at least not yet: the 512GB OLED model is still listed at $549 and the 1TB version at $649. But the base 256GB LCD model has been officially discontinued now that it’s sold out, increasing the Deck’s de facto starting price from $399 to $549. Valve announced in December that it was ending production of the LCD version of the Deck and that it would not be restocked once it sold out.
The Steam Deck’s hardware turns four years old this month, and faster hardware with better chips and higher resolution displays has been released in the years since. But these Ryzen Z1 and Z2 chips aren’t always significantly faster than the Deck’s semi-custom AMD chip; Many of these handhelds are also considerably more expensive than the OLED Deck’s $549 starting price. When in stock, the Deck still offers compelling performance and specifications for the price.
