Doom: The Dark Ages Struggles on Handheld PC

The highly anticipated Doom: The Dark Ages has arrived, sparking curiosity among handheld gaming PC enthusiasts, particularly those with the Asus ROG Ally X. If you're aiming for a smooth gaming experience with at least 30 frames per second, you might be wondering if the Ally X is up to the task. While 60fps would be the dream, it's a tall order for such a demanding title. Unfortunately, if you're hoping for a repeat of the stellar performance seen with Doom Eternal, prepare for disappointment.

The landscape of PC gaming handhelds is vibrant and diverse, but the Asus ROG Ally X stands out as a leader. Powered by the same AMD Z1 Extreme as many top-tier handhelds, the Ally X boasts a significant advantage: a whopping 24GB of system memory, with 16GB dedicated to the GPU. This memory operates at a brisk 7,500MHz, providing superior memory 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 games grow more demanding, the Ally X serves as a benchmark, indicating whether less powerful handhelds can keep pace—until the next generation 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 firmly established itself as the premier handheld gaming PC on the market. Check it out at Best BuyCan the Asus ROG Ally Handle Doom: The Dark Ages?

Before diving in, ensure your chipset is updated for the best experience with 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, hit "Check for Updates." Once the RC72LA update appears, select "Update All."

For these tests, I connected the Ally X to an outlet and used the Turbo Operating Mode (30W) to maximize performance. I also set the maximum vRAM allocation for Texture Pool Size in the game's graphics menu at 4,096 megabytes, well above the default 2,048. Given the Ally X's 24GB of RAM (with 16GB usable), even at Ultra Nightmare settings, there was ample headroom.

All tests were conducted without resolution scaling, and while I tested dynamic resolution, the results mirrored those at 720p, so they're omitted here. Dynamic resolution simply defaulted to 720p because the target frame rate was unattainable across the board.

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 plunges players into intense action, pushing the hardware to its limits. The results were startling.

At 1080p, Doom: The Dark Ages on the Ally X is unplayable, averaging just 15fps on Ultra Nightmare. Lowering the settings barely improved performance, with Nightmare, Ultra, and High averaging 16fps, and Medium at 17fps. Only the Low preset at 1080p offered a slight improvement to 20fps, yet it remained far from smooth. Achieving playable framerates at 1080p across any graphics preset is simply not feasible.

Performance improved at 720p, though still not ideal. Ultra Nightmare, Nightmare, and Ultra averaged 24fps, while High reached 26fps. While not smooth enough for a comfortable experience, these settings are playable if you're eager to enjoy Doom: The Dark Ages on your handheld. It wasn't until I dropped to Medium at 720p that the game became truly playable, hitting 30fps on average. Low settings further improved performance to 35fps.

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

As a fan of handheld gaming PCs and the Asus ROG Ally X, it's clear that even the best current handhelds lack the power to handle Doom: The Dark Ages effectively. The Ally X struggles significantly, only achieving the minimum playable 30fps at Medium and Low settings at 720p.

Steam Deck users will face similar challenges, given its less powerful specs compared to the Ally X. Expect to play at 800p on Low settings just to reach 30fps, a reality for all current-generation handhelds.

However, hope is 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 may power the Asus ROG Ally 2, and there are even whispers of an Xbox-branded model. We'll have to wait and see how these advancements fare with demanding games like Doom: The Dark Ages.