Intel Panther Lake Handheld Benchmarks Compared to Ryzen Z1 and Z2 Extreme

Real-world gaming benchmarks show Panther Lake pulling ahead of Ryzen Z1 and Z2 Extreme at common handheld wattages.

Hardware by Godrics01 on Jan 29, 2026

There is going to be a big change in the next generation of handheld gaming gear. New processors that use less power and work better are redefining what you can expect from portable gaming PCs, especially when they run at realistic handheld wattages like 17W and 25W.

People are paying attention to Intel's Panther Lake architecture, especially since early tests with the Core Ultra X9 388H. It was stated that an Intel 18A-based handheld chip would be made, but it is not yet for sale. Comparing Panther Lake to AMD's Ryzen Z1 Extreme and Ryzen Z2 Extreme through speed tests with power limits that are good for mobile devices can help us figure out what it could really do in a small package.

Intel Panther Lake Handheld Benchmarks, Compared to Ryzen Z1 and Z2 Extreme, NoobFeed

An overview of test platforms and chips

Ryzen Z1 Extreme is still a good choice for mobile gaming PCs. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock speed of 3.3 GHz. When all cores are running, it can boost its clock speed to 5.1GHz. The integrated GPU has 12 compute units that are based on RDNA3. ROG Ally X used for testing had 24GB of RAM and ran at 7500MT/s.

Ryzen Z2 Extreme switches to Zen5 and has a hybrid core configuration with 3 Zen5 cores and 5 Zen5C cores. It still has 8 cores and 16 threads. The base frequencies are 2GHz, and the boost clocks can reach 5GHz on the Zen5 cores and 3.3GHz on the Zen5C cores. The iGPU now has 16 compute units based on RDNA3.5. A Legion Go 2 with 32GB of RAM at 8000MT/s was used to test this processor.

Intel's testing was mostly on the Core Ultra X9 388H, which is a more powerful Panther Lake CPU. There are 16 cores and 16 threads, which are divided into 4 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores, and 4 low-power efficiency cores. On performance cores, boost clocks can reach 5.1 GHz. Arc B390 GPU has 12XE3 cores that can run at a maximum clock speed of 2500 MHz. This has more memory bandwidth because it has 32GB of RAM running at 9600 MT/s. This chip isn't made just for handhelds, but the power restrictions were set at 17W and 25W to show how handhelds would really use it.

Performance of the CPU at 17W and 25W

We used Geekbench 6 to test how well the CPU performed with 1 core and 8 cores. Ryzen Z1 Extreme scored 1795 in single-core and 7922 in multi-core at 17W. Ryzen Z2 Extreme's single-core performance improved slightly, but its multi-core performance worsened because its Zen5C cores were clocked lower.

Core Ultra X9 388H got a single-core score of 2944 and a multi-core score of 11180, both at the same 17W limit. At 25W, the Z2 Extreme outperformed the Z1 Extreme in both single-core and multi-core tasks, but the multi-core gains were still small. Core Ultra X9 388H got 2961 in single-core and 13815 in multi-core at 25W.

Intel chip was around 35.5% faster in single-core and 32% faster in multi-core than the Z1 Extreme at portable power levels. It was about 25% faster in single-core and 37% faster in multi-core than the Z2 Extreme.

3DMark Time Spy was used to test the GPU's performance at both power limits. Ryzen Z1 Extreme scored 2539 at 17W, and the Z2 Extreme scored 2917. At the same power level, the Core Ultra X9 388H scored 4297.

Intel chip reached 5766 at 25W, but the Z2 Extreme only reached 3495. Arc B390 iGPU had improvements of about 83.2% over the Z1 Extreme and about 58.2% over the Z2 Extreme in simulated tests. However, real-world gaming performance is more important for portable use.

Benchmarks for Gaming in the Real World

Cyberpunk 2077

Steam Deck was set to 1080p for testing Cyberpunk 2077. Ryzen chips used FSR set to Balanced, whereas the Intel chip used XeSS. Z1 Extreme got an average of 42 fps at 25W, the Z2 Extreme got 46fps, and the Core Ultra X9 388H got 63fps.

At 17W, the Z1 Extreme's scores decreased to 32 fps, the Z2 Extreme's to 39 fps, and the Intel chip's to 46 fps, but it still stayed ahead even at lower power.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Testing was conducted at low settings and 1080p to ensure the game remained playable. Z1 Extreme averaged 59 fps at 25W, the Z2 Extreme averaged 64 fps, and the Core Ultra X9 388H averaged 79 fps.

Z2 Extreme beat the Intel chip by only 1 fps at 17W, though the two chips' overall performance was still very close.

Forza Horizon 5

We tested Forza Horizon 5 at 1080p and on medium settings. Z1 Extreme averaged 76 fps at 25W, the Z2 Extreme 80 fps, and the Core Ultra X9 388H 89 fps.

Z1 Extreme averaged 62 fps at 17W, while the Z2 Extreme and the Intel chip both averaged 71 fps. For consistent performance, the Intel platform used PL1 at 24W and PL2 at 25W to regulate power.

Black Myth Wukong

The tests were done at 1080p with low settings and a resolution scaling of 60%. On Ryzen, FSR was used, and on Intel, XeSS was. At 25W, the Z1 Extreme got 44 fps, the Z2 Extreme got 49 fps, and the Core Ultra X9 388H got 62 fps.

At 17W, the Z1 Extreme got 32fps, the Z2 Extreme got 43fps, and the Intel chip got 49fps. This shows that Panther Lake always does better at lower power.

Horizon Zero Dawn: The Remastered Version

All the iGPUs we tested struggled with this title. Testing was only done at 1080p low settings with 25W. Z1 Extreme got 30 fps, the Z2 Extreme got 31 fps, while the Core Ultra X9 388H got 48 fps. Lowering the resolution to about 900p would make it easier to play on all systems.

Intel Panther Lake Handheld Benchmarks, Compared to Ryzen Z1 and Z2 Extreme, NoobFeed

Trends in Overall Performance

Core Ultra X9 388H did around 34% better than the Z1 Extreme and about 7.5% better than the Z2 Extreme in the 17W tests. When the handhelds had higher wattage, around 25W, the increases were about 40% over the Z1 Extreme and 30% over the Z2 Extreme.

Lower wattages are better for lighter or indie games, whereas most handheld gaming sessions are closer to 20W–25W. The Intel chip clearly has scaling advantages at those levels.

Final Thoughts

The future of handheld chips looks good. Intel's recent progress is largely due to driver maturity. Early Arc-based platforms had problems when they first came out, but regular updates have made them stable and playable in tough games. As Arc drivers continue to improve, more benefits are expected.

Core Ultra X9 388H isn't made for handhelds, but it gives a good idea of what Panther Lake can do. A future specialized portable chip with fewer cores and an iGPU akin to the B390 class could deliver more graphics power at low wattage, making things even more efficient.

The reported increases at 25W make portable users wonder if the better performance makes it worth upgrading from Z1 or Z2 Extreme systems, or if the current hardware is good enough for everyday game needs.

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