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Valve is reportedly developing a successor to the Steam Deck, aiming for a significant generational performance leap. Recent online activity suggests development may be accelerating, as a potential AMD APU codenamed 'Gainsborough' has surfaced in benchmark data.
The leaked engineering sample features 6 cores, 12 threads, and 24GB of LPDDR5 memory. While the CPU shows a 50% increase in core count compared to previous iterations, details regarding the GPU architecture remain undisclosed. The 'Gainsborough' designation follows a pattern of Final Fantasy-themed codenames, succeeding the 'Aerith' and 'Sephiroth' chips used in earlier Valve handhelds.
Initial performance testing yielded a FurMark score of 3,508, only marginally higher than the original Steam Deck's 3,323. However, these results were recorded at a lower 768p resolution and likely utilize early, unoptimized drivers. Consequently, these figures may not accurately reflect the final capabilities of the hardware should it reach production.
While the existence of these benchmarks hints that a release could occur within the next year or two, the market landscape has shifted significantly since 2022. Valve has indicated that current supply chain challenges have not altered their long-term plans, though the final product may face higher pricing pressures compared to its predecessor.
