You want to know whether the Asus ROG Ally can play Diablo 4. A new handheld console playing a newly arrived Windows 11 game. Sounds simple, and the answer is: yes, it can. But read on for key information on performance and what to expect with this pairing.
Can the Asus ROG Ally run Diablo 4?
Yes, the new handheld device can run the new title from Blizzard. A quick look at the Diablo 4 system requirements will show you that the game can run on Windows 10 PCs. Incidentally, it doesn’t run natively on the Steam Deck, so that’s a quick tie-breaker if you were wondering. To play Diablo 4 on the Rog Ally you need to get hold of the Battlenet application, but there’s also the matter of required hardware for solid frames per second (fps) – so let’s look at that.
Asus ROG Ally handheld
7-inch 120Hz display
Full HD 1080p
512GB NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 SSD
Asus ROG Ally hardware
The Asus ROG Ally ticks the operating system box, as mentioned above, but there’s also the matter of CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage. The base Rog Ally, the Z1, offers the following simplified specs:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen Z1 (Zen 4, 6 cores / 12 threads, up to 4.9 GHz
- Graphics: AMD Radeon graphics (integrated), RDNA 3, 4GB VRAM, 2.7 GHz clock
- Memory: 16GB LPDDR5-6400 (8GB x 2)
- Storage: 512GB M.2 SSD, SD card slot (UHS-II)
Let’s compare this to the Diablo 4 system requirements:
Diablo 4 system requirements
- CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K or FX-8100
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 or Radeon R9 280
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Storage: 90GB
As we can see from above, some key requirements are covered in terms of OS, RAM, and storage. But what about the CPU and GPU? Well, Diablo 4 requires the 2011-released Intel Core i5-2500K. So the AMD Z1, from the latest Zen 4 family is enough. Similarly, the game will run on AMD graphics technology from 2014. So the latest RDNA 3 offering will be fine for gameplay on Asus’ new handheld PC.
There are some key considerations to keep in mind though. Firstly, the Z1 Extreme version of the ROG Ally will give you more performance to ensure a better experience. Also, you can tweak the Ally’s settings to engage performance mode profile to give you the best possible experience.
As pointed out by ETA PRIME though, this will drain your battery life faster (as it boosts from 15 watts to 20W TDP, when the Ally has a 40W-hour battery). And this is on Low settings at 720p with RSR (Radeon Super Resolution) upscaling to feel like 1080p. At these settings, you can expect between 65-70fps consistently, which is more than enough to enjoy the Asus ROG Ally running Diablo 4. You can also tweak the power settings to drive higher frames – up to 90fps – but this will draw more power and result in less game time before needing a recharge.
