“CES 2025 Showdown: Intel vs. AMD in the Ultimate Gaming CPU Duel!”

CES does not only unveil fresh iterations of consumer electronics to the globe but also introduces new PC hardware. CES 2025 is anticipated to be a moment for both Intel and AMD to unveil their latest mobile processors for laptops in 2025, with Qualcomm potentially presenting new PC CPUs as well.

Intel appears almost certain to introduce its Core H- and -HX series of Arrow Lake mobile processors for gaming laptops at the CES event in Las Vegas this January, as indicated by both its own communications and LG’s announcement of new “Arrow Lake” laptops.

Nonetheless, momentum seems to have shifted towards AMD, which has declared a launch date of January 6, 2025, for new PC and graphics products. During this event, we anticipate AMD to reveal both new desktop processors – including the latest versions of its impressive Ryzen 9000X3D gaming processors – and “Strix Halo” chips, boasting extremely powerful integrated graphics designed for the mobile gaming sector. Is it possible we might also witness additional CPUs for handheld devices? Very likely.

Qualcomm’s outlook is less clear; however, do recall: Qualcomm has previously made public its next-gen Oryon CPU cores for smartphones. Ultimately, we expect these to appear in a PC processor as well.

Further reading: The future of PC graphics will commence at CES 2025

Debut of Intel’s mobile Arrow Lake

Anyone familiar with the laptop market is aware that Intel continues to maintain a significant edge over AMD in terms of the variety of available devices, especially in the gaming domain. This is not expected to shift in 2025. In fact, one could argue that Intel’s choice to focus on low power instead of high performance with its Arrow Lake desktop processors — which resulted in a marked decline in Intel’s desktop market share in 2024 — may be received more positively in notebooks that can leverage enhanced battery longevity. This standpoint appears more justifiable when supporting a Core H-series component, which doesn’t require as much performance as a Core HX chip.

Regardless, rumors have already indicated that these new Core Ultra (Arrow Lake) mobile chips will comprise five distinct models, ranging from the Core Ultra 5 225H up to the Core Ultra 9 285H, featuring in total 6 P-cores, 8 E-cores, and a duo of the new Low Power Efficiency cores, without any hyperthreading. The same source of information suggests that Intel’s Core HX series may introduce a flagship 24-core 285X (8 P-cores, 16 E-cores, lacking dedicated low-power efficiency cores) along with the 235HX. It is also indicated that these new HX processors will utilize older Xe GPUs for integrated graphics, partly since they are typically paired with discrete GPUs.

Moore’s Law is Dead, which has a questionable reputation among informants, has indicated (via Notebookcheck.net) that Arrow Lake is expected to be 14 percent quicker than the 13th-gen Raptor Lake architecture based on the Cinebench benchmark, yet with an energy consumption that surprisingly remains quite comparable.

What does appear certain, however, is that Intel’s Lunar Lake chips are not disappearing. Therefore, the 2025 notebook collection will probably feature productivity laptops utilizing Intel’s Lunar Lake, while the Arrow Lake architecture will dominate the gaming and performance segments. Regrettably, they will all share a similar Core Ultra branding, necessitating careful attention.

AMD’s array of CPUs

Officially, AMD’s Strix Point is expected to be called the Ryzen AI Max, complemented by the low-power Ryzen AI 300 family alongside a Ryzen AI Max 395+ processor. A leaker (Golden Pig Upgrade Pack — where do these leakers come up with these names?) has hinted this through Tom’s Hardware.that we might observe AMD unveiling three new processors: the 16-core Ryzen AI Max+ 395, the 12-core Ryzen AI Max 390, and the 8-core Ryzen AI Max 385. Strix Halo is rumored to feature a duo of Zen 5 CCDs, along with a LPDDR5X memory interface.

The inquiry, as pointed out by Tom’s, will revolve around whether AMD integrates a substantial GPU — as the AI Max+ 395 is rumored to possess an RDNA 3.5-based GPU with 2560 stream processors, which would significantly surpass a typical Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 or “Strix Point” processor. The query stands whether PC manufacturers will attach a discrete GPU or allow the APU’s graphical capabilities to manage the workload. However, this may incur a price, with power rising to 120W to 130W independently.

The restricted launch of the solitary AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D also illuminates that further developments are on the horizon for the desktop segment. The 9800X3D chip obliterated its rivals — but it was just a single chip! This has prompted speculation that AMD has a 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X3D and a 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X3D chip primed for announcement by AMD at CES, as suggested by an uninhibited Asus executive. If nothing else, this should help ease AMD’s supply limitations that have constrained the chip’s availability since its release.

CPUs are usually classified into one of two groups: desktop or mobile. Nonetheless, the mobile definition has evolved to encompass both laptops and handheld gaming PCs. In the latter sector, similar to consoles, AMD has been leading. Yet, Intel is anticipated to make a significant entry into this space with Lunar Lake at CES. AMD, in return, is expected to counter with the Ryzen Z2, a successor to the Ryzen Z1 and Z1 Extreme chip tailored for handheld PCs.

AMD’s Z1 and Z1 Extreme, launched in 2023, are rooted in the Zen 4 architecture; the Z1 featured six primary cores and 12 threads, with four RDNA 3 graphics units. The Extreme edition enhanced the core count from six to eight while tripling the RDNA 3 units to a total of twelve.

Information regarding the forthcoming chips is somewhat limited, yet we might witness the Z2 Extreme, the “standard” Z2, and the Z2G or Z2 Go. The Extreme supposedly incorporates eight CPU cores (3 Zen 5, 5 Zen5c) with 12 CUs grounded in the Strix Point and RDNA 3.5 GPU structure. The “standard” Z2 might also utilize eight cores and 12 CUs, based on AMD’s Hawk Point graphics, whereas the “G” variant could revolve around the older Ryzen 6000 and an RDNA 2 GPU. Although all features are based on speculation and conjecture, it appears likely that AMD has significant plans for the handheld PC sector during CES.

Could we witness additional AM4 and AM5 motherboards and chipsets revealed during CES? That is plausible as well. Regardless, AMD is anticipated to have a plethora of announcements in just a few days.

A Qualcomm conundrum

While both AMD and Qualcomm will conduct press conferences on Jan. 6, Qualcomm has enough involvement in various sectors to avoid the need for a PC-related announcement at CES. Instead, I am anticipating further insights (and spin) regarding Arm’s legal action against Qualcomm, which was largely resolved over the holiday season favorably for Qualcomm. I interpreted this as an indication that little has changed, allowing Qualcomm to continue marketing Snapdragon processors without complications. Nevertheless, I would expect a formal statement on this from Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon during CES.

In October, Qualcomm introduced a refreshed, second-generation Oryon CPU core as part of its Snapdragon 8 Elite platform for handheld computers. According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Elite reportedly consumes 44 percent less energy while delivering 45 percent more multi-core performance compared to its predecessor Snapdragon 8 core. Eventually, I would expect it to serve as the foundation for the upcoming Snapdragon X Elite platform.

However, I doubt this will occur at CES 2025. More realistically, we might see this at Computex later this summer, where Qualcomm has traditionally unveiled processors for new computing platforms. Meanwhile, Qualcomm has made significant progress collaborating with developers and resolving compatibility issues with the Windows on Arm system, and an announcement of this sort seems probable for CES. We may also encounter a surge of new laptops driven by Qualcomm’s more affordable Snapdragon X Plus chips, announced earlier this fall.

Regardless, this CES appears to be the most active in quite some time, particularly since Nvidia and AMD are also expected to unveil new GPUs. The PCWorld team is heading to Las Vegas this weekend to report on all the news as it unfolds. The holiday season has concluded; the chip wars are intensifying once more. Be sure to bookmark PCWorld’s CES hub to stay updated!