Corsair's MP600 Core Mini 1TB SSD is ideal for Steam Deck, and is now £70 from Amazon
An ideal pairing for a handheld games console.
Corsair's MP600 Core Mini is one of the latest additions to the increasing arsenal of small form factor SSDs we're seeing enter the market as ideal pairings for a handheld games console, many of which have made our ranking of the best Steam Deck SSDs out there. At the moment, this newer Corsair offering is back on the receiving end of a solid discount from Amazon which brings it down to a fantastic low price of just £68 - a return to form following the Amazon Spring Sale.
As a 'Core' product in Corsair's lineup, the MP600 Core Mini is designed with affordability in mind, as it comes with QLC NAND as opposed to TLC, which is part of the reason why it has a lower MTBF, or mean time between failures. Don't get me wrong, the MP600 Core Mini should still be a durable drive, and its 250TBW rating is reasonable amongst its contemporaries from Sabrent and Western Digital, meaning this still looks to be a reliable drive.
Nonetheless, the fact remains that the MP600 Core Mini is going to be a more than reasonable upgrade for your Steam Deck or ROG Ally on both the front of speeds and capacity. Its rated speeds of up to 5000MB/s reads and 3800MB/s writes are more than brisk enough for Steam Deck, especially considering the drive will be inherently limited by the PCIe 3.0 interface offered by the Steam Deck with speeds of up to 3500MB/s. It still represents a useful upgrade over the internal SSD in the Steam Deck with its 2500MB/s speeds, and an even bigger upgrade over the older 64GB Steam Deck LCD base model and its 300MB/s of eMMC storage.
A 1TB capacity also gives you a reasonble upgrade over virtually every iteration of the Steam Deck in terms of capacity, too. That is, apart from the newer 1TB OLED model - to get a benefit there, you'll need to opt for a 2TB drive, which can be considerably more expensive. At the very least therefore, it'll double the capacity compared to the 512GB model, and of course offers a lot more than the currently still-available 256GB LCD model. If you've got an older 64GB or 128GB model at home, then you're still going to experience the biggest benefits, although you can of course add even more space with an SD card - it just won't be anywhere near as quick as an internal SSD upgrade.
The only thing to keep in mind with a Steam Deck SSD upgrade is that it's a bit more involved than simply slotting in an SD card. You'll need to ensure you take the Steam Deck apart carefully, and while you do, follow this iFixit guide, which will walk you through the process step-by-step. In short, you need to access the internals, remove a heatsink, disconnect the Steam Deck's battery and swap the drive over. From here, you can use a USB flash drive to reinstall SteamOS. If you've worked on a desktop computer or laptop before, then this isn't any more difficult - it's just a bit fiddlier due to the smaller size.
If you're after a new internal SSD for your Steam Deck that's going to upgrade its storage in terms of both speed and capacity, then this Corsair MP600 Core Mini deal from Amazon is a no-brainer.