Get ready for more Steam Deck-like devices. AMD is launching new chips specifically designed to power PC gaming handhelds.
The Ryzen Z1 series processors are intended to make it easier for vendors to produce handheld PC gaming consoles capable of running Windows 11. The chip is slated to arrive in Asus’ upcoming ROG Ally handheld, which we had a chance to check out this week:
The new silicon will come in two flavors: The Z1 and Z1 Extreme. And expect them to offer even better performance over the Steam Deck, which features an older four-core/eight-thread AMD chip built with Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architecture.
The Z1 series, on other hand, adopts the Zen 4 CPU architecture and the RDNA 3 graphics technology. "Featuring up to 8 cores and 16 threads, the Ryzen Z1 Series processors offer breathtaking visuals and, with the efficiency of ‘Zen 4’ architecture, deliver incredible battery life for a truly portable, high-performance gaming experience,” AMD said.
The company didn’t give exact estimates on battery life. But Asus told us the ROG Ally can run “up to” eight hours, although it sounds like a lot will depend on how much you game on it.
Other features on the Z1 chips include support for AMD’s frame-rate boosting tech Super Resolution, USB4, and LPDDR5 and LPDDR5X memory standards. The processors have also been designed to be compatible with Windows 11 and other operating systems. So perhaps, the Z1 could one day power an upgraded Steam Deck, which uses a Linux-based OS.
AMD’s announcement also contains a quote from a Microsoft executive praising how Xbox Game Pass could run on Windows-based Z1 handhelds. Might this mean Microsoft is looking at creating an Xbox gaming handheld? Time will tell.
For now, the Z1 will first arrive in the ROG Ally. Asus is holding a “launch event” for the product on May 11, but pricing and exact availability remains unclear. Stay tuned for our review where we can really test the performance.