Steam Deck 2 Specs Leak With Zen 6, RDNA 5 and FSR4 Support

Steam Deck 2 leaks point toward Zen 6, RDNA 5, 15W power targets, and a major handheld performance upgrade.

Steam Deck has been available for several years, and newer games are starting to show the limits of its hardware. Recent leaks about the Steam Deck 2 have provided details on its possible chip, CPU and GPU architecture, performance target, power profile, pricing, and potential release window.

Recent leaks about the Steam Deck 2 have focused on the chip that could power the next handheld. The chip is reportedly codenamed AMD Gainsboro. An unreleased AMD APU code-named Gainsboro was revealed, and it is a semicustom 3nm design that could potentially be destined for the Steam Deck 2.

Steam Deck 2 Could Use AMD Gainsboro

The chip recently surfaced in AMD drivers and is reportedly tied to its own package, suggesting it's not just another mainstream Ryzen APU. Valve previously worked with AMD to get the APU off the ground for the original Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED, and then redesigned the chip. This was a modified version of a chip that didn't sell well for AMD.

Still, after the Steam Deck's success, AMD could start making streamlined chips for handheld devices, especially as handheld devices became more common and AMD dominated the handheld PC gaming market. The leaked information also points to possible chip specifications.

Morslaw Is Dead speculates it could use 4 to 8 Zen 6C or similar power-efficient CPU cores, along with 12 threads and 24 RDNA 5 compute units. On paper, this is a lot to take in. Basically, that means it's supposed to run an RDNA 5 chip, which should handle ray tracing to some extent, plus FSR4 and above.

RDNA Architecture Could Be Limited

New games will start using ray tracing, so Valve may want to address that with the next Steam Deck. This also fits with the rumored PlayStation 6 portable, which is expected to use a similar architecture. AMD could use the same chip, or something similar, for both devices, since they could launch around the same time.

The Fox discussed the possible RDNA configuration in more depth, specifically what the architecture could do. The architecture could be closer to RDNA 3.5, with RDNA 4 or RDNA 5 being backported to this chip. Basically, the Steam Deck 2 could still get the benefits of FSR4, while ray tracing could still hold it back.

It remains unclear whether this will make the Steam Deck 2 powerful enough for future games. The leaked specifications and estimated performance target suggest Valve may be aiming for a major performance jump. Valve may be relying heavily on FSR upscaling and frame generation for the next generation.

Given where gaming is headed, this is already becoming common in many games.

The focus is increasingly on how many frames frame generation can produce. However, relying heavily on these technologies may not be the best approach. Raw compute power would raise the device cost, but more AI processing and upscaling shouldn't replace the need for stronger hardware.

Lossless Scaling has helped prolong the Steam Deck's lifespan, but frame generation itself doesn't fix low performance or poorly optimized games. The next Steam Deck shouldn't rely fully on frame generation. The new Steam Deck is expected to play newer games, while leaked performance suggests a 2- to 3-times bump in older games.

Another question is whether docking the Steam Deck 2 could let it draw more wattage. Valve is still targeting a 15W power profile because of battery life. One issue with the original Steam Deck is that its power and cooling design limits higher wattage and higher clock speeds.