Doom: The Dark Ages Struggles on Handheld Gaming PC

Doom: The Dark Ages has finally arrived, and if you're a fan of handheld gaming PCs like the Asus ROG Ally X, you're likely curious about its performance. I've set a benchmark of 30 frames per second (fps) as the minimum for enjoyable gameplay, with a dream of reaching 60fps for this highly demanding title. While 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, and the Asus ROG Ally X stands at the forefront. Powered by the AMD Z1 Extreme, it distinguishes itself with an impressive 24GB of RAM, with 16GB dedicated to the GPU. Its standout feature is the high-speed memory at 7,500MHz, which significantly boosts memory bandwidth—a critical factor for the integrated graphics of the Z1 Extreme.

The ROG Ally X is the ideal testbed for Doom: The Dark Ages, offering the best chance to meet its demanding system requirements. It acts as a benchmark for other handhelds, hinting at their potential performance until the next generation of devices arrives later this year.

The Best Handheld Gaming PC: Asus ROG Ally X

With double the battery life and significantly faster memory, the Asus ROG Ally X has solidified its position as the premier 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 up-to-date. On the ROG Ally X, this is straightforward: Open Armoury Crate, navigate to the cogwheel icon, and proceed to the Update Center. Look for the AMD Radeon Graphics Driver update, and if it's not available, select Check for Updates. Once the RC72LA update is visible, choose Update All.

For these tests, the Ally X was plugged in and set to Turbo Operating Mode (30W) to maximize performance. I also maximized the Texture Pool Size in the in-game graphics menu to 4,096 megabytes, utilizing the ample 24GB of RAM (16GB usable) without pushing it to capacity, even at the highest settings.

All tests were conducted with resolution scaling disabled. Although dynamic resolution was tested, results were consistent with the 720p metrics, as the target frame rate was unattainable, causing dynamic resolution to revert to 720p.

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

For testing, I repeatedly played the opening section of the second mission, Hebeth, in Doom: The Dark Ages, which immediately immerses the player in action-packed scenarios, challenging the hardware to its limits. The results were disheartening.

At 1080p, the performance was dismal, averaging 15fps on Ultra Nightmare, barely improving across lower settings. Nightmare, Ultra, and High averaged at 16fps, while Medium slightly improved to 17fps. Even on Low, the average was only 20fps, still far from smooth. At 1080p, playable performance is unattainable regardless of the graphics preset.

At 720p, the game performed better but still fell short of ideal. Ultra Nightmare, Nightmare, and Ultra averaged 24fps, with High at 26fps. While these are technically playable in a pinch, they're not ideal for a smooth gaming experience. It wasn't until I set the graphics to Medium at 720p that the game reached a playable 30fps, with Low settings achieving 35fps.

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

Despite my love for handheld gaming PCs and the Asus ROG Ally X, it's clear they're not yet powerful enough for Doom: The Dark Ages. The Ally X struggles significantly with this title, barely achieving 30fps on Medium and Low settings at 720p.

Steam Deck users face similar challenges, given its lower specs compared to the Ally X. Expect to play at 800p on Low settings to hit 30fps, a scenario likely for all current-generation handhelds.

However, there's hope on the horizon. With the upcoming AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chipsets expected in new handhelds later this year, including potentially the Asus ROG Ally 2 and even an Xbox-branded model, we might see significant improvements in handling demanding games like Doom: The Dark Ages. Stay tuned for future developments.