AMD officially launched the new Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme processors, these two products are specially designed for handheld gaming PCs, based on TSMC’s 4nm process.
First of all, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme has 8 Zen 4 cores, a total of 16 threads, and is also equipped with 12 RDNA 3 cores and a 24MB cache. It is claimed to bring 8.6 TFLOPS of raw graphics performance, which is close to the Sony PS5 with 10.28 TFLOPS. 1.6 TFLOPS for Steam Deck.
In contrast, Ryzen Z1 has only 6 cores and 12 threads, 4 GPU cores and 22MB cache, which is theoretically stronger than Valve’s custom “Aerith” chip (Zen 2+RDNA 2) by about 55%.
At the same time, AMD also gave some game performance data, for example, you can use 1080p 60fps+ screen to play a demanding 3A masterpiece like “Wild Red Dead Redemption 2”, and in “Extreme Racing: Horizon 4” can exceed 120fps (The data is based on the “Turbo Mode” of ASUS ROG Ally handheld equipped with Z1 Extreme, with a maximum performance release of 30W).
Of course, this is mostly due to AMD Radeon Super Resolution, otherwise, you’d be stuck gaming at 720p.
AMD also said that both the Z1 and Z1 Extreme will support Radeon Chill, which can automatically adjust based on the frame rate target you choose, thereby greatly improving battery life. Of course, ASUS ROG Ally also has its own frame-limiting function.
“I think what’s happening now is: the limiting factor is not the CU, it’s LPDDR5,” said Don Woriglowski, senior technical marketing manager at AMD. “In many cases, faster memory is what these games really need.”
AMD says the Z1 and Z1 Extreme are exclusive to Asus for the time being, but we may see other partners launch models based on these or a new generation of Z-series chips in the future. Currently, this product line is a partnership between AMD’s gaming division (responsible for Radeon GPUs) and client (responsible for Ryzen processors).
As for the Ryzen 7840U, this chip appears to be identical to the Z1 Extreme, but it’s not an exclusive sku, so it’s likely to be in any competitor’s handheld. While specifics Woligroski couldn’t say, “we haven’t officially announced any 7000U-series parts yet.”
AMD’s press release also revealed that Asus will announce ROG Ally’s pricing and “more information” on the availability date on May 11, so stay tuned.
