Gaming enthusiasts have undoubtedly heard of the Steam Deck, Valve’s new handheld gaming console that was announced last year. Since then, several manufacturers have thrown their hats in the ring, trying to compete with Valve’s new offering. One such company is ASUS, with their upcoming ROG Ally. But there’s more to the story than just ASUS and Valve.
AMD’s handheld gaming chips while unveiling the power behind the devices
AMD, one of the biggest players in the computer hardware industry, has been working on new chips specifically designed for handheld gaming devices. There are currently at least four handhelds based on these chips that have yet to be announced, but leaks and rumors are starting to shed some light on what we can expect.
ASUS ROG Ally and the potential game-changing Ryzen Z1 chip
One of the reasons gamers are excited about the ASUS ROG Ally is because it may be the first handheld since the Steam Deck to offer a custom chip specifically designed for portability. Rumors suggest that ASUS has collaborated with AMD to create a new chip called the Ryzen Z1, which will be optimized for portable gaming. According to recent Geekbench leaks, ASUS may actually be using two Ryzen Z1 chips – a six-core, 12-thread version with two RDNA 3 graphics compute units (CUs), and an eight-core, 16-thread version with six RNDA3 CUs.
The mystery chip Ryzen 7 7840U and its potential applications
But the Ryzen Z1 isn’t the only chip AMD has been working on. A shipping manifest has been spotted that shows the ROG Ally with another unannounced name – the Ryzen 7 7840U. This chip has a clock speed of 3.3GHz and Radeon 780M graphics, and is suspected to be very similar to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme.
Beyond ASUS the AMD-Powered handhelds challenging the steam Deck
The Ryzen 7 7840U isn’t just exclusive to ASUS, either. Rumors suggest that it will also be used in the Aokzoe A1 Pro, an unannounced Ayaneo 2S, and a GPD Win Mini clamshell. These boutique portable PC makers are all trying to challenge the Steam Deck, and it seems like the Ryzen 7 7840U might be the key to their success.
The promising performance of Aokzoe A1 Pro and the potential of Ryzen 7 7840U
Of course, it’s important to take leaks and rumors with a grain of salt. We don’t know for sure what these chips will be capable of, or whether any of these companies can hit the right price point with these chips. We also don’t know whether Microsoft will step in to help turn Windows into something easy and comfortable to use on a gaming handheld.
However, the Aokzoe A1 Pro’s performance so far is promising. Aokzoe has been posting videos of the A1 Pro’s performance to YouTube, and in one clip, the A1 Pro is running the same game at the same processor wattage and with similar battery drain to the Steam Deck – but it still manages to run notably faster. If the Ryzen 7 7840U can perform like this, then it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
A significant upgrade of Ryzen 7 7840U outshines the previous laptop chip
It’s worth noting that the Ryzen 7 7840U is a significant upgrade from the AMD 6800U laptop chip that these companies were trying to use a year ago. The 6800U wasn’t efficient enough for a competent portable gaming device, as we saw in the Ayaneo 2 review. But with the Ryzen 7 7840U, it seems like these manufacturers might have a shot at challenging Valve’s Steam Deck.
The unknown factors related to pricing, user-friendliness, and Microsoft’s role
Of course, there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to these new devices. Will they be priced competitively? Will they be able to match the Steam Deck’s ease of use? And what about Microsoft’s involvement in the development of gaming handhelds?
Conclusion
One thing’s for sure, though: AMD is taking the handheld gaming market seriously. And as someone who’s been waiting for a truly great portable gaming PC for years now, that’s a really exciting prospect. So keep an eye out for these new AMD-powered devices, and stay tuned for more news and updates from yours truly. Who knows? Maybe one day soon we’ll all be gaming on the go with a shiny new Ryzen Z1 in our hands.
