ASUS has issued a fresh firmware update for its ROG Ally handheld that eliminates the performance issues at lower TDPs, offering a 20% boost in gaming.

ASUS ROG Ally Firmware Update Puts Steam Deck Way Behind In Terms of Raw Performance

Dave2D was the first to identify the issue. He observed that at lower TDPs, the ASUS ROG Ally hand-held was unable to compete with its competitor Steam Deck. The Steam Deck has an AMD Van Gogh APU with quad-core Zen2 architecture, half as many CPU cores, and only four GPU clusters, compared to the ROG Ally's more powerful Ryzen Z1 APU. Technically speaking, the ROG Ally ought to be in the lead, but in Dave's benchmarks, the Steam Deck was on par with the ROG Ally and, in some instances, even in the lead.

ASUS Rog Ally VS Steam Deck before the update

ASUS released a new firmware update for the ROG Ally handheld, compatible only with the most recent GPU drivers to address this issue. The firmware update significantly boosted the handheld's performance by up to 20% in some cases. According to Dave, the updated firmware now puts the console head-to-head with the AYANEO 2S, powered by the Ryzen 7 7840U Phoenix APU.

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Playing games at 3W is one area where the Steam Deck continues to have an edge. Since the APU created for Steam Deck can function at such low voltage, it is perfect when you don't need much performance and would prefer a longer battery life. But if you want something faster, then ASUS's ROG Ally is definitely the choice to go for.

You can view our roundup about the ROG Ally where we have discussed about the handheld's capabilities in detail.

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