"Doom: The Dark Ages Struggles on Handheld PC"

The much-anticipated Doom: The Dark Ages has arrived, and if you're a fan of handheld gaming PCs, you might be curious about how the Asus ROG Ally X performs with this demanding title. Setting a benchmark of 30 frames per second (fps) as the minimum for playability, with a preference for 60fps, let's dive into the performance details.

A Note on the Hardware

The world of PC gaming handhelds is thriving, and the Asus ROG Ally X stands out as a top contender. It's powered by the same AMD Z1 Extreme chip found in many leading handhelds, but it boasts a significant advantage: 24GB of system memory, with 16GB dedicated to the GPU. This memory operates at a blazing 7,500MHz, offering superior memory bandwidth crucial for the Z1 Extreme's integrated graphics.

The ROG Ally X is the ideal candidate for testing Doom: The Dark Ages due to its robust specs, serving as a benchmark for other handhelds. As games become increasingly demanding, the Ally X's performance will indicate whether less powerful devices can keep up, at least until the next generation of handhelds arrives later this year.

The Best Handheld Gaming PC: Asus ROG Ally X

With double the battery life and significantly faster memory, the Asus ROG Ally X has solidified its position as the premier handheld gaming PC on the market. You can find it at Best Buy.

Can the Asus ROG Ally Handle Doom: The Dark Ages?

Before diving into the game, ensure your chipset is updated. On the ROG Ally X, this is straightforward: Open Armoury Crate (bottom right menu button), click the cogwheel at the top, and navigate to the Update Center. Look for the AMD Radeon Graphics Driver update. If it's not visible, select Check for Updates. Once the RC72LA update is available, choose Update All.

For these tests, the Ally X was plugged into an outlet and set to Turbo Operating Mode (30W) to maximize performance. I also set the maximum vRAM allocation to Texture Pool Size in the in-game graphics menu at 4,096 megabytes, up from the default 2,048. With 24GB of RAM (16GB usable), the Ally X has ample headroom even at the Ultra Nightmare setting.

All tests were conducted with resolution scaling disabled. I tested each graphics preset with dynamic resolution, but the results mirrored the 720p metrics, so they're not included here. This is because the target frame rate was unattainable across the board, causing dynamic resolution to default to 720p anyway.

Here's how Doom: The Dark Ages performed on the ROG Ally X:

For testing, I repeatedly played the opening section of the second mission, Hebeth, in Doom: The Dark Ages, which immediately immerses the player in intense action, pushing the hardware to its limits. The results were surprising.

At 1080p, Doom: The Dark Ages on the Ally X was unplayable, averaging just 15fps on Ultra Nightmare. Lowering the graphics preset to Nightmare, Ultra, and High only slightly improved the frame rate to 16fps, while Medium reached 17fps. Even at Low, the game managed only 20fps, still not smooth enough for enjoyable gameplay. Clearly, 1080p is not feasible on any graphics setting.

Switching to 720p improved performance, but not sufficiently. Ultra Nightmare, Nightmare, and Ultra settings averaged 24fps, while High reached 26fps. These frame rates are not ideal for a smooth gaming experience, though they might be tolerable for those eager to play Doom: The Dark Ages on a handheld. It was only at Medium settings at 720p that the game became playable, averaging 30fps. Dropping to Low settings boosted performance to 35fps.

Asus ROG Ally X Isn’t Ready for Doom: The Dark Ages

As much as I love handheld gaming PCs and my Asus ROG Ally X, it's clear that the current hardware isn't up to the task for Doom: The Dark Ages. The Ally X struggles significantly, with only the Medium and Low graphics presets at 720p achieving the minimum 30fps for playability.

Steam Deck users will face similar challenges, as its specs are less powerful than the Ally X. Expect to play at 800p on Low settings just to reach 30fps, a scenario that applies to all current-generation handhelds.

However, there's hope on the horizon. The next generation of mobile chipsets, such as the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, is expected to hit the market this year. Rumors suggest it might power the Asus ROG Ally 2, and there are even leaked images of an Xbox-branded model. We'll have to wait and see how these advancements impact the performance of demanding games like Doom: The Dark Ages.