Catch some Zs AMDs new Ryzen Z2 CPUs boost gaming handhelds, if you buy the best one Z2 Extreme is the only one that's faster than what AMD was offering before. Andrew Cunningham Jan 6, 2025 2:45 pm | 9 An AMD Ryzen Z2 processor. Credit: AMD An AMD Ryzen Z2 processor. Credit: AMD Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreNearly two years ago, AMD announced its first Ryzen Z1 processors. These were essentially the same silicon that AMD was putting in high-end thin-and-light laptops but tuned specifically for handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally X. As part of its CES announcements today, AMD is refreshing that lineup with three processors, all slated for an undisclosed date in the first quarter of 2025.Although they're all part of the "Ryzen Z2" family, each of these three chips is actually much different under the hood, and some of them are newer than others.The Ryzen Z2 Extreme is what you'd expect from a refresh: a straightforward upgrade to both the CPU and GPU architectures of the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. Based on the same "Strix Point" architecture as the Ryzen AI 300 laptop processors, the Z2 Extreme includes eight CPU cores (three high-performance Zen 5 cores, five smaller and efficiency-optimized Zen 5C cores) and an unnamed RDNA 3.5 GPU with 16 of AMD's compute units (CUs). These should both provide small bumps to CPU and GPU performance relative to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, which used eight Zen 4 CPU cores and 12 RDNA 3 GPU cores. AMD's full Ryzen Z2 lineup, which obfuscates the fact that these three chips are all using different CPU and GPU architectures. Credit: AMD The Ryzen Z2, on the other hand, appears to be exactly the same chip as the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, but with a different name. Like the Z1 Extreme, it has eight Zen 4 cores with a 5.1 GHz maximum clock speed and an RDNA 3 GPU with 12 cores.The Ryzen Z2 Go is at the bottom of the stack, and it's another step downjust four Zen 3+ CPU cores, and an RDNA 2-based GPU with 12 cores. This chip appears to be based on AMD's "Rembrandt" architecture, which would make it a slightly cut-down version of 2022's Ryzen 5 6600U.It's too bad the Ryzen Z series is affected by the same technological mix-and-match game that AMD plays with its laptop processors, continuing to rebrand old silicon and reserving the most significant progress for top-of-the-line chips.But there are two silver linings here: the first is that all of these chips, including the Z2 Go, should generally be a substantial improvement over the lower-end Ryzen Z1, which included just four RDNA 3 GPU cores. The second is that they should also all be at least a little faster than the Steam Deck because of its four aging Zen 2-based CPU cores and eight RDNA 2 graphics cores.We'll presumably hear about at least a few handhelds using one or all of these three chips in the next few days or weeksand some may even run SteamOS instead of an awkward mix of Windows and proprietary software.Andrew CunninghamSenior Technology ReporterAndrew CunninghamSenior Technology Reporter Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue. 9 Comments