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curl-6 on 13 April 2023
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EpicRandy said:
curl-6 said:

It's not quite as simple as just GPU power either, as there are lots of other factors that would affect how viable it would be; bandwidth, SSD, CPU, battery life, heat generation and cooling, and size are all issues for a handheld device.

Even if you hit your performance target, it won't be very appealing as a mainstream portable device if it is bulky and has poor battery life.

All those concerns are all related to the power consumption of the device. Most of the video focus on this and why it is possible to get the power consumption low enough for it to work.

The Series S is using about 80 watts peak from the wall which is already impressively low but he highlights many way this can get down:

  • Using battery vs outlet save already about 10% from the inefficiency of converting AC to DC
  • Node shrink from 7nm to potentially 3nm
  • Lower power needed through limiting the output resolution when handheld

A great comparison I think is to compare the Series S to the 6800U. The 6800U have peak GPU (680m) performance of 3.68tfs which is very close to that of the Series s 4tfs. However the 680m is limited by 16 cu which force it to run at higher clocks with added inefficiency. The 680m is also Rdna3 and the video suggest that such device form MS would use Rdna4 with better efficiency. The 6800U is also used in similar device to what is suggested of a Series S handheld like the Ayaneo 2. 

Now it is true that an even lower performance when handheld might be problematic in some case but if MS were to go this route I would support MS to allow dev to require the device to be docked when playing specific titles that have no room to spare on series S like those running 900p 30fps (which should be marginal anyway).

The Ayaneo 2 is an interesting device to me but the price is too high. But get me an Ayaneo 2 like device, that cost $500 or less and that can play Xbox GamePass titles and I'd be like :

I'm not saying it's impossible, but it comes back to the fact you'd be adding yet more and likely lower performance targets for games to hit, where the Series S is already struggling, plus potentially breaking compatibility for games that just can't run when portable. That's a rather messy proposition.

Plus, $500 is too steep for a handheld, at that price it will only sell to a niche audience of enthusiasts like Steam Deck.