Doom: The Dark Ages Struggles on Handheld Gaming PC

The much-anticipated Doom: The Dark Ages has finally arrived, sparking excitement among handheld gaming PC enthusiasts, particularly those with the Asus ROG Ally X. If you're aiming for a smooth gameplay experience, a minimum of 30 frames per second is essential, with 60fps being the ideal, albeit ambitious, target for such a demanding title.

While Doom Eternal was celebrated for its performance on the Ally, don't expect the same from The Dark Ages. This new installment pushes hardware limits to the extreme, and even the powerful Asus ROG Ally X falls short of delivering a seamless experience.

A Note on the Hardware

The landscape of PC gaming handhelds is currently thriving, with the Asus ROG Ally X leading the pack. Although it shares the AMD Z1 Extreme processor with other top contenders, it stands out with its robust 24GB of system memory, of which 16GB is dedicated to the GPU. Moreover, its memory speed of 7,500MHz significantly enhances the memory bandwidth, crucial for the Z1 Extreme's integrated graphics.

The ROG Ally X represents the best scenario for testing Doom: The Dark Ages, given its superior specs. As gaming demands increase, the Ally X serves as a benchmark for whether less powerful handhelds can keep up, at least until the next generation of handhelds hits the market 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. You can find it at Best Buy.

Can the Asus ROG Ally Handle Doom: The Dark Ages?

Before diving into Doom: The Dark Ages, ensure your chipset is updated on your ROG Ally X. It's a straightforward process: Open Armoury Crate (bottom right menu button), click the cogwheel at the top, and navigate to the Update Center. Look for the AMD Radeon Graphics Driver update. If it's not visible, select Check for Updates. Once the RC72LA update appears, choose Update All.

For optimal performance, I connected the Ally X to an outlet and set it to Turbo Operating Mode (30W). I also maximized the vRAM allocation for the Texture Pool Size in the in-game graphics menu to 4,096 megabytes, up from the default 2,048. With the Ally X's 24GB of RAM (16GB usable), there was ample headroom even at the Ultra Nightmare setting.

All tests were conducted with resolution scaling disabled. Although dynamic resolution was tested, the results mirrored the 720p metrics due to the unattainable target frame rate, causing dynamic resolution to default to 720p anyway.

Here are the performance metrics for Doom: The Dark Ages on the Asus ROG Ally X:

• Ultra Nightmare, 1080p: 15fps
• Ultra Nightmare, 720p: 24fps
• Nightmare, 1080p: 16fps
• Nightmare, 720p: 24fps
• Ultra, 1080p: 16fps
• Ultra, 720p: 24fps
• High, 1080p: 16fps
• High, 720p: 26fps
• Medium, 1080p: 17fps
• Medium, 720p: 30fps
• Low, 1080p: 20fps
• Low, 720p: 35fps

For the tests, I repeatedly played the opening section of the second mission, Hebeth, which immediately immerses the player in intense action, pushing the hardware to its limits. The results were disappointing.

At 1080p, Doom: The Dark Ages struggled significantly on the Ally X, averaging just 15fps on Ultra Nightmare and barely improving across lower presets. Even on Low, the game managed only 20fps at 1080p, which is still far from smooth. Playing at 1080p is simply not feasible regardless of the graphics preset.

Switching to 720p offered some improvement, but it's still not ideal. Ultra Nightmare, Nightmare, and Ultra averaged 24fps, while High reached 26fps. These frame rates are barely playable, but they might be tolerable if you're eager to experience Doom: The Dark Ages on a handheld. It was only at Medium settings at 720p that the game became playable, hitting the desired 30fps. Dropping to Low settings resulted in 35fps, offering a smoother experience.

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

As a fan of handheld gaming PCs and the Asus ROG Ally X, it's disappointing to report that the device isn't up to the task for Doom: The Dark Ages. The Ally X struggles significantly, with only the Medium and Low graphics presets at 720p reaching the minimum playable frame rate of 30fps.

Steam Deck users are likely to face similar challenges, given its less powerful specs compared to the Ally X. Expect to play at 800p on Low settings to achieve 30fps, a scenario that applies to all current-generation handhelds.

However, there's hope on the horizon. The upcoming next generation of mobile chipsets, such as the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, expected to be integrated into new handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally 2 and even an Xbox-branded model, may significantly enhance performance for demanding games like Doom: The Dark Ages. We'll have to wait and see how these advancements play out.