Thanks to its AMD processor, the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X looks to be a winner for those wanting to utilize modern features in a gaming handheld. Youtuber Cary Golomb has been putting the Xbox OS-based (via Windows 11) device through the paces and early game testing with DOOM: The Dark Ages is revealing some impressive results. Something to remember with Doom: The Dark Ages is that ray tracing is on by default and cannot be turned off, which automatically presents a challenge for less powerful hardware.
ROG Xbox ALLY X
— Cary Golomb (@carygolomb) August 22, 2025
Doom the Dark Ages
1080p upscaled (FSR 50% 540p base res)
Ray Tracing enabled
Custom low-medium settings
FSR Frame-gen enabled.
~70fps in this scene.
~26w total (~18w TDP) but good news is we see the system self balancing power.
My YouTube video tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/v6gh6uhpkh
Cary’s testing involved using FSR to upscale from 540p to 1080p and used a mixed range of low and medium settings, which managed up to 70 FPS. The good news didn’t stop there, as the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X was said to be only consuming ~26W via its Performance profile, an impressive feat of power draw given the workload the APU is under, and it was said the game could be played for just over 3 hours. The AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme features Radeon 890M graphics, and when set to 18W mode, can maintain temperatures in the 57° C range, but it was not revealed what the iGPU temperatures were during testing.
ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X
The ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X received a lot of attention after it was announced at this year’s Xbox Games Showcase. Not long after, Microsoft announced it was delaying development of an Xbox Gaming handheld so that it could focus on supporting partners with their own models. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Xbox Ally X and the more budget-friendly version Ally will both launch on October 16. Pricing has not yet been announced, but the Ally X is rumored to launch at $899 and the Ally at $549. One last interesting tidbit is that Microsoft is working on incorporating a new feature where the handhelds can download shaders for games, thus bypassing the need for shader compilation.
“Advanced shader delivery, a new feature that preloads game shaders during download, so select games launch up to 10x faster, run smoother, and use less battery on first play. More games will support this feature over time. “
– Microsoft