AMD decision to put RDNA 2 GPUs in maintenance mode could spell trouble for handheld gaming systems including ROG Xbox Ally — company backtracks on RX 7900 series USB-C functionality, but not on RDNA 2 support

Yesterday, AMD released a new driver update for its GPUs that sent the community into a frenzy because of one major change: it put RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 GPUs under "maintenance" mode, removing them from the priority list that receives monthly game optimization updates. This came as a shock to many, considering RDNA 2, or RX 6000 series, is less than 4 years old and was hugely popular against the RTX 3000 series at that time. Without RDNA 2, AMD's position today as the value-oriented alternative to RTX cards wouldn't be as cemented, yet the company is leaving them behind.

Now, as noted by Hardware Unboxed, PC gaming handhelds could suddenly find themselves in a world of trouble. We've reached out to AMD for confirmation that the latest handhelds, which include the newly-released ROG Xbox Ally, are impacted.

Now, as noted by Hardware Unboxed, PC gaming handhelds could suddenly find themselves in a world of trouble. Mobile devices rely on proper optimization far more than desktop parts, and even though OEMs like Valve and Asus work with AMD to tune the silicon together, with AMD sunsetting RDNA 2 from its main driver branch, we could see new games start to fall apart on these devices.

Fresh releases rely on GPU driver optimizations to get the most out of the hardware from day one, and without AMD's drivers to back them up, RDNA-2-based handhelds, of which there are plenty, could essentially be rendered legacy hardware. It wouldn't make sense for the company to release specific updates for only its APUs (like the Ryzen Z1) but withhold those optimizations from the main driver releases for desktop and laptop SKUs. As far as we can tell right now, only third-party community support can be of assistance.

Valve is less affected by this fiasco since it uses the open-source RADV Vulkan drivers (for Linux), which the company optimizes itself without caring what AMD does on the Windows side. The real ramifications will be seen in something like the recently launched ROG Xbox Ally, which is powered by the Ryzen Z2A chip based on RDNA 2 architecture. We're talking about a brand new $600 device — nay, an "Xbox" — that might be out of support within a month of its launch. As far as console-like experiences go, that would certainly become one of the worst ones in history.

AMD still supports RDNA 1 and 2, but only for critical bug fixes and security updates, not new features — that luxury is reserved for RX 7000 and 9000 series now. Speaking of, as part of yesterday's update, AMD also disabled charging on the USB-C port on some RX 7900 series cards, a move the company has now confirmed was a mistake. The USB-C feature was not altered and remains operational just like before, with DisplayPort Alt mode and charging capability; not data transfer (which was never supported). In a statement to Tom's Hardware, AMD clarified:

"The release notes for AMD Software Adrenalin Edition 25.10.2 posted today included misinformation that has since been corrected. There is no change to USB-C functionality on the RX 7900 series GPUs in the 25.10.2 driver. There was an incorrect line in the originally posted release notes that has been removed, and the release notes have been updated."

Nvidia still supports its USB-C variant, Virtual Link, to this day, despite no GPUs since the RTX 20 series having the port. In fact, the company supported its Maxwell and Pascal graphics for roughly a decade, with the GTX 10-series being part of the day-one priority list all the way up until September of last year, a whole eight years after it first debuted. Perhaps that's what you can do when you're the richest company in the world. Contrast that to RDNA 1/2, and even with the RX 7000/9000 hierarchy in mind, the decision seems baffling.

Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.