Maybe your fan is broken. Do you notice any wild performance variations?
Though if you’re used to loud fans by desktop standards, the Steam Deck is pretty quiet compared to that. Like yeah, it’s audible, but I’d describe it as loud as a loud exhale. Some desktop fans were referred to as jet engines from how loud they got.
I assume it’s like the new car smell. Pleasant or not, it’s from inhaling plastic and paint particles and other chemicals as the excesses evaporate and loose pieces come loose and become airborne.
Steam Deck is probably similar. Plastics, anti-corrosion coatings on heat sink fins, trace metals and solder, inks from the PCB, maybe the occasional ion leftover if there’s any micro-arcing.
I’d guess it lasts a long time because the cooling airflow continually erodes whatever is in its path, while new cars don’t have that continuous erosion so eventually all the particles that were going to escape do and the ones left over are more stable.
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