Portable game consoles are becoming increasingly popular. And to provide such devices with a sufficient performance margin, new components are needed. After a wave of rumors and leaks, AMD has finally confirmed an update to its Ryzen Z2 chip seriesthat are designed specifically for portable gaming consoles. The Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme and Ryzen Z2A are entering the scene and will be used in the latest ASUS ROG XBOX Ally systems.
Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme
The Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme — is an evolution of the previous Z2 Extreme chip, only now with the NPU module enabled. The Strix Point-based APU is equipped with the XDNA2 neural unit (50 TOPS performance), which, like the latest generation Ryzen Z1 series, was previously unavailable for gaming use. However, as artificial intelligence is now finding its place in games, enabling this part will prove useful.
Otherwise, the characteristics remain unchanged. The chip has 8 cores with Zen5 architecture and 16 GPU cores with RDNA 3.5 architecture.
Ryzen Z2A
The second newcomer is Ryzen Z2A. Although this processor belongs to the same series, it is actually based on older architectures. It is most likely based on the familiar Van Gogh chip, which has 4 Zen2 cores and 8 RDNA2 graphics units. It’s not a record-breaker, but it’s ideal for more affordable and autonomous gaming solutions. In terms of performance, this model is even less powerful than the previously announced Ryzen Z2 Go
AMD emphasizes that this version will be more energy efficient: TDP here is only 6-20 watts, as opposed to the more voracious 15-35 watts of older models. So, someone will finally have a chance to play Witcher 3 on the train for an hour or two instead of just 15 minutes.
AMD has not yet shared information about what performance can be expected from these new chips. The addition of a neural processor to the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme could lead to potential AI-based improvements such as system optimization, faster real-time processing, or power management. It may also be useful for device manufacturers to integrate software and tools that allow them to more effectively tune system performance.
The first carriers of the new chips will be new models of portable PC consoles: ASUS ROG XBOX Ally X (with Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme) and an updated version of XBOX Ally (with Ryzen Z2A).
Source: videocardz, tomshardware
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