AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme has been announced as the future Steam Deck processor

the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme official. AMD has revealed its long-awaited mobile gaming CPU that’s likely set to power future versions of the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and Lenovo Legion Go, and it looks like it’ll deliver major gains in gaming performance and battery life.

Follow up to AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme Which is already working on Asus ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion GoAMD also revealed that the new processor will be used in future versions of those devices as well as future Steam Deck devices, as is likely Steam surface 2. This would make for a huge upgrade for the new Steam Deck, as the current unit already uses an older, less powerful chip.

The most noticeable upgrade with this new processor is that its GPU goes from 12 compute units, as in the Z1 Extreme, to a 16 compute unit design. This 33% increase in processing components should provide a direct and fairly linear boost to gaming performance, providing gamers with a faster frame rate or allowing a stable frame rate at higher resolutions.

Beyond this change, the initial bump in performance over the Z1 Extreme isn’t entirely apparent, as the Z2 Extreme’s CPU specs look largely the same as those of the Z1 Extreme, with the new chip housing an octa-core CPU that can handle 16 topic at one time.

The Ryzen Z2 will also be available in two other configurations, the Z2 and Z2 Go, with both going down to a 12 CU GPU while the Go also going down to a quad-core CPU only. The Ryzen Z2 Go actually seems like a really interesting option, because even though quad-core CPUs are at the high end of what’s needed for a lot of modern AAA games, they’re still enough for most older games, plus you still get GPU with 12 customs units. If AMD and its partners can bring this process to market at a great price, it could be a tempting budget option.

Beyond these basic specifications, AMD didn’t provide many details on what else has changed in the new CPU but claims that the new chip will provide “more performance and capacity than previous generations with hours and hours of battery life.”

As for when you might be able to get your hands on the first AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme devices, AMD suggests they will appear in the first quarter of 2025, i.e. anytime between now and April. We hope that will be sooner rather than later.

Unveiled at its CES 2025 press conference, the Z2 Extreme joins a host of other AMD announcements from the world’s largest tech trade show, including the new 9950X3D desktop gaming CPU, the long-awaited Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card, and AMD Ryzen AI Max. Laptop CPUs with amazing 40 CU GPUs.

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