Intel Arc G3 Extreme and Arc G3 tipped to arrive earlier than initially anticipated

When Intel showed off Panther Lake at CES 2026, it teased two unnamed handheld chips without divulging any specifics. Initially thought to be the Core G3 and Core G3 Extreme, subsequent leaks confirmed they’d launch as the Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme. Now, Videocardz learned that Intel could show both chips off earlier than their rumoured Computex 2026 (June 2-5) release window.

Intel will unveil the Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme on May 28. MSI is expected to show off a new 8-inch handheld console powered by the chips, likely a revision of the Claw series. Even Acer is expected to join in on the fun with the Predator Atlas 8. One can only hope it actually launches, unlike the Nitro Blaze that never saw the light of day after a rather pompous reveal.

Specs-wise, both the Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme come with a 14-core CPU with 2 P-cores, 8 E-cores and 4 LPE-cores. The ‘Extreme’ variant has a slightly faster boost clock (4.7 GHz vs 4.6 GHz) and a faster Arc B390 GPU with a 12-core GPU. The Arc B370 used on the regular Arc G3 comes with 10 Xe cores. On paper, the spec differences are marginal, and it’ll be interesting to see how they fare against each other in the real world. 

Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme have the potential to take the handheld crown from AMD

Initial benchmarks on simulated hardware show promising results, with the Arc G3 Extreme handily outperforming AMD’s flagship Ryzen Z2 Extreme. Panther Lake is a fairly power-efficient architecture, so it has the potential to shine in power-restricted environments—something that is a must in handheld gaming consoles.