The dark satanic rumour mill has manufactured a hell-on-earth yarn claiming AMD is developing a new semi-custom processor codenamed Gainsborough, which could provide the hardware foundation for Valve’s long-awaited Steam Deck 2.
According to hardware leaker Moore’s Law Is Dead, the chip is being developed using TSMC’s N3P manufacturing process and could incorporate AMD’s upcoming Zen 6 CPU and RDNA 5 GPU architectures.
The codename provides an intriguing clue. Valve’s original Steam Deck used an AMD processor called Aerith, named after the character Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII.
According to PC Gamer, AMD apparently has not exhausted its enthusiasm for naming processors after video game characters, although the connection alone does not establish that Valve is the customer. The existence of Gainsborough has received some support from shipping records and AMD driver information.
According to IT Home, the codename appeared in data associated with AMD’s Adrenalin 26.9.2 graphics driver, released on 29 September. Customs records indicate that test hardware using the Gainsborough name was shipped from Asia during July.
The processor reportedly uses a BGA FF6 package with 1,179 contacts. Its dimensions are said to be approximately 25mm by 25mm. Those characteristics broadly match a compact, low-power processor suitable for a handheld gaming machine.
Moore’s Law Is Dead believes Gainsborough is being developed for a power target of approximately 15W, similar to the existing Steam Deck. However, AMD has not confirmed the processor’s intended customer, architecture or final specifications.
The manufacturing process could be important. TSMC’s N3P is an enhanced version of its 3nm technology, offering improvements in performance and power efficiency. Valve’s original Steam Deck uses a custom AMD APU manufactured on a 7nm process, incorporating four Zen 2 CPU cores and eight RDNA 2 GPU compute units.
The Steam Deck OLED subsequently introduced a revised processor manufactured on a 6nm process, although its fundamental CPU and GPU architecture remained unchanged.
A move to Zen 6 and RDNA 5 would represent a substantial architectural upgrade, particularly if AMD can maintain the existing machine’s power envelope. The graphics improvements could be especially significant. Modern PC games increasingly demand more GPU performance than the original Steam Deck can comfortably deliver.
Moore’s Law Is Dead has suggested that Gainsborough could share some characteristics with AMD’s rumoured Canis processor, linked to Sony’s next-generation handheld. That chip is said to include four Zen 6c cores, two low-power Zen 6 cores, and 16 RDNA 5 GPU compute units.
It is said to feature a 192-bit memory interface, potentially providing substantially more bandwidth than conventional handheld processors. However, those specifications belong to the Canis rumours. No one has confirmed that Gainsborough will use the same configuration. Valve has previously indicated that it wants a substantial improvement in performance and efficiency before introducing a genuine Steam Deck successor.
Steam Deck designer Pierre-Loup Griffais explained the company’s position last year.
“We’re not interested in getting to a point where it’s 20 or 30 or even 50% more performance at the same battery life. We want something a little bit more demarcated than that,” Griffais said.
The company has resisted the temptation to release a slightly faster handheld every year, despite manufacturers such as Asus and Lenovo regularly updating their competing machines. A new processor combining more advanced CPU and GPU architectures with a modern manufacturing process could provide the improvement Valve has been waiting for.
However, the reported development schedule suggests that enthusiasts should not expect a new Steam Deck immediately. Moore’s Law Is Dead claims the Gainsborough processor could be ready during late 2027 or early 2028.
Memory prices present another complication. The AI industry’s appetite for DRAM has raised costs across the PC hardware market, making affordable gaming devices harder to manufacture. Valve has already encountered hardware pricing and availability problems with its other products, including the Steam Machine.
A handheld that requires faster memory and a cutting-edge processor could be particularly vulnerable to those pressures.
Neither AMD nor Valve has announced a Steam Deck 2 processor, specifications or release date.
