Which Nvidia GPU is equivalent to the ROG Xbox Ally X?

Nintendo currently dominates the handheld gaming market with the Switch family of consoles, but it faces stiff competition from platforms like Steam Deck and ROG Xbox Ally. While the former is considered a portable gaming PC, the latter is billed as a mobile Xbox, raising the question of how its GPU compares to the graphics cards in modern Xbox consoles and gaming PCs. Let’s just say the “X” in its name is a bit misleading.

The ROG Xbox Ally webpage states that all ROG Xbox Ally models come with “AMD Radeon Graphics,” which doesn’t give us much information, but that’s only because the Xbox Ally X’s GPU is integrated into its AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor. According to AMD’s website, the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme has AMD RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture, 16 graphics cores and a frequency of up to 2,900 MHz. Based on this, we can conclude that the ROG Ally X is about as robust as a GTX 1650 (or a Radeon RX 6400 for AMD users).

While it would be foolish to wonder if a ROG Xbox Ally X could ever compare to the Xbox Series X, does it hold a candle to the Xbox Series S? Almost. When we researched which Nvidia GPU matched the S series, we concluded that the GTX 1650 Super was a close match. For comparison, playing “Grand Theft Auto V” on a GTX 1650 Super at max settings at 1080p averages 66 FPS, while the 1650 only averages 49 FPS. Sure, Xbox games default to 30 FPS in Fidelity mode, but these cards still offer a stable 30 FPS.

Even though the ROG Xbox Ally Ergo, it’s just as vulnerable to the vagaries of gaming optimization as any other gaming PC.

When we reviewed the Xbox Ally X, we were impressed with its performance. Even though it only had the equivalent of a GTX 1650, it still handled graphically demanding games like “Cyberpunk 2077” like a champ – provided ray tracing was turned off. And outlets like TechPowerUp mostly agree with those numbers. According to the site, the Ally The Claw 8 is slightly weaker thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, so it should still offer lower frame rates. Its outperformance over the Xbox Ally

If we’re being frank, people who care about fidelity and performance are better off buying an alternative to the Xbox Ally X. Asus sells a lot of them. Take the Asus TUF Gaming F17 2023 Edition. Sure, it’s older and costs $1,149.99 compared to the Xbox Ally than the Xbox Ally X, but that’s a small price to pay for graphics and frame rates well above 1440p.