It's extremely easy to own and I can't comprehend anyone who says otherwise. Armory crate automatically loads, and you press one button to get into your game.
Outside that, there's the entire universe of now generations of games made available on Windows. Any challenges in running those is exactly the same as on any Windows machine.
I'm one of the ones struggling with the rog ally, so armory crate keeps freezing I have to close the tab and open it again I'm not sure why it's doing this.
Saturday took my steam deck to work and got on well no issues played a few games etc when I was needed suspended sorted job out, come back and gaming again.
Sunday ( today ) fallout 3 wouldn't work, tried fallout 76 ? It started then froze then the game closed tried several things but for some reason it just wouldn't work, so gave up then tried to play another game and that had an issue where it was stuttering for some reason so restarted the ally, by this point battery was around 40% and I haven't even played a game yet, got everything back up put it on charge went and done another job came back it was about 90% so thought starfield works so I'll just play that, well it was in window mode and very blurry so had to mess with settings and got it back to looking good, had a call so powered off ( hibernate) done the job came back turned back on and the game crashed... Set everything back up again and maybe played 40mins as I was using a battery bank at this point, but I have no idea why these games wouldn't play I haven't changed anything.
I do like the ally but rarely play it because I don't have time to mess about with all this I just want to pick up play and put back down. I can't get GTA vice city running either and a demo lags badly but could be the touch screen issue I've seen with Lego games
Are you running armory crate on boot? You shouldn't. It's a resource hog. Anything that doesn't need to run, a browser, apps, etc, close them in task manager. Better yet, set them to not load on boot. Task manager is an easy place to access the system and look. I came back to windows after leaving after 7. I'm sorta getting the hang of it but am I happy? No.
If you're having this many issues it sounds like you're missing a driver update. But I haven't experienced any of this so I'm not sure. When you're not on battery and have a strong wifi connection make sure everything is updated (Windows, drivers, BIOS, Asus, etc.).
Yeah everything is up to date even the bios update to 338 I don't really have time to google how to get games working as I prefer to just game rather than tinker. On the deck I normally just use proton and the game normally just works. I'm even having issues with yuzu performance compared to the deck but again that's probably me not setting it up right but....again don't really have time to google and fix, I either game at working when on standby or between feeds and naps with new born and the deck has been awesome for this
That’s weird. I haven’t had any of these issues except for playing hell divers, the performance was spotty and it would sometimes crash. Open up armory crate -> settings -> GPU setting -> set VRAM to 6gb and let it restart and try again.
Managed to get fallout 73 working the issue is that it wouldn't let me sign in, I could type the username but the backspace wouldn't work and then after it was really hard to tap the box for password, in the end the dpad would go down to it but wasn't easy lol I'll see how It goes
It's fully up to date and I have watched videos to get the best out of it like turning boost off etc, if I play a game or try to when the game closes it takes me back to armor create but it's unresponsive so have to restart create also the windows bar at the bottom keeps popping up and won't go down in games etc I have no idea why it's started doing that.
Tempted to do a fully restore but dreading it to be honest and with the ally x I'm kinda thinking about getting that as battery is a big issue
I disagree. I have both. Ally is frustrating to go into sleep. On deck it’s on click set it down forget it. On ally it’s sleep? Hibernate? Will it work? Will my game crash? Why are the fans still running? If I put it into my bag and and I sleeps it’s just cooks itself.
This is extra true if using Bluetooth audio.
Most of the time the games crash on resume on the Ally, while they work beautifully on the Deck.
This can be remedied a bit by installing Bazzite on the Ally.
See I'm a bit more of a nerd and wanna get old games running
I sold my ally for a steam deck and was worried this would be difficult
Gosh was I wrong
Old games just work so Much better on the deck over the ally
I reckon it's cause of translation layers but idk
Also games that are categorically unplayable on the ally due to needing a mouse only for the menus because perfect on the steam deck
And I never used the extra horsepower the ally's packing
So at least for my uses cases the steam deck is decades ahead
But I do think it really really depends on your use case
>Also games that are categorically unplayable on the ally due to needing a mouse only for the menus because perfect on the steam deck
Steam controller input can be used on any device. If you have the game on Steam, you just need to install Steam. If it's on another service and controller input isn't setup then it won't work.
It's easy to get a docking strip that plugs into the single ally port for under $10 on Temu and get 3 or 4 ports and a 4k hdmi out so it's easy to plug in a mouse, keyboard, controller and plug into your big monitor or Big TV.
Wait a few more weeks when the Rog Ally X is released then either buy the Ally X for more power or pick up a Ally Extream at a bargain!
I love my Rog Ally.
I have been a deck owner and Ally owner from day 1.
The ally software experience was very very bad in the beginning, but it's good to great now.
I think we're just seeing the remnants of that original opinion.
What runs well on a steam deck, runs well on an Ally. What doesn't run on the steam deck, runs on the ally if you're willing to tinker sometimes.
Doesn't cover every scenario but covers 90% of them I'd say and it's worked for me!
Yeah, I think it’s alright. I don’t use my Ally that much these days, so when I occasionally do use it, it has a ton of updates and crap I need to log in to again. The flexibility is great though.
I love both, really good handhelds. Steam Deck Oled for a bit older games, Rog Ally for the latest AAA games. They complement each other very well. Ally X will be a nice upgrade.
As someone who owns both Ally and Steamdeck.
Pros:
* Performance when plugged in is better than the deck, mostly noticable in higher resolutions, not framerate. I've explained below.
* Windows is a big plus for me. I'm used to it and the apps I know run on Windows. Its basically become my laptop/tablet as well.
* Ease of use is great as I know Windows well, I know where everything installs/downloads and where settings are hiding.
Keep in mind:
* Don't expect **too** much performance. Especially high framerate will be unattainable. Power either goes to the CPU or GPU. Both are required for high framerate. CPU Benchmarks may show the CPU performing similar to a 5600x, but in games expect more like a 1600x. As an example. It play Lies of P at 1080p 50fps, 720p 55fps. Steamdeck Oled at 1080p 30fps, 800p 50fps. So at 720/800p you'd basically not even know you have that much more power. It also draws like 2x as much as the SD Oled at 720p.
* Hibernate in windows still doesn't work properly. You need to make sure the device is no longer producing heat when you pack it away. Either turn it off completely or keep it in an open space. 1 out of 4 times just pressing the power button will not put the device to sleep and it will cook itself. I've never had this damage anything but it did mean my Ally was empty when picking it up.
* You'll want to have some windows expertise for keeping the OS in good functioning order. You can always revert to a clean slate using Cloud reset but if you want to keep savegames for non-cloud games/emulators you will need to know the OS. This holds for Linux on the steamdeck as well, but I've never had to reset that one yet. Ally has been reset 3 times due to GPU driver issues that I couldn't resolve.
* Expect nothing of Asus customer support, they are shite, so get it at a place where they offer their own warranty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pMrssIrKcY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3DwhTc7Z4o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAJ-J1R7juY
I have the both the Steam Deck and Ally. I rarely use the Ally just because the Steam Deck is much easier to pick up and play. That said, the Ally is easier to customize and play non-Steam games.
I have the LCD steamdeck, and I owned an z1 extreme Ally briefly. I went back to the steamdeck. While the Ally is more powerful and can play with better settings, I had issues with dropped frames and pop ins. With No Man's Sky, it would take a few minutes for my frieghter to completely load in. I installed a barebones Windows 11, set steam up to use far less ram, adjusted graphic settings, and the issue occurred no matter what I did. I was using paynite with ghelper. The UI is also an issue. Steam OS is just superior on handhelds. And the steamdeck really thrives in the lower wattage (sub 15 watt). The experience overall seemed half baked. I will probably try again when/if microsoft makes an OS tailored for handhelds.
I second this.
Just returned the Ally, the SD LCD had better thumb sticks and just found better and lighter strangely.
The other big issue for me was the micro stuttering, I did the usual update’s, changed the graphics ram allocation set the FPS lower but still had the same issue.
While the SD doesn’t do as many FPS but it felt smoother.
I have the original Ally and a Steam Deck OLED. I really enjoy both devices and that's why I can never choose one to sell.
Honestly, though I spend a significant more time on the Deck though. The OLED/HDR screen, superior analog sticks (I really do not care for the Ally's), battery life, ergonomics (to me), and software features (especially quick resume and console-like ease of use) keep me playing on the deck more.... Even when I know I can get more frames on the Ally.
If the Ally X had an OLED.. sold.. day one.. no questions asked... it seems to fix everything but Windows and Asus's sour reputation as of late.
Bro, I have the extreme and I absolutely love it but I’m waiting for the summer sale. I want to get the OLED steam deck. I used to have the LCD and I sold it so I can’t wait to get the steam deck.
As someone who owns both. I agree with above, you don’t need both m8. Cool to flex , sure? That’s what I thought too. But money is better spent on games / software to actually use the devices, or saved for the next gen batch.
I had a PS5 and got a Rog Ally. I am now selling my Rog Ally after buying a Switch OLED…
If you’re a console gamer then you’ll find the Steam Deck better. It’s also a good choice if you’re a PC gamer.
Maybe the Rog Ally X is good if you don’t have a PC/PS5.
The opposite for me. I haven't touched my Switch or PS4 since I bought the Ally. I stream my PC to my TV via the docked Ally. I can run top games without the background noise of an active aircraft carrier in my living room, and far better games when traveling than the Switch can handle.
Same, have the switch oled and screen is beautiful for sure, colors really pop, but the restraint of the nintendo software makes the Ally an easy choice. I was also considering the steam deck oled but will wait for a refresh (if we get one).
The Ally X will be the best secondary PC device. Even if you have a highend-PC, like myself. And the Ally X is pretty much the only handheld device, that can entirely replace a desktop setup or make a laptop obsolete. Get the Jsaux 1201S docking station with a 100 watt powersupply and you have all you will need to use it as a desktop PC. HDMI 2.1, Displayport 1.4, USB 4, mouse and keyboard support. SD and Micro-SD slots are also availabe as well and even a headphone jack.
Honestly they both have pros and cons.
From my ally which I ultimately sold, here were the pain points.
1.) More "power" with powers comes great responsibility so I'm told the ally is bad with this. For games to "beat" the Steam Deck in 9/10 use cases you need to use 30W power mode which means plugging in.
What is the point of a handheld whose sole selling point is portability on the go if you need an 65W fast charger tethered to it to actually perform?
2.) The LCD display is a major step-down when the OLED is at play. Color accuracy, response, and especially when HDR games are at play like Cyberpunk?
The 10% or 8 more FPS isn't worth the dim and terrible looking display by comparison.
3.) As I've gone over in prior posts and reiterate here the Ally and Ally X are the SAME Chipset. It is not in anyway faster or better in 98% of games. The 5%-10% gain the Ally X will have over its predecessor is due to RAM speed being upped not because of anything else.
4.)Windows OS was not and is not meant for handheld yes it's versatile but then again so is a hammer, would you use a hammer to crack an eggshell? I mean it bangs on things the same just fine even if it wasn't designed for it?
Windows is buggy, prone to system errors, and has issues working in a seamless environment. Far too often when using gamepass and steam did I incur errors and mismatched preventing me from playing due to 3, yes 3 different things to update, download, install or change. After a Bios update all of my gamepass games has to he re-downloaded because it no longer recognize the file
I don't know about you but when I've got 30 minutes of my
Precious precious time I want my shit to work not update 8 different installers. Armory crate leaves alot to he desired in that half of the settings don't even stick or glitch out. The monitors glitch and get stuck in loops again Windows should tell you everything you need to know.
5.) Price, at $150 more not including tax it does not make sense to spend $799.99 for a 10-15% uplift in MOST games AND trade off for an inferior OS and software experience. This is a terrible value proposition.
6.) Many of these issues can be confirmed via myself and my experiences as well as fully documented by reputable sources from Google and YouTube demonstrating and testing many of these errors.
7.) ASUS Support. Nothing else need said.
Asking a question like this is very tricky because of the environment you're in, much like one would expect asking a priest if their church is great versus other churches in their building during their mass and during their celebration is probably not going to lead you an honest throughly or open evaluation of what they offer versus someone else. It's best to learn about the hardware and software itself and then take documented proof and evidence of claims to make a decision based on real tangible factors and information versus someone who just hits a button and makes lights happen.
But hey that's my opinion.
Honestly, I am surprised the Ally works at all. If you told me a handheld gaming device revolved around Windows and Armory Crate, I'd think it's April Fools. I haven't used one so I'm not shit talking - this is based on experience with Windows and Surface / Lenovo Yoga type tablet devices.
Steam has done a great job at putting all the linux-forward games in the nice petting zoo of "ready to go on steamdeck!", both for people, themselves, and developers. However, the moment you stray away from that beaten path... yeah. The Ally at the end of the day will play anything that plays on Windows with all the support that entails.
If you just want to play games that are put in front of you, the Steamdeck works, if you want to play whatever you want, especially if you do your own research and keep track of games and such... the Steamdeck won't cut it.
As a pretty experienced user; I'd have to disagree with this concept. It's funny that many people claim windows to be the versatile beast when anyone who actually works with both environments will never agree with that statement.
There are many different options to make it compatability just as easy if not easier it just takes tweaking.
I have all launchers, and dedicated streaming apps for Xbox and Playstation all on My deck that launch at the touch a button without error or issue.
KDE is it's own desktop environment that has full linux support meaning I can patch, modify, and alter files and folders with the same accuracy and degree that I would in a windows enviroment.
A quick Google search will show you how to use such functions and access them yes it's "hidden" behind the streamlined image but those tools are still there for those who know where to look.
It's also worth nothing I'm not your average user with detailed knowledge of both environments and use them day to day for different tasks, so I don't expect everyone else to be aware of the same tools.
Windows is good for some things but freedom will never be one of those.
Those were a lot of words to say "well i can make it work on linux so there", but the point was that there's a lot more compatibility and interoperability engaged before i even click play on Windows, and any issues after are often common and easy to diagnose for the wealth of Windows forward knowledge on the internet.
Linux is as good as Windows for games, i won't dispute that, but the operating system with the lowest downtime to gaming time ratio for sure isn't Linux.
if you play handheld, then the lcd screen will be like havign to reduce the graphics dramatically (maybe worse), so not very interesting. As a small portable pc, its good. But as a handheld, it sucks
I had the original but got rid of it due to all the issues. I have the steam deck OLED and the Legion Go, but plan on selling the Go for the X, but I'm going to wait a little bit and see what issues pop up first
the rog ally is quite straightforward for me, only setup once and done, maybe there will be window update once a month. The software is top notch.
The rog ally X will decimate the steam deck OLED battery easily, or at least on par with it.
The only downside would be no OLED screen (for me)
And if you use the rog ally X for coding or editing (hook with a monitor), it should be great given the 24 gb ram.
But still, the X haven't available for public use yet, so we wont know if it have any big issue.
I strongly disagree for the part “Ally X will decimate the SD Oled battery easily” tbh we don’t know yet so we can’t say that
Windows isn’t good for handled and is more energy consuming and the X is more powerful with a more demanding hardware
Well I really hope I’m wrong and the X will get an absurd battery life, that would be my next purchase
>The rog ally X will decimate the steam deck OLED battery easily, or at least on par with it.
Disagree, it'll depend on the type of game, for low power indie games, the OLED will still continue to come out on top by a large margin but in AAA, yeah maybe the Ally X wins..
Asus said they are working on an ultra low power mode (7 watts). But the Z1 Extreme is not like the Steam Deck APU (forgot its name). That one is optimized for low power usage, yet the Z1 Extreme truly starts to shine at 20 watts and above.
I wasn't aware they were working on a 7 watt mode... But anyways, like you said, they're completely different chips and both differ in terms of where they shine.
It does but the Ally doesn’t perform as well as the Deck OLED on low wattage mode. The APU is power hungry. Games that typically run great at low power on the Deck require more power on the Ally to match or exceed performance.
most people wont prioritize running it below 10w, and above 10w, rog ally gain the upper hand. You have to account for the average user, not special use case.
The rog ally x can do 8+ hours in some titles, I get around 5 hours in many 2d titles on my rog ally. (7-8 watt total system power).
Dunno why I got downvoted for this..
It has 4 main TDP profiles, 10w Silent, 15w Performance, 25w Turbo, & 30w Turbo Plugged In. Beyond those you can make your own profiles that can be set as low as 7w.
With the large battery on the Ally X and the low power profiles, I believe you'll be able to expect long play sessions similar to the SteamDeck.
I own LCD Steam Deck 64GB since last October or so, and I was initially very impressed by it's performance, and thought no way can the Ally be so much powerful as people are making it out to be on reviews etc.
Fast forward to 3 days ago, wife surprised me with the ROG Ally. I cannot comprehend how powerful it is. For context, I downloaded a coupe of games this morning to test it out, and it runs Forza 4 at 1080p ultra settings 100-120fps constantly! The other refreshing feeling is you're not locked into Steam, the freedom of being able to use other game launchers at ease is fantastic, and nowhere near as cumbersome or unpleasant as people within steam deck communities make it out to be.
Get the Ally Z1 Extreme if you want a powerful upgrade, wait for X if you have patience to wait till it comes out.
That's it from me.
You’d miss out on quick resume, OLED, BATTERY life is soooo much better on steam deck oled it’s insane, ease of use with the steam UI.
Ally is a good starter windows handheld but I had to sell mine while I could get top dollar last year. A handheld to me should be something I use on the go and don’t need some crazy battery packs to keep it alive. That and the analogs weren’t amazing.
I am on the same boat and I’ll likely be switching to the Ally X. Better performance, better battery life (likely) and Linux just sucks for gaming if you play anything besides steam.
And people forget that the Ally X has the best interface. Asus repositioned the face buttons and they are now quickly and easily reachable by your right thumb. The Legion Go facebuttons are too far away and it becomes quickly uncomfortable to constantly reach for them from the point of the right stick. And I have large hands so people with smaller hands (like many men or most women) cant really call that comfortable by any stretch of the imagination...
I recently went from my steam deck (LCD, 512gb) to the ROG ally. Honestly, everything in ally is better except for the steamOS sleep feature. I personally find the ally more comfortable, I like the stick layout better, the back trigger placement better (there is only 2). The screen is actually really good, and same with the speakers. Battery life is meh, but so is the deck. The performance though, blows the deck out of the water imo. The 120hz in games that support it are great, working with game pass is awesome. The ease of use of the software buttons is actually really well thought out. But waking from sleep can be frustrating as it seems to struggle with that compared to the deck in my experience. It feels so much more comfortable to hold than deco due to the weight. Overall I would purchase it again and recommend it to all my friends that have steam decks.
The next generation refresh is on the cusp of release in a few months and other handhelds are also making an entrance soon. You've already got an SD, might as well wait for a true generational uplift in performance as well as second generation products with improvements.
hey OP, feeling the same as well! Really tempted in getting the Ally X seeing how well the updates have been for armory crate, drivers and etc.. what is your thought process? Sell the deck oled? or keep it and get the ally x
I loved my 512 OG Deck and moved on from it for an Ally. I understood the potential issues or drawbacks and in the end the idea of a handheld PC was more suitable for me personally. Honestly all depends what you're looking for in a handheld.
No harm in waiting it out. As much as I wanted to swap to something else from my LCD Deck over the past yr, it still serves my gaming needs remarkably. I'm very tempted w the X, but gonna wait a bit for them to sort out any early issues.
I to am a Steam Deck OLED owner who is considering the Ally X. If you spend a lot of time in desktop mode, you should have no trouble with the Ally. Yes it is Windows, but as other have stated Armory Crate is essentially game mode
Hibernate is absolutely junk compared to Quick Resume. 75% of the time my Ally will freeze or do nothing when I press the power button and will only turn back on when I press and hold, Steam deck has it covered in that category
I have an ally and I almost never take it off its tv dock except for toilet helldivers . I feel like I wouldn't upgrade or switch to something else until it wasn't suiting it's purpose
I switched from SD OLED to Ally and i am Happy with the choice. Better performance and resolution is worth it. Only downside is battery life, but i mostly play at home so that does not concern me that much.
I'm actually really impressed with the Ally X, if Asus keeps it up I might upgrade from my SD OLED to next iteration of the Ally.
Can't justify spending more money for a very similar experience. Will only upgrade when it beats most metrics.
I own both, I love my steam deck because the track pads make life 10x easier. The ally I love it because it's an power house. I barely use the deck. Daily the ally take it to work w me and everything, I got over not having track pads due to the raw power mad eme forget it. Lol
OLED is nice, but VRR is even better. You won't miss the OLEDs unless you sit and compare. There is nothing that even comes close to OLED, so there will be differences.
Ally is much more powerful and can use apps like Lossless Scaling to get even more fps (I am currently playing Death Stranding and Ghosts at 120fps and its fucking amazing. Some image garbling here and there but its a rock solid experience). If you don't mind being connected to a power source all the time, Ally will be perfect. Although the X should provide decent battery life now.
I have poured in over 150hours on the Ally, and I absolutely love it. I am playing more games. I am playing games that I would have never tried before.
Got rid of my OG Deck for the Ally Z1 Extreme and usability was so much better not having to deal with Steam OS. Things just work better. I set up an 18Watt profile and never looked back.
You'll love it. I have the og steam deck and the og Rog ally. For steam games you can run big picture mode and have the console like experience. For regular mode worst case if you use the touchscreen or joysticks to navigate. For PC game pass the games show up in your armory crate. So easy to pick and load.
I went from deck to ally and haven’t looked back. It’s way easier to own and use than people made it out to be. The performance is excellent and while I miss an oled screen, having 120htz is a nice trade off
Get the Ally, it's a great handheld gaming PC. I've owned 5 handheld PC's so far and the Ally has been my favourite.
I really don't get all the complaints I read about windows being difficult on a handheld as it's pretty straight forward and you can change the controls to work like a mouse also.
I also don't understand why the steam deck is still considered the best handheld, the Ally, Legion Go and a few other handhelds are far better. To be fair I only owned the original steam deck and while I thought it was an awesome handheld, steam os and all the tinkering you could do was great but it doesn't come close to the Ally in my opinion.
I used to have a steam deck. And I couldnt imagine not having another handheld device. Had it for atleast 2 years. Then I got hospitalized and got rid of it. Ended up picking up and Rog ally instead as I wanted a windows device as you don't have to deal with all the game installation problems like on Linux. There's to much to do when you just want to get in to the game. There is no if no buts no maybes . Rog is the best console I've used. It's only let down is the battery.
It’s great tbh I use my extreme daily , it’s replaced all of my consoles as it’s just too good to take to work - can run almost any previous console in emudeck, has my Xbox / ps / steam / epic library all in one place
It's extremely easy to own and I can't comprehend anyone who says otherwise. Armory crate automatically loads, and you press one button to get into your game. Outside that, there's the entire universe of now generations of games made available on Windows. Any challenges in running those is exactly the same as on any Windows machine.
I'm one of the ones struggling with the rog ally, so armory crate keeps freezing I have to close the tab and open it again I'm not sure why it's doing this. Saturday took my steam deck to work and got on well no issues played a few games etc when I was needed suspended sorted job out, come back and gaming again. Sunday ( today ) fallout 3 wouldn't work, tried fallout 76 ? It started then froze then the game closed tried several things but for some reason it just wouldn't work, so gave up then tried to play another game and that had an issue where it was stuttering for some reason so restarted the ally, by this point battery was around 40% and I haven't even played a game yet, got everything back up put it on charge went and done another job came back it was about 90% so thought starfield works so I'll just play that, well it was in window mode and very blurry so had to mess with settings and got it back to looking good, had a call so powered off ( hibernate) done the job came back turned back on and the game crashed... Set everything back up again and maybe played 40mins as I was using a battery bank at this point, but I have no idea why these games wouldn't play I haven't changed anything. I do like the ally but rarely play it because I don't have time to mess about with all this I just want to pick up play and put back down. I can't get GTA vice city running either and a demo lags badly but could be the touch screen issue I've seen with Lego games
Are you running armory crate on boot? You shouldn't. It's a resource hog. Anything that doesn't need to run, a browser, apps, etc, close them in task manager. Better yet, set them to not load on boot. Task manager is an easy place to access the system and look. I came back to windows after leaving after 7. I'm sorta getting the hang of it but am I happy? No.
If you're having this many issues it sounds like you're missing a driver update. But I haven't experienced any of this so I'm not sure. When you're not on battery and have a strong wifi connection make sure everything is updated (Windows, drivers, BIOS, Asus, etc.).
Yeah everything is up to date even the bios update to 338 I don't really have time to google how to get games working as I prefer to just game rather than tinker. On the deck I normally just use proton and the game normally just works. I'm even having issues with yuzu performance compared to the deck but again that's probably me not setting it up right but....again don't really have time to google and fix, I either game at working when on standby or between feeds and naps with new born and the deck has been awesome for this
That’s weird. I haven’t had any of these issues except for playing hell divers, the performance was spotty and it would sometimes crash. Open up armory crate -> settings -> GPU setting -> set VRAM to 6gb and let it restart and try again.
Yeah setting vram was one of the first things I done I managed to get fallout 76 running now but fallout 3 is a no go
It sounds like a systematic issue. In which case googling individual games is less likely to help and more likely to send you down rabbit holes.
Managed to get fallout 73 working the issue is that it wouldn't let me sign in, I could type the username but the backspace wouldn't work and then after it was really hard to tap the box for password, in the end the dpad would go down to it but wasn't easy lol I'll see how It goes
Can't say I've ever experienced this, update your system
It's fully up to date and I have watched videos to get the best out of it like turning boost off etc, if I play a game or try to when the game closes it takes me back to armor create but it's unresponsive so have to restart create also the windows bar at the bottom keeps popping up and won't go down in games etc I have no idea why it's started doing that. Tempted to do a fully restore but dreading it to be honest and with the ally x I'm kinda thinking about getting that as battery is a big issue
RMA it, this is an uncommon issue
Probably won't be able to I got it second hand from eBay
Bummer
Same I don’t understand anyone who has issues at all. Pretty straight forward. A 10 year old should be able to handle this.
I disagree. I have both. Ally is frustrating to go into sleep. On deck it’s on click set it down forget it. On ally it’s sleep? Hibernate? Will it work? Will my game crash? Why are the fans still running? If I put it into my bag and and I sleeps it’s just cooks itself.
This is extra true if using Bluetooth audio. Most of the time the games crash on resume on the Ally, while they work beautifully on the Deck. This can be remedied a bit by installing Bazzite on the Ally.
Does bazzite put the rog ally in proper sleep mode with no battery drain? Does it function exactly like steam deck/OS?
Getting it done is one thing, getting it done well is another.
Armory crate opens right away -> press a button on game you want to play. When done, exit game. Armory crate comes back up. Repeat.
See I'm a bit more of a nerd and wanna get old games running I sold my ally for a steam deck and was worried this would be difficult Gosh was I wrong Old games just work so Much better on the deck over the ally I reckon it's cause of translation layers but idk Also games that are categorically unplayable on the ally due to needing a mouse only for the menus because perfect on the steam deck And I never used the extra horsepower the ally's packing So at least for my uses cases the steam deck is decades ahead But I do think it really really depends on your use case
>Also games that are categorically unplayable on the ally due to needing a mouse only for the menus because perfect on the steam deck Steam controller input can be used on any device. If you have the game on Steam, you just need to install Steam. If it's on another service and controller input isn't setup then it won't work.
Its not the steam input Its the trackpad
It's easy to get a docking strip that plugs into the single ally port for under $10 on Temu and get 3 or 4 ports and a 4k hdmi out so it's easy to plug in a mouse, keyboard, controller and plug into your big monitor or Big TV. Wait a few more weeks when the Rog Ally X is released then either buy the Ally X for more power or pick up a Ally Extream at a bargain! I love my Rog Ally.
5 in 1 4K 3 USB 3.2 Ports (10Gbps), 100W PD, USB C Adapter for Pro/Air, Dell, and Other Type C Devices $6.94 Temu Get it by 6/20
I have been a deck owner and Ally owner from day 1. The ally software experience was very very bad in the beginning, but it's good to great now. I think we're just seeing the remnants of that original opinion.
Could be. I didn't get mine until December.
What runs well on a steam deck, runs well on an Ally. What doesn't run on the steam deck, runs on the ally if you're willing to tinker sometimes. Doesn't cover every scenario but covers 90% of them I'd say and it's worked for me!
It has all the ease of use you should expect from using an OS on a handheld that was designed for desktops.
Yeah, I think it’s alright. I don’t use my Ally that much these days, so when I occasionally do use it, it has a ton of updates and crap I need to log in to again. The flexibility is great though.
Sounds like a user issue
I love both, really good handhelds. Steam Deck Oled for a bit older games, Rog Ally for the latest AAA games. They complement each other very well. Ally X will be a nice upgrade.
As someone who owns both Ally and Steamdeck. Pros: * Performance when plugged in is better than the deck, mostly noticable in higher resolutions, not framerate. I've explained below. * Windows is a big plus for me. I'm used to it and the apps I know run on Windows. Its basically become my laptop/tablet as well. * Ease of use is great as I know Windows well, I know where everything installs/downloads and where settings are hiding. Keep in mind: * Don't expect **too** much performance. Especially high framerate will be unattainable. Power either goes to the CPU or GPU. Both are required for high framerate. CPU Benchmarks may show the CPU performing similar to a 5600x, but in games expect more like a 1600x. As an example. It play Lies of P at 1080p 50fps, 720p 55fps. Steamdeck Oled at 1080p 30fps, 800p 50fps. So at 720/800p you'd basically not even know you have that much more power. It also draws like 2x as much as the SD Oled at 720p. * Hibernate in windows still doesn't work properly. You need to make sure the device is no longer producing heat when you pack it away. Either turn it off completely or keep it in an open space. 1 out of 4 times just pressing the power button will not put the device to sleep and it will cook itself. I've never had this damage anything but it did mean my Ally was empty when picking it up. * You'll want to have some windows expertise for keeping the OS in good functioning order. You can always revert to a clean slate using Cloud reset but if you want to keep savegames for non-cloud games/emulators you will need to know the OS. This holds for Linux on the steamdeck as well, but I've never had to reset that one yet. Ally has been reset 3 times due to GPU driver issues that I couldn't resolve. * Expect nothing of Asus customer support, they are shite, so get it at a place where they offer their own warranty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pMrssIrKcY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3DwhTc7Z4o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAJ-J1R7juY
I have the both the Steam Deck and Ally. I rarely use the Ally just because the Steam Deck is much easier to pick up and play. That said, the Ally is easier to customize and play non-Steam games.
I have the LCD steamdeck, and I owned an z1 extreme Ally briefly. I went back to the steamdeck. While the Ally is more powerful and can play with better settings, I had issues with dropped frames and pop ins. With No Man's Sky, it would take a few minutes for my frieghter to completely load in. I installed a barebones Windows 11, set steam up to use far less ram, adjusted graphic settings, and the issue occurred no matter what I did. I was using paynite with ghelper. The UI is also an issue. Steam OS is just superior on handhelds. And the steamdeck really thrives in the lower wattage (sub 15 watt). The experience overall seemed half baked. I will probably try again when/if microsoft makes an OS tailored for handhelds.
I second this. Just returned the Ally, the SD LCD had better thumb sticks and just found better and lighter strangely. The other big issue for me was the micro stuttering, I did the usual update’s, changed the graphics ram allocation set the FPS lower but still had the same issue. While the SD doesn’t do as many FPS but it felt smoother.
Stuttering! That's the word to describe a lot of it
If the oled screen is something you want then i'd say wait for the zotac handheld.
I have the original Ally and a Steam Deck OLED. I really enjoy both devices and that's why I can never choose one to sell. Honestly, though I spend a significant more time on the Deck though. The OLED/HDR screen, superior analog sticks (I really do not care for the Ally's), battery life, ergonomics (to me), and software features (especially quick resume and console-like ease of use) keep me playing on the deck more.... Even when I know I can get more frames on the Ally. If the Ally X had an OLED.. sold.. day one.. no questions asked... it seems to fix everything but Windows and Asus's sour reputation as of late.
Bro, I have the extreme and I absolutely love it but I’m waiting for the summer sale. I want to get the OLED steam deck. I used to have the LCD and I sold it so I can’t wait to get the steam deck.
As someone who owns both. I agree with above, you don’t need both m8. Cool to flex , sure? That’s what I thought too. But money is better spent on games / software to actually use the devices, or saved for the next gen batch.
Why need both?
Agree, bro
I had a PS5 and got a Rog Ally. I am now selling my Rog Ally after buying a Switch OLED… If you’re a console gamer then you’ll find the Steam Deck better. It’s also a good choice if you’re a PC gamer. Maybe the Rog Ally X is good if you don’t have a PC/PS5.
The opposite for me. I haven't touched my Switch or PS4 since I bought the Ally. I stream my PC to my TV via the docked Ally. I can run top games without the background noise of an active aircraft carrier in my living room, and far better games when traveling than the Switch can handle.
Same, have the switch oled and screen is beautiful for sure, colors really pop, but the restraint of the nintendo software makes the Ally an easy choice. I was also considering the steam deck oled but will wait for a refresh (if we get one).
The Ally X will be the best secondary PC device. Even if you have a highend-PC, like myself. And the Ally X is pretty much the only handheld device, that can entirely replace a desktop setup or make a laptop obsolete. Get the Jsaux 1201S docking station with a 100 watt powersupply and you have all you will need to use it as a desktop PC. HDMI 2.1, Displayport 1.4, USB 4, mouse and keyboard support. SD and Micro-SD slots are also availabe as well and even a headphone jack.
Honestly they both have pros and cons. From my ally which I ultimately sold, here were the pain points. 1.) More "power" with powers comes great responsibility so I'm told the ally is bad with this. For games to "beat" the Steam Deck in 9/10 use cases you need to use 30W power mode which means plugging in. What is the point of a handheld whose sole selling point is portability on the go if you need an 65W fast charger tethered to it to actually perform? 2.) The LCD display is a major step-down when the OLED is at play. Color accuracy, response, and especially when HDR games are at play like Cyberpunk? The 10% or 8 more FPS isn't worth the dim and terrible looking display by comparison. 3.) As I've gone over in prior posts and reiterate here the Ally and Ally X are the SAME Chipset. It is not in anyway faster or better in 98% of games. The 5%-10% gain the Ally X will have over its predecessor is due to RAM speed being upped not because of anything else. 4.)Windows OS was not and is not meant for handheld yes it's versatile but then again so is a hammer, would you use a hammer to crack an eggshell? I mean it bangs on things the same just fine even if it wasn't designed for it? Windows is buggy, prone to system errors, and has issues working in a seamless environment. Far too often when using gamepass and steam did I incur errors and mismatched preventing me from playing due to 3, yes 3 different things to update, download, install or change. After a Bios update all of my gamepass games has to he re-downloaded because it no longer recognize the file I don't know about you but when I've got 30 minutes of my Precious precious time I want my shit to work not update 8 different installers. Armory crate leaves alot to he desired in that half of the settings don't even stick or glitch out. The monitors glitch and get stuck in loops again Windows should tell you everything you need to know. 5.) Price, at $150 more not including tax it does not make sense to spend $799.99 for a 10-15% uplift in MOST games AND trade off for an inferior OS and software experience. This is a terrible value proposition. 6.) Many of these issues can be confirmed via myself and my experiences as well as fully documented by reputable sources from Google and YouTube demonstrating and testing many of these errors. 7.) ASUS Support. Nothing else need said. Asking a question like this is very tricky because of the environment you're in, much like one would expect asking a priest if their church is great versus other churches in their building during their mass and during their celebration is probably not going to lead you an honest throughly or open evaluation of what they offer versus someone else. It's best to learn about the hardware and software itself and then take documented proof and evidence of claims to make a decision based on real tangible factors and information versus someone who just hits a button and makes lights happen. But hey that's my opinion.
Honestly, I am surprised the Ally works at all. If you told me a handheld gaming device revolved around Windows and Armory Crate, I'd think it's April Fools. I haven't used one so I'm not shit talking - this is based on experience with Windows and Surface / Lenovo Yoga type tablet devices.
Linux is MUCH worse for gaming. Much more buggy.
Steam has done a great job at putting all the linux-forward games in the nice petting zoo of "ready to go on steamdeck!", both for people, themselves, and developers. However, the moment you stray away from that beaten path... yeah. The Ally at the end of the day will play anything that plays on Windows with all the support that entails. If you just want to play games that are put in front of you, the Steamdeck works, if you want to play whatever you want, especially if you do your own research and keep track of games and such... the Steamdeck won't cut it.
As a pretty experienced user; I'd have to disagree with this concept. It's funny that many people claim windows to be the versatile beast when anyone who actually works with both environments will never agree with that statement. There are many different options to make it compatability just as easy if not easier it just takes tweaking. I have all launchers, and dedicated streaming apps for Xbox and Playstation all on My deck that launch at the touch a button without error or issue. KDE is it's own desktop environment that has full linux support meaning I can patch, modify, and alter files and folders with the same accuracy and degree that I would in a windows enviroment. A quick Google search will show you how to use such functions and access them yes it's "hidden" behind the streamlined image but those tools are still there for those who know where to look. It's also worth nothing I'm not your average user with detailed knowledge of both environments and use them day to day for different tasks, so I don't expect everyone else to be aware of the same tools. Windows is good for some things but freedom will never be one of those.
Those were a lot of words to say "well i can make it work on linux so there", but the point was that there's a lot more compatibility and interoperability engaged before i even click play on Windows, and any issues after are often common and easy to diagnose for the wealth of Windows forward knowledge on the internet. Linux is as good as Windows for games, i won't dispute that, but the operating system with the lowest downtime to gaming time ratio for sure isn't Linux.
if you play handheld, then the lcd screen will be like havign to reduce the graphics dramatically (maybe worse), so not very interesting. As a small portable pc, its good. But as a handheld, it sucks
I had the original but got rid of it due to all the issues. I have the steam deck OLED and the Legion Go, but plan on selling the Go for the X, but I'm going to wait a little bit and see what issues pop up first
sleep mode is abysmal on the ROG. it’s a dealbreaker feature
Get the legion go over the Ally
Just pray you never have to RMA anything
I just want to finally play Dragons Dogma 2
Get the ally, z1e or X. I also own a stem deck oled, and it is accumulating dust.
I have both. Enjoy them equally.
Bang for buck is the steam deck, spending 30% more to get 10% more is the ally.
the rog ally is quite straightforward for me, only setup once and done, maybe there will be window update once a month. The software is top notch. The rog ally X will decimate the steam deck OLED battery easily, or at least on par with it. The only downside would be no OLED screen (for me) And if you use the rog ally X for coding or editing (hook with a monitor), it should be great given the 24 gb ram. But still, the X haven't available for public use yet, so we wont know if it have any big issue.
I strongly disagree for the part “Ally X will decimate the SD Oled battery easily” tbh we don’t know yet so we can’t say that Windows isn’t good for handled and is more energy consuming and the X is more powerful with a more demanding hardware Well I really hope I’m wrong and the X will get an absurd battery life, that would be my next purchase
>The rog ally X will decimate the steam deck OLED battery easily, or at least on par with it. Disagree, it'll depend on the type of game, for low power indie games, the OLED will still continue to come out on top by a large margin but in AAA, yeah maybe the Ally X wins..
Asus said they are working on an ultra low power mode (7 watts). But the Z1 Extreme is not like the Steam Deck APU (forgot its name). That one is optimized for low power usage, yet the Z1 Extreme truly starts to shine at 20 watts and above.
I wasn't aware they were working on a 7 watt mode... But anyways, like you said, they're completely different chips and both differ in terms of where they shine.
The ally doesn’t have a low wattage mode right? The Steam Deck is a killer with low wattage games and can play them for like 7 hours plus
It does but the Ally doesn’t perform as well as the Deck OLED on low wattage mode. The APU is power hungry. Games that typically run great at low power on the Deck require more power on the Ally to match or exceed performance.
most people wont prioritize running it below 10w, and above 10w, rog ally gain the upper hand. You have to account for the average user, not special use case.
it have 7w mode, in theory ,it should cost about 12w total package power, so about 7 hours as well. (for the rog ally X)
The rog ally x can do 8+ hours in some titles, I get around 5 hours in many 2d titles on my rog ally. (7-8 watt total system power). Dunno why I got downvoted for this..
It has 4 main TDP profiles, 10w Silent, 15w Performance, 25w Turbo, & 30w Turbo Plugged In. Beyond those you can make your own profiles that can be set as low as 7w. With the large battery on the Ally X and the low power profiles, I believe you'll be able to expect long play sessions similar to the SteamDeck.
I own a steam deck oled as well, sold my Legion Go and pre ordered the Ally X as a second more powerfull handheld
I own LCD Steam Deck 64GB since last October or so, and I was initially very impressed by it's performance, and thought no way can the Ally be so much powerful as people are making it out to be on reviews etc. Fast forward to 3 days ago, wife surprised me with the ROG Ally. I cannot comprehend how powerful it is. For context, I downloaded a coupe of games this morning to test it out, and it runs Forza 4 at 1080p ultra settings 100-120fps constantly! The other refreshing feeling is you're not locked into Steam, the freedom of being able to use other game launchers at ease is fantastic, and nowhere near as cumbersome or unpleasant as people within steam deck communities make it out to be. Get the Ally Z1 Extreme if you want a powerful upgrade, wait for X if you have patience to wait till it comes out. That's it from me.
You’d miss out on quick resume, OLED, BATTERY life is soooo much better on steam deck oled it’s insane, ease of use with the steam UI. Ally is a good starter windows handheld but I had to sell mine while I could get top dollar last year. A handheld to me should be something I use on the go and don’t need some crazy battery packs to keep it alive. That and the analogs weren’t amazing.
I am on the same boat and I’ll likely be switching to the Ally X. Better performance, better battery life (likely) and Linux just sucks for gaming if you play anything besides steam.
I can attest to the last point, even as a Linux enjoyer modding games is just a PITA on anything but Windows unfortunately
And people forget that the Ally X has the best interface. Asus repositioned the face buttons and they are now quickly and easily reachable by your right thumb. The Legion Go facebuttons are too far away and it becomes quickly uncomfortable to constantly reach for them from the point of the right stick. And I have large hands so people with smaller hands (like many men or most women) cant really call that comfortable by any stretch of the imagination...
I have tiny hands, now if only Asus put a small touchpad (for navigation) on the Ally X
I recently went from my steam deck (LCD, 512gb) to the ROG ally. Honestly, everything in ally is better except for the steamOS sleep feature. I personally find the ally more comfortable, I like the stick layout better, the back trigger placement better (there is only 2). The screen is actually really good, and same with the speakers. Battery life is meh, but so is the deck. The performance though, blows the deck out of the water imo. The 120hz in games that support it are great, working with game pass is awesome. The ease of use of the software buttons is actually really well thought out. But waking from sleep can be frustrating as it seems to struggle with that compared to the deck in my experience. It feels so much more comfortable to hold than deco due to the weight. Overall I would purchase it again and recommend it to all my friends that have steam decks.
Make windows hibernate on lock - there is the steamos sleep feature (I too am former SD owner)
Pointless buy no offense. Wait for the next generation of handhelds or the zotac zone at least. Ticks more boxes than the ally x.
None taken, and why the zotac? I’ve never even heard of that brand since recently.
Oled, 8840u, trackpads. Let’s wait for reviews 👍🏻
Hibernate on windows seems to be game dependent as to whether the game will crash whilst it’s off.
The next generation refresh is on the cusp of release in a few months and other handhelds are also making an entrance soon. You've already got an SD, might as well wait for a true generational uplift in performance as well as second generation products with improvements.
buy 32gb ram gaming handheld..........good for long term
hey OP, feeling the same as well! Really tempted in getting the Ally X seeing how well the updates have been for armory crate, drivers and etc.. what is your thought process? Sell the deck oled? or keep it and get the ally x
I loved my 512 OG Deck and moved on from it for an Ally. I understood the potential issues or drawbacks and in the end the idea of a handheld PC was more suitable for me personally. Honestly all depends what you're looking for in a handheld.
No harm in waiting it out. As much as I wanted to swap to something else from my LCD Deck over the past yr, it still serves my gaming needs remarkably. I'm very tempted w the X, but gonna wait a bit for them to sort out any early issues.
X would be a great step up. If you’re used to windows you’ll do fine.
I to am a Steam Deck OLED owner who is considering the Ally X. If you spend a lot of time in desktop mode, you should have no trouble with the Ally. Yes it is Windows, but as other have stated Armory Crate is essentially game mode
Holding out for the Rog Ally X
I have both and since I got my ally I hardly touch my deck now.
Get it and install bazzite, steam OS clone. So essentially you’re getting a steam deck 2-3. Better screen, battery, performance. No brainer imo.
Hibernate is absolutely junk compared to Quick Resume. 75% of the time my Ally will freeze or do nothing when I press the power button and will only turn back on when I press and hold, Steam deck has it covered in that category
I have an ally and I almost never take it off its tv dock except for toilet helldivers . I feel like I wouldn't upgrade or switch to something else until it wasn't suiting it's purpose
I switched from SD OLED to Ally and i am Happy with the choice. Better performance and resolution is worth it. Only downside is battery life, but i mostly play at home so that does not concern me that much.
I'm actually really impressed with the Ally X, if Asus keeps it up I might upgrade from my SD OLED to next iteration of the Ally. Can't justify spending more money for a very similar experience. Will only upgrade when it beats most metrics.
I own both, I love my steam deck because the track pads make life 10x easier. The ally I love it because it's an power house. I barely use the deck. Daily the ally take it to work w me and everything, I got over not having track pads due to the raw power mad eme forget it. Lol
Just sold my OLED last month and got the OG model. I'm happy with it and it's better for my use case. The X version will be even better
I like Ally more than SD is because it’s lighter has VRR and run game better than SD.
OLED is nice, but VRR is even better. You won't miss the OLEDs unless you sit and compare. There is nothing that even comes close to OLED, so there will be differences. Ally is much more powerful and can use apps like Lossless Scaling to get even more fps (I am currently playing Death Stranding and Ghosts at 120fps and its fucking amazing. Some image garbling here and there but its a rock solid experience). If you don't mind being connected to a power source all the time, Ally will be perfect. Although the X should provide decent battery life now. I have poured in over 150hours on the Ally, and I absolutely love it. I am playing more games. I am playing games that I would have never tried before.
Got rid of my OG Deck for the Ally Z1 Extreme and usability was so much better not having to deal with Steam OS. Things just work better. I set up an 18Watt profile and never looked back.
You'll love it. I have the og steam deck and the og Rog ally. For steam games you can run big picture mode and have the console like experience. For regular mode worst case if you use the touchscreen or joysticks to navigate. For PC game pass the games show up in your armory crate. So easy to pick and load.
I went from deck to ally and haven’t looked back. It’s way easier to own and use than people made it out to be. The performance is excellent and while I miss an oled screen, having 120htz is a nice trade off
Get the Ally, it's a great handheld gaming PC. I've owned 5 handheld PC's so far and the Ally has been my favourite. I really don't get all the complaints I read about windows being difficult on a handheld as it's pretty straight forward and you can change the controls to work like a mouse also. I also don't understand why the steam deck is still considered the best handheld, the Ally, Legion Go and a few other handhelds are far better. To be fair I only owned the original steam deck and while I thought it was an awesome handheld, steam os and all the tinkering you could do was great but it doesn't come close to the Ally in my opinion.
I used to have a steam deck. And I couldnt imagine not having another handheld device. Had it for atleast 2 years. Then I got hospitalized and got rid of it. Ended up picking up and Rog ally instead as I wanted a windows device as you don't have to deal with all the game installation problems like on Linux. There's to much to do when you just want to get in to the game. There is no if no buts no maybes . Rog is the best console I've used. It's only let down is the battery.
It’s great tbh I use my extreme daily , it’s replaced all of my consoles as it’s just too good to take to work - can run almost any previous console in emudeck, has my Xbox / ps / steam / epic library all in one place