After the reveal of the Asus ROG Ally handheld last month, AMD took the wraps off its shiny new Ryzen Z1 chips, a line of APUs designed particularly for Steam Deck-style transportable gaming units. But on paper, the chips (or at the very least what parts of their {hardware} was revealed) appear fairly just like a few fresh ultraportable laptop CPUs from AMD, particularly the Ryzen 7 7840U (for the Z1 Extreme) and the Ryzen 5 7640U/7540U (for the Z1). A couple of new particulars have come to mild, illustrating the variations.

While it’s hardly shocking that AMD would use its processor know-how for a number of low-power units on the similar time, the satan seems to be within the particulars. Tom’s Hardware quotes an AMD representative who says that the corporate needed to “validate entirely new power ranges and optimize the voltage curves” for the Z1 and Z1 Extreme, even when the {hardware} is superficially comparable.

Crucially, the Z1 and Z1 Extreme can run on as little as 9 watts or as a lot as 30, relying on the calls for of the software program. Compare that to the extra restrictive 15-30w vary of the Ryzen 7040U collection. A six-watt distinction may not seem to be a lot, however in a type issue just like the Asus ROG Ally (or certainly, the Steam Deck) each tiny bit of additional battery life makes a distinction. That’s very true when you’re enjoying a much less demanding 2D recreation, or maybe streaming one from GeForce Now or Xbox Game Pass. The Z1 processors even have their Ryzen XDNA AI co-processors disabled, although apparently the bodily {hardware} will stay — it may not make sense for the Ally’s power-sipping {hardware} profile.

I requested AMD’s Frank Azor (a frequent visitor on our The Full Nerd podcast) if AMD was planning on utilizing the Z1 processors for type elements past one thing just like the Ally or Steam Deck. He replied that these designs have been particular to this class of machine, and loads of different AMD processors have been obtainable for laptops that required comparable capabilities. That would appear to line up with the customizations made for the Z1 line outlined in these newest particulars.

The ROG Ally may have an official launch later this week on May 11th. The juiciest element but to be revealed is the pricing, although if early leaks are accurate, Valve might need one thing to fret about.