AMD Ryzen Z1 series: Two new APUs launch with up to 8.6 TFLOPs GPU performance for gaming handhelds
AMD has now introduced the Ryzen Z1 series, which the company has designed for gaming handhelds. At launch, AMD has presented the Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme, details of which emerged earlier this month on Geekbench. For reference, the Ryzen Z1 series relies on the Zen 4 architecture, as well as RDNA 3-based iGPUs.
According to AMD, the Ryzen Z1 features 6 CPU cores and an iGPU with 4 Compute Units (CUs). In other words, the Ryzen Z1 has half the CUs of the Radeon 760M. By contrast, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme contains 8 CPU cores and 12 CUs, matching the likes of the Ryzen 7 7840U. In fact, AMD only distinguishes the Ryzen Z1 series from its Ryzen 7000 counterparts with 'customized power and voltage curves, among other differences'.
Regardless, AMD claims that the Ryzen Z1 delivers up to 2.8 TFLOPs (FP32), with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme peaking at 8.6 TFLOPs (FP32). In comparison, the Steam Deck delivers 1.6 TFLOPs, 4x as much as the Nintendo Switch. Still, cooling and TDP limitations may prevent the Ryzen Z1 or Ryzen Z1 Extreme from reaching these theoretical performance levels.
As the embedded images below show, AMD bills both Z1 series APUs as being capable of running triple-A titles natively at 1080p, albeit with low graphics settings. Enabling RSR upscaling from 720p is alleged to help even the Ryzen Z1 exceed 40 FPS average in Red Dead Redemption 2. However, AMD explained to The Verge that the average frame rates reported below were achieved with a 30 W TDP. The Ryzen Z1 series will debut in the ROG Ally, a round-up of which we published yesterday. Subsequently, ASUS has shared even more details, including a launch date.
