Intel formally revealed the Intel Arc G-Series processors, new chips designed to power handheld gaming PCs. These are based on the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake) chips, but optimised for more power efficiency that makes it more suited for handhelds.
The Intel Arc G-Series processors is launching with two variants: the Intel Arc G3 and Intel Arc G3 Extreme. As this is more or less an APU or a SoC (the CPU and GPU are part of the same package), it comes with Intel Arc B390 graphics, the latest series of Intel’s in-house graphics chips. So handhelds with an Arc G3 or Arc G3 Extreme can enable ray traced graphics as well as access to Intel XeSS 3 upscaler.
Intel is promising “ongoing day-0 driver support” for the latest games, which is the bare minimum one would expect. Though interestingly, Intel also has something called “Intel Precompiled Shaders.” Select titles that support this feature will download prebuilt shader files instead of having the game compile shaders on first boot, which can be a slow process these days. So having shaders ready to go via a download is a cool feature, and show of commitment, by the chipmaker.
Devices announced so far to be powered by an Intel G-Series processor includes Acer Predator Atlas 8, MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, and OneXPlayer.
Branding wise, the stickers to show that there’s Intel inside of these Intel Arc G processors has an purple tinge to it, something a little different to the company’s usual blue hue.
“Intel Arc G-Series represents years of focused innovation and a deep commitment to gaming,” says Dan Rogers, Vice President and General Manager, PC Product, Client Computing Group at Intel. “It delivers uncompromising PC performance in the palm of your hand, combined with the console-like accessibility and immediacy gamers expect. With cutting-edge graphics technologies like XeSS 3 and breakthrough efficiency for longer unplugged play, Intel Arc G-Series proves that while others make tradeoffs, gamers don’t have to.”
In the handheld gaming PC space, most devices are powered by AMD Ryzen Z series of processors. It’s nice to see Intel catching up and providing competition in this burgeoning PC form factor, which has been mostly niche and targeting specific enthusiasts right until the success of the Steam Deck.