AMD Adds a Pair of New Ryzen Z2 SoCs to its Lineup of Handheld Gaming Chips

[TheLostSwede]

AMD's Z2 series of processors for handheld gaming devices has been expanded with a pair of new chips, namely the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme and the Ryzen Z2 A. From AMD's naming scheme, one would assume that the two are quite similar, but if you've kept track of AMD's Z2 product lineup, you're most likely already aware that there are some major differences between the three older SKUs and this time around, we get a further change at the low-end. The new top of the range chip, the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme appears to be largely the same SoC as the older Ryzen Z2 Extreme, with the addition of a 50 TOPS NPU for AI tasks, which appears to be shared with many of AMD's mobile SoCs.

However, the new low-end entry, the Ryzen Z2 A appears to have more in common with the Steamdeck SoC, than any of the other Z2 chips. It sports a quad core, eight thread Zen 2 CPU, an RDNA 2 based GPU with a mere eight CUs and support for LPDDR5-6400 memory. On the plus side, it has a TDP range of 6-20 Watts, suggesting it would allow for better battery life, assuming devices based on it get a similar size battery as a handheld based on one of the higher-end Z2 SoCs. ASUS is using both of these chips in its two new ROG Ally handheld gaming devices, but Lenovo is expected to follow shortly with its own handheld devices.



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[RejZoR]

Imagine if it was Zen 5 and RDNA 4. That would be insane. Also what's the purpose of the Ai SKU ? It's the same thing as regular Extreme, just more Ai.

 

[TheGeekn°72]

Imagine if it was Zen 5 and RDNA 4. That would be insane.

the AI Extreme is Zen5 already, I'm guessing they're reserving all the RDNA4 silicon allocations for dGPUs but we may see RDNA4 or a 4.5 refresh show up in, idk, Z3 APU in a 1-4 years ?

Also what's the purpose of the Ai SKU ? It's the same thing as regular Extreme, just more Ai.

Yeah, it's just that, the Z2 Extreme with the XDNA2 NPU you can find in Co-Pilot laptops grafted in the APU package, probably at the demand of Microsoft to justify adding a Co-Pilot button on the Ally X

 

[yfn_ratchet]

So we've got... a rebadge of the Z1 Extreme, a rebadge of the Rembrandt 8-core APU (6800U/H/HS) and a rebadge of the Sephiroth chip. What is this, Mercury Autos?

I don't mind there being more options in terms of handheld APUs, but could we at least be a little honest here? Nevermind that using the 'Z2' moniker across the board makes it so much more confusing for prospective buyers. Natural names, people. Natural names. Or numbering schemes that make sense.

Coulda named the whole lineup after the TMNT and it would be better than this.

 

[Daven]

The TDPs are configurable and not the base/turbo ranges like desktop SoCs. At 6W configured, one could make a very long battery lasting handheld. However, these handhelds have full desktop OSes like Windows with massive overhead requirements.

Gone are the days when you could insert a game cartridge that holds most the functional content with only a BIOS embedded in the device like the Nintendo handhelds before the Switch.

I would love an inexpensive 24 hour battery handheld with 6W SoC that loads classic games via SD card. No OS necessary. I want to just see a ‘No disc found’ message when booting without a game. I don’t want to boot into a full OS with tons of bloat.

 

[john_]

That Z2A is the perfect APU to popularize Steam OS because it looks like the same APU that SteamDeck uses. Every Chinese manufacturer out there, even with limited experience, can probably create a "compatible SteamDeck" handheld with that APU running SteamOS.

 

[Dr. Dro]

the AI Extreme is Zen5 already, I'm guessing they're reserving all the RDNA4 silicon allocations for dGPUs but we may see RDNA4 or a 4.5 refresh show up in, idk, Z3 APU in a 1-4 years ?

These processors are monolithic, so it's a single fully integrated slab of silicon. This Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor is just a TDP-optimized HX 370, so it's around a year old by now, it precludes RDNA 4 by quite a few months, and that's why it doesn't have a RDNA 4 iGPU.

Yeah, it's just that, the Z2 Extreme with the XDNA2 NPU you can find in Co-Pilot laptops grafted in the APU package, probably at the demand of Microsoft to justify adding a Co-Pilot button on the Ally X

That's pretty much it. I reckon they want to do something like the Nvidia G-Assist "gaming AI assistant" that they came up with. Cortana would be the perfect face for it, too.

 

[TheLostSwede]

The TDPs are configurable and not the base/turbo ranges like desktop SoCs. At 6W configured, one could make a very long battery lasting handheld.

That's been the case for most mobile CPUs for years now, no?

 

[Daven]

That's been the case for most mobile CPUs for years now, no?

That's right which is why I said desktop in my comment. But I still think there is a subtle difference where you can fix the TDP on these Z2's whereas in laptops there is still a range of TDPs between Idle, full load and anything in between.

 

[TheLostSwede]

That's right which is why I said desktop in my comment. But I still think there is a subtle difference where you can fix the TDP on these Z2's whereas in laptops there is still a range of TDPs between Idle, full load and anything in between.

No, that's not the case, a lot of mobile CPUs have a programable TDP which can be set by the device maker.
This is what Intel calls it.

 

[dir_d]

Did you guys not see the Xbox ROG Ally X. It is using the Z2 Extreme Chip.

 

[RejZoR]

So we've got... a rebadge of the Z1 Extreme, a rebadge of the Rembrandt 8-core APU (6800U/H/HS) and a rebadge of the Sephiroth chip. What is this, Mercury Autos?

I don't mind there being more options in terms of handheld APUs, but could we at least be a little honest here? Nevermind that using the 'Z2' moniker across the board makes it so much more confusing for prospective buyers. Natural names, people. Natural names. Or numbering schemes that make sense.

Coulda named the whole lineup after the TMNT and it would be better than this.

Um, Ryzen Z1 Extreme was Zen 4 and RDNA 3. Z2 Extreme is Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5. Also higher memory bandwidth and probably clocks too. If they repurposed something, that's not really a bad thing if there is an upgrade to user experience.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Did you guys not see the Xbox ROG Ally X. It is using the Z2 Extreme Chip.

Did you not read the entire news post?

 

[dir_d]

Did you not read the entire news post?

I read the 1st paragraph and half of the second, CAUGHT! I see the last sentence you put the link...

 

[TheLostSwede]

I read the 1st paragraph and half of the second, CAUGHT! I see the last sentence you put the link...

Admittedly I added the link after your comment, but I did mention the Asus devices from the beginning.

 

[Cheeseball]

This Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor is just a TDP-optimized HX 370, so it's around a year old by now, it precludes RDNA 4 by quite a few months, and that's why it doesn't have a RDNA 4 iGPU.

It is a cut-down HX 370 with 4 less cores. Which cores though, we're still not sure. The internet thinks its 3x Zen 5, 5x Zen 5c cores. For reference, the HX 370 is 4x Zen 5, 8x Zen 5c.

 

[Dr. Dro]

It is a cut-down HX 370 with 4 less cores. Which cores though, we're still not sure. The internet thinks its 3x Zen 5, 5x Zen 5c cores. For reference, the HX 370 is 4x Zen 5, 8x Zen 5c.

Yeah. That topology makes no sense (3C+5c), though. It's probably 4C+4c

 

[Cheeseball]

Yeah. That topology makes no sense (3C+5c), though. It's probably 4C+4c

Yeah, I'm guessing 4C+4c as well. Although it is a chiplet design and AMD can mix and match cores however they want, but I think 4C+4c is easier and cost effective to make. So, they probably took the Ryzen AI 7 350 and added more CUs to make it an 890M.

 

[mrnagant]

Z2A has been out for a bit. They are still making it, I guess maybe see if oneone else is interested in that SKU. I mean why not I guess right? :/

Would be nice if they came out with a Z2A at some point that is using current architecture improvements, while keeping with this design of what makes this chip unique.

Adding the TOPS would make sense if it will benefit with things like FSR4. I haven't really been a fan of TPUs or RT cores in this space. I think more rasterization would be more impactful and FSR/XeSS has not TPU capabilities on RDNA as of right now. But with FSR4 needing/utilizing TPUs, this could be beneficial. I hope they aren't adding it just so that companies can slap the CoPilot+ sticker on the product packaging.

 

[yfn_ratchet]

Um, Ryzen Z1 Extreme was Zen 4 and RDNA 3. Z2 Extreme is Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5. Also higher memory bandwidth and probably clocks too. If they repurposed something, that's not really a bad thing if there is an upgrade to user experience.

At what point did I assert the Z2 Extreme was a rebadge of the Z1 Extreme? Based off the five SKUs of the Z2 family we've seen, the Z2 non-Extreme (which at this point I'm realizing the 'Extreme' chips should have just been called the 'XT' chips) is an exact match for the Z1 Extreme APU.

The fact that you got confused about what I said further solidifes the point that this naming scheme kinda sucks...

 

[RejZoR]

At what point did I assert the Z2 Extreme was a rebadge of the Z1 Extreme? Based off the five SKUs of the Z2 family we've seen, the Z2 non-Extreme (which at this point I'm realizing the 'Extreme' chips should have just been called the 'XT' chips) is an exact match for the Z1 Extreme APU.

The fact that you got confused about what I said further solidifes the point that this naming scheme kinda sucks...

Confused? I only looked at the top performer where the changes are usually most obvious and what we usually care most about. It's not exactly new concept that lower end models of new generation are just rebadged high ends from last generation. This has been done for decades. Does it suck from consumer perspective if you don't know what to look for when buying new model? Yes. Is it necessarily evil? Not really. Neither of chips has RDNA4 which means none of them will be starved of significant technological benefits like FSR4 or better ray tracing. They'll all be kinda the same in that regard. CPU, while Zen5 is just better, the divide with CPU won't be that big. It would suck more if some had RDNA4 already and some didn't. Which we will see how it will play out next generation, hopefully all of them will be RDNA4 just with different specs.

 

[yfn_ratchet]

Confused? I only looked at the top performer where the changes are usually most obvious and what we usually care most about. It's not exactly new concept that lower end models of new generation are just rebadged high ends from last generation. This has been done for decades. Does it suck from consumer perspective if you don't know what to look for when buying new model? Yes. Is it necessarily evil? Not really. Neither of chips has RDNA4 which means none of them will be starved of significant technological benefits like FSR4 or better ray tracing. They'll all be kinda the same in that regard. CPU, while Zen5 is just better, the divide with CPU won't be that big. It would suck more if some had RDNA4 already and some didn't. Which we will see how it will play out next generation, hopefully all of them will be RDNA4 just with different specs.

I didn't lasso the Z2 Extreme into my statement. You argued me as if I did, and when I clarify, you now feel the need to say that you are working within the mindset of only considering the truly new top-end of this lineup, which is one new processor and an offshoot that has an NPU grafted to its hip.

Rebrands are a thing, sure, but rebrands to a degree this egregious from Team Red have only been seen recently in the laptop sector, where AMD felt the need to rope everything into their new (and also confusing) mobile processor naming scheme. I would say this is even worse, because they are lying by omission. "Check out the new Z2/Z2 Go/Z2 A processor" will rarely be proceeded by "which is actually a Z1 Extreme/6800H/Deck APU in disguise".

The only function of a rebrand of this type is to either unify a scattered collection of processors under one market demographic or to falsely present the old as new, and in this case I would assume both. AMD as a company most certainly has the capacity to conceive of a more consumer-friendly way to achieve the former without trespassing into the latter. To in any way come close to the conclusion that they should be excused from criticism because they managed to make one new product in a lineup of already-produced silicon is ridiculous.