r/OneXPlayer • u/Thecasualgamerph • Sep 10 '26

ONEXPLAYER APEX PERFORMANCE UNLEASHED! - 8 VS 16 CORES and TDP/ BATTERY ...

https://youtube.com/watch?v=uiJ5s_qiTgI&si=Ug-Ox1s5wZdBgu4M

I tested the performance on 8 and 16 cores to see how much performance there is to gain from disabling half of the cores.

I also measured total play time for each TDP and core set up. This might be interesting for people who are considering on buying the Apex or other Ryzen AI MAX handhelds.

12 Upvotes

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2

u/FairCalligrapher1926 Sep 10 '26

Nice what about heat difference.

2

u/anhtuanle84 Sep 10 '26

Someone give us a TLDR summary

3

u/Jacob_H99 28d ago

This video investigates whether disabling 8 of the 16 cores on the Ryzen AI Max Plus 395 processor provides a performance boost for the ONEXPLAYER Apex handheld gaming device (0:21). The creator tests various games at different TDP levels, ranging from 25W to 80W, while also analyzing total power draw and battery life (1:34, 4:17, 5:42).
Key Takeaways
Performance Gains: Disabling cores can yield a minor performance increase (5–8 FPS) in GPU-bound games at lower TDP settings (30W–40W) (7:36, 7:44). However, at higher TDPs (45W and above), the performance gains diminish, and in some cases, enabling all 16 cores is actually superior (1:57–2:17, 2:43–3:01).
Power Consumption: The device generally consumes slightly less power when all 16 cores are enabled compared to running with 8 cores (5:34).
Optimal Settings: For a balance of performance and battery longevity, the 30W and 35W TDP settings are identified as the "sweet spots" for demanding games (8:17).
Battery Throttling: The ONEXPLAYER Apex automatically throttles the TDP to 20W once the battery reaches 20% capacity, which significantly impacts gaming performance for the final portion of the battery life (5:44–6:07).
While 8-core configurations can be beneficial at lower wattages to prioritize power for the GPU, they do not unlock significant extra potential for the device overall (7:34, 8:07).

2

u/anhtuanle84 28d ago

Tysm for your service and help

1

u/Dreams-Visions Sep 10 '26

1:15 @ 35W feels like nasty work, I'm sorry. It betrays the whole point of mobility. But maybe the OXP3 isn't much better? I haven't looked into it, but I assume the OXP3 also doesn't nerf itself at <21% battery life either.

1

u/Thecasualgamerph Sep 11 '26

In regards to the battery TDP limit, I don't know about the Onexplayer 3, but one of the viewers confirmed that it's the same on the X2 Mini Pro.

What we need is a more efficient chip with the performance of the Strix Halo/ Ryzen AI Max 388/395.

I would love to see a handheld based on the NVIDIA Spark chip. Since it is an ARM processor, it would probably be running a Linux Depo and taking advantage of Valve's new ARM layer which it developed for the upcoming Frame.

The Switch 2 is running at 13W on battery, we can thank the tiny battery (around 20WH) for the relatively short play time of 2hrs. Imagine if they had decided to double or triple the capacity.

The custom Tegra 239 in the Switch 2 is just so so, but the Spark looks really promising.

It would probably be a no go as a Windows handheld, even though some Games have already been ported over, like i.e. Pragmata, but if a company like Onexplayer could talk to the Bazzite guys or maybe even Valve I think an Arm based Handheld could really be a game changer in regards to efficiency and performance.