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An early February 2023 leak involved AMD’s Phoenix Ryzen 7040 platform and its Radeon 780M integrated GPU. In 3DMark Time Spy, the 780M was reported at roughly 3,000 points versus about 1,700 for the Steam Deck. That is a substantial synthetic-benchmark lead, but it does not mean a 780M handheld would deliver twice the frame rate or battery life of a Steam Deck.
Which AMD chip was being compared?
The headline referred to AMD’s Phoenix-generation Ryzen 7040 mobile processors, including the Ryzen 9 7940HS and Ryzen 7 7840HS. Their integrated Radeon 780M uses RDNA 3 graphics with 12 compute units and is paired with Zen 4 CPU cores. The platform was designed primarily for laptops, not as an announced Steam Deck replacement. Contemporary coverage identified the leaked result as an unofficial submission circulated through Bilibili, rather than an AMD-certified comparison (Tom’s Hardware; PC Gamer).
What the benchmark actually showed
The test was 3DMark Time Spy, a DirectX 12 synthetic benchmark. The figures reported on February 3, 2023, were approximately 3,000 for Radeon 780M, 2,400 for Radeon 680M and 1,700 for Steam Deck (GizChina; ComputerBase).
| Platform | Reported or visible Time Spy figure | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Radeon 780M | About 3,000 | Early, unofficial result |
| Radeon 680M | About 2,400 | Contemporary comparison figure |
| Steam Deck | About 1,700 | Rounded comparison figure |
| Ryzen 7 7840U with Radeon 780M | 3,304 overall; 2,990 Graphics Score | Public Time Spy 1.2 result dated July 29, 2024 |
| Steam Deck | 1,724 overall; 1,582 Graphics Score | Public Time Spy 1.2 submission flagged for a non-approved graphics driver |
Using the rounded historical totals, 3,000 is about 1.76 times 1,700, or 76.5% higher. Comparing the publicly visible Graphics Scores instead, 2,990 versus 1,582 is about 1.89 times, or 89% higher (Radeon 780M result; Steam Deck result). Those are arithmetic comparisons between submissions, not independent testing under controlled conditions. The figures must not be mixed: an overall score and a Graphics Score are different metrics.
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- Carrying case with removable liner
Why the Radeon 780M scored so much higher
More and newer graphics hardware
The Steam Deck has eight RDNA 2 compute units, clocked up to 1.6 GHz. Radeon 780M generally has 12 RDNA 3 compute units and can run at higher clocks, depending on the processor and configuration. That gives Phoenix more parallel graphics resources and a newer architecture.
A much larger power envelope
Valve specifies the Deck’s custom APU at 4–15W. Ryzen 7040 HS laptop parts were described as 35W-class processors, and the leaked 780M result was associated with a high-power Ryzen 9 7940HS configuration. A laptop allowed to consume 35W or more can sustain performance that a 15W handheld cannot simply reproduce (Valve’s Steam Deck specifications; ComputerBase).
Faster shared memory
Integrated GPUs use system memory rather than dedicated VRAM. Phoenix laptops commonly used fast LPDDR5X, while the Steam Deck uses 16GB of LPDDR5. Memory bandwidth can materially affect graphics throughput, so the tested memory configuration is part of the result, not a footnote.
Rank #2
- International (UK) Version
- 7.4” diagonal, HDR OLED, 1280 x 800 x RGB, up to 90Hz Refresh rate, High performance touch, <0.1 ms Response time, 1,000 nits peak brightness (HDR), 600 nits (SDR)
- SteamOS 3.0 (Arch-based)
- 512GB NVMe SSD, 16GB LPDDR5 on-board RAM (5500 MT/s quad 32-bit channels), microSD UHS-I supports SD, SDXC and SDHC
- 6 nm AMD APU, CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32
Why this was not a fair handheld-versus-handheld test
The leak did not establish identical power limits, cooling, firmware, drivers, operating systems or memory settings. It also did not show sustained performance over a long gaming session. A 780M running in a 35–45W laptop is not equivalent to the same silicon constrained to a handheld’s 15–20W budget.
- Power: total package and GPU power can differ by several times.
- Memory: capacity, speed and bandwidth affect an integrated GPU.
- Software: Windows drivers and SteamOS/Proton configurations are not interchangeable.
- Cooling: a laptop chassis can use a larger heatsink and fan system.
- Display and settings: 1280×800 handheld rendering, 1080p laptop output and upscaling are different workloads.
- Duration: a short benchmark may precede thermal throttling during play.
What the Steam Deck specification means
Valve’s original Deck specification lists a four-core/eight-thread Zen 2 CPU, eight RDNA 2 compute units, up to 1.6 GHz graphics, a 4–15W APU range, 16GB of LPDDR5 memory and a 1280×800 display. The OLED model improves efficiency and display characteristics, but it is not a new, fundamentally faster GPU class (Steam Deck technical specifications).
Does the score mean games would run twice as fast?
No. Time Spy measures one DirectX 12 workload. Actual results vary with the game engine, CPU demand, shaders, memory bandwidth, drivers, frame pacing and resolution. GPU-heavy older AAA games, esports titles, emulation and well-optimized indie games could benefit from additional graphics headroom, but a precise frames-per-second multiplier cannot be derived from this leak.
Rank #3
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- 【30-50% More Battery & Efficient Performance】 Play your favorites longer with up to 50% more battery life. By fitting a larger battery and a power-efficient OLED panel, this device provides extended gameplay sessions. It’s the perfect travel companion for long flights or commutes. The updated AMD APU ensures high-speed performance for AAA titles while maintaining incredible energy efficiency.
- 【3X Faster Downloads with Wi-Fi 6E】 Never wait for a game again. Equipped with Wi-Fi 6E, this Steam Deck OLED offers increased bandwidth and lower latency, delivering downloads up to 3 times faster than previous models. This ensures stable online play and rapid updates, making it the most reliable wireless gaming handheld for modern high-speed home networks.
- 【Responsive Touch & Enhanced Connectivity】 Enjoy a vastly improved touchscreen with higher fidelity and faster haptics. We’ve added a dedicated Bluetooth antenna to improve connections for multiple controllers. Whether using the built-in trackpads or the included external controller, this allows for precision play in everything from FPS to complex strategy games.
Some games will be CPU-limited before the 780M’s graphics resources are fully used. Others may be limited by memory bandwidth or driver behavior. The benchmark also says nothing about battery runtime, fan noise or sustained performance.
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Could Radeon 780M have powered a Steam Deck 2?
The result showed that AMD could offer substantially faster integrated graphics, but it did not demonstrate a viable product for Valve. A successor would need to balance performance per watt, battery size, cooling, acoustics, cost, memory bandwidth, Linux and Proton support, suspend/resume reliability and long-session stability. Installing a laptop-class Phoenix part in the original Deck chassis would not be a simple swap.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How later AMD handheld chips changed the context
Later Ryzen Z-series processors were built specifically with handheld systems in mind, but they are separate products. AMD lists the Ryzen Z2 Extreme with eight Zen 5/Zen 5c CPU cores, 16 RDNA 3.5 graphics cores, a configurable 15–35W range and graphics boost up to 2.9 GHz (AMD’s specifications). That later chip must not be conflated with the Phoenix Radeon 780M.
Rank #4
- Valve is entering the gaming console marketplace with the new Steam Deck, a console geared towards PC gamers. The Steam Deck can be docked to a monitor, and used as a PC, or docked to a TV.
- Players can play a huge variety of games at any time with the comfort of a console and the freedom of a PC. Not anti-glare screen.
- Like the name suggests, the Steam Deck will include upgraded 1TB storage, and will include a carrying case. A micro SD slot will also enable expanded storage.
- Valve partnered with AMD to create a specialized APU optimized for handheld gaming, and Valve says the chip will deliver performance to run AAA gaming titles.
- The Steam Deck is outfitted with a 7-inch touchscreen, and two trackpads under the control sticks that allow gamers to operate games never designed outside of mouse and keyboard capabilities.
Later handheld testing also demonstrates why compute-unit counts alone are insufficient: PC Gamer reported cases where memory bandwidth limited the benefit of additional graphics resources (PC Gamer).
What the 2023 headline gets right—and wrong
- Right: Radeon 780M appeared close to twice the Steam Deck’s Graphics Score in an early Time Spy comparison.
- Wrong: treating that result as proof of twice the gaming performance.
- Missing context: the likely power, cooling and memory advantages of the Phoenix laptop platform.
- Product reality: the result concerned a laptop-oriented APU, not an announced Valve device.
The Bottom Line
Radeon 780M genuinely looked far faster than the Steam Deck in the leaked 3DMark Time Spy result—roughly 1.8–1.9 times the published Graphics Score. The comparison was not an apples-to-apples handheld test, so it proves potential, not twice the real-world gaming performance or a confirmed Steam Deck successor.
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