We’re patiently waiting to hear more about the Asus ROG Ally, but early leaks provide some insight regarding its innards. Pre-launch spec lists for the handheld gaming PC suggest it’ll come armed with an AMD Ryzen ‘Z1 Extreme’ APU, and it could run rings around Valve’s Steam Deck Van Gogh chip.
The handheld gaming PC battlefield isn’t particularly busy, and the Steam Deck is still arguably the people’s portable champion. While the idea of the Asus ROG Ally bringing a proper fight to the deck’s doorstep excites us, alternatives by Onexplayer and Aya Neo already exist. So, what could the newcomer boast that the others don’t? Well, leaks suggest it’ll wield a custom-made APU, just like Valve’s valiant contender.
Spotted by Benchleaks, the latest Asus ROG leak reveals potential Geekbench specs for the handheld, which include the Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU mentioned above. The chip features eight cores and 16 threads, and it naturally packs more of a punch than the Steam Deck’s chip. That’s hardly surprising, but it does mean it could even give the eventual Steam Deck 2 a run for its money.
Earlier leaks highlighted by Videocardz hint that we’ll potentially get two versions of the Asus ROG Ally, but the differences between the apparent RC71L and RC71X variants aren’t clear. An additional specs graphic claims at least one of the models boasts a 512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD and 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, in addition to the aforementioned Z1 Extreme chip.
As for price, we’ve not currently got a lot to go on, but a YouTube video by handheld expert Cary Golomb (The Phawx) implies Asus will match Valve’s $649 MSRP. Naturally, that’d help provide the company with true Steam Deck competitor status, especially if it can boost fps beyond the Deck’s capabilities.
Of course, you should take any and all ROG Ally leaks with a grain of salt, as we’re still waiting for Asus to share official details. We already know the handheld is going to be something special, but only time will tell whether it’ll become a disruptive force within the Windows portable PC space.
Planning on holding on Valve’s handheld PC for a while longer? Check out the best Steam Deck accessories and build a great on-the-go setup.