The new, cheaper ROG Ally handheld model is RC71L-Z1512 and is powered by a Ryzen Z1 processor with a 6-core Zen4/Zen4c APU and 4 RDNA3 compute units. GPU performance drops significantly compared to the 8-core Zen4 and 12 CU RDNA3 Ryzen Z1 Extreme. The new phone also comes with 512GB of storage, and there’s no word yet on 256GB or 1TB models.

ROG Ally handheld features a 7-inch 120Hz display with 1080p resolution and support for AMD FreeSync Premium and FSR (FidelityFX) and RSR (Radeon) super-resolution technology. It comes with 16GB LPDDR5-6400 memory, which cannot be upgraded manually.

Similar to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme version, the Z1 version of the ROG Ally handheld console also supports the XG Mobile external graphics card expansion, which can be connected to the external graphics card provided by ASUS through a dedicated interface. However, the price of the external graphics card is more expensive than the game console itself.

The Z1 chip version of the ASUS ROG Ally handheld console can now be purchased from BestBuy and ASUS official stores in the United States. In China, only the Z1 Extreme version is available, priced from 4,999 yuan.

Source: videocardz

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The performance of Z1 Extreme has been released before. As AMD’s new custom chip, the overall performance is very impressive. However, the lower-end Z1 chip seems to be less satisfactory. Foreign media DigitalTrend has released relevant reviews and said that the game performance of the Z1 version is not even as good as the Steam Deck.

Foreign media said that the Z1 Extreme set a new standard for handheld performance, while the Z1 took a big step back and was equipped with only 6 Zen 4 CPU cores, while the Z1 Extreme was equipped with 8 cores.

What’s even more terrible is that Z1 has reduced its GPU cores and only has four RDNA 3 GPU cores, which is one-third of the Z1 Extreme. In addition, the Z1’s cache has been cut a bit, from 8MB L2 on the Z1 Extreme to 6MB L2 on the Z1.

▲Image source DigitalTrend, the same below

Judging from the final game performance, the overall game frame rate of the Z1 chip version of the ROG Ally handheld console is not as good as that of the Steam Deck handheld console, and it is even further behind the Z1 Extreme version.

In the 3DMark test, in the default 15W mode, the ROG Ally Z1 version scored 37% lower than the Z1 Extreme version in 3DMark Time Spy and 30% lower in Fire Strike.

In the stronger Turbo mode, with both devices plugged in and delivering 30W of power, the ROG Ally Z1 scored 51% lower in Time Spy and 42% lower in Fire Strike.

DigitalTrend concluded that the Steam Deck handheld console isn’t as powerful, but it’s more stable, easier to use, and less expensive. The ROG Ally Z1 Extreme version is more expensive and bulky, but it can also play any game running on Windows and has higher peak performance.

The positioning of the ROG Ally Z1 version is very awkward. The performance is not good and the price is not low enough. Therefore, there is no clear audience. Finally, it was given 2.5 stars.

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According to the changelog published by ASUS, the company has increased the fan curve from 30dBA to 35dBA when the device is plugged in to play games in Turbo mode and from 25dBA to 30dBA when the device is playing on battery in Turbo mode. in addition, the company has also changed the minimum fan speed in manual mode when the device reaches high temperatures. The changelog doesn’t specify the criteria for high temperatures, but it’s probably around 75° to ensure that you don’t feel uncomfortable when playing games and to protect the functionality of the SD card.

The update also comes with a fix for an issue that caused the device to get stuck at the boot loading screen when users configured a password in BIOS mode.

In addition, some users have reported cases of popping sounds from the device and users have also reported issues with the docking station not providing enough power when charging via USB-C. ASUS has issued an official statement saying that they are aware of the issue. The company has yet to find a lasting solution and stresses that a lot of testing and investigation is needed to find the root cause of these issues.

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iFixit said that in addition to a few components such as the screen, most of the components including the 40Wh battery, the upgradeable M.2 storage and even the new Ryzen Z1 series chipset can be opened with a Phillips screwdriver, and the interior adopts a modular design as a whole. User replacement is relatively simple.

In the video, the iFixit team praised ROG Ally for being better than Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch and other game consoles in terms of repairability. However, the team also said that Steam Deck may be more suitable for gamers, and the current Win11 system needs to strengthen the optimization of Ally.

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ROG Ally runs PS3 God of War

If you are a game lover, you may own multiple different game consoles, such as PS3, Switch, Xbox 360, etc., but have you ever wondered, is there a single device that can emulate the games of all these consoles? Asus ROG Ally can, it not only has strong performance but also supports the AVX512 instruction set, which is a huge advantage for many simulation engines.

YouTube celebrity ETA Prime demonstrated the simulation capabilities of ASUS ROG Ally. He found that this handheld game console can run almost all popular emulators, and the resolution and frame rate are very high, and the power consumption is still very low.

He even managed to run God of War on the PS3, a very difficult game to emulate, which easily hits 50-60 FPS at 1080p, but requires 25-30W of power. If you limit the frame rate to 30 FPS and use the native resolution, then the power consumption can be reduced to between 7-15W, which can extend the battery life.

It is reported that ASUS ROG Ally can support PlayStation 3 (RPCS3), Nintendo Switch (YUZU), Xbox 360 (CXBX), 3DS (Citra), PSP (PPSSPP), GameCube (Dolphin), PS2 (PSX2) and WiiU (CEMU), etc. simulator.

It can be said that ASUS ROG Ally is a handheld artifact that can simulate various game consoles, allowing players to experience games on different platforms on one device.

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According to information obtained by foreign media Tom’s Hardware from an official AMD source, the TDP of the Ryzen Z1 / Z1 Extreme processor can be reduced to a minimum of 9W, which is higher than the Ryzen 7040U series processor (15W) that will be used by mainstream handhelds. 40% lower, which is a big improvement for handheld battery life.

A complete parameter comparison table:

“The Ryzen Z1 series was designed specifically for gaming consoles, and to achieve this, AMD engineers had to validate a whole new power envelope and optimize the voltage profile specifically for this use case,” said Matthew Hurwitz, AMD Customer Relations Manager. So while the 7040U and Z1 The series are similar in terms of technical building blocks such as Zen4 and RDNA 3, but the resulting models have very distinct differences.”

The ASUS ROG Ally gaming handheld will be officially released on May 11, when we will know the specific performance of the AMD Ryzen Z1 series.

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In terms of configuration, the two models are equipped with AMD’s latest Z1 and Z1 Extreme processors. The parameters of the two processors as follows:

 Z1: 6-core 12-thread Zen4 CPU + 4CU RDNA3 core display

 Z1 Extreme: 8-core 16-thread Zen4 CPU + 12 CU RDNA3 core display

From the parameter point of view, Z1 Extreme is likely to be a high-frequency version of R7 7840U, while Z1 is more like R5 7640U with cut-core display specifications. ASUS ROG Ally handheld is now confirmed to be released on May 11.

Overseas blogger DAVE2D previously exposed some parameter information of the ROG handheld. The ROG handheld is smaller than the Steam Deck overall, and the screen is also 7 inches, but it has a higher resolution of 1080p, a refresh rate of 120Hz, and a brightness of 500 nits. The heat dissipation is dual fans + single heat pipe, which supports the replacement of SSD. In terms of interfaces, this handheld is equipped with USB-C and Micro SD card slots, as well as a proprietary graphics dock interface that supports the latest ROG RTX 4090 graphics dock.

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According to information obtained by foreign media The Verge from sources, the ROG Ally handheld version equipped with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor and 512GB of storage is priced at $699.99. For comparison, the 512GB version of Steam Deck costs $649 (you can buy a cheaper version and add your own storage).

According to the PPT released by the whistleblower @HXL, the main selling points of the ROG Ally game handheld are all exposed. It is equipped with AMD Ryzen Z1 series chips. According to previous certification information, this chip will be a customized version of AMD R7 7840U, equipped with Radeon 780M GPU.

In addition, the handheld runs Microsoft Windows 11 system, that is, it can support multiple platforms such as Steam, Epic, Xbox store, etc. It is equipped with a 7-inch 1920*1080 120Hz high refresh screen, supports 500 nits brightness and 7ms delay.

The PPT also shows that the ASUS ROG Ally handheld weighs 608g, is equipped with dual fan cooling, and has 16GB LPDDR5 memory + 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, which can expand storage through MicroSD cards and also supports Dolby Atmos.

AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme has 8 Zen 4 cores, a total of 16 threads, and is also equipped with 12 RDNA 3 cores and 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, far exceeding Steam 1.6 TFLOPS of decks.

AMD Ryzen Z1 has 6 cores 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%.

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For starters, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme features eight Zen 4 cores for a total of 16 threads, as well as 12 RDNA 3 cores and 24MB of cache, delivering a nominal 8.6 TFLOPS of raw graphics performance, close to 10.28 TFLOPS for the Sony PS5 and well ahead of Steam Deck’s 1.6 TFLOPS.

In contrast, the Ryzen Z1 has only 6 cores, 12 threads, 4 GPU cores and 22MB of cache, which is theoretically about 55% better than Valve’s custom “Aerith” chip (Zen 2 + RDNA 2).

AMD also gave some gaming performance figures, for example, you can play demanding 3A titles like Drakengard 2 at 1080p 60fps+ and go over 120fps in Extreme Racing: Horizon 4 (figures based on the ASUS ROG Ally handheld with Z1 Extreme) “Turbo mode” with up to 30W performance release).

Of course, that’s mostly thanks to AMD Radeon Super Resolution, otherwise, you’d only be able to play 720p games.

AMD also says that both the Z1 and Z1 Extreme will support Radeon Chill, which automatically adjusts to your chosen framerate target to dramatically improve endurance performance. Of course, the ASUS ROG Ally also has its own frame-limiting feature.

AMD senior technical marketing manager Don Woligrowski said “I think what’s happening is: the limiting factor is not CU, it’s LPDDR5” “In many cases, faster memory is what these games really need.”

AMD says that the Z1 and Z1 Extreme are exclusive to ASUS for now, but we may see other partners launch models based on these or the new generation of Z-series chips in the future. For now, this line is a partnership between AMD’s gaming division (for Radeon GPUs) and the client side (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 could appear in any rival handhelds. Specific details Woligroski couldn’t say though, “We haven’t officially announced any parts for the 7000U series.”

The AMD press release also reveals that ASUS will announce pricing and “more information” about the launch date of the ROG Ally on May 11, so stay tuned.

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