Thursday, January 16th 2025
AMD Ryzen Z2 Go APU Compared to Z1 Extreme: 10% Slower Overall
Fps Vn—a gaming hardware YouTube channel—has managed to get their hands on an early sample of Lenovo's Legion Go S handheld system. This lower cost model was officially introduced at last week's CES trade event—with a notable specification shared across SteamOS and Windows 11 variants: AMD's Ryzen Z2 Go APU. This processor sits at the bottom of Team Red's latest line of "Strix Point" and "Phoenix Point" gaming-oriented SoCs. The Ryzen Z2 Go chipset—featuring Zen 3 processor and RDNA 2 graphics technologies—is based on Team Red's older "Phoenix 2" silicon. Fps Vn decided to compare this lower-end 4-core/8-thread APU with a widely available sibling: the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme (a Zen 4 and RDNA 3-based processor).
Their Lenovo Legion Go S sample model (Ryzen Z2 Go) was lined up against the ASUS ROG Ally X (Ryzen Z1 Extreme)—tests were performed in Black Myth: Wukong, Cyberpunk 2077 and Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut. Gaming benchmarks indicate an overall 9 to 10% performance deficit for the budget-friendly APU. The results are quite impressive; given that the Ryzen Z2 Go SoC utilizes an older processor technology (Zen 3 vs Zen 4), sports a lower core count (four vs. eight), and is only capable of boosting up to 4.3 GHz (Z1 Extreme hits a maximum clock of 5.1 GHz). Reflecting on these early performance results, potential customers are invited to inspect the gulf in pricing. Leaks indicate that the Legion Go S SteamOS model being priced at $499, while an alleged $100 upcharge grants access to a Windows 11 variant ($599). The price-to-performance ratio favors Lenovo's upcoming entry-level models, but ASUS could reduce the ROG Ally X's entry fee in the coming months—this flagship device originally launched with an MSRP of $799.
Here is Fps Vn's comparison video :
They placed the two handheld systems against each other—using 720p and 1080p resolutions across 15 W, 20 W, and 30 W power settings.
Sources:
Wccftech, Fps Vn YouTube Channel
Their Lenovo Legion Go S sample model (Ryzen Z2 Go) was lined up against the ASUS ROG Ally X (Ryzen Z1 Extreme)—tests were performed in Black Myth: Wukong, Cyberpunk 2077 and Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut. Gaming benchmarks indicate an overall 9 to 10% performance deficit for the budget-friendly APU. The results are quite impressive; given that the Ryzen Z2 Go SoC utilizes an older processor technology (Zen 3 vs Zen 4), sports a lower core count (four vs. eight), and is only capable of boosting up to 4.3 GHz (Z1 Extreme hits a maximum clock of 5.1 GHz). Reflecting on these early performance results, potential customers are invited to inspect the gulf in pricing. Leaks indicate that the Legion Go S SteamOS model being priced at $499, while an alleged $100 upcharge grants access to a Windows 11 variant ($599). The price-to-performance ratio favors Lenovo's upcoming entry-level models, but ASUS could reduce the ROG Ally X's entry fee in the coming months—this flagship device originally launched with an MSRP of $799.
They placed the two handheld systems against each other—using 720p and 1080p resolutions across 15 W, 20 W, and 30 W power settings.
7 Comments on AMD Ryzen Z2 Go APU Compared to Z1 Extreme: 10% Slower Overall
It should be $450~ IMO, what worries me is long term support. Being an old APU support may be dropped soon.
W11 version is DOA. Worst experience, less performance and more expensive.
Likely still starts to fall behind a lot more if power budget is increased, but that's not reasonable for handheld devices.
I still think this thing is an affront though.
But being around 10% slower than Z1 Extreme at 15W/20W is not bad. It still beats the Steam Deck at 15W (especially in CP2077) and it should be possible to lower it to 8W to 10W TDP for more battery life.