One thing to sit up for: Home windows-based opponents to Valve’s Steam Deck will seemingly obtain revisions with substantial efficiency enhancements beginning subsequent yr. Though the ultimate specs for the chips powering them stay unclear, they may seemingly be primarily based on AMD’s Zen 5 Strix Level structure, which could present a major improve based on early benchmarks.
In a joint Q&A session at IFA 2024, AMD and Microsoft confirmed to Digital Tendencies that they anticipate the Z2 Excessive APU to debut early subsequent yr. Because the successor to the Z1 Excessive that powers the Asus ROG Ally, the chip might inaugurate a brand new technology of handheld gaming PCs.
Since Valve’s Steam Deck launched in 2022, most main gaming PC OEMs have unveiled competing handhelds. Other than the MSI Claw powered by Intel, all variants run on AMD’s cellular Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 or 8000 SoCs, codenamed Phoenix and Hawk Level, with the 780M GPU.
Crew Pink did not specify which chips comprise the Z2 Excessive, however the not too long ago revealed Zen 5 Ryzen AI 300 collection, codenamed Strix Level, is the most certainly candidate. Benchmarks point out that the Strix Level 890M graphics chip can enhance gaming efficiency significantly, working titles like Doom Everlasting, God of Warfare, or Pink Lifeless Redemption 2 at acceptable framerates with out dipping into low settings.
The GPD Pocket 4 is at present the one confirmed Strix Level handheld PC. Nonetheless, AMD and Microsoft mentioned they’re working with a number of {hardware} companions on the Z2 Excessive. Thus, it will be unsurprising if an Asus ROG Ally 2 emerged subsequent yr.
Bettering battery life is one in every of AMD’s major objectives. Senior Vice President and Normal Supervisor of Computing and Graphics Jack Huynh expects the Z2 handheld to play Black Delusion Wukong for 3 hours on a single cost. The corporate additionally goals to deal with AI, seemingly using NPUs for upscaling to extend efficiency additional.
The Hawk Level chips carefully resemble Pheonix however added an XDNA NPU able to a modest 16 TOPs. Lately unveiled Strix Level chips improve that quantity to 50. Moreover, MSI plans to launch a successor to the Claw primarily based on Intel’s Lunar Lake collection, which boasts comparable NPU efficiency.
Handheld PCs utilizing the Z2 Excessive would seemingly launch across the similar time because the successor to the Nintendo Swap. The increasing handheld competitors between PC and consoles might enter a brand new technology by subsequent yr.