The long-awaited Doom: The Dark Ages has finally arrived, and for enthusiasts of handheld gaming PCs like the Asus ROG Ally X, the burning question is whether it can handle this demanding title. Aiming for a minimum of 30 frames per second (fps) for playability, with 60fps being the ideal but likely unattainable target, let's delve into how the ROG Ally X performs with this latest installment in the Doom series.

The world of PC gaming handhelds is thriving, with the Asus ROG Ally X standing out at the forefront. Powered by the same AMD Z1 Extreme as many top competitors, the Ally X distinguishes itself with an impressive 24GB of system memory, of which 16GB is allocated to the GPU. Its memory operates at a blazing 7,500MHz, offering superior memory bandwidth that significantly boosts the performance of the integrated graphics.

This makes the ROG Ally X the ideal candidate for testing Doom: The Dark Ages, as it's equipped to tackle the game's high system requirements. As gaming demands continue to escalate, the Ally X serves as a benchmark for other handhelds, offering a glimpse into their potential performance until the next generation of handhelds 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 solidified its position as the leading handheld gaming PC on the market. You can find it at Best Buy.Can the Asus ROG Ally Handle Doom: The Dark Ages?

Before diving into gameplay, ensure your chipset is updated for optimal performance. On the ROG Ally X, this is straightforward: access 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, or select "Check for Updates" if it's not listed. Once the RC72LA update is available, choose "Update All."

For our tests, the Ally X was plugged into an outlet and set to Turbo Operating Mode (30W) to maximize performance. In the in-game graphics menu, the Texture Pool Size was set to the maximum of 4,096 megabytes, rather than the default 2,048, taking advantage of the Ally X's ample 24GB of RAM (with 16GB usable), which remains far from capacity even at the highest settings.

All tests were conducted with resolution scaling disabled. Although dynamic resolution was tested, the results mirrored those at 720p, as the target frame rate was unattainable, causing the game to default to 720p.

Doom: The Dark Ages ROG Ally X PerformanceUltra Nightmare, 1080p15fpsUltra Nightmare, 720p24fpsNightmare, 1080p16fpsNightmare, 720p24fpsUltra, 1080p16fpsUltra, 720p24fpsHigh, 1080p16fpsHigh, 720p26fpsMedium, 1080p17fpsMedium, 720p30fpsLow, 1080p20fpsLow, 720p35fpsFor testing, I repeatedly played the opening section of Doom: The Dark Ages' second mission, Hebeth, which immediately immerses the player in intense action, pushing the hardware to its limits. The results were surprising.

At 1080p, Doom: The Dark Ages on the Ally X was unplayable, averaging just 15fps on Ultra Nightmare. Lowering the settings to Nightmare, Ultra, and High only slightly improved the frame rate to 16fps, while Medium settings yielded 17fps. Even at Low settings, the game managed only 20fps, still far from smooth. Clearly, 1080p is not feasible on the Ally X, regardless of the graphics preset.

Switching to 720p offered some improvement, but not enough for a satisfactory experience. Ultra Nightmare, Nightmare, and Ultra settings averaged 24fps, while High settings reached 26fps. These frame rates are barely playable, suitable only for those desperate to experience Doom: The Dark Ages on a handheld. It was not until the settings were reduced to Medium at 720p that the game became playable, averaging 30fps. At Low settings, performance improved to 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 currently lack the power needed for Doom: The Dark Ages. The Ally X struggles significantly with this game, achieving the minimum playable frame rate of 30fps only at Medium and Low settings at 720p.

Steam Deck users will face similar challenges, as its hardware is less capable than the Ally X. Expect to play at 800p on Low settings just to reach 30fps, a scenario that applies 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. Rumors suggest it will power the Asus ROG Ally 2, and there are even leaked images of an Xbox-branded model. We'll have to wait and see how these advancements impact the performance of demanding games like Doom: The Dark Ages.