Intel warns of "crazy" price: Arc G3 Extreme tramples AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme for expensive price
Ever since the launch of the Intel Panther Lake APUs with the impressive Arc B390 iGPU, speculation had been growing about Intel using the same iGPU inside a chip designed for handheld gaming consoles. Leaks later confirmed that Intel was indeed working on two Panther Lake-based processors for handheld gaming consoles, titled the Arc G3 and the Arc G3 Extreme. Intel has now officially shown the performance of the Arc G3 Extreme.
Both the Intel Arc G3 and the Arc G3 Extreme use the same 2 P-core + 8 E-core + 4 LP E-core CPU, but differ when it comes to the iGPU configuration. As the name suggests, the Intel Arc G3 Extreme is the more powerful of the two, with a full 12 Xe-core Arc B390. The Arc G3 gets a 10 Xe-core iGPU.
Intel gave a full presentation of the performance and power efficiency of the Arc G3 Extreme over on Gamers Nexus (linked at the end). Intel has made a big deal of the Arc G3 Extreme, claiming that the handheld gaming console chip brings a 44% “gen-on-gen” gaming performance increase, with 2x upscaling, over the Lunar Lake Core Ultra 7 258V that powers the MSI Claw 8 AI+.
More importantly, Intel talked down the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, rightfully calling it a “dated platform”. Intel showed the Arc G3 Extreme beating the Ryzen Z2 Extreme ROG Xbox Ally X by a massive 42% at 1080p, with upscaling. Both chips were allowed a 35 W sustained power consumption. The Arc G3 Extreme seemingly also delivered 37% better FPS at 12 W than the Ryzen Z2 Extreme.
Naturally, since the Arc G3 Extreme is over 40% faster than the Z2 Extreme at similar power, Intel claimed that you can get almost the same performance as the Ryzen Z2 Extreme using half the power. This should bode quite well for battery life.
On the topic of battery life, Intel showed a feature called “Endurance Gaming,” where the system dynamically adjusts the processor power usage and caps the frame rate to get the best battery life. In Forza Horizon 6, for instance, Endurance Gaming reportedly takes the battery life from 2 hours and 47 minutes to almost 6 hours at 1080p/low. This is a pretty bold claim and will need to be tested extensively, as the feature has the potential to shake up the handheld gaming landscape.
Intel Arc G3 Extreme handheld consoles won’t be cheap
While the performance and the power efficiency of the Arc G3 Extreme look quite impressive, the potential price of the consoles powered by the SoC, like the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, can be brutal. Intel didn’t comment on anything concrete regarding the price. But, Tom Peterson did let slip that the “price point is going to be crazy”, and the Arc G3 Extreme MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ will only be for people who “really really want that”.
A major part of this “crazy” price is undoubtedly the current cost of RAM and storage. We’ve seen Valve implement a massive $300 price hike on the 1 TB Steam Deck OLED, directly due to prevailing market conditions.
However, Intel’s Panther Lake architecture is also playing a role here. We know that Intel Panther Lake chips are not cheap. This is evident in the price of laptops with the latest Core Ultra 300 processors. Intel is working to improve the yield of the Intel 18A process node, which will drive these costs down.
So, while the Intel Arc G3 Extreme is expected to beat the socks off the Ryzen Z2 Extreme in terms of pure performance, the consoles with the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme will likely be much cheaper.
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