IFA 2024: AMD reveals Z2 Extreme chip for Steam Deck competitors

AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme — is the chip behind the Asus ROG Ally X, Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go. AMD will announce its successor, the Z2 Extreme, for future gaming laptops in early 2025. But the company isn’t revealing any other details that relate to the announcement.

The only thing that’s known is that AMD says it’s working with multiple partners, so the chip could already be in the hands of portable device makers. And it’s probably based on the Strix Point.

And it’s probably based on the Strix Point.

A spokesperson for AMD mentioned that he’d like to play games like Black Myth: Wukong for three hours on a laptop instead of the current 45 minutes, but it’s unclear if that was just a joke and wishful thinking or a hint at what the Strix-based Z2 Extreme could do.

It’s not clear if this was just a joke and wishful thinking or a hint at what the Strix-based Z2 Extreme could do.

Not sure how optimistic we should be about Strix; AMD noted the increased performance of Zen 5 at the Strix Point notebook architecture briefing, but didn’t say a word about improved battery life.

Amdm.

Although increased performance can sometimes translate into improved battery life due to a chip change, the original Z1 Extreme was basically just a tweaked version of the Ryzen 7840U laptop chip, which really needed a lot of power.

While the increased performance can sometimes translate into improved battery life due to a chip change, the original Z1 Extreme was basically just a tweaked version of the Ryzen 7840U laptop chip that really needed a lot of power.

Laptops like the ROG Ally and Legion Go can draw up to 40-50 watts for games that barely run on Steam Deck, but that means they completely drain their batteries in less than an hour. They couldn’t beat the Steam Deck’s 15W semi-custom chip, nor could they achieve the same battery life for less demanding games.

The ROGly and Legion Go can’t get the same battery life for less demanding games.

After all, AMD’s ROG Ally X was able to achieve significantly improved battery life by doubling the size of the internal unit. But maybe AMD will go the other way and make the Z2 Extreme a dedicated chip for portable devices? That would be interesting.