The ASUS ROG Ally looks like a solid Steam Deck competitor. It features the Ryzen Z1 series processors capable of delivering solid 60 FPS across most games at 1080p. With a theoretical graphics performance of up to 8.6 TFLOPs, it may be as fast as the Sony PS4 Pro in many scenarios. Its true rivals, the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck, are in for a treat. As per AMD’s internal numbers, the Ryzen Z1 and Z1 Extreme are over 5x and 10x faster than the Nintendo Switch (at least on paper).
Considering the vastly upgraded CPU and GPU architectures on the Ally, this isn’t far-fetched. The Steam Deck leverages the two-generation Zen 2 cores alongside the RDNA 2 graphics architecture, while the Nintendo Switch uses the nine-year-old NVIDIA Maxwell architecture. The Ally is based on the newly announced Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 graphics architectures.
The Z1 has six Zen 4 cores, twelve threads, and four RDNA 3 CUs (256 shaders). Meanwhile, the Z1 Extreme packs eight Zen 4 cores, sixteen threads, and twelve RDNA 3 CUs (768 shaders). They also boast 22MB and 24MB of on-die cache, shared between the CPU and GPU.
The Z1 processors shine at 1080p gaming, delivering 60 FPS or more across most titles tested. CS: GO nets 162 FPS at the highest quality preset on the Z1 Extreme, Forza Horizon 4 runs at 122 FPS, and Red Dead Redemption 2 averages 48 FPS. An early impression preview of the Ally shows the handheld console running Doom Eternal at 71 FPS. The CPU and GPU operate around 1.7GHz and 2.1GHz, respectively, with a power draw of 26W.
