Intel Launches First Handheld Gaming Chips: Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme

Intel has officially launched its first handheld gaming chips, the Intel Arc G3 Series, comprising the Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme models. These chips are positioned as competitors to AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Series (Z1 and Z1 Extreme), which currently dominate the handheld PC console market including devices such as the Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and Steam Deck.

While Intel previously entered the handheld gaming market with products like the MSI Claw, the chips used were based on standard laptop processors rather than being specifically designed for handheld gaming PCs. The new Arc G3 Series is built on the Panther Lake architecture, tailored for portable gaming devices.

The CPU consists of 2 Performance Cores (P-cores), 8 Efficient Cores (E-cores), and 4 Low Power E-cores for power efficiency. Despite fewer CPU cores, the processors integrate a full Xe3-based GPU for gaming. The Arc G3 features 10 GPU cores (Intel Arc B370), while the Arc G3 Extreme has 12 (Intel Arc B390).

Additional features include a 46 TOPS AI processing unit (NPU), 12MB Intel Smart Cache, 12 PCIe lanes (8x G4, 4x G5), Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6. Intel promises ‘Day-0’ graphics drivers for new games and precompiled shaders to reduce stuttering and loading times.

The Arc G3 Series chips are expected to feature in upcoming handheld gaming devices launching this year, including the Acer Predator Atlas 8. According to Acer’s official blog, the Predator Atlas 8 will have an 8-inch IPS display with a 1920x1200 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, variable refresh rate of 48Hz to 120Hz, and a brightness of 500 nits.