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Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme · RDNA 3.5, 16 CUs

Switch 2 emulation on the ROG Xbox Ally X

The 2025 ROG Xbox Ally X uses the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme, whose GPU is in the same class as the Radeon 890M (16 RDNA 3.5 compute units). One community report exists, on the upstream Lichii tracker; Guarana itself hasn't been measured on it.

Community reports Reported by others, on other builds. Not verified by us.

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What we know

  • Third-party report: about 30 fps in Ocarina of Time on this handheld, in Lichii issue #1433. Its author found the emulator's own GPU threads waiting on each other to be the limit, not the GPU. Not measured by us.
  • No Guarana measurement yet. A report from your Ally X would be the first.

Specs that matter for emulation

Processor
AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme: 8 Zen 5 cores (3 Zen 5 + 5 Zen 5c), 16 threads
GPU
RDNA 3.5, 16 compute units (Radeon 890M class)
Memory
24 GB LPDDR5X-8000, shared by CPU and GPU
Power
15–35 W configurable (Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme)
Screen and battery
7-inch 1920×1080 at 120 Hz; 80 Wh
OS
Windows 11 with the Xbox full screen experience

From Intel, AMD and device makers' published specs. Power limits vary with model, firmware and mode.

Starting point for settings

Not tuned for this device: it's the setup from the tested Arc 140T laptop. Change one thing at a time and report what helps.

  1. Power

    Plug in and pick the device's highest performance mode. Put the mode and wattage in your report.

  2. Driver

    Use a current AMD graphics driver (AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, or the package from your device maker) and report its version.

  3. Global-memory routing

    Add EDEN_NX2_GM=11 to nx2_switches.txt next to the emulator, or set it as an environment variable. It is the change behind the measured Arc 140T gain. If a game renders wrongly, remove it first and tell us.

  4. Frame generation

    In the graphics settings, turn on Enable Frame Generation and set Target Frame Rate to 60. Add EDEN_NX2_EXTRAPOLATE=1 for extrapolated frames (motion data is wired up for Ocarina of Time only). Report game fps, not the total with generated frames.

  5. Shaders

    The first visit to an area hitches while shaders compile. Judge smoothness on the second pass.

Notes for this device

  • Switch 2 games are written for an NVIDIA GPU, and AMD drivers expose emulation gaps differently. Upstream Lichii keeps notes on AMD GPUs, with the fixes so far and the open reports: read them before filing a bug.
  • When you compare frame rates, set the log filter to *:Error. Info-level logging costs CPU time in busy scenes (from the same notes).

Have one? Send a report

One report turns this page from a guess into data. Include:

  • Device, CPU, GPU and RAM
  • The full graphics driver version (on Intel, like 32.0.101.9175; on Linux, the Mesa version) and the OS
  • Plugged in or on battery, and the power mode or wattage
  • The emulator build, every setting you changed and every EDEN_NX2_* switch you set (or "none")
  • The game and the exact spot, docked or handheld mode, and a screenshot of the scene
  • Average fps and, if you can, p50 and p99 frame times, measured after the scene settled

Never attach keys, firmware, game files, saves, shader caches, or logs that show your user name or folder paths.

Open the device report form

Questions

Can the ROG Xbox Ally X run Switch 2 games?

There is one third-party report from this handheld on the upstream Lichii tracker (#1433): about 30 fps in Ocarina of Time. Guarana hasn't been measured on it yet, so send a report with your results.

Does this page cover the ROG Xbox Ally without the X?

No. The non-X model uses the Ryzen Z2 A, a 4-core Zen 2 chip with an 8-CU RDNA 2 GPU, which is closer to the Steam Deck.

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