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Tom’s Hardware
Tom’s Hardware
Technology
Hassam Nasir

Asus adds separate E-Core and P-Core power management to the Z2 Extreme-powered ROG Xbox Ally X — major Armory Crate SE update released for all of its gaming handhelds

Asus Armoury Crate SE on ROG Ally devices.

Armoury Crate SE, the all-in-one control panel Asus ships with its ROG Ally handhelds, is getting a significant update, adding an extensive list of features on all devices. This version brings general improvements to all models, along with more customization options such as integrating Radeon Chill into the FPS Limiter function, which was only accessible via AMD Adrenaline before. Most notably, users can now tweak power draw settings for efficiency and performance cores individually on the ROG Xbox Ally X.

The aforementioned tweak is exclusive to the ROG Xbox Ally X, which features AMD's Z2 Extreme APU. The Z2E is a hybrid design, featuring 3 proper Zen 5 cores and 5 efficiency-focused Zen 5C cores, split across two CCXs. Previously, all 8 of these cores were addressed together — the user couldn't control how much power would go to each core — now, Asus has added "P-core / E-core options" under Performance settings.

This means you should be able to manage the wattage being pushed to at least either CCX, if not each core individually, to prioritize performance or efficiency. If you're playing a lightweight title that doesn't require a lot of power, turning down the P-Core cluster's TDP could squeeze out more battery life. It's all about giving the user control over their system, even if the device can otherwise handle itself.

Apart from this highlight feature, Asus has also adjusted the aforementioned FPS Limiter's 45 FPS preset to 40 FPS, changed some UI colors here and there, added the Windows Power Mode options to Manual operating mode, and introduced a bunch of bug fixes. Supported devices can now enter or exit the Xbox Fullscreen experience with custom-mapped bindings as well.

Along with the new Armoury Crate SE, accompanying MCU and BIOS updates also bring "improved power consumption" in Windows Modern Standby, the Xbox Ally X's impulse triggers should get better haptics, and Cloud Recovery is made more seamless across the board. You can visit the changelog page to see the complete list of all the patches, alongside details for BIOS updates.

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