Intel Unleashes Arc G3 Chips To Challenge AMD In PC Gaming Handhelds
The specifications Intel's giving up today for the Arc G3 and G3 Extreme aren't super detailed: we know there will be 2 P-cores, 8 E-cores, and 4 LP E-cores, just as predicted in various leaks. Given that, we can also reasonably assume that the Arc G3 Extreme will have the full 12 Xe3-cores, and the Arc G3 will be slightly cut down to 10, which probably doesn't matter as much as you might think considering that both chips will likely be power limited way before they hit their peak performance.
AMD has enjoyed mostly unchallenged dominance in the PC-powered gaming handheld scene, which is ironic because the first devices of that type, like the original GPD Win, were in fact powered by Intel silicon. It's not until later players got into the market that it really exploded though, with those later players being Ayaneo, OneXPlayer, and of course, Valve, whose Steam Deck arguably paved the way to mainstream popularity for the segment after the earlier vendors proved the technological viability of the concept.
Indeed, the reasons for AMD's dominance in handhelds has little to do with technology and everything to do with finances. Until relatively recently, AMD's processors weren't that popular in laptops, and so the chips, which featured capable and compatible Radeon graphics, were available relatively cheaply for smaller vendors. Intel never had any problem selling its laptop SoCs, and so they simply weren't as readily available for handhelds.
Now that the market has exploded into an approximately $2 billion industry with expected 20% annual growth, Intel has decided to go after AMD on its home turf, and it absolutely has the hardware for it. We've found in multiple reviews already that the Arc B390 graphics in Panther Lake are as much as 60% faster than AMD's finest Radeon 890M, depending on the workload. Of course, those gains come when set to a relatively generous power limit that will drain the battery of a typical handheld quickly.
Intel promises that its partners will be launching devices shortly after the show, with the first Arc G3 devices coming in June. The company specifically mentions the Predator Atlas 8, which Acer announced today, as well as the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ that was already leaked and an unnamed device from OneXPlayer.
