(Credit: Intel/CES)
Expect Intel to reveal more details about its push into PC gaming handhelds at Computex in June, where the company plans to debut the custom Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme chips for portable gaming, according to VideoCardz.
Both processors are built on Intel’s “Panther Lake” family; these laptop-focused chips have shown they can run PC games at relatively high frame rates without a discrete GPU. In our tests, Battlefield 6 ran between 160 and 210 frames per second at 1080p with the balanced visual preset and Intel's XeSS upscaling set to Ultra Performance.
VideoCardz adds that MSI and OneXPlayer will be among the first to use the Arc G3 chips in portable handhelds, although actual shipments may not happen until year's end, rather than Q2.
At CES in January, Intel formally announced it was preparing chips for PC gaming handhelds with partners including Acer, MSI, and Microsoft, as well as contract manufacturers Foxconn, Pegatron, and Quanta Computer. The goal was to launch an “entire handheld gaming platform” powered by Panther Lake chips, the company said at the time.
However, the big challenge facing Intel, or any gaming handheld, is the ongoing memory shortage, which has inflated pricing across consumer electronics. For example, Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 has been increased twice. Meanwhile, Valve’s Steam Deck remains sold out.
So we wouldn’t be surprised if Intel-powered handhelds are pricey and in short supply. Even so, the new Arc chips promise to be a jumping-off point for Intel to compete in the handheld space, which AMD has been dominating. Microsoft has also been teasing that a next-generation Xbox handheld will use silicon from Team Red.
Stay tuned for our coverage of Computex in Taipei, scheduled for June 2-5.