Intel challenges AMD’s handheld dominance with new Arc G3 chips — Panther Lake silicon brings up to 14 cores, Arc B390 graphics to handhelds | Tom's Hardware
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After teasing the range earlier this year, Intel has officially revealed its Arc G3 range of chips designed for the best handheld gaming PCs. The Arc G3 range includes two SKUs, the Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme, that are built on Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3, or Panther Lake, silicon, and packing either the Arc B390 or Arc B370 integrated GPU, which are still the only two graphics processors on the market with Intel’s Xe3 architecture.Intel has previously tried breaking into the handheld market with partner MSI, but it’s a space that’s been dominated by AMD’s Ryzen Z-series processors. Valve launched the Steam Deck with a custom AMD SoC, which was refined in the Steam Deck OLED, and both the ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go S have stuck with Team Red. Intel’s G3 series looks like an attempt to establish Intel as a name in PC gaming handhelds, rather than just throwing laptop SKUs in the unique form factor as we’ve seen with devices like the MSI Claw.Swipe to scroll horizontallyRow 0 - Cell 0 Arc G3 ExtremeArc G3Cores (P + E + LP-E)14 (2 + 8 + 4)14 (2 + 8 + 4)P-core Max Turbo (GHz)4.74.6L3 Cache (MB)1212iGPU (Xe3 cores)Arc B390 (12)Arc B370 (10)iGPU Max Clock (GHz)2.32.2Max memory speed and capacity96GB LPDDR5X-853396GB LPDDR5X-8533Configurable TDP (W)8 - 358 - 35Both chips use a 14-core CPU with 2 P-cores, 8 E-cores, and 4 LP E-cores. The main difference between them is the integrated GPU. The Arc B390 comes with 12 Xe3 cores while the Arc B370 comes with 10. Intel has yet to confirm clock speeds and power draw for the new range.Latest Videos FromIt has provided some other details, however. For starters, the G3 Extreme series will feature Intel Precompiled Shaders. AMD has recently partnered with Microsoft to provide something similar on desktop with Advanced Shader Delivery. The idea is that you download a precompiled set of shaders rather than compiling them at runtime, vastly reducing the time it takes to get into a game.
(Image credit: Intel)We’ve yet to see a true head-to-head battle between the Arc G3 and Ryzen Z ranges, but our testing of the B390 shows that it’s one impressive iGPU. Using high settings at 1080p with XeSS set to Balanced, we were able to achieve above 80 fps in Cyberpunk 2077. Mind you, that performance was inside a 16-inch Lenovo reference laptop. Expect lower performance inside a thermally-constrained handheld.As with all recent Intel Arc graphics, Arc G3 chips come with full support for XeSS 3, including multi-frame generation, AI upscaling, and latency reduction. You’ll only be able to access those features in supported games, however. Unlike AMD, Intel doesn’t currently offer driver-level frame generation along the line of AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF).Intel says the chips will also arrive with Wi-Fi 7 R2, dual Bluetooth 6, and Thunderbolt 4. Partner systems from Acer, MSI, and OneXPlayer will start rolling out "in the coming months." Intel will be showing off several handhelds with the new Arc G3 range at Computex, and Tom's Hardware will have folks on the ground in Taipei to check them out in the flesh.Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware NewsletterGet Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors
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Jake RoachSenior Analyst, CPUsJake Roach is the Senior CPU Analyst at Tom’s Hardware, writing reviews, news, and features about the latest consumer and workstation processors.
12 Comments
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Less announcements, more products. That's the way you challenge AMD, Intel.
Given I've been seeing people saying anything with these would be in the $2K territory makes me think "who cares?". Even GPD realised the market just does not exist over $1.4K.
Regards.
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-Fran- said:Less announcements, more products. That's the way you challenge AMD, Intel.uhhh I think this is both. Just letting you know!
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I wasn't impressed with the pricing on MSI Claw w/ Lunar Lake when it did show up in the NA market. Heck, the clearance pricing on the OG A1M with Meteor Lake i5 135H wasn't impressive either, barely beating an RoG Ally X open box.
Hopefully Acer can do better with that, though I have my doubts in rampocalypse SSDgeddon
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Still don't see the handheld options as viable. I could only really play the Switch on the TV. The screen is too small. All of them are ewaste.
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Gururu said:I could only really play the Switch on the TV. The screen is too small. All of them are ewaste.You do realize that younger people than us do exist right? The gameboy was like the most popular/successful handheld ever, you ever seen how big that screen was?
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TerryLaze said:You do realize that younger people than us do exist right? The gameboy was like the most popular/successful handheld ever, you ever seen how big that screen was?Yeah, even when I was 13 years old I refused to buy one. I got the Switch for my kid but cant play it off the TV because the screen is too small. In my youth I took a hard look at the game gear once but decided it was big screen or nothing.
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User of Computers said:uhhh I think this is both. Just letting you know!I stand by what I said and, particularly, what you quoted.
Regards.
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8W TDP-down, nice.
I'm interested to see some comparisons to the usual stuff, but also to full Panther Lake. Can you just software disable P-cores to get a similar efficiency?
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Gururu said:Still don't see the handheld options as viable. I could only really play the Switch on the TV. The screen is too small. All of them are ewaste. Well, the trend seems to be really crazy: Some people seems to love playing games on 3 - 6 inch screens (that cost as much as a decent desktop!), while others (me included) will not touch a game on anything less than 32" - 50"+!
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Looking forward to seeing how these perform in 15W and below especially. The 2 fewer P-cores and slightly lower peak clocks should mean more consistent performance across power limits.
Handhelds based on these would likely be what I'd be looking at to replace my original Ally if it wasn't mempocalypse.
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