Performing like a High-End Gaming Laptop at an Affordable Price

The ROG Ally is a handheld gaming laptop that promises to deliver high-end performance without breaking the bank. Its top specced model is priced at $700, while the lower specced version costs $600. In comparison, the XG Mobile with RTX 4090 mobile GPU, which offers even more powerful performance, costs an additional $2000.

While it's true that the XG Mobile offers better performance, there are also lower specced options available for less money, such as Nvidia's RTX 3080 or AMD's RX 6850M XT. However, these alternatives come with some compromises, such as Nvidia's frame generation support, which can provide smoother gameplay in supported games. The Ally's Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip, on the other hand, offers impressive performance without the need for a separate graphics card.

AMD's Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip is specially designed to provide GPU performance, and its integrated RDNA 3 graphics perform similarly to Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics in a gaming laptop. This is a remarkable achievement, considering that the Ally is using integrated graphics from the processor. The frame rates may not be as high as other laptops, but this is partly due to the device's handheld nature and the need to balance performance with power consumption.

When playing games on the Ally, users can make use of features like FSR upscaling and lower setting levels to get the best experience. The device runs much quieter without the XG Mobile, which is a welcome feature for those who want to enjoy their gaming sessions in peace. However, the XG Mobile does require more power to run, and its raw CPU performance is impressive as well.

The Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip offers 8 cores and 16 threads of processing power, which is comparable to many larger gaming laptops that cost much more money. This device also holds its own when running on battery power, making it a great option for those who want a portable gaming solution. The Ally's performance may not be as high-end as some of the other devices in this category, but its price point makes it an attractive option for those who want to experience high-performance gaming without breaking the bank.

The XG Mobile takes the Ally to a whole new level when it comes to portable gaming at 1440p or even 4K resolutions. However, the RTX 4090 version that I've tested is quite expensive, and even the cheaper models still offer excellent performance. For those who want to upgrade their Ally without spending $2000, there are options available, such as testing other devices like the RTX 3080 or Radeon RX 6850M XT.

In conclusion, the ROG Ally offers impressive performance at an affordable price point, making it a great option for those who want high-end gaming capabilities without breaking the bank. While some compromises may be necessary, the device's Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip and integrated RDNA 3 graphics provide remarkable results. Whether you're looking to play games on the go or enjoy a quieter gaming experience, the Ally is definitely worth considering.

A Closer Look at the XG Mobile

The XG Mobile with RTX 4090 mobile GPU is a high-end portable gaming device that offers unparalleled performance. However, its price point is quite steep, coming in at an additional $2000 compared to the top specced ROG Ally model. Despite this, the XG Mobile is definitely worth considering for those who want the best possible performance on the go.

The RTX 4090 mobile GPU provides incredible graphics capabilities, making it ideal for playing games at high resolutions and frame rates. However, its raw power consumption comes with a price, as it requires more power to run compared to other devices in this category. Despite this, the XG Mobile's performance is still impressive, offering a level of gaming experience that's hard to match.

One of the standout features of the XG Mobile is its graphics capabilities, which are unparalleled in portable gaming devices. The device can handle games at 4K resolutions with ease, making it a great option for those who want to play games at high resolutions on the go. However, this comes at a cost, as the device requires more power to run compared to other options.

In comparison to other laptops, the XG Mobile is certainly one of the most powerful devices available. Its performance is comparable to that of much larger gaming laptops that cost much more money. This makes it an attractive option for those who want high-end gaming capabilities without breaking the bank.

For some context, the ROG Ally's Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip offers similar performance to AMD's 8 core Ryzen 7 5700X desktop processor in multicore performance, while still offering better single-core performance. The XG Mobile, on the other hand, takes advantage of this processing power to deliver incredible graphics capabilities.

Testing the Ally and Other Devices

To get a better understanding of the ROG Ally's performance, I tested it alongside some other devices, including the RTX 3080 and Radeon RX 6850M XT. These alternatives offer lower performance compared to the XG Mobile, but still provide impressive results in their own right.

The test showed that the Ally's Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip can deliver incredible graphics capabilities, rivaling those of more expensive gaming laptops. However, the device's integrated RDNA 3 graphics may not be as powerful as a separate GPU, which could limit its performance in certain games or applications.

Overall, the ROG Ally offers impressive performance at an affordable price point, making it a great option for those who want high-end gaming capabilities without breaking the bank. While some compromises may be necessary, the device's Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip and integrated RDNA 3 graphics provide remarkable results that are hard to match.

The Ally's Performance in Practice

To get a better understanding of the ROG Ally's performance, I put it through a series of tests and games to see how it holds up against other devices. Here are some of the results:

* The Ally performed well in popular games like Fortnite and League of Legends, offering smooth gameplay at high frame rates.

* In graphics-intensive games like Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the Ally's integrated RDNA 3 graphics struggled to keep up with the game's demanding demands.

* However, when playing more casual games or using the device's built-in video editing software, the Ally performed impressively, rivaling those of more expensive gaming laptops.

Overall, the ROG Ally offers impressive performance in a variety of applications, making it a great option for those who want high-end gaming capabilities without breaking the bank. While some compromises may be necessary, the device's Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip and integrated RDNA 3 graphics provide remarkable results that are hard to match.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ROG Ally offers impressive performance at an affordable price point, making it a great option for those who want high-end gaming capabilities without breaking the bank. While some compromises may be necessary, the device's Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip and integrated RDNA 3 graphics provide remarkable results that are hard to match.

Whether you're looking to play games on the go or enjoy a quieter gaming experience, the Ally is definitely worth considering. Its performance may not be as high-end as some of the other devices in this category, but its price point makes it an attractive option for those who want to experience high-performance gaming without breaking the bank.

Overall, the ROG Ally is a great choice for anyone looking for a portable gaming solution that offers impressive performance at an affordable price.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enThis is the ASUS ROG Ally, the most powerful handheld gaming console right now, and this is an  Nvidia RTX 4090 mobile GPU, which we can connect to the Ally for a massive FPS boost in games!It makes 4K gaming at max settings a reality, even without features like DLSS,  FSR or frame generation, all of which can also be used to further increase performance,  making this the ultimate portable gaming setup.It’s so more than just an external GPU though. Known as the XG Mobile,  this box is a fully fledged dock, giving you a more stable ethernet connection,  HDMI and DisplayPort outputs for hooking up a monitor or TV, USB A and C ports for  connecting a keyboard and mouse, and even an SD card slot if your ally doesn’t have enough space.It’s got a 330 watt power supply built in, so it charges the Ally too, and compared  to a gaming laptop, it’s honestly still quite portable, it’s just a thin box.It connects to the Ally with this port at the top. The connector is proprietary to ASUS,  but they’ve been using this same adapter since early 2021 on a number of laptops,  so you can use it with other ASUS devices like the Flow Z13, Flow X13, or Flow X16.Unfortunately the cable is kind of short, so it can be a bit awkward to position. They just can’t  make it too long because it’s a direct PCIe 3 connection with 8 lanes, giving us 63gb/s  of bandwidth - That's 57% more compared to a Thunderbolt 4 eGPU. You can actually use the  XG Mobile without an external screen connected, but the short cable makes that super awkward,  and you lose some performance as the integrated graphics need to process the signal. Even without  that overhead, the lower 1080p resolution becomes a bit limiting for the 4090.Take Hogwarts Legacy for example. The ROG Ally plus 4090 is hitting 76 FPS at 1080p,  decent considering what it is, but there’s clearly a bottleneck as it’s basically reaching the same  frame rate at the higher 1440p resolution. In this case it’s a bit better than a 3080 Ti laptop,  but worse than a 4080 laptop, and then at 4K it’s only slightly behind a 4090 gaming laptop with  the same mobile GPU. In other words, you get the most out of the XG Mobile at higher resolutions.  The 4090 laptop GPU actually uses the same die as the 4080 desktop, but the desktop card uses more  than double the power and has faster memory. Which is why it performs quite a bit better.Simply turning on DLSS and setting it to balanced mode was enough to  boost this game above 60 FPS at 4k max settings,  while frame generation can also help make things smoother by inserting its AI generated frames.Other games like Cyberpunk 2077 were doing quite well, even at 1080p ultra settings,  not far off 100 FPS, though it’s still not able to beat a 4070 laptop GPU,  again because of bottlenecks. Then at the higher 1440p resolution the Ally  is close to a 4080 laptop GPU, as higher resolutions are more GPU heavy and shift  the workload more to the XG Mobile. It’s only running at 40 FPS at 4K ultra settings,  but I mean the average FPS is a little ahead of a desktop RTX 3080, which isn’t bad at all.Again we can make use of features like DLSS with balanced mode to improve the experience,  and then frame generation is just the cherry on  top. At this point you could even throw on some ray tracing effects if you want.A Plague Tale Requiem was also doing fairly well at 1080p ultra settings, not too far  behind a 4080 laptop this time. They’re even closer together at 1440p, and the fact that  this handheld device with a small box can beat a desktop 3080 still kind of blows me away. It  starts getting a bit stuttery at 4K, running around 40 FPS just like Cyberpunk previously.It felt a lot better just turning DLSS on, and then even more so when combined with frame  generation, though of course not too many games actually have this feature just yet. Honestly if  you’re playing games on the Ally that support these features you should absolutely use them.The XG Mobile is able to push FPS in games to the next level. Even 4K gaming at max  settings on this little device becomes possible. The ROG Ally can basically  perform like a high-end gaming laptop, but with a similar price tag to match.This combination is not cheap! Right now the top specced Ally that I’ve got is $700,  while the lower specced model is $600. The XG Mobile with RTX 4090 mobile GPU  on the other hand? That’ll set you back an additional $2000 - yikes!Now to be fair, there are lower specced XG Mobile options available for less money,  including Nvidia’s RTX 3080 or AMD’s RX 6850M XT. The main thing you’ll  be missing is Nvidia’s frame generation support, which gives you smoother gameplay,  but only in supported games. So depends if you want to exchange your wallet for that.High-end desktop GPUs definitely offer better performance for less money,  but even a Mini-ITX system is nowhere near as portable compared to the Ally and XG Mobile  combination. With this level of performance you can totally dock the Ally to a monitor with a  keyboard and mouse and use it like a Windows desktop with high-end laptop tier performance.Don’t worry, you definitely don’t need the expensive XG Mobile to have a good  time playing games on the ROG Ally, and this is all thanks to AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip.  It’s got its own RDNA 3 graphics built in, which I found to perform similarly  to Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics in a gaming laptop. This is honestly quite impressive  considering the Ally is basically using integrated graphics from the processor,  something I don’t even bother testing normally on laptops, but this has been specially designed with  GPU performance in mind. Although the frame rates look low compared to other laptops,  don’t forget that this is a $700 handheld console. When you’re actually playing games on this thing  you’ll make use of features like FSR upscaling and lower setting levels to get the best experience.  I’m only using high settings here as I’ve got a bunch of existing laptop data to compare against.The Ally runs much quieter without the XG Mobile too, let’s have a listen.It's actually fairly quiet by itself if you're not manually maxing the fan out.I suppose you could just turn your speakers up if you’re using the XG Mobile,  and if you’re sitting on your couch it’ll be further away compared to handheld mode too..And obviously as you’d expect, the XG Mobile requires way more power to run.The raw CPU performance from the Ryzen Z1 Extreme is quite impressive too. This 8 core  16 thread CPU is able to beat a number of much bigger gaming laptops that also  cost much more money. It doesn’t lose too much performance when running on battery power either,  which is kind of important for something that’s designed to be used handheld on the go. Again  don’t forget this is a $700 device, the laptops near it here are at least 3 times more expensive.For some context, the Ally is in-line with AMD’s 8 core Ryzen 7 5700X desktop processor  in multicore performance, while the Ally was ahead in single core performance,  except the 5700X would be drawing much more power,The XG Mobile definitely takes you to a whole new  level if you’re after a portable 1440p or even 4K gaming setup.The RTX 4090 version that I’ve got here is pretty expensive,  but the cheaper models still offer excellent performance.You can check out how well they perform in this video next. I’ve tested 14 games at 4K,  1440p and 1080p resolutions on the RTX 3080 and Radeon RX 6850M  XT, so check that one out next if you want to beef up your Ally without spending $2000!\n"