"Doom: The Dark Ages Struggles on Handheld PC"

Doom: The Dark Ages has arrived, and if you're a fan of handheld gaming PCs like the Asus ROG Ally X, you're likely eager to know if it can handle this demanding title. While 30 frames per second (fps) is the minimum for a playable experience, anything above that, particularly 60fps, would be ideal, though it might be a stretch for such a high-performance game.

The previous installment, Doom Eternal, ran smoothly on the Ally, but don't expect the same from Doom: The Dark Ages. Let's delve into the specifics.

The world of handheld gaming PCs is diverse, but the Asus ROG Ally X stands out at the top. It uses the same AMD Z1 Extreme chip as many other leading handhelds, but it boasts a significant advantage: a whopping 24GB of system memory, with 16GB dedicated to the GPU. What's more, its memory speed of 7,500MHz provides superior bandwidth, crucial for the Z1 Extreme's integrated graphics.

This makes the ROG Ally X an ideal candidate for testing Doom: The Dark Ages, as it has the best shot at meeting the game's demanding requirements. As games continue to push the envelope, the Ally X serves as a benchmark for whether less powerful handhelds can keep up—until the next generation of devices arrives later this year.

The Best Handheld Gaming PC### Asus Asus ROG Ally X

7With double the battery life and significantly faster memory, the Asus ROG Ally X has positioned itself as the premier handheld gaming PC on the market. See it at Best BuyCan the Asus ROG Ally Handle Doom: The Dark Ages?

Before diving in, ensure your chipset is updated for Doom: The Dark Ages. Updating on the ROG Ally X is straightforward: Open Armoury Crate via the 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 listed, select Check for Updates. Once the RC72LA update appears, choose Update All.

For testing, I connected the Ally X to an outlet and used Turbo Operating Mode (30W) to maximize performance. I also set the maximum vRAM allocation for Texture Pool Size in the game's graphics settings to 4,096 megabytes, doubling the default 2,048. With 24GB of RAM (16GB usable), the Ally X had plenty of headroom, even at the Ultra Nightmare setting.

All tests were conducted with resolution scaling disabled. I also ran tests with dynamic resolution, but the results mirrored the 720p metrics since the target frame rate was unattainable, causing dynamic resolution to default to 720p.

Here are the performance results for Doom: The Dark Ages on the ROG Ally X:

• Ultra Nightmare, 1080p: 15fps
• Ultra Nightmare, 720p: 24fps
• Nightmare, 1080p: 16fps
• Nightmare, 720p: 24fps
• Ultra, 1080p: 16fps
• Ultra, 720p: 24fps
• High, 1080p: 16fps
• High, 720p: 26fps
• Medium, 1080p: 17fps
• Medium, 720p: 30fps
• Low, 1080p: 20fps
• Low, 720p: 35fps

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

At 1080p, Doom: The Dark Ages on the Ally X was a disaster. The average frame rate at Ultra Nightmare was an unplayable 15fps, with minimal improvements at lower settings: Nightmare, Ultra, and High averaged 16fps, while Medium hit 17fps. Only the Low setting at 1080p managed 20fps, but it still lacked smoothness. 1080p remains unplayable regardless of the graphics preset.

At 720p, the game performed slightly better, but not sufficiently. Ultra Nightmare, Nightmare, and Ultra averaged 24fps, while High reached 26fps. These frame rates are technically playable, but far from ideal. It wasn't until dropping to Medium at 720p that the game became truly playable, averaging 30fps. Low settings at 720p provided a more comfortable 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 they lack the power needed for Doom: The Dark Ages. The Ally X struggles significantly with this title. If 30fps is your benchmark for playability, you'll need to use the Medium and Low graphics presets at 720p.

Steam Deck users won't fare any better, given its inferior specs compared to the Ally X. You'd be limited to playing at 800p on Low graphics to achieve 30fps, and this holds true for all current-generation handhelds.

However, there's a glimmer of hope on the horizon. The next generation of mobile chipsets, like the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme expected later this year, could improve performance. Leaks suggest this chip might power the Asus ROG Ally 2, and there are even rumors of an Xbox-branded model. Only time will tell how well demanding games like Doom: The Dark Ages will perform on these new devices.