Doom: The Dark Ages Struggles on Handheld Gaming PC

The highly anticipated Doom: The Dark Ages has arrived, and if you're a fan of handheld gaming PCs, you might be curious about its performance on the Asus ROG Ally X. Setting a benchmark of 30 frames per second (fps) as the minimum for playability, with an ideal target of 60fps, let's dive into whether this powerful device can meet these expectations. While the previous title, Doom Eternal, ran smoothly on the Ally, Doom: The Dark Ages presents a different challenge.

A Note on the Hardware

The world of PC gaming handhelds is thriving, with the Asus ROG Ally X leading the pack. Powered by the same AMD Z1 Extreme as many of its competitors, the Ally X stands out with its impressive 24GB of system memory, of which 16GB is dedicated to the GPU. Moreover, its memory operates at a blazing 7,500MHz, offering superior memory bandwidth crucial for the Z1 Extreme's integrated graphics.

This configuration positions the ROG Ally X as the optimal choice for testing Doom: The Dark Ages. It's the best chance to see if current handhelds can keep pace with such demanding games, serving as a benchmark until the next generation of handhelds emerges later this year.

The Best Handheld Gaming PC

Asus Asus ROG Ally X

With double the battery life and significantly faster memory, the Asus ROG Ally X has firmly established itself as the premier handheld gaming PC available. Check it out at Best Buy.

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

Before you start playing, ensure your chipset is up to date. On the ROG Ally X, this is straightforward: open Armoury Crate from the bottom right menu, click the cogwheel, and navigate to the Update Center. Update the AMD Radeon Graphics Driver to the latest version, RC72LA, by selecting "Update All."

For our tests, the Ally X was plugged into an outlet and set to Turbo Operating Mode (30W) to maximize performance. The in-game Texture Pool Size was set to the maximum of 4,096 megabytes, leveraging the Ally X's 24GB of RAM (16GB usable), which remained well within capacity even at the highest settings.

Tests were conducted without resolution scaling, and dynamic resolution tests at various presets mirrored the 720p results, as the target frame rate was unattainable, causing dynamic resolution to default to 720p.

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

The opening section of the second mission, Hebeth, was used for testing due to its intense action and effects, pushing the hardware to its limits. At 1080p, performance was dismal, averaging only 15fps on Ultra Nightmare, barely improving at lower settings. Only the Low preset managed a somewhat smoother 20fps, but it still falls short of playability standards.

Switching to 720p improved the situation somewhat, but it remained subpar. Ultra Nightmare, Nightmare, and Ultra settings hovered around 24fps, with High reaching 26fps. These rates are not ideal for gameplay, though they might suffice for those eager to play. It was only at Medium and 720p that the game became playable, hitting the 30fps mark, while Low settings reached 35fps.

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

As much as I appreciate handheld gaming PCs and the Asus ROG Ally X, it's clear that they currently lack the power to handle Doom: The Dark Ages effectively. Achieving the minimum 30fps requires dropping to Medium or Low graphics at 720p, which is far from ideal.

Steam Deck users face similar challenges, as its hardware is less capable than the Ally X. Expect to play at 800p on Low settings to reach 30fps, a situation that extends 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 soon. Rumored to power devices like the Asus ROG Ally 2 and even an Xbox-branded model, these advancements could significantly enhance the performance of demanding titles like Doom: The Dark Ages. We'll have to wait and see how these new devices fare.