Rare Steam Deck Prototype with 6-Year-Old AMD Picasso APU Featuring Zen+ and Vega Sells for $2,000 on eBay

When rare gaming hardware hits the resale market, it often commands high prices, especially if it’s an engineering sample or prototype. Recently, a unique Steam Deck prototype stirred some excitement after appearing on eBay, first discovered by a member of the r/SteamDeck community.

The prototype, which went under the hammer for $3,000 before settling at $2,000, resembles the images from Valve’s early design plans. It features an older AMD APU known as Picasso from 2019. This particular model, labeled internally as “Engineering Sample 34,” showcases distinctive features like blue highlights, subtly rounded design lines, circular trackpads, and a unique sensor embedded in the right joystick.

Interestingly, despite having a stark “Not for resale” sticker on its back, this did not deter the seller from auctioning it off online. Valve likely created several of these models during development to test various design aspects. The outdated APU indicates it served to evaluate mechanical properties, likely dating back to 2019 or early 2020.

The seller pointed out that the prototype lacks an installed operating system. Images from the listing, captured by Notebookcheck, provide a closer look at some specs. Valve used an unnamed AMD Picasso chip with up to four Zen+ cores and a GCN 5.0-based integrated GPU during its testing phase. This setup pales in comparison to what eventually became available in retail Steam Deck units.

The hardware also houses 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, which seems modest relative to the 16GB RAM and up to 512GB SSD configurations found in today’s models, barring the entry-level 64GB eMMC variant. But newer AMD APUs like Aerith and Sephiroth outperform this prototype configuration considerably.

Now, all eyes are on the prototype’s new owner. Should it end up with a tech reviewer or hardware enthusiast, we might soon see detailed insights into this special Picasso chip and the early development of the Steam Deck. Alternatively, it might simply become a prized possession in a collector’s cache.

For those eagerly waiting for the next iteration of the Steam Deck, Valve has indicated that any future release will come only when newer, more advanced processors are available.