ASUS ROG XG Mobile Review - One Month Later! | Using ONLY The ROG Ally + XGM 6850 | Was It Worth It?

[@ADOS_DSGB]

I've had a 3080 connected to my Rog Ally for a week now and I've had no issues. Really easy setup, the most difficult part of the setup was getting my external HDMI connected monitor to work. If the disconnection box doesn't go away, just wait until the light turns white to pull it out. A couple of cons, the fan is loud and it gets very hot especially on demanding games. I have a small room, I swear it raises the temperature in the room. Overall I'm very happy with it, it does exactly what I want. Allows me to play at 1440p, 60fps, on High settings.

[@WinDeckTech]

Definitely feels the temps in the room getting raised as well lol. Between that and the ROG ally going full tilt. The 3080 does work a lot better than the 6850 in my experience. I'll be doing a compression of the two thisnweek

[@GaMeR_bOi_83]

Where did you buy it from? Directly from Asus?

[@ADOS_DSGB]

@@GaMeR_bOi_83 yea

[@JZF629]

I gotta say…. You are a wonderful human being for putting yourself through that shit so other can benefit from this knowledge. I was also considering this setup as crazy as it sounded, but now I won’t go anywhere NEAR it. I refuse to go through that EVERY. DAY. Plus after using an ally I can’t stand how loose the analog sticks are, it drives me crazy!

[@WinDeckTech]

Yeah it is definitely insane to do haha! Not something I'd recommend at all. Thanks for the kind words! I would definitely recommend a laptop setup over this!

[@alekxss]

With high resistance sticks your thumbs will pain after 10 minutes if hold Ally in front of face, especially left. It have sense for gamepad, which you hold relaxed on your knees. So its all ok with light weight sticks on Ally, have it pros. My thumbs stops to pain on Switch after install sticks extensions to make it higher and lighter (feels almost same as on Ally now)

[@marcus11619]

I know this video was made 7 months ago but I’ve had no problems from my xg 6850. It works how most would expect it to: plug it in, activate it, play games. Only thing is if you leave the xg mobile plugged in, turn the ally off then unplug and turn it back on it will give you problems. Make sure to deactivate it before shutdown!

[@WinDeckTech]

Yeah for the most part it is all good now. Few weird bugs here and there like you said but much much better

[@faisalcsat3301]

Thanks Marcus, really glad to hear this. I will buy 6850 soon for my Ally

[@patrickpat2161]

I can maybe get a 6850 for my Ally for $600. Is that a good deal?

[@faisalcsat3301]

@@patrickpat2161 Yes, just buy it as soon as possible. It's already a good price. In my country country is really difficult to find this device (8030 and 6850)

[@PISSEDOFFtvNETWORK]

Yes, I definitely understand where you're coming from on certain small issues with the Ally + XG mobile 6850M XT. However, it's still awesome! I use XG mobile daily. for sure switching between handheld to desktop at this moment is janky. So, I just leave the drivers to fix the issue in OneDrive/File Explorer.

[@WinDeckTech]

I absolutely agree with that statement, it is awesome. But definitely janky haha!

[@user-ke3ty7mr8r]

this is unfortunate especially given the heafty price tag it has right now. 2k$ for janky...ugh...I want to get one so bad but it's gonna take alot of convincing

[@justingoodnight5067]

This is my only means to get into pc gaming while also having the abilities to make it a potential home set up and for it to be on the go at any time is sick. Love the idea of this just WORKING

[@chrisunlmtd]

I price matched on best buy and got the XG Mobile 3080 for $1,099. I am using the ROG Ally as my LAPTOP replacement not my Desktop replacement. For me, it is working flawlessly. I handheld game only on special occasions; like airplanes, road trips, long term appointments and it does the job for me. Other than that, my Ally is docked to the XG mobile and runs all my games i need @ 4k on my living room OLED. for instance, I get 45-60 FPS on Starfield 4k Medium settings and about 65-85 FPS on Horizon Zero Dawn 4k Ultra settings DLSS Quality. Definitely, hitting frames my PS5 couldn't hit and it works as a home entertainment device as well. So far, its a great addition to my household.

[@WinDeckTech]

Glad to hear you've been having a great experience with it! The 3080 has worked out much better in my case (I have both the 6850 and 3080) There are fixes through community programs however

[@natebee8680]

Where did you find it for $1099? I’d like purchase one for that price

[@WinDeckTech]

@@natebee8680 thats the regular American price now I believe. Should be able to price match best buy to asus.com I think

[@theStepFamm]

the cpu doesnt bottle neck a gpu that powerful? do u think a 4090 xg mobile is worth it at $1500?

[@chrisunlmtd]

@@theStepFammhonestly it should be fine. If you get a 4090 XG I think you can cap the FPS at 120 with no issues but anything above that idk if the Z1E can handle

[@dark2deeds]

glad i found you're video i was going to buy xg mobile from ebay for the ally it seems a nightmare i will go back to original plan of getting the rog strix 4080 laptop

[@WinDeckTech]

4080 laptop is still a beast. I had one and it was scary impressive.

[@adriancoanda9227]

You are using an older dock second try clean the disconnected devices second plug the dock before you start the device, since it doe not support hotplug that's the issue and mistake that most user do

[@X862go]

Older?

[@X862go]

Explain further, please?

[@f50_V3n0m]

I came across this video when I got a XG Mobile 4090 and experienced some of this! After getting around most of these issues, I still have one where the USB ports on the XG Mobile dont work with any of my keyboards, mice or my fanatec wheel (even though they work with a regular type c hub on the ally). If you have any ideas let me know!

[@WinDeckTech]

@@f50_V3n0m that’s odd do the ports work with anything at all? (USB stick, flash card etc) I do not recall experiencing any issues like this however my best recommendation would be to 1) DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) and nuke all video card drivers (igpu and XGM) 2) install the OEM Ally GPU drivers (not AMD 780m workaround install) 3) reboot then plug in XGM and follow the driver installs with that. 4) Finally, download and install the proper Nvidia App and check for any final driver updates through there. 5) if none of that works still, ensure you search for and install the AMD Chipset drivers as well. (This includes usb4/io and soc drivers) 6) if NONE of that works, head into the Control Panel Power Plan options (search edit power plan in search) then change PCIe link state power management to off for plugged in and on battery. If all else fails, it is very likely it could be a hardware issue and only remedied via RMA or Return/Exchange In my experience you did lose some bandwidth using USB via the XGM and using something like an external SSD can overload the IO causing the connection to just drop out. I don’t have one on hand anymore but iirc my solution to this was to get a third party, powered, USB4 dock and I don’t believe using external storage was a viable option, at least for important documents due to its chances of cutting out. Please feel free to join the Handhelds United Discord group as there are a lot of super helpful people with a wide range of experience(s) and can provide more support than I could ever hope to give. You’ll also be able to communicate with other handhelds creators and myself more easily/direct. discord.gg/RHcC9Psb

[@f50_V3n0m]

@WinDeckTech thanks for the advice! Yes I forgot to mention that it works only with my portable usb hdd. Weird. I will join the discord!

[@WinDeckTech]

@ yes so in my experience the usb hub in the xg is just not good enough to handle a hard drive reliably. At least when I used the 3080 and 6850. I know the 4090 has a USB C port so my last ditch effort advice would be trying to powered hub route, plugged into the USB C port on the 4090 Edit: feel free to @ me in discord any time, no issues with that at all!

[@DeepteshLovesTECH]

Edit: 4090 XGM in India costs 1.82k British Pounds and the 3080 XGM costs 1.15k British Pounds. Overall same cost as a big heavy unwieldy 4080 laptop(2.5k British Pounds). Waiting for your 3080 review. The Ally plus 3080 or 4090 XGM is the cheapest way to get a 16GB VRAM Laptop GPU. 4080 Laptops are the same cost and they are gigantic in size. 4090 Laptop pricing is NUTS. Planning to use the Ally to replace my 8300H Helios. The Ally's 7840U is literally 3 times faster than my Helios 300 and I also have 16GB RAM and I have no problem editing my videos on 16GB VRAM (I use Filmora). For serious work I always work on my desk with my laptop plugged into my monitor. I can also sell the Ally later and keep the XGM and later use it with any other Asus Flow laptop.

[@WinDeckTech]

That pricing is crazy! I'm so sorry!! Look for some performance benchmarking, head-to-head battles etc. So far the 3080 has impressed me for 1440p. I was able to play high settings, all rt on connected to my 13900h. I expect similar performance while connected to the Ally on this title.

[@DeepteshLovesTECH]

@@WinDeckTech Good to hear. Eagerly waiting for your review! 6850M XT may have some drive issues as even Jarrod's tech didn't have the best experience.

[@zacthegamer6145]

It cost over 2 lakhs in Australia! Good to be in India!!!

[@ivanromero13]

I'll be waiting for this

[@puertadlm163]

I have the 6850. I saw in the amd drivers wouldn't give me the updates option. I mistakingly DDU the Ally and installed the wrong drivers. Aka the AMD ones not the My ASUS ones. Once i installed the correct drivers. Firing up the Xg mobile is the only Janky part. Once it connects its pretty set and done. It usually works flawlessly like 50% of the time. Minor issues like 40% of the time and major issues like 10% of the time. But like i said once its fired up it just works. My godson spent his summer here at my house. There are 3 of us here, with him now 4. He daily drove the Ally and the XG Mobile. He had a few bugs here and there of the randomly disconnecting. But he said it would only happen every once a week. He said a relative none issue. He said he would say the only annoying part was the first connection for the night and that was it. In the morning he would unplug and play it around the house and at night when we all got home to game he had that one connection issue and says besides that one very prevalent bug. That was mostly it.

[@WinDeckTech]

Yeah it's strange. Once you're in.. you're in, no issues etc. However getting to that point can prove to be a challenge, sometimes. Like you said with your godson having the first connection issues. Those always seemed to be the longest troubleshoots for me. I still cannot get these drivers to not install randomly over time. Glad to hear your experience sounds a little better than mine :)

[@puertadlm163]

@WinDeckTech ya terrified about the drivers thing showing up. But keeping my fingers crossed. I also did completely reset my Ally once. Mostly because I was using it for photo editing and it had a ton of work stuff ( photos/ videos) on it. So I did hard test it once like redo windows 11 and everything. Idk if that helped.

[@WinDeckTech]

@@puertadlm163 I'll have to keep posting updates in my 3080 vs 6850 vids as to how long it took me to get the 6850 working

[@ciroalfredomirairaheta7025]

help!!! Well, there hasn't been any post on this topic lately; but the problem has become so problematic now that playing has become almost impossible. The event that happens is this: During games at random (and sometimes certain) times my connected screen turns off, the RGB flashes a couple of times, and then Ally turns off on her own. This happens during games like World of Warcraft, Helldivers 2, Diablo 4, and sometimes PUBG. Obviously, all drivers are up to date with their latest versions. Following other suggestions, I have tried to uninstall Armoury Crate and use Ghelper instead. Unfortunately, this has had no effect. I've also used a custom profile that limits CPU power and higher fan curves to keep temperatures low. Temperatures are stable and do not exceed 60 (CPU) and 75 (GPU). When I first bought the XG Mobile (around November last year), these issues didn't happen. Does anyone have the slightest idea how to solve this problem? As I mentioned, playing has become virtually impossible right now. I'm desperate for a solution!

[@volcalstone]

My XGM 6850M XT works just fine with my X16 2022. The funny thing is that I mainly got it for the Ally as a 3rd PC that will have great power when docked. It was working just fine for the first month that I had it until this recent update to the AC SE and other things in the MyAsus app. It would be acting during the connection and disconnection process yet it's perfectly fine on the X16. It would freeze up my Ally at times and give a black screen where I would have to hard reboot it. A restart does the trick though in regards to having it work properly. I'm thinking at this point that it's the Ally at fault here for not making it a smooth experience. Asus and AMD needs to get their act together quick. They need to just let us use the regular AMD drivers and AC. Why make things more complicated then it should be? If it wasn't for me wanting HDMI 2.1 I would've went with the 3080. At this point when the 4090 goes on sale I will be picking one up and selling my 6850M XT if it doesn't get fixed by then. For right now it's manageable but not perfect. I have faith that this will all work out soon though. The Ally has been great as a standalone product though. It's just kinda funny that things started to act up when I can't return it anymore. 😊 I got it for cheap so I can't complain too much but at the same time it's money.

[@WinDeckTech]

I will say I do miss the HDMI 2.1 on the 3080. No adapter from any company seems to give vrr/gsync through the display port to HDMI. However other than that the 3080 does seem to work a lot better. I would love to get the 4090, if only to see if the problems exist with that as well.

[@AmpBeazy]

Nice vid again bro! I don't even have this handheld but the video is so informative! 👊🏽👍🏽

[@WinDeckTech]

Thanks for the comment, appreciate the positive feedback!

[@AmpBeazy]

Anytime fam!!

[@tclark5481]

Good video, lots of good info here. As for Ally into laptop, well, that really depends on what you want to do. For that college kid needing a device for note taking, etc. I would probably not recommend the Ally. On the plus side, most of us already have keyboards and mice so you wouldn't necessarily need to buy new for that. But, as a portable package, the laptop shines because it's all there and connected. If you intend to use the Ally as a daily driver, and not necessarily in a mobile situation, it's good but certainly not a high-end device for serious productivity work. But, for many of us, email, web surfing, document preparation are well within the capabilities of the Ally. Throw in an XG and now you're got a decent, but not high-end, gaming rig. The one advantage the Ally has is what I call gaming-on-the-go. You can certainly get a few rounds of Dave the Diver in while you're in transit. It would certainly make those long plane flights more entertaining, though you'll need that battery pack for anything over a couple hours. All in all, I would say the Ally is a fun gadget, if you have the spare cash. On the other hand, you can buy a nice GPU for the 700+ the Ally will cost you so at some point you will have to decide if you really need GOTG or if gaming at home is enough.

[@WinDeckTech]

Very true. I would never recommend this over a full out laptop. Especially like you said for a student. I know there are people that do it, but to carry around a keyboard, mouse and potentially bigger external monitor it is a little much. Plus like you said the cost of everything. If you were to buy an ally plus 6850 that would bring you to about 1500-1600 usd depending. For that price you can find a 4000 series laptop. 4050/4060, potentially a cheaper 4070. Obviously it is not a handheld, but the power you can get from a laptop is just unmatched. That is why I do like the idea of an EGPU for handhelds. Light gaming on the go then docked at home for AAA gaming. I have yet to set up my gpd win max 2 with an egpu but I am expecting some good results there. I think a device like the gpd mini or win max would be the best for a student, or more suited than the ROG Ally. I would say though, that if I was on a limited budget and gaming was my primary focus with just some light word processing for school. I could see the ally being a good option, not the most practical, but gamers never really care about practicality

[@DaddyBenson]

My FlowX16 was under repair so I had to use this setup to do everything back then. The 4090 GPU is an overkill, the problem comes from the limited performance of Z1E and 16G ram. So it run alan wake 2 just as well as when I connect my laptop with xgm. But in Victoria 3 the speed is significantly slower due to cpu bottleneck, also the RAM cause some problems in my Python projects.

[@DaddyBenson]

and I didn’t encountered the issues in the video; everything ran just fine.

[@WinDeckTech]

Can definitely see ram limits happening with python. To my knowledge the whole experience is markedly better these days. Flow x 16 works but does not like being constantly connected to the xg in my experience. The rog ally is night and day different now though.

[@DaddyBenson]

@@WinDeckTech yes, I always need to reboot my Flow after connecting to xg mobile to actually activate it. And disconnect from task manager occasionally

[@Cooper3312000]

I bought the XG Mobile 4090 for my Ally works great so far only 4x pice lanes 8x on ASUS laptops, cable is thick and seems very fragile, gets hot but fan is pretty quiet. Performance is decent. I got a 3yr warranty because it doesn't seem like a device that will last long.

[@WinDeckTech]

Nice glad to hear you are enjoying it! I gave up my search for a 4090 haha

[@RK-qn7tg]

Will it damage Ally in long term? Ally got temperature 93-95 degrees with xg mobile! Even in low settings it goes minimal 89 degrees

[@CodeR3d911]

Got one used and could not get it to connect correctly. It says it would connect to it, but eberything was still running off the iGPU. I tried everything including DDU multiple times an it woudl never work. It wouldnt even output video to the TV/monitor. Dude said it worked for his laptop but honestly, its probably the crappy drivers. Im sending it back today because its not worth the effort. I have a 4070ti PC but this was nice to have in the living room. Looks like im just going to wait until they wither make a cable for 3rd party eGPUs, or just deal with how it is now.

[@CHiTO316]

I have a 6700xt pc on my office room that i use to play games there so i purchased this 6850m XT for my living room tv so i can play casual games there. Is the 100w bug still there? And how can you tell if the bug is active if it’s your first time playing that game on the XG Mobile?

[@djbuknard]

I have to say, most of the time i have zero issues with the XG Mobile 3080. Most of the issues you have with your 6850 i just havent seen on the 3080. Every now and then something strange happens but i just restsrt the Ally and everything works. (I would say i get 9 out of 10 uses without issue)

[@WinDeckTech]

The 3080 so far has been mostly stable for me. At least on the ally. On the x16 there are some bugs to it.

[@patsornleuangsupornpong9819]

Bro I’m considering to buy XG mobile just for using as a handheld mode not with external monitor, would you recommend? I saw many say that it’s not comfortable to use just for a handheld but I already have a great pc rig, thanks!

[@WinDeckTech]

I would not use it just with the Ally. I don't have specific numbers but you will lose performance playing on the ally screen as opposed to external. I would never play mine straight on the ally. It just wouldn't be comfortable for me to use being tethered to the gpu

[@patsornleuangsupornpong9819]

@@WinDeckTech thank you for your reply! This helps me reconsider buying one

[@SamS-ef5ez]

@@patsornleuangsupornpong9819 so can we buy Xg 3080 and use external monitor connect to ally>

[@jvb4450]

Theoretically you can use the Ally on a 4k screen, but I think you have to sort of use the Ally where it’s strengths are. I use my Ally for gaming in bed and in my backyard when the weather is nice. Then I use it as a workstation in my living room (I work as sales manager so no heavy computing needed). I have the Asus XG16 portable 15.6 inch monitor, it stands on my table in the living room and it’s basically my second game station. My main rig is connected to my screens in the man cave and through hdmi on my 4k 120 hz tv in the living room. So gaming on 1440p and 4k is done with my 7800x3d and 4080 desktop. When my friends come over they have a desktop like gaming setup in the living room which they can use. I ordered an XG mobile 3080 so we can play Starfield together in the living room when it comes out 😂

[@WinDeckTech]

Nice that sounds like a sick setup!

[@YelNatSttocS]

Thanks for the review, will probably get a GPD G1 for my 2022 32gb GPD WM2. Will wait for the 32gb mod for Ally it there some genius that can try this.

[@WinDeckTech]

I think the 32gb mod is in the works. I have a WM2 64gb coming. I'm going to have an oculink tutorial/setup guide etc for my 4090. Although mine has been delayed to the end of the month..

[@YelNatSttocS]

@@WinDeckTech great dude! So amazed on your reviews and all of them are so helpful and with evidence. Of topic, my Ally is not able to red/write on my 1tb sandisk extreme, but it works on my 256 Kingston and 32gb sandisk. It is kind of weird. BTW, I only use SD CARD for emulation.

[@WinDeckTech]

Can you use the 1tb card elsewhere? The SD Reader may have killed your card unfortunately... mine has killed 1 and does not work with other SD cards now.

[@Lockwood360]

shoulda got the 3080. a lot better. iv had literally zero issues with mine and amazing performance

[@WinDeckTech]

I have the 3080 as well. Switching to that full time.

[@2BuckGeo]

@@WinDeckTech good good!

[@N54htmare]

Any plans to make one final update review with the 6850?

[@WinDeckTech]

Unfortunately I don't have the 6850 anymore. I gave it to a fellow handheld KZbinr Gamer's Generation I still have the 3080 however. The 6850 though before I gave it to them was in a much better state. Still not 100% or plug and play 100% of the time. I would say it is nearly there. Although there still is a 20w vs 30w (20w performing better)

[@N54htmare]

@@WinDeckTechhey I actually just bought a 6850 for a decent price , just wanted to make sure how will I know if I do or don’t have the 100w bug?

[@faisalcsat3301]

​@@N54htmare Need your update please. Is the Bug still there? Still conflict with armory crate?

[@N54htmare]

@@faisalcsat3301 no works pretty good for me now just make sure you get the right updates make sure you Ally is up to date and armory crate and you should be good

[@N54htmare]

@@faisalcsat3301 also set a 20/20/20w manual preset because using turbo mode is what does the 100w bug 20w is the way to go and you still get the same performance as 30w

[@NoonMight]

I think, it takes away the point of a portable handheld. If you want a game console with an egpu, just get a gaming laptop. They make good/cheap ones that cost less the purchasing both the $760 Ally and the $1300 egpu. Just get a 4060 gaming notebook for $1000

[@aaronpaananen8977]

You’re missing the point entirely. Safe of me to assume you have neither an rog ally nor a gaming laptop? 😂

[@luca7x689]

If this was plug‘n‘play it might have been cool. Is it better by now?

[@WinDeckTech]

It is better now in some regards. But still not without issue

[@davidalchujian7759]

thank you for this video, i felt like it was just me. on the asus forums, they just tell me to upgrade to the newest version of ACSE 😢

[@WinDeckTech]

Yeah that is definitely not the answer you want to hear...

[@MrShivedragon]

wen are you updating info obout the xg mobile? last update is supous to fix several bugs using the xg mobile

[@WinDeckTech]

I have a video uploading currently as we speak :)

[@MrShivedragon]

@@WinDeckTech im refreshing 😃

[@ChadKenova]

I wish there was a cheaper gpu like a 4060 or 7600 for the xg gpu setup. Or give you the option to buy an xg enclosure that has a psu built in and let you put your own gpu in it. I have a 4090 desktop there’s no way im spending that much on a 4090 laptop chip. But i do think its a cool piece of kit.

[@WinDeckTech]

I would LOVE to have the 4090, purely for content comparisons etc. However, the 6850 is the cheapest and best option still. (when it works) I can say that the 40 series is damn impressive.. I have the x16 w/ a 4050 (6gb) and it can handle 1440p no problem in most titles. Cyberpunk I can get 70+ fps at high with DLSS 2, no frame gen. What I do miss with the 3080 is the frame gen though. If they were to make a 4060, or even 4070(laptop) XG I think that would do very well as it does offer a big enough performance jump for it to be worth it. Mind you if that came out it would likely be no less than $1,000.... I am hoping (foolishly) that the reason for the scarcity of all the XG's is because they are re-tooling for an XG Dock 3, like you said allowing to use your own gpu. That would likely be a 300-500 dollar part on it's own, but at least you could upgrade along with it. Assuming they carry it over to the Ally 2 etc.

[@goingfastdraggina7167]

Has it become plug and play yet with recent updates? I though about buying one until now...

[@WinDeckTech]

In my experience the 3080 has been more reliable and acting normal ish. The 6850 has come a long way though and for a lot of people has become plug and play. I have since gotten rid of the 6850 but have retained the 3080.

[@Madblaster6]

If you need the 4090 I can ship it to you because they’re available in the States. Just cover cost and shipping.

[@WinDeckTech]

Thanks buddy I appreciate that! I'll keep that in mind if the time ever comes that I "need" one haha. Definitely a want right now more than a need!

[@vatal5410]

Nice try dude. Haha

[@Madblaster6]

@@vatal5410 ??

[@SeppoDsK]

This video is much needed

[@adamjeda8659]

Should I purchase XG mobile pre-owned or not Pls suggest me

[@WinDeckTech]

Depends on which one and price! 6860 is the best "value" if you can find it cor anything under 700. 3080 is still better than the 6850 and has more vram but typically overpriced 4090, just no, unless you can get it for 25-30% off msrp imo and you have no other desktop/laptop

[@Steelninja77]

I do love my new ROG ally it is awesome. all these video's with people dissapointed well you don't appreciate a good device is all i can say. Elden ring 1080p High Starfield 1080p medium. what is not to love.

[@2BuckGeo]

My 3080 xg arrives later this week!

[@WinDeckTech]

Awesome I hope you enjoy it!

[@2BuckGeo]

@@WinDeckTech my 3080 xg ROG just died after a AC update… the vbios got corrupted. Rip. What a pos 😂

[@ravatek1569]

what is the reference of your prortection case/bumper ?

[@WinDeckTech]

s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DkQFjqB Note: does not work with Xg mobile. I had to cut out some of the rubber to make the xg fit. Other than that, it is an amazing case imo

[@cppctek]

Oof. Yeah man you definitely cleared up a lot of what people need to know about the xg and unfortunately the truth sometimes hurts. the xg is seriously over rated. It comes at hefty price with too many caveats to make it even close to being worth it. Also 16gb is most definitely not enough imo. I struggle with it often and it’s very limiting as you shared esp if you’d like to do more than just gaming. I even hit limits when I want to game and do obs or Spotify or anything. Hitting the page file as well can lower performance and made game stutters and those random drops in fps feel way worse. I’m glad you made this video. People need to see the truth about these and see it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Even the ally itself is starting to present its limitations and issues more often so it’s a bit hard to be as excited about anymore. I hope the ally doesn’t become that little toy we toss in the closet and forget about as soon as a new shiny object comes along but it’s starting to seem as if it could happen for me lol. 😂

[@WinDeckTech]

I still love the idea of the XG, do not ever pay full price for them and you will be happy. They just need to get their heads out of their asses and make an eGPU dock... They clearly can't stock enough of these things for the apparent demand, so move over and let the community handle it with their own, better parts...

[@DeepteshLovesTECH]

The Ally is a technological marvel enabled by AMD. At 35W it's faster than a desktop 5700X running full blast.

[@DeepteshLovesTECH]

Yes being a handheld produces other challenges.

[@flav999]

Will you sell your 6850? Cause I'm interested

[@WinDeckTech]

I'm going to be trading it with a buddy for a handheld :) sorry

[@PISSEDOFFtvNETWORK]

@flaviusbaciu1509 If you are interested. I have a(n) extra XG Mobile 6850M XT up for sale that is brand new (sealed dead stock box from BB). Let me know if you are interested.

[@tilu8696]

@@PISSEDOFFtvNETWORK Hello I 'm interested in

[@PISSEDOFFtvNETWORK]

@tilu8696 okay, do you have messenger or WhatsApp?

[@PISSEDOFFtvNETWORK]

@tilu8696 disregard. Your time expired. ⏲️

[@Meowinater3000]

Where you get that case!! Please I need that

[@WinDeckTech]

s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DkQFjqB Note: does not work with Xg mobile. I had to cut out some of the rubber to make the xg fit. Other than that, it is an amazing case imo

[@XXTheTruthXX5]

What case do you have on the ally?

[@WinDeckTech]

It is just a cheapo Alie express one. You can find them on Amazon for double the price. But if you type in ally case in Ali express you'll come across clear ones like mine but solid colids as well

[@tilu8696]

It's because of conflict between RX 6850 and 780 m so grab rtx 3080

[@WinDeckTech]

Which is strange

[@AlatusU]

This might be a stupid question, but why is it so expensive? Id love to get one but theres no way i could convince my wife to buy one, even used on ebay for $700+

[@WinDeckTech]

"Bespoke" technology. Basically its a closed system so ASUS supplies and controls the product and pricing for its sole sector. With the Ally X you can make your own or buy gpu enclosures and use any eGPU, could be something to look into!

[@AlatusU]

@@WinDeckTech ah okay.

[@sanchezmtz44]

Bruh forget ray tracing. Ive been using reshade on my rog ally and games look amazing.

[@WinDeckTech]

Some of them can look quite convincing

[@sanchezmtz44]

@@WinDeckTech my fav ones is colorfullness and levels. On cyberpunk 2077 it looks like native ray tracing without the hit on performance.

[@rafaelrodriguez3400]

So long story short hold on buying the xg mobile or get a 3080? Yes? Anyone?

[@WinDeckTech]

IMO if you can get the 3080 for a good price. Go for it. The price did drop in the states recently (not sure where you are from) they are still near impossible to get anywhere else I think. EBay is a write off...3080 seems to be a lot more stable than the 6850, at least when it comes to drivers. It does not appear to be as buggy, as often. I fresh installed windows on my Ally after this challenge to start fresh with the 3080. Expect direct perf comparisons in the coming days/weeks of me getting into the challenge.

[@rafaelrodriguez3400]

@@WinDeckTech I’m in texas I can get the 3080 for around 1000 usd. Thanks for taking the time to reply, other KZbinrs won’t even bother.

[@WinDeckTech]

@@rafaelrodriguez3400 no problem at all. I always try to reply to everyone, good or bad haha. If they took the time to watch the video then I think I owe it to them to give a comment back. Edit: If you can get it for that price (check your local used market as well on Facebook and whatnot) it may be more worth it I would suggest you keep an eye on the channel as I will be doing game benchmark comparisons between the 6850 and 3080 while I still have it. Both on the ally and the x16(higher PCIe lanes)

[@djbuknard]

The 3080 is mostly a great experience. Every now and then I have to restart the Ally to get a successful connection. I use the 3080 xgm with an Asus portable monitor and also with hotel TVs via HDMI.

[@OCSM1TH]

I bought the 4090 and have only had the tv screen issue voing back once. If i didnt have the money i wouldnt buy it but, its preety sweet if you have it. My only issue of that i wish the rog had 32gb of ram inatead of 16

[@WinDeckTech]

Yeah that 16gb of ram is going to rear it's ugly head especially at 4k with that 4090.

[@darkwolfx333]

I almost wanted to complain about your harshness on the xg mobile because to me it just works… then I realized how much I suffer from Stockholm syndrome from windows as a whole, being a windows sys admin not withstanding lol. Yeah this thing is all sorts of jank to all but the most versed sys admins.

[@WinDeckTech]

It is just that perfect combination of proprietary equipment/software + windows natural jank towards egpus/handhelds. To be clear though, these issues are mostly felt on the 6850 tmk. I do have the 3080 as well, I have mostly used it on the x16 so far but the few times I used it on the ally, as you said, it just works.

[@alekxss]

Better to buy laptop for same price, will be same performance, or PC, which will be quiter and even more performance. It made from mobile GPU so can get performance somewhere around GTX 1070 for $1000. Asus really fail with this idea, i think if Ally just have Oculink port, it was much better for everybody, or this EGPU should be build from desktop GPU with acceptable price, then Ally will be just perfect machine.

[@WinDeckTech]

Someone did just reverse engineer the port allowing for many desktop gpu, similar to tb or oculink

[@amankumar-ft2ck]

Sir can you please tell me how's your xg mobile rx6850 xt still holding. I have read somewhere that it dies within a year (hardware failure) . I want to purchase it for my ally but I am doubtfull now.

[@WinDeckTech]

It is still going strong, for better or for worse!

[@dreadlord9257]

I love the idea of the xg mobile (a portable egpu dock), but as you said it is just way too janky. 1. They need to fix the driver issues. 2. Then add usb4/tb4 support (even if it is a little bandwidth starved). 3. Add either an oculink cable and/or adapter for the next/prior models. As it stands it is way too niche and too expensive to justify the cost. A decomposable/portable setup would be awesome, but frankly, you are better off just buying a gaming laptop as it stands.

[@WinDeckTech]

Pretty much, if you want all of that power. Laptops are the better option. However I can still see the small community of needing just a handheld for their gaming needs and then only wanting more power on a TV setup. (think super small apartments, like those crazy ones in Tokyo) I just wish the pricing wasn't out to lunch. I would be fine with them foregoing the oculink port and just creating a proper XG-Mobile eGPU dock.

[@dreadlord9257]

@@WinDeckTech Oh I agree. I'm not knocking the use-case. There is a reason the Switch has sold so well. This is basically what we all dream about out of a "switch pro" (and added bonus it can double as a pc). I guess my point was that it is just way too janky at the moment. So for the time being, gaming laptop remains the way to go, which is unfortunate.

[@WinDeckTech]

@@dreadlord9257 yeah it is unfortunate... what is honestly more unfortunate is that it works 99% of the time for me on the flow laptop, so it can be somewhat jank free. I hope in a short amount of time it's fixed.

[@lilacghoste8366]

​@@WinDeckTechlaptop is harder to clean and more difficult thanks to the design And laptop sucks more dust

[@bigseek00]

I have the 6850.. yeah hooking up it sucks i noticed you csnt have alot connections

[@WinDeckTech]

Yeah, a lot of high powered connections do not play nice. My Blue mic has to be plugged into a certain one for it to work

[@ezg8448]

I came to the conclusion the ROG Ally shouldn't be used desktop replacement for different reasons. This is a handheld gaming device good for a few hours of play and not much else. That of course isn't a bad thing at all, but it limits it's uses.

[@WinDeckTech]

It can be used as a desktop, I'm certain scenarios. However to become a complete desktop replacement... it just isn't there. If you had an egpu dock option (to use your own GPU) I would be more friendly to the idea because at least you are not buying manufactured e-waste.

[@MrMilkyCoco]

Its a great laptop replacement for me at least.

[@WinDeckTech]

It can be with the right accessories no doubt about it. Just needs to be what that individual requires. Sounds like you are happy with it though :)

[@X862go]

to expensive and i love the ally but ill just use cloud save and them go to my desktop!

[@WinDeckTech]

Absolutely! If you have the multiple options that is what I would recommend. If you can get one used for a good price I'd say if you are looking for a good tv console experience (when it works) it can be great.

[@nineflyerr3866]

No thank you. Ridiculous that you have to deal with all of this when you're over $1300 invested. This is why apple and mac have so much sucess. It just works

[@WinDeckTech]

Right... As much as Apple is a shitty company with very bad practices... their ecosystem generally just works.

[@mrwendell4564]

But Apple can't play AAA games cmon now

[@YoSanReview]

you should monitor your voice output -- you're cracking quite a bit. - I had to stop watching.

[@WinDeckTech]

Sorry about that! I'll admit I'm using the x16 now with a new amp. So I think there has been some weirdness. I believe I have everything dialed in perfect for my next video. Thank you for the feedback (pun intended) I appreciate it! Helps me grow as a "creator"

[@YoSanReview]

@@WinDeckTech ill be back for the next one! Thanks for your hard work!

[@skankhunt85]

too long

[@WinDeckTech]

Skim through

[@churchofsatan2041]

Companies need to switch to Linux that way they won't be bottled down by windows crappy software. The community would support it more.

[@justingoodnight5067]

Bro just bought a rog 2tb and need to get this gpu. Ill need your help 😂 whats your email 😂

[@WinDeckTech]

Oh god, I'm sorry for you already haha

[@justingoodnight5067]

@@WinDeckTech lmfao don't say it like that 🤣☠️

[@justingoodnight5067]

@@WinDeckTech I'm setting it up rn

[@WinDeckTech]

Email me @ [e-mail] or hit me up in the handhelds United discord either or, if you need help at all. Feel free to DM me through there or @ me discord.com/invite/cjSyeUEE

[@justingoodnight5067]

@@WinDeckTech thanks bro!!!