ASUS has pushed out a new GPU driver, version 26.6.1, for the ROG Ally X handheld. The update, released on July 2, specifically targets performance for the upcoming Forza Horizon 6, ensuring owners can hit the road with smoother frame rates from day one. Installing it, however, requires a specific sequence to avoid issues.

What’s in the Driver Update

According to the release notes accompanying the July 2 driver package, version 26.6.1 isn’t just a routine bump. It rolls in a fresh build of AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition—upgraded to 24.6.1—and bakes in optimizations for Forza Horizon 6 that go beyond a simple game profile. Early testers on the ROG Ally subreddit report more stable frame pacing during high-speed sequences and fewer asset-streaming hitches, especially when driving through dense urban areas or weather effects. The driver also enables AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) support on the Ally X’s Z1 Extreme chip, a feature that had been conspicuously missing since the handheld’s launch. AFMF can insert interpolated frames to smooth out the experience in titles that don’t natively support frame generation—for a racing game where every millisecond counts, that extra fluidity is noticeable.

Beyond Forza Horizon 6, ASUS ships the usual under-the-hood fixes. The patch addresses an intermittent black screen that some users encountered when waking the device from sleep while a game was running. It also improves compatibility with external USB-C monitors, resolving a bug where the Ally X would sometimes lock to 60Hz when connected to a 120Hz panel. Vulkan API stability gets a mention too; several indie titles that had been crashing on launch now run reliably, according to the changelog.

What This Means for Ally X Owners

If you’re planning to play Forza Horizon 6 on your ROG Ally X, this driver is essentially required. Microsoft and Playground Games tuned the PC release to lean on hardware-accelerated DirectX 12 Ultimate features, and the Z1 Extreme’s RDNA 3 architecture needs up-to-date software to keep pace. Without the 26.6.1 driver, players may see significantly lower minimum frame rates, as the previous driver (26.3.2 from April 2025) lacked the game’s render path tweaks. Early benchmarks shared by ASUS suggest a 12–15% uplift in average FPS at the Ally X’s 1080p medium preset, with 1% lows climbing by nearly 20%. That takes the handheld from borderline playable in demanding scenes to a locked 40 FPS or better with VRR enabled.

For general users not jumping into Forza Horizon 6 immediately, the benefits are still tangible. The fixed sleep/resume bug alone is a quality-of-life win for anyone who treats the Ally X as a pick-up-and-play console. Monitor compatibility improvements matter if you dock the device to a desk setup. And the Vulkan fixes make a growing library of Steam indies run without tinkering. The driver is stable enough to be worth the upgrade even if you don’t race virtual Ferraris.

Administrators or IT pros managing device fleets probably won’t encounter this driver, but in a lab or testing environment, it’s a useful data point: ASUS continues to treat the Ally line as a living platform, not a one-off hardware release. Regular driver refreshes mean the handheld ages better than many gaming laptops.

The Rocky Road to Custom Drivers

The ROG Ally X launched in June 2024 as an evolution of the original Ally, swapping the microSD card slot for a larger battery and more RAM while keeping the same AMD Z1 Extreme APU. From the start, ASUS opted to fork AMD’s reference Adrenalin drivers, adding board-specific power and thermal profiles alongside game optimizations validated against the Ally’s 7-inch 1080p screen. This approach gave ASUS tighter control but also introduced delays: official AMD driver releases often bypassed Ally owners, forcing them to wait for an ASUS-customized version. In early 2025, AMD and ASUS streamlined the pipeline, pledging to deliver major game-ready drivers within a week of AMD’s public drops. The 26.6.1 release for Forza Horizon 6 arrives just days after AMD pushed its own Adrenalin 24.6.1 to desktops, suggesting that partnership is holding.

Historically, Ally X owners had to choose between updating Windows Store apps first or installing the driver package—a sequence that, if ignored, left the AMD Software interface broken. ASUS’s documentation now explicitly warns about this dependency, and the driver installer even checks for the presence of the latest AMD Software app before proceeding. That’s a direct response to the flood of support tickets that followed the first few driver pushes.

How to Install Driver 26.6.1 Without Breaking Anything

Installation is straightforward if you follow the order ASUS specifies. Skip steps, and you’ll likely end up with a non-functional AMD Adrenalin interface or, worse, system instability. Here’s the exact path:

Step 1: Update Microsoft Store Apps
Open the Microsoft Store app on the Ally X. Click Library → Get Updates. Let it download and install everything—this will pull down the newest AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition (version 24.6.1 or later) and any pending system components. Do not proceed until the Store reports zero pending updates.

Step 2: Download the Driver Package
Head to the ROG Ally X support page on ASUS’s website. The 26.6.1 driver is listed under the Graphics category. Download the file (approximately 680 MB). Alternatively, launch the MyASUS app preinstalled on the Ally X; it should surface the driver as a recommended update.

Step 3: Run the Installer
Double-click the downloaded executable and accept the UAC prompt. The installer will confirm that the required AMD Software version is already present—if it’s not, it’ll block further progress and tell you to run Store updates again. Choose the “Factory Reset” option if you want a clean slate (recommended when jumping several driver versions), then sit back. The process takes about five minutes and may trigger a few screen flickers.

Step 4: Restart
After the installer finishes, reboot the Ally X—do not skip this. Once back at the desktop, open AMD Software (shortcut on the start menu) and navigate to the Settings gear → System tab. Verify the driver version reads 26.6.1 and the Adrenalin version shows 24.6.1.

Step 5: Tune Game Settings
With the driver in place, fire up Forza Horizon 6. In the graphics menu, confirm Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) is enabled and experiment with AFMF. ASUS suggests starting at the “Medium” global preset and then toggling AFMF on—it can net you an extra 10–15 FPS without sacrificing image quality. If you encounter stuttering, disable the in-game V-Sync and rely on the Ally’s built-in Variable Refresh Rate screen.

Warning: Do not use AMD’s Auto-Detect and Install tool. It will pull a generic desktop driver that lacks the Ally X’s custom power profiles, leading to overheating, reduced battery life, or complete failure to boot. Always get the driver from ASUS directly.

What to Watch Next

With Forza Horizon 6 set to land on PC Game Pass at launch, the Ally X cements its role as a legitimate handheld racing platform. ASUS has indicated that its driver team is already working on day-one support for several other summer titles, including Avowed and Hellblade II’s ray-tracing update. Looking further ahead, the real game-changer will be whether Microsoft and AMD can agree on a unified driver model that lets handhelds ingest updates directly from AMD without waiting for OEMs—a move that would put the Ally X on the same update cadence as desktop GPUs. For now, though, the 26.6.1 release does its job: it keeps Forza Horizon 6 running smooth and proves ASUS isn’t leaving Ally X owners in the rearview mirror.