The ROG Ally represents the most popular Windows-based handheld gaming device, but still manages to trail far behind Valve’s Steam Deck in terms of both efficiency and a user base.
However, this machine is a lot more capable when compared to the Deck, and thus can play games like The First Berserker Khazan a lot better. However, there do exist a few optimized settings that offer a good balance between visuals, performance and battery life – which can be found discussed below.
Optimized The First Berserker Khazan settings for the ROG Ally
In-game settings
- Frame Rate Limit: On
- Max Frame Rate: 120
- Resolution: 1920×1080; native
- Brightness: User preference
- Screen Shake: User preference
- Graphics Quality Preset: Custom; we will be using our own settings here
- Shadow Quality: Low; try disabling entirely if you are facing performance issues
- Anti-Aliasing: Max
- Render Distance: Long
- Texture: Medium; try dropping to Low if you lose frames
- Vegetation: Low
- Shading: Low; higher presets are a bit taxing
- Mesh: Low
- Reflections: Low
- Volumetric: Low
- Ambient Occlusion: Off; try experimenting with Low as well – the differences can be quite transformative
- Anisotropic Filtering: Low
- Environmental Interaction: Off; if enabled can affect frame rate
- Motion Blur: Off
- Vertical Sync: Off; keep disabled at all times
- DirectX Version: DirectX 11; DirectX 11 is a bit more performant than DirectX 12
- AMD CACAO: Off
- Intel XeSS: On
- Intel XeSS Quality Mode: Balanced
- Resolution Scale: High
ROG Ally specific settings
- Operating Mode: Manual (18 W)
- Control Mode: Gamepad
- AMD RSR: Off
- CPU Boost: Disabled
- Resolution: Keep this at 1080p
- AMD RIS: On
- FPS Limiter: Disable, to take advantage of VRR
- AFMF: Disabled; causes additional latency
- Recommended VRAM: 4 GB to 6 GB – 6 GB is recommended for the ROG Ally X while those with the original Ally should stick to 4 GB. Auto is recommended for those using Bazzite or CachyOS.
The game runs at a mostly locked 60 frames per second – with a few periodic dips into the 50, which can be easily alleviated using VRR. Expect somewhere around 1.5 hours of battery life on the original ROG Ally. Those with the upgraded Ally X can expect around 3 hours here.
