Intel Panther Lake CPUs bring up to 16 new cores, 30% better efficiency, and next-gen Xe3 iGPU
After months and months of leaks and rumors, the next-generation Intel Panther Lake CPUs for laptops are finally official. Intel Panther Lake chips are the successor to the Intel Lunar Lake CPUs, and, as such, there are no desktop counterparts. So, the launch might be a bit disappointing for fans who were hoping for new Intel desktop chips.
On the flip side, the Intel Panther Lake products announced today are looking quite good, at least on paper. Built on the latest Intel 18A process node with technologies like RibbonFET and PowerVia, Intel promises that the Panther Lake chips combine the efficiency of Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake and the multi-core performance of the Core Ultra 200H Arrow Lake mobile CPUs.
At the heart of Intel Panther Lake chips are the new “Cougar Cove” P-cores, “Darkmont” E-cores, and an Intel Arc Celestial-based Xe3 iGPU. Intel claims that these technologies grant Panther Lake more than 50% better CPU and GPU performance than Lunar Lake. Before we jump into the claimed performance of Panther Lake, let’s look at the core specs and the available Panther Lake SKUs.
Intel Panther Lake specs: Up to 16 CPU cores and 12 Xe3 iGPU cores
Intel is segmenting the PTL CPUs into three main camps:
- The highest-end 16-core SKU with 12 Xe3 iGPU cores
- A mid-range 16-core SKU with four Xe3 iGPU cores
- An entry-level CPU with eight CPU cores and four Xe3 iGPU cores
Flagship Intel Panther Lake SKU
The highest-end 16-core SKU contains:
- 4x Cougar Cove P-cores
- 8x Darkmont E-cores
- 4x Darkmont LP E-cores
- An Intel Xe3 iGPU with 12x Xe cores
Moreover, the CPU also features 12x PCIe lanes (8x Gen 4 + 4x Gen 5), support for up to 4x Thunderbolt 4 ports, and Intel Wi-Fi 7 Rev 2/BT 6.0.
Intel is also making a big change to the memory subsystem with Panther Lake. Gone is the on-die memory of Lunar Lake, as Team Blue is going back to the traditional DDR5 and LPDDR5 modules. This is a welcome change, since the on-die memory on the Lunar Lake chips ultimately limited the possible configurations and price points that OEMs could hit. Per Intel, the highest-end PTL SKU supports up to 96 GB of LPDDR5x memory at 9,600 MT/s.
Mid-range Intel Panther Lake SKU
Sitting below the highest-end PTL chip, Intel will also offer OEMs the option for a 16-core chip with fewer Xe3 cores. This could be a decent option for affordable gaming laptops where OEMs could pair the 16-core PTL CPU with mid-range dGPUs like the RTX 5060 (Desktop version available on Amazon).
Overall, the core specs of this SKU include:
- 4x Cougar Cove P-cores
- 8x Darkmont E-cores
- 4x Darkmont LP E-cores
The chip also contains only 4x Xe3 iGPU cores, 20x PCIe lanes instead of 12x, and slower maximum memory speeds. Here, Intel has decided to limit the mid-range PTL SKU to 7,200 MT/s of DDR5 and 8,533 MT/s of LPDDR5x. Other connectivity options, including 4x Thunderbolt 4 support, remain identical.
Entry-level 8-core Panther Lake SKU
For super affordable thin and light laptops, Intel offers an 8-core Panther Lake chip with:
- 4x Cougar Cove P-cores
- 4x Darkmont LP E-cores
- 4x Xe3 iGPU cores
There are no regular E-cores on this SKU. Moreover, this entry-level processor features the same GPU tile and Platform controller tile as the mid-range SKU. So, the PCIe lanes, connectivity options, and iGPU specs remain the same. The memory subsystem, however, is different, with Intel further limiting the entry-level Panther Lake SKU to 6,400 MT/s of DDR5 and 6,800 MT/s of LPDDR5x.
Intel Panther Lake performance and power efficiency
Sadly, Intel has only shared some rudimentary performance and efficiency figures for Panther Lake CPUs. So, you’ll have to wait for our detailed testing to find out how well Panther Lake CPUs actually perform vs Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake-H.
Intel claims that the top Panther Lake SKU offers >10% faster single-core performance than Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake CPUs at “similar power”. The multi-core performance increase is much bigger, as Intel touts a >50% increase in multi-core performance vs Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake at “similar power”. Hyperthreading remains absent.
Intel also seems to have made good progress in power efficiency. The company reports that Panther Lake CPUs consume 30% or less power vs Arrow Lake to deliver the same level of multi-core performance. The SoC tile for Panther Lake allegedly consumes 10% less energy than Lunar Lake and a massive 40% less power than Arrow Lake.
We have dedicated a separate article to the iGPU gaming performance. So, be sure to check out how the Panther Lake's Xe3 iGPU stacks against last-gen offerings.
In other words, we can expect similarly great or even better runtimes than Lunar Lake-based laptops. We noted in our Lunar Lake analysis that the Core Ultra 200V chips, while lacking in raw performance, were quite power-efficient. This power efficiency advantage resulted in Core Ultra 200V-powered machines like the Asus Vivobook S14 delivering excellent endurance.
Source(s)
Intel
