Steam Deck OLED’s 6nm Sephiroth SOC Smiles For The Camera, Efficient AMD Zen 2 & RDNA 2 For Handheld Gaming

Nov 9, 2023 at 02:58pm EST
Steam Deck OLED's 6nm Sephiroth SOC Smiles For The Camera, Efficient AMD Zen 2 & RDNA 2 For Handheld Gaming 1

Valve has just unveiled its Steam Deck OLED handheld console which comes as a refresh of the original Steam Deck, featuring an OLED screen, better connectivity, better storage functionality & most importantly, a brand new AMD 6nm SOC known as Sephiroth.

AMD Steam Deck OLED Has The Latest AMD Sephiroth SOC Hidden Under Its Hood & It Uses A Slightly More Efficient 6nm Process

In a teardown by Dave2D, we get to see a closeup of the internals and the new SOC that is used within the Steam Deck OLED console. This new SOC doesn't change the core configuration from the original Steam Deck's specs but it does feature a slight efficiency advantage.

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Image Source: Dave2D

Coming straight to the specifications, the AMD Sephiroth SOC is based on the 6nm process node. It features the same Zen 2 CPU and RDNA 2 GPU core architecture. The CPU employs 4 cores and 8 threads running at up to 3.5 GHz while the GPU employs a total of 8 Compute units or 512 stream processors running at 1.6 GHz clock speeds. The chip also retains the same 4-15W TDP but the new 6nm design should allow for lower "actual" power consumption when the device is running games and applications.

Image Source: Dave2D

The 6nm process node also means that the die should be a tad bit smaller though we don't have the exact measurements of the SOC at the moment. What is known is that the cooling system is pretty much the same with a single copper heatpipe running over the SOC and cooled by a single fan. Also, another fun detail is that the Sephiroth SOC has the ID "100-0000000932" which should make it easier to identify in online databases.

Now as for the mainboard and the battery, well there are definitely some changes so you won't be able to simply swamp or replace components from older Steam Decks to the newer OLED versions.

Besides that, the Steam Deck OLED also features slightly faster memory now rated at up to LPDD5 6400 MT/s versus the previous LPDDR5 5500 MT/s speeds. The same 16 GB system memory has been retained. The SSD capacities are also increased with up to 1 TB models and the main addition is the OLED 7.4" screen which features a resolution of 1280x800 and a 90Hz refresh rate with 1000 nits brightness. The handheld measures the same and will be launching in November. You can also check out our detailed coverage on the pre-order links here.

Handheld Gaming Console Lineup:

NameASUS ROG Ally XMSI CLAW AM1Steam Deck OLEDLenovo Legion GoASUS ROG ALLYAyaneo Air 1SAYANEO 2SAOKZOE A1 ProAOKZOE A2GPD Win Max 2GPD Win 4 (2023)
CPU NameAMD Ryzen Z1 ExtremeIntel Core Ultra Series 1AMD SephirothAMD Ryzen Z1 SeriesAMD Ryzen Z1 SeriesAMD Ryzen 7 7840UAMD Ryzen 7 7840UAMD Ryzen 7 7840UAMD Ryzen 7 7840UAMD Ryzen 7 7840UAMD Ryzen 7 7840U
AMD Ryzen 5 7640U
CPU / GPU Architecture4nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3Meteor Lake / Arc Xe-LPG6nm Zen 2 / RDNA 24nm Zen 4 / RDNA 34nm Zen 4 / RDNA 34nm Zen 4 / RDNA 34nm Zen 4 / RDNA 34nm Zen 4 / RDNA 34nm Zen 4 / RDNA 34nm Zen 4 / RDNA 34nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3
CPU Cores / Threads8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz16 / 22 @ 4.8 GHz
14 / 20 @ 4.5 GHz
4 / 8 @ 3.5 GHz8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz
6 / 12 @ 4.9 GHz
GPU Cores12 CU @ 2.8 GHz8 Xe @ 2.25 GHz
7 Xe @ 2.20 GHz
8 CU @ 1.6 GHz12 CU @ 2.8 GHz12 CU @ 2.8 GHz12 CU @ 2.7 GHz12 CU @ 2.8 GHz12 CU @ 2.7 GHz12 CU @ 2.7 GHz12 CU @ 2.7 GHz12 CU @ 2.7 GHz
8 CU @ 2.6 GHz
Memory24 GB LPDDR5X-750016 GB LPDDR5-640016 GB LPDDR5-640016 GB LPDDR5-750016 GB LPDDR5-640032-64 GB LPDDR5x16 GB LPDDR5x-750032-64 GB LPDDR5x32-64 GB LPDDR5x16 GB LPDDR5x-750016-64 GB LPDDR5x-7500
Storage1 TB (M.2)
Micro-SD UHS-H
512 GB / 1 TB (M.2)512 GB / 1 TB (M.2)512 GB- 2 TB (M.2)512 GB (M.2) +
Micro-SD UHS-H
512 GB - 2 TB (M.2)512 GB - 2 TB (M.2)512 GB- 2 TB (M.2)512 GB - 4 TB (M.2)512 GB - 2 TB (M.2)512 GB - 4 TB
Display Resolution1920x1080 @ 120Hz1920x1080 @ 120Hz1280x800 @90Hz2560x1600 @ 144Hz1920x1080 @ 120Hz1920x1080 @ 60Hz1920x12001920x1200 @ 60Hz1920x12001920x12001920x1200 @60Hz
Screen Type7-Inch7-Inch IPS7.4" OLED8.8-Inch Full IPS7-Inch5.5-Inch Amoled7-Inch Full IPS8-Inch Full IPS7-Inch Laminated IPS10.1-Inch Full IPS6-Inch Full IPS
WiFi OptionWIFI 6E + BT 5.2TBDWIFI 6E + BT 5.3WIFI 6E + BT 5.2WIFI 6E + BT 5.2WIFI 6E + BT 5.2WIFI 6.0 + BT 5.0WIFI 6E + BT 5.2WIFI 6E + BT 5.2WIFI 6.0 + BT 5.0WIFI 6.0 + BT 5.0
Battery Size80Wh53Wh50.0Wh49.2Wh40Wh38Wh50.25Wh65Wh48Wh67Wh45.62Wh
Weight678g675g640g845g608g405gTBD729g649g1005g598g
Form Factor280.2x114x36.9mm294x117x21mm298x117x49mm299x131x41mm28.0 x 11.3 x 3.9mm224x89.5x21.6mmTBD28.5 x 12.5 x 2.1mm265x105x22227 × 160 × 23 mm220 × 92 × 28 mm
Operating SystemWindows 11Windows 11Steam OS/Windows 11Windows 11Windows 11Windows 11Windows 11Windows 11Windows 11Windows 11Windows 11
Release DateJuly 20241H 2024November 2023November 2023May 20232023May 2023May 2023December 2023May 2023August, 2023
Price$799 US$699 (125H + 16 GB + 512 GB)
$799 (155H + 16 GB + 1 TB)
$549 (16 GB + 512 GB)
$649 (16 GB + 1 TB)
$649 (16 GB + 512 GB)
$749 (16 GB + 1 TB)
$799 (16 GB + 2 TB)
$699 (Z1 Extreme)
$599 (Z1 Standard)
$799 (16 GB + 512 GB)TBD$799 US (32 GB +512 GB)$699 US (32 GB + 512 GB)730 EUR (7640U+16+1)
959 EUR (7840U+32+2)
TBD

About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.

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