According to the report, it appears that the latest ASUS ROG Ally 319 BIOS update actually has a big impact on the performance of the handheld console. While the earlier pre-release BIOS updates brought significant performance improvements, especially for the Ryzen Z1 Extreme-based version, the latest one, BIOS update version 319, actually slows down the portable.

According to the results seen online, the 319 BIOS actually lowers performance by up to 20 percent. While the release notes say that it should increase the performance of the 9 W low-power mode, it simply doesn't, and the results are even worse on 15 W and 25 W modes. ASUS is apparently aware of the issue and has advised users not to update just yet. To make things worse, downgrading back to the BIOS 317 version is possible but quite hard.

HyperX hopes to repeat the brand-defining success of its lightweight Cloud family of gaming headsets in the true-wireless (TWS) space, with the Cirro Buds Pro TWS. These are targeted at the entire spectrum of gamers playing on the move, be it on handhelds such as the Steamdeck or ROG Ally, or a gaming notebook. It uses Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, and can offer up to 35 hours of listening on a full charge (that's 7 hours for the earbuds, plus 28 hours from the case), when tested at 50% volume. The headphones feature Game Mode, a feature that drops audio playback latency to as low as 90 ms over the Bluetooth link layer. The earphones also feature active noise cancellation, since each of the earbud has a mic, and can sample ambient noise. The Cirro Buds Pro TWS comes in a number of color options, including gray, black, and blue.

Popular gaming hardware content creator, ETA PRIME, yesterday teased that his ASUS ROG Ally preview unit was seemingly running Valve's Steam Deck operating system - the short YouTube video provided a glimpse of basic UI functionality as well as in-game performance (Forza Horizon 5). He promised that a full video was incoming, thus providing a full explanation of his modification process and a more in-depth exploration of more games running on the formerly Windows 11-based example. ETA PRIME has delivered on his earlier pledge - the first look/early impressions video was released only a few hours ago (at the time of writing). He reveals that his test platform ROG Ally is not running on Valve's Steam OS.

He has resorted to installing a gaming-focused Linux distro called Chimera OS - he notes that the similar HoloISO platform was not booting up on his handheld unit. On-board audio is reported to be non-functional - the Ally is connected to an external USB-C hub that outputs sound via the in-built 3.5 mm jack. Wi-Fi performance is reported to be inconsistent, ETA PRIME says that he has to reset the system in order to re-establish online connectivity. He was largely impressed with the Ally's gaming performance in a Linux-based environment, but prefers the Steam Deck's power efficiency. He will look into lowering the Ally's TDP, but there is no sure-fire way of making optimizations within the Chimera OS test build.

The future is here. The Republic of Gamers is proud to announce the ROG Ally, a brand-new Windows 11 gaming handheld featuring a 7-inch 1080p screen, up to 512 GB of NVMe storage, and enough power to play the latest AAA games at smooth framerates. Sporting an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, the Ally has incredible graphics performance, rivaling modern living room consoles while weighing in at a lightweight 608 grams.

The Ally ushers in a new generation of handheld gaming consoles. Handhelds have always been a frustratingly compromised experience, with lower resolution graphics, lower framerates, and clunky controls - they allowed you to play games on the go, but it was never the same as the living room. In fact, many titles were handheld-friendly spinoffs of their console counterparts, rather than the same game. Now, all that changes: the Ally lets you play all your games, from any platform, wherever you go. Welcome to a new age of portable gaming.

Just a few hours before the official launch, ASUS ROG Ally handheld console has been leaked online in Europe, where German retailers, Mediamarkt and Saturn, have it listed for €799.99. This is the price of the high-end model equipped with AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU and 512 GB of internal storage. So far, there is no listing for the less expensive version that should come with the Z1 non-Extreme APU.

The listing does not offer any new details, but it does say that it will ship on June 13th, so this can be considered as a pre-order. In case you missed it, the ASUS ROG Ally RC71L will pack the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, featuring 8-core/16-thread Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU with 12 Compute Units. The less expensive one, will get the Ryzen Z1 APU, packing a 6-core/12-thread Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU with only 4 Compute Units. Both versions will feature a 7-inch 120 Hz screen with 1920x1080 resolution. As detailed earlier, the ASUS ROG Ally will ship with the Windows 11 OS and 90 days of free Xbox PC Game Pass Ultimate membership.

The ASUS ROG Ally handheld games console emerged last month and it was revealed to pack some impressive "custom" AMD hardware - the two companies have boasted that the collaboration has resulted in two special SoCs - the Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme. Silicon enthusiasts were quick to point out that the Z1 series sported similar specifications to mobile/ultra-portable chipsets in AMD's 7040U family - in particular the Ryzen 7 7840U looks almost identical to its gaming equivalent (Ryzen Z1 Extreme). Andrew E. Freedman at Tom's Hardware was curious and motivated enough to request clarification (about this situation) from AMD. Team Red were happy to respond and acknowledged the apparent similarities between the gaming and laptop chipset ranges, but also stated that Z1 APUs have been tweaked by company engineers to a certain degree.

Matthew Hurwitz, a client PR manager at AMD, provided a response to the Tom's Hardware-issued query: "The Ryzen Z1 series are purpose-built with handheld gaming in mind. To accomplish this, AMD engineers had to validate entirely new power ranges and optimize the voltage curves specifically for this use case - this optimization and validation work should not be trivialized. So while the technology building blocks (like 'Zen 4' and RDNA 3) are similar between the 7040 and Z1 series, the resulting models have very distinct characteristics customized for their use cases. In addition, the AMD Ryzen AI engine is not available on AMD Ryzen Z1 series processors." Hurwitz also confirmed that AMD's XDNA AI engine is merely disabled (so not removed at hardware level) on the two Z1 APUs - this feature is only enabled on the range-topping Ryzen 7 7840U model and mid-range Ryzen 5 7640U. So yes, there are small differences but AMD and ASUS have probably saved some money on development costs by creating and adopting the "slightly adjusted" Z1 SoC series.

Update May 6th: Tom's Hardware has amended their article (as of May 5, 5:03 p.m. ET) - another source within AMD has informed them about the Z1 and Z1 Extreme APUs having configurable TDPs of 9 W to 30 W. The original story - and AMD's website - claimed a range of 15-30 W.

If something seems too good to be true, then it often is and the earlier rumoured price point of the "vanilla" ASUS ROG Ally at US$499.99 was apparently one such instance. Pricing information from serial Twitter leaker SnoopyTech suggests it will instead be priced at US$599.99, which seems a lot more realistic. Aside from using the 6-core CPU with a more limited GPU, the cheaper ROG Ally will also see its internal storage cut in half to 256 GB, compared to 512 GB for the "Extreme" version.

The rest of the specs appear to be identical, with both models sporting 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, the 7-inch, 120 Hz 1080p display and possibly even the same 40 Whr battery pack. At US$70 more than the equivalent Steam Deck, it might be a tough sell, especially as it's only US$100 to upgrade to the fully featured version, a much smaller cost increase compared to each of the Steam Deck SKUs, where you're looking at spending more to get more. It could simply be that this is a sales tactic by ASUS, to push most of its potential customers to buy the more expensive model.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) is proud to announce the ROG Ally, an incredibly powerful new Windows 11 gaming handheld. Powered by a cutting-edge AMD Ryzen Z1 series processor, the Ally can breeze through AAA games and indie titles with ease. A bright and high-refresh-rate touchscreen ensures that gamers see their content clearly even when gaming outdoors. The Ally is easy to carry and handle all day, thanks to its lightweight 608 g design and ergonomic handholds.

Featuring an all-new purpose-built APU - an AMD Ryzen Z1 series processor with RDNA 3 graphics - the ROG Ally is primed to deliver never-before-seen levels of handheld gaming performance. Gamers who enjoy lighter indie titles, or more graphically intensive AAA games, can do it all with the Ally. Making all this possible is also ROG's Zero Gravity thermal system, which uses a dual-fan system with ultrathin heatsink fins and high-friction heat pipes to ensure the Ally stays cool in any orientation.

Today, AMD introduced the new Ryzen Z1 Series processors, the ultimate high-performance processor for handheld PC gaming consoles. The Ryzen Z1 Series features two high performance processors, the Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme, both offering industry-leading gaming experiences, uncompromising battery life, and featuring AMD RDNA 3 architecture-based graphics. AMD is partnering with Asus to launch the first Ryzen Z1 Series device with the Asus ROG Ally, a premium handheld PC console, featuring up to a Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor.

"At AMD, we're continually advancing the next generation of gaming experiences, from consoles to desktops to on-the-go handheld devices," said Jason Banta, corporate vice president and general manager, Client OEM at AMD. "Ryzen Z1 processors deliver gamers an elite gaming experience and extreme portability in exciting gaming form factors."

The latest entry from Geekbench database pretty much confirmed that the ASUS ROG Ally will have two different versions, featuring two different Ryzen Z1 custom APUs. While both are AMD's Phoenix APUs with Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU architectures, they will have different specifications, with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme featuring an 8-core/16-thread configuration with 12 Compute Units (CUs) GPU, the Ryzen Z1 non-Extreme will end up with a 6-core/12-thread CPU configuration and 4 RDNA 3 CUs.

The Ryzen Z1 Extreme SKU was detailed yesterday, and this newest leak also confirms two different versions of the ASUS ROG Ally handheld console, as previously leaked. The entry in Geekbench database also shows a small difference in clock speeds between those two Ryzen Z1 SKUs, with the base frequency of 3.2 GHz and Boost of 4.9 GHz (4,939 MHz) for the non-Extreme. The Ryzen Z1 Extreme has a base frequency of 3.3 GHz and Boost up to almost 5.1 GHz (5,062 MHz).

An intriguing entry has appeared on the Geekbench Browser site, the information was uploaded with a timestamp from this morning (11:07 am on April 20 to be specific) pointing to a mobile ASUS device that was tested in GeekBench 5. The archived info dump reveals that the subject matter of the benchmark was the ASUS ROG Ally handheld gaming console, which has received a lot of attention in recent weeks - with it being touted as a very serious alternative to Valve's Steam Deck, a handheld gaming PC that is quite popular with enthusiasts. The ROG Ally will need to offer a potent hardware package if it stands to compete directly with the Steam Deck, and the latest information confirms that this new contender is very promising in that department. Geekbench 5 awarded an impressive OpenCL score of 35498 to the RC71L variant of the ROG Ally, an RC71X-assigned model is known to exist but details of its exact nature have not been revealed. This particular ROG Alloy unit was running Windows 11 Home (64-bit) under the operating system's performance power plan.

The new entry on Geekbench Browser shows that the Ally is packing an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, which appears to be a customized version of the Ryzen 7 7840U APU mobile platform chipset - previous rumors have indicated that the latter would be in the driving seat. Both Phoenix range SoCs share the basic 8 cores and 16 thread makeup, but the Z1 Extreme is capable of boosting up to 5.062 GHz from a base frequency of 3.30 GHz. AMD's Radeon 780M iGPU (RDNA 3) is expected to deal with the Ally's graphical aspect, but the benchmark info dump only provides scant details about the GPU (codenamed "gfx1103") - most notably the presence of six computer units, an 800 MHz max frequency, and access to 8.20 GB of video memory. Number crunching boffins have calculated that the Ally could field 768 FP32 cores, courtesy of the dual issue SIMD design inherent to RDNA 3.

There has been a lot of info about the upcoming ASUS ROG Ally handheld console, and now, an alleged slide has leaked online, confirming some of the previous specifications and revealing that custom AMD Phoenix APU, called the Ryzen Z1. The ASUS ROG Ally has been spotted on the FCC website, featuring the Ryzen 7 7840U APU, which could suggest that the Ryzen Z1 is a custom version of that same APU. The slide in question was leaked and then removed from the original source, but HXL caught it on Twitter before it was removed.

It confirms the 1920x1080 resolution screen with 500 nits of brightness, 120 Hz refresh rate, and 7 ms response time. The Ryzen Z1 series APU will be paired up with 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM in dual-channel mode, and have 512 GB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage in M.2 2230 slot. It is also possible that ASUS will have several versions with different storage and/or RAM configuration. It will run Windows 11, making it compatible with all popular game platforms Steam, EA App, Epic Games, and Xbox Game Pass. Furthermore, it will support Dolby Atmos and have a microSD card slot for storage expansion. Another leaked slide showed the ROG Ally Travel Case, and there will be plenty of other ROG Ally accessories. ASUS has already announced that the ROG Ally will be available worldwide and could launch sooner than expected, so all we need now is that official launch and the price.

Since the ASUS ROG Ally has already shown up on certification sites, it is not surprising that the first specifications have been leaked, including the information that it could come with AMD's Ryzen 7840U Phoenix APU. When the product number has leaked online, it is easy to find traces of it moving between ASUS headquarters. So far, the ASUS ROG Ally has been spotted at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) site with two product codes, the RC71L and the RC71X, which could easily be different memory and storage configurations or even a different color.

While these pre-productions samples shipped around clearly show that the ASUS ROG Ally is powered by AMD's Ryzen 7 7840U APU, the company did mention a "custom" APU, which means that the final product might end up with something different, maybe even just a higher clock. In case you missed earlier leaks, as the AMD Ryzen 7040 U-series is yet to be officially announced, the Ryzen 7 7840U fits into AMD's thin and light segment with TDP ranging from 15 W to 28 W. It is rumored to be an 8-core/16-thread Zen 4 CPU with a 3.3 GHz base clock and features AMD Radeon 780M RDNA 3 architecture GPU with 12 Compute Units (CU), or a total of 768 stream processors. Of course, ASUS might have a different deal with AMD and could use a completely different APU for the final product, but so far, pre-production samples show the Ryzen 7 7840U. ASUS has previously announced that the ROG Ally will be available worldwide and could launch sooner than expected.

ASUS is keeping the hype up for its upcoming ROG Ally handheld console, and now it has confirmed the worldwide release and teased that it could come sooner than anyone expected, which is pretty impressive. Announced on April 1st, the ASUS ROG Ally has impressive specifications, running on yet to be detailed AMD 4 nm custom APU based on Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU architecture.

The ASUS ROG Ally measures at 280 x 133 x 39 mm and weighs 608 grams, making it shorter, narrower, thinner, and lighter than its competitor, Valve's Steam Deck. It has a 7-inch display with 1920x1080 resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, 5 ms response time, and 500 nits of brightness. According to earlier hands-on previews of the prototype from Dave2D and LinusTechTips, ASUS did a great job with the dual-fan cooling solution, making it very quite. It will also have a dedicated PCIE Gen 3 x8 XG connector, which allows it to connect to the recently launched XG Mobile GPU, an external RTX 4090 GPU which retails at $1999.99 in the US. Linus also noted that the ROG Ally will offer 50 percent higher performance at 15 W and twice the performance at 35 W, compared to the Steam Deck. As noted, ASUS has now confirmed that the ROG Ally will launch worldwide, and that it might be sooner that we expect, linking to Best Buy for those that live in North America.