AMD's Aerith Plus SOC has been spotted in shipping manifests and might go on the power Valve's Steam Deck 2 handheld.
AMD AERITH 'Plus' SoC Spotted in Shipping Record, Up To 3.8 GHz Boost Clock and 20W of TDP for Steam Deck 2
It looks like we might see the Steam Deck's successor in the near future. While we don't have any official specs for it, one of the recent leaks has given us a sneak peek into its SoC. If you remember, last year, Valve confirmed that they would be aiming for a generational leap in performance for the Steam Deck's successor.
If that's true, then AMD is going to use no less than a Zen 5-based chip in Steam Deck 2. Even though it's a bit early to talk about its architecture, a shipping manifest from NBD has revealed the possible upcoming SoC for the handheld console. The user @Olrak29_ posted a screenshot of the record, revealing "AERITH PLUS".
For those who don't know, AERITH is the codename for the System-on-Chip used in Steam Deck. It is powered by Zen 2 architecture and features 4 cores and 8 threads. The AERITH Plus looks to be the successor to the AERITH and, as per the record, it brings noticeably higher clocks and an increase in TDP.
The AERITH Plus shows a frequency of up to 3.8 GHz, indicating a noticeable bump in clock speed. For reference, the base/boost clock of AERITH is 2.4/3.5 GHz and the AERITH Plus here offers a 300MHz boost, suggesting the SoC's capability to go stronger than its predecessor when maxed out.
While we don't know the lower TDP limit for the newer SoC, the shipping manifest suggests a 20W upper limit. This is 5W higher than the upper limit of the AERITH TDP, which usually works in the range of 4-15W, making the Steam Deck one of the most power-efficient PC handhelds currently. As far as the GPU goes, it can run at up to 1.8 GHz of clock speed, which is 200 MHz higher than the 1.6 GHz boost clock of the iGPU on AMD AERITH. The chip is also accompanied by Samsung 8533 MT/s LPDDR5x memory. This alone is a big upgrade versus the current 6400 MT/s LPDDR5 memory used on the existing Steam Deck.
AERITH utilizes RDNA 2 architecture for its iGPU, featuring 8 Compute Units and a clock range of 1.0-1.6 GHz. Since Zen 5 mobile chips ship with up to RDNA 3.5 architecture, we are going to see a solid uplift in GPU performance apart from the CPU. As far as the APU for AERITH Plus goes, we expect it to be a custom variant of Krackan Point. So, we can expect up to 8 cores/16 threads and up to 12 Compute Units for its iGPU, enhancing the compute power drastically.
Another thing to point out here is the memory upgrade. The AERITH Plus SoC is going to utilize Samsung or Micron's LPDDR5X 8533 MT/s memory modules, which very well indicates the SoC to be made using Zen 5 architecture. It's still too early to get all the specs right as we haven't received any solid leaks or reports about the development of Steam Deck 2. However, it is expected that the console may launch next year.
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
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