Intel’s new high-end cellular chip is a formidable game-cruncher, however I do not assume correct gaming laptops ought to fear simply but

Fast, feisty, fabulous. That’s how I described the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H in my overview, and I stand by it. It’s obtained an Arc B390 iGPU that crushes all of the others we have examined for gaming efficiency, and that is a outstanding technical achievement given the dimensions of the graphics tile relative to the remainder of the chip.

But there is a vital caveat hanging over the Intel Arc B390, and it goes like this: it is very, very fast—for an iGPU. Sure, it is able to delivering gaming laptop-like efficiency, however evaluate it to any discrete cellular GPU of the present technology and the little graphics tile’s limits are shortly revealed.

Now, none of that is meant to solid shade upon the appreciable achievement of Intel’s engineers. No one was anticipating its new cellular graphics {hardware} to compete with, say, something from the RTX 50-series.

In reality, Intel claims the Core Ultra X9 388H is 10% sooner at gaming (on common) than a lappy with an RTX 4050 cellular. And, if you happen to squint intently at these claims, you may see that they have been made in reference to a 60 W gaming laptop computer, with ‘2x upscaling’ enabled.

Again, that’s still fairly impressive for an iGPU, particularly as the Core Ultra X9 388H machine was claimed to be using 45 W for the whole shebang during those tests. But in reality, a low-wattage RTX 4050 mobile isn’t particularly quick by modern standards.

And if you up the GPU wattage to something you might find in a regular entry-level machine (75 W, in the case of our Acer Nitro V 15 test laptop), Nvidia’s last-gen lowest-tier graphics hardware pulls significantly ahead in most of our benchmarks.

We don’t include frame generation in our iGPU test suite, but we do run the numbers again with Quality upscaling enabled. And yes, the Intel iGPU is remarkably quick compared to its direct competition, particularly with some XeSS enhancement. But stick it up against a budget, previous-gen gaming laptop with a half-decent dose of juice, and it does have a tendency to come unstuck.

Again, this isn’t to cast doubt against Intel’s claims, nor do I aim to put too much of a dampener on all the excitement surrounding Panther Lake’s performance. Believe me, I’m excited too. But it is important to view the Arc B390 iGPU in context. And it must be said, when compared to most modern mobile graphics chips, it’s still off the pace for the most part.

But the advantages of gaining a genuine dose of graphics grunt in a single chip are, nonetheless, legion. It means that productivity-style, slim and sleek gaming laptops making use of high-end Panther Lake chips can realistically be called gaming laptops in their own right, even without any dedicated, off-chip hardware to handle the demanding stuff.

Never mind the power efficiency gains. I spent a day at the office with a charger-less Panther Lake test machine, and came away massively impressed. Without a dGPU onboard, and with huge efficiencies made to the way the new Intel chips handle their power load, I managed roughly 11 hours away from the wall socket, with 18% battery left to spare. And yes, that included some light gaming on the train.

The Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chips are made of remarkable stuff, that’s clear to see. I can’t wait to see what happens when one (or something similar to what we’ve currently seen) ends up in a gaming handheld, as this sort of performance in combination with its low-power tendencies seems like a recipe for a truly excellent handheld gaming machine.

But should you want one in your next gaming laptop? Perhaps not, if cutting-edge performance is your aim. And I haven’t even mentioned price yet.

My Asus Zenbook Duo test machine will likely retail for $2,000+ (US pricing is yet to be confirmed, although the UK version starts at $2,300). Granted, it is a dual-OLED geared up marvel, so conventional lappys that includes Intel’s new B390-equipped chips will doubtless be cheaper. But even when that knocks $500, even perhaps $800 off the value, something from our under-$1,000 gaming laptop computer offers listing is more likely to run rings round it for uncooked gaming efficiency.

Once extra, for good measure: I’m completely impressed with Intel’s new chip. But if you happen to’re on a finances, otherwise you’re not too fussed about all-day battery life and nonetheless need excessive body charges within the newest video games, it is nonetheless a discrete GPU-equipped machine that ought to be close to the highest of your buying listing.

Traditional gaming laptops haven’t got an excessive amount of to concern from Panther Lake, I reckon—however they do have some new competitors on the town with some clear advantages, and that is value celebrating. I’ll cease being an excessive amount of of a downer now, I promise.