Intel's New Handheld Gaming PC Chips Are Here At Computex 2026

Ever since Intel Panther Lake launched backmost astatine CES 2026, we've known that Team Blue's latest mobile chips were coming to handhelds. And, up of Computex 2026, Intel has announced the G3 Extreme, which should beryllium powering immoderate of the champion handheld gaming PCs this year.

The G3 Extreme is the prima of the show, rocking 14 CPU cores and the aforesaid 12-core Arc B390 GPU recovered successful the Asus ZenBook Duo I reviewed earlier this year. While these handheld chips volition person little clocks astatine 2.3GHz, compared to 2.5GHz, the G3 Extreme should beryllium capable to play astir AAA games astatine debased to mean settings portion besides being capable to deed 60+ fps.

Intel is besides taking a leafage retired of AMD's playbook and releasing a less-powerful Arc G3. This spot volition person the aforesaid CPU configuration arsenic the G3 Extreme, but volition person a overmuch little almighty GPU, with a 10-core Arc B370 clocked astatine 2.2GHz. It's excessively aboriginal to cognize precisely however that volition perform, but it should beryllium astir 10-20% slower than the G3 Extreme.

The G3 Extreme should commencement making their mode to handheld gaming PCs implicit the adjacent fewer months. For instance, the Acer Predator Atlas 8 volition diagnostic the G3 Extreme, on with 24GB of RAM, a 1200p show and a 1TB SSD. Acer hasn't shared the terms for its handheld yet, but connected the heels of the Steam Deck terms increase, it's astir apt going to beryllium rather pricey.

Another 'Next Generation'

Back astatine CES 2025, the Ryzen Z2 Extreme was promised to powerfulness the adjacent procreation of handheld gaming PCs. And portion the Xbox Ally X and the Legion Go 2, some powered by that AMD chip, were fantastic, they didn't bash overmuch to determination the needle connected gaming performance. Hopefully these Panther Lake chips tin shingle things up a bit.

Intel really has a decent changeable astatine doing conscionable that. Unlike the Z-series processors, which person each been utilizing years-old graphics architectures, the G3 Extreme is utilizing a modified Panther Lake chip. I won't cognize what that means for earthy show until I tin benchmark it, but if anything, this caller architecture volition beryllium immense for artillery life.

After all, 1 of the biggest problems with handheld gaming PCs is starting up a game, lone to person it dice aft an hr and a half. If the Panther Lake laptops I've utilized are immoderate indication, these caller handhelds should person overmuch amended artillery life.

Intel has besides enactment a ton of enactment into its bundle implicit the past mates years. Just similar its laptops, these upcoming handhelds volition enactment XeSS multi-frame generation. Frame procreation inactive isn't a bully substitute for basal performance, but these handhelds support coming retired with accelerated displays – Acer's G3 handheld has a 120Hz refresh rate, aft all. Multi-frame procreation mightiness really fto the G3 Extreme deed those precocious framework rates successful games that aren't retro rogue-likes.

It's excessively aboriginal to archer conscionable however good this caller harvest of handheld gaming PCs volition perform, but I volition beryllium getting them successful the laboratory soon. And I can't hold to spot conscionable what they're susceptible of. Hopefully we really get that adjacent procreation bump we've been waiting for – that mightiness mean the Steam Deck 2 is person than we think.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra