Intel promises Panther Lake graphics will ‘set a new standard’ – and I think that could be good news for future handhelds

• Intel states that its new Panther Lake Xe3 graphics will 'set a new standard' in the industry
• It comes after Nvidia and Intel's partnership to create RTX SoCs
• This could spell great news for handheld gaming PCs

The handheld gaming PC space is continuously growing, with new additions like the ROG Xbox Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go 2, which utilize AMD's Ryzen Z2 Extreme processors. However, we could be seeing new Intel-powered handhelds soon, with processors that could see AMD dethroned in the handheld market.

As reported by VideoCardz, Intel states that Panther Lake's Xe3 graphics will 'set a new standard' for both Team Blue itself and the industry, with 'larger investments' in graphics and AI, which lends credence to rumors about Panther Lake processors featuring 12 Xe3 cores.

While there's nothing official to report on in terms of performance expectations and specifications, we can expect to see more details closer to the launch of the Panther Lake lineup next year.

What we can take from this, though, is that Intel's upcoming SoCs for laptops and specifically handhelds could give AMD a run for its money within the handheld processor market.

It's also worth noting that this comes after Intel and Nvidia's partnership, which could see RTX SoCs come to handhelds – and considering the quality of Nvidia's DLSS 4 upscaling tech using Super Resolution and Frame Generation, it could leave AMD clutching at straws within the SoC space, especially if it can't port FSR 4 back to older RDNA 3 GPUs and iGPUs.

While these RTX SoCs would likely land after the Panther Lake lineup, Intel's promise of a 'new standard' for Xe3 graphics, may be enough to suggest that it will leap ahead of all SoCs currently available – even with the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V powering one of the best handheld gaming PCs, the MSI Claw 8 AI+.

Analysis: I'm just hoping that prices aren't out of whack for Panther Lake-powered handhelds

Without sugarcoating it, almost all of the new handhelds (aside from the GPD Win 5 and the OneXFly Apex) are too expensive, with the ROG Xbox Ally X costing $999 / £799 / AU$1,599 and the Lenovo Legion Go 2 starting at $1,099 / £899 / AU$1,809.

These devices have no place costing as much as they do, considering the similarity in performance with much cheaper devices like the original Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go, but I'm not going to repeat myself.

Simply put, if they are as powerful (or close to) AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, then they have every reason to cost a premium price, but I'm doubtful considering the current trend of overpriced devices.

While there's a chance that Panther Lake handhelds won't be too costly, I'm expecting the RTX SoCs later down the line to ultimately lead to higher pricing, but perhaps it's a little too early to speculate on those chips. I just hope that once manufacturers use Intel's upcoming processors, they can avoid prices closer to $1,000 where possible, but I know that's wishful thinking.

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