

Their “priced below the Valve Index” comment had me ready for a $900 to $1,000 price initially, but after the Steam Deck price hikes, I’m worried it will be $1,200 or more. I’m really excited for it, but I will have to draw the line somewhere, price wise.

I would be surprised if your PC blocks enough signal to warrant getting an extender, but if you do find that you need one, make sure it’s at least a true USB 3.0. Plugging a 2.0 extender into your 3.0 port effectively turns it into a 2.0 port.
In your post, you asked
Almost certainly it can’t. USB 3.0 has about 10x the data transfer speed of 2.0, so if they specify 3.0 it probably needs it.