[Rumour] Next Steam Deck to use AMD’s Hybrid Phoenix 2 “Little Phoenix” APU With 2+4 Core Configuration

[Marees]

The next Valve Steam Deck is a prime candidate which would utilize AMD's Phoenix 2 APUs among a list of other handheld and portable devices. It will definitely be interesting to see the efficiency numbers that the Phoenix 2 APUs produce. The first AMD Phoenix APUs will make their debut on laptops in March 2023 so we can expect an update later in 2023 on the Phoenix 2 parts.

the upcoming hybrid design is said to feature 2 standard Zen 4 cores and at least 4 clock/power-optimized Zen 4 cores. The Zen 4 cores are essentially the same architecture but the way power is managed across them is very different. It is not like Intel's hybrid approach where the P-Core and E-Cores utilize vastly different architectures.

The latest SKU was spotted by @InstLatX64 within the MilkyWay@Home database. Although the APU has no name or SKU branding mentioned, it is stated that the "A70F80" CPUID belongs to a range of upcoming APUs that will be part of the Phoenix 2 family.

https://wccftech.com/amd-hybrid-phoenix-2-little-phoenix-apu-with-24-core-configuration-spotted/

AMD Van Gogh SOC Successor Specs 'Preliminary':​

SOC NAME	VAN GOGH SOC	LITTLE PHOENIX SOC (TBD)
Process Node	7nm	4nm?
Die Size	163mm2	110-150mm2
Transistors	TBD	TBD
CPU Architecture	Zen 2	Zen 4
Cores / Threads	4 / 8	6 / 12?
CPU Clock (Max)	3.5 GHz	~4.0 GHz
GPU Architecture	RDNA 2	RDNA 3
GPU Compute Units	8 CUs (512 SPs)	4-8 CUs (!512 SPs)
GPU Clocks	1.6 GHz	2.0 GHz+
Memory	LPDDR5-5500	LPDDR5-6400 LPDDR5X-8533
TDP	4-15W	4-15W?
Products	Steam Deck	Steam Deck 2?
Launch	2022	2023-2024

 

[Line]

Steam Deck just turned 1 year old, how soon do you realistically think they will release the successor / upgrade? The Valve Index hasn't been updated in almost 4 years now, granted the Steam Deck is probably generating a lot more game sales for Valve.

 

[Marees]

I think an update will be due by this year end but it will be primarily for OLED & battery life.

From battery life point of view, the new processor above might be critical

 

[kirbyrj]

I think it should be noted that this isn't Valve pointing to a possible SOC replacement. This is WCCF Tech (a bastion of journalistic integrity) noting that the Van Gogh successor is being released by AMD and "could" be a replacement for the SOC in a Steam Deck. Big difference.

That being said, I'm sure someone will release a handheld with this SOC. I'm just not sure it will be Valve.

 

[chameleoneel]

Valve recently said there aren't plans for new Steam Deck hardware, any time soon. And they also said that an OLED screen would not simply be a drop-in refresh. And the implication is that they wouldn't be doing it, for the Steam Deck 1.

 

[Marees]

Valve recently said there aren't plans for new Steam Deck hardware, any time soon. And they also said that an OLED screen would not simply be a drop-in refresh. And the implication is that they wouldn't be doing it, for the Steam Deck 1.

Not sure, when that will happen, but, valve has given indications that:

The Steam Deck 2 will have a better screen and battery.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/1438078/valve-offers-juicy-details-on-the-steam-deck-2.html

"...battery issues are at the top of our list of future improvements.”

https://www.videogameschronicle.com...e-planned-and-may-include-streaming-machines/

 

[t1337duder]

To be honest, it feels early to be speculating about a second Steam Deck.

 

[kirbyrj]

To be honest, it feels early to be speculating about a second Steam Deck.

Especially since Valve seemingly is indicating it will be years before another one comes out in more of a console cycle.

 

[SpongeBob]

Think they'll move to a more standard M.2?

 

[kirbyrj]

Think they'll move to a more standard M.2?

Personally, I don't think so. I don't think upgradeability is necessarily a big concern of theirs and their "console" mindset seems to indicate that if anything it will be less upgradeable. Size is always a consideration otherwise they'd have more storage upgradeability and a bigger battery. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

[SeymourGore]

2230 price and capacity are improving, but I still would love to see official support for 2242.

 

[SpongeBob]

Do you folks just use a SD card for the most part or did you folks upgrade? While ago someone was recommending just going with the cheapest version and going with a fast sd card.

 

[SeymourGore]

Do you folks just use a SD card for the most part or did you folks upgrade? While ago someone was recommending just going with the cheapest version and going with a fast sd card.

I use a 512 GB SD card for my emulators and 'traditional' games (ie: non-open world/streaming assets games) and it's worked really well for it. I've been playing Super Monkey Ball on the SD, and I die often, but the load times are great on it.

I've got a 256GB version, and I do believe a SSD is necessary for certain titles (ie: open world, like Cyberpunk), but if I were to do it again, I would've went with the cheap 64 GB version and upgraded the SSD myself. 2230 @ 512GB are a common find and cheap.

 

[Balkroth]

Do you folks just use a SD card for the most part or did you folks upgrade? While ago someone was recommending just going with the cheapest version and going with a fast sd card.

I've got the 512GB version, but most everything I install onto Micro SD cards and swap as necessary. Programs, utilities, emulators and a few games that are either loading intensive or I just play all the time are all I have on the SSD. Big reason is because I cycle through games a lot with installs/uninstalls (not when on MSD cards of course) and I didn't want to kill the SSD from writing too much.

 

[Bankie]

Do you folks just use a SD card for the most part or did you folks upgrade? While ago someone was recommending just going with the cheapest version and going with a fast sd card.

I bought the 64GB model and a 512GB SD card. I didn't install any games on the 64GB drive and it was out of space after Emudeck was installed and all of the Proton releases and Shader Cache updates. I used Cryoutils to move the cache to the SD card but it only freed up like 8GB so I knew I'd have to be faffing with storage all of the time if I didn't upgrade. I replaced it with a 1TB SSD and it's been great since.

 

[Axman]

I think an update will be due by this year end but it will be primarily for OLED & battery life.

From battery life point of view, the new processor above might be critical

A lot of the battery life issues have already been addressed by updates, but there's still no hold at 50 percent option for always plugged in.

 

[toast0]

To be honest, it feels early to be speculating about a second Steam Deck.

Depends on if this is more like a console or more like a computer. Also depends on how much different the cpu pinout is. Laptops often refresh on the same cycle as cpu refreshes, and it's a SOC with no big external support chips. If power is similar, it seems like ram is compatible and it could be just a swapped cpu and a different firmware. I kind of don't think it is cause the new cpu is zen4 vs zen2 and supports two types of ram, but it's possible.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

I am really waiting for gen 2 hardware before considering making the plunge. Another feature that would be great (at least for me) would be if Steam Deck 2 has a Thunderbolt port for "docking" with an eGPU. Then the Steam Deck really could replace gaming PC's for me.

Use it with "lower power" hardware on the go, dock it with whatever ridiculous desktop GPU you have handy with a display for an excellent home experience. If Steam Deck really will be on "console release cycles" aka, not until 2027, then it's kind of a dead end for me. I might as well get a Minisforum PC with Thunderbolt instead. Or better yet, just wait for this.