The market is flooded with PC gaming handhelds, but with a few notable exceptions, they all have one big thing in common. That's the APUs powering them, which are made by AMD, either in device-specific custom silicon or more general-purpose APUs. The Steam Deck has a customized APU, the ROG Ally, and ROG Ally X use variations of the AMD Z1 chip, as does the Legion Go, and a host of other brands use AMD's laptop APUs at the core of their handheld ambitions. The picture isn't going to change in the near future either, with the Z2 Extreme chip coming 'soon' and more AMD laptop chips on the way.

3 Custom silicon

AMD is easier to work with

AMD powers most PC gaming handhelds and most living room consoles of this generation for one big reason: they are willing to create custom silicon to the customer's requirements at a volume price. That's why you don't see Intel or Nvidia in the current Xbox or PlayStation and why Valve decided on AMD for the custom APU that powers both versions of the Steam Deck. Valve opted for older Zen 2 CPU cores and powerful RDNA 2 GPU cores for the Steam Deck, as they have enough knowledge of how games run to know exactly what hardware they need to hit their FPS targets on the handheld. This combination of low-power CPU and higher-power GPU is a perfect match for the 800p resolution of the Steam Deck's screen, and makes for a perfect experience for less intensive games on the go.

AMD's custom silicon chops are also part of the reason you see repurposed laptop chips in most other PC gaming handhelds. The AMD Ryzen Z1 and Z1 Extreme use a combination of Zen 4 or Zen 4c CPU cores with AMD RDNA 3 compute units for graphical processing, but AMD built these chips specifically for PC gaming handheld use, so they're probably more affordable for the OEM to use. Custom silicon costs money to get right, but Valve, Xbox, and PlayStation can sell their hardware at slim margins as they make money on services and games. That's not something other PC OEMs can do, but AMD designing the Z1 (and soon-to-be Z2) makes it easier to design around without going the custom route.

2 FreeSync support

Adaptive Sync makes more sense on lower power devices

When an AMD APU is put inside a PC gaming handheld, it comes with a host of AMD technologies that can also be utilized on that device. Asus did this to great effect with both the ROG Ally and ROG Ally X, putting in a 120Hz, 1080p display with FreeSync Premium Pro support. This technology reduces screen tearing or jaggies by syncing the screen's refresh rate to the FPS being put out by the graphics chip, making it buttery smooth, no matter the frequency at which the monitor refreshes.

While this is awesome technology for high-end gaming computers, it's even more useful for the relatively low-powered hardware inside gaming handhelds. FreeSync Premium Pro also adds a few perks, like low framerate compensation to stop the sync from disappearing when the frame rate dips too low and HDR support, so you can get buttery frames while also getting a gorgeous visual experience. To be fair, the Intel-based MSI Claw also has Adaptive Sync, with a 48-120Hz refresh rate screen. But that's the only Intel-based PC gaming handheld at the moment, while AMD-based models are plentiful.

• Asus ROG Ally X

  Dimensions

  11.02 x 4.37 x 1.45 inches (280mm x 111mm x 36.9mm)

  Weight

  1.49 pounds (678 grams)

  Chipset

  AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme Processor (8 cores/16 threads, up to 5.10 GHz boost)

  RAM

  24GB LPDDR5 7500 MHz

  Storage

  1 TB M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe G4x4 SSD

  Wireless Connectivity

  Wi-Fi 6E & Bluetooth 5.2

  The ROG Ally X is a worthy mid-cycle refresh, bringing ergonomic fixes, faster RAM, more base storage, twice the battery size, and improved joysticks and buttons over the original PC gaming handheld.

  $800 at Best Buy $800 at Asus

• Asus ROG Ally

  Dimensions

  11.02 x 4.37 x 0.83-1.28 inches (280 x 111 x 21.2-32.4mm)

  Brand

  Asus

  Weight

  1.34 pounds (608 grams)

  Chipset

  Up to AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme (8 cores, 16 threads)

  RAM

  16GB LPDDR5

  Storage

  Up to 512GB SSD

  The ROG Ally was one of the first Windows-based PC gaming handhelds to launch after the Steam Deck burst onto the scene, and it's become the main competitor with a gorgeous, fast screen with FreeSync and AMD Ryzen Z1 processors.

  $500 at Best Buy (Ryzen Z1) $650 at Best Buy (Ryzen Z1 Extreme) $650 at Asus

1 AMD's APU graphics are powerful

Even the non-custom laptop chips are better

AMD's latest crop of laptop APUs, like the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U inside the One Xplayer X1 Mini we recently reviewed, have plenty of performance for their battery-sipping power usage. In this case, the 30W chip isn't that far off from the Ryzen Z1 Extreme that's inside the ROG Ally X or Lenovo Legion Go, which makes it easier for OEMs to repurpose laptop chips that are in high supply to power PC gaming handhelds.

In this case, the user can configure the APU to run at 15W or 30W, which gives a decent boost to frame rates at the expense of power usage. It's not a 2x boost on any of the games we tested, but the experience in some titles, like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, was significantly improved at the higher wattage. Again, this isn't custom silicon, it's an off-the-shelf SKU that any OEM can use in a handheld console, and AMD has dozens to choose from. The relatively low power might hurt them performance-wise for productivity use, but for handheld gaming and the lower expectations of gamers using these devices, they're a perfect fit.

It's not just gaming handhelds that use AMD

AMD powers most handheld PC gaming consoles, but the chipmaker also powers the majority of living-room consoles. The Xbox Series X|S, the PlayStation 5 and 5 Pro, and the upcoming PlayStation 6 all have AMD CPU and GPU technologies. While there aren't many leaks about the next Xbox hardware, it's a fair bet that it will be powered by AMD as well. The next Steam Deck will likely have AMD hardware, as the two companies are working closely together, and while Intel's new chips are good, the overall state of Chipzilla might mean any custom work is a no-go for some time. While Nvidia has the discrete GPU market sewn up, nobody is going to take away AMD's console crown for some time.