AMD’s Z2 Extreme flies previous Intel’s Lunar Lake in new gaming benchmarks — MSI Claw 8 working at 17W favors the Z2E by roughly 8.5%, lead drops to six% at 30W

We’ve seen loads of power-versus-performance battles within the handheld gaming house, and the latest one pits two basic rivals in opposition to one another. Spotted first by HXL, MSI Claw A8, powered by AMD’s new Ryzen Z2 Extreme, went head-to-head with the Claw 8 AI+ working Intel’s Core Ultra 7 258V. Both chips had been examined at completely different energy limits, together with the all-important 17-watt vary that defines effectivity for handhelds. The Z2 Extreme didn’t simply compete—it pulled forward.

Handheld PCs reside and die by effectivity, and since each right here price roughly the identical—between $900 and $1,000—this comes right down to performance-per-watt. At 17 watts, you’re in that delicate steadiness the place the SoC must ship easy gameplay with out torching the battery. Historically, Intel dominated this zone, whereas AMD’s earlier APUs, just like the Ryzen 7 8845HS, struggled badly when the ability finances dropped under 20 watts. Those elements had been designed for laptops, not handhelds (just like the Z1 Extreme), and it confirmed, however in response to the overview, there is a new sheriff on the town now.

The Ryzen Z2 Extreme is AMD’s top-tier handheld SoC, an eight-core, sixteen-thread design based mostly on Zen 5, with three efficiency cores and 5 effectivity cores working as much as 5.0 GHz. It pairs that with sixteen RDNA 3.5 compute models—successfully a Radeon 890M-class GPU—on TSMC’s 4nm course of, and helps LPDDR5X-8000 reminiscence. The energy envelope ranges from 15W to 35W. However, this chip depends upon exterior reminiscence mounted on the machine’s PCB, so the machine ought to monitor the ability consumption of the onboard reminiscence individually.

Intel’s Core Ultra 7 258V, constructed on TSMC’s N3B node, additionally contains a hybrid core format and makes use of Xe2 graphics (Arc-based), however the design targets barely decrease TDP ceilings and has fewer customization choices for OEMs. This chip has reminiscence fused to the chip bundle, so the ability consumption metrics for this chip have a tendency to incorporate the reminiscence energy consumption, as effectively.

It is unclear if the reviewer accounted for the truth that Lunar Lake’s 17W energy envelope encompasses its onboard reminiscence whereas the Ryzen Z2 Extreme doesn’t, that means the latter may very well be pulling extra energy general.

The testing began with a power-efficiency curve to see how efficiency scales with wattage. At simply 10 watts, the Z2 Extreme was already hitting over 20 FPS within the GR Extreme benchmark—an 80 % uplift over final yr’s Z1 Extreme, which barely managed 11.5 FPS beneath the identical situation. That alone set the tone, however there was a quirk. Under the default energy configuration—the place FPPT, SPPT, and SPL had been all equal—the efficiency curve behaved surprisingly after 30 watts. Frame charges started to regress as an alternative of enhancing.

For context, FPPT stands for Fast Package Power Tracking, SPPT is Slow Package Power Tracking, and SPL is the sustained energy restrict. These outline how a lot energy the SoC can pull for brief boosts and for regular workloads. If they’re all set to the identical worth, the CPU can seize extra energy than it wants, ravenous the GPU. That’s precisely what occurred right here, so the repair was easy: lock SPPT to 48 watts. This brief enhance solely lasts 5 seconds, so it doesn’t actually have an effect on battery life. Once adjusted, the curve normalized—however the actual shock got here at 17 watts.

The showdown moved to real-world video games at 1080p with each chips capped at 17 watts and it is secure to say the numbers had been telling:

It’s not simply the averages that matter right here both, AMD had stronger 1% lows, that means the gameplay felt smoother general. The reviewer admitted it outright: “I have to apologize. I was too loud before—I didn’t understand mobile SoCs, and I didn’t understand AMD.”

Moving on, at increased energy targets of round 30 watts, the hole closed however didn’t disappear. AMD nonetheless held a couple of 6% benefit on common, with Intel selecting up wins in just a few video games. This back-and-forth was anticipated as a result of Z2 Extreme’s scaling flattens out after 20 watts; when you hit that time, throwing extra energy at it doesn’t translate into massive good points. Intel, in the meantime, will get extra profit from the additional headroom than AMD does, although not sufficient to take the crown.

This is a crucial growth, and it issues a lot as a result of it reverses what we have seen from the Red Team for years. AMD’s architectural modifications—hybrid cores, RDNA 3.5 graphics, and that 4nm course of—make the Z2 Extreme a monster beneath 20 watts. Intel nonetheless fights again at ultra-low energy ranges like 10 watts, so in strict battery-saver mode, Lunar Lake may nonetheless have an edge. For the vast majority of customers enjoying at 15 to twenty watts, although, AMD lastly seems to have the higher hand — at the very least it does if the ability measurements for Lunar Lake aren’t additionally inclusive of its onboard reminiscence, which might give the Z2 Extreme an unfair benefit.

There’s additionally a helpful optimization for many who need additional effectivity: locking all threads to the smaller effectivity cores can enhance efficiency by round ten % at decrease energy ranges, as proven within the assessments. This means AMD now performs higher within the vary that issues most, whereas Intel’s Lunar Lake nonetheless holds a bonus in very low-power or idle situations.

If you’re deciding between the MSI Claw A8 and the Claw 8 AI+, each priced equally, the Z2 Extreme model affords stronger GPU efficiency and extra constant body pacing. With the next TDP ceiling of 35W, it additionally provides you additional headroom when plugged in.