News AMD announces Ryzen Z2 series processors for handhelds — more performance, better efficiency, coming soon

[Admin]

AMD announced its upcoming Ryzen Z2 line of processors at CES 2025, with the halo Z2 Extreme sporting an 8-core, 16-thread CPU and a 16 CU RDNA 3.5 GPU. The other two models are a step down in various ways and full specifications aren't yet available.

AMD announces Ryzen Z2 series processors for handhelds — more performance, better efficiency, coming soon : Read more

 

[thestryker]

So it looks like we have a cut down HX 370, rebranded Z1E and a 6800H with half the CPU disabled. The minimum wattage of 15W is also somewhat unfortunate because that's been one of the really cool parts of the Steam Deck with the 9W minimum.

I'll be curious to see if the Z2Go is faster in gaming than the Z1, and if it is then it totally makes sense.

Hopefully AMD will have worked on the power profiles for these parts. The biggest annoyance that I've had with the Z1E is that its default profile is still focused the same as the laptop equivalent and emphasizes CPU over GPU. Having to use third party software to fix this is less than ideal.

Will be looking forward to LNL vs Z2E in handheld form, and hopefully we'll see some comparisons this quarter.

 

[usertests]

I'll be curious to see if the Z2Go is faster in gaming than the Z1, and if it is then it totally makes sense.

It should be. 12 CUs RDNA2 vs. 4 CUs RDNA3. It loses CPU performance but Steam Deck already proves quad-core Zen 2 can work in a handheld with a low 720p30 target.

The really interesting comparison will be between the Lenovo Legion Go S and Steam Deck on all fronts: performance, battery life, ergonomics, price. Everything but the OS apparently, since both should be running SteamOS.