Intel Core Ultra X9 388H “Panther Lake” Integrated GPU Demonstrates Up to 50% Performance Improvement Over Lunar Lake in Initial Benchmarks

The initial benchmarks for Intel’s Panther Lake lineup have emerged, indicating substantial performance enhancements over the previous Lunar Lake series.

Intel’s 12 Xe3 ‘Celestial’ iGPU: Significant Advancements Over Lunar Lake & Arrow Lake-H, Yet Still Trailing Behind AMD’s Top Tier

The unveiling of the Panther Lake series has sparked significant excitement within the tech community, primarily due to Intel’s declaration of notable performance advancements and improved power efficiency compared to Lunar Lake. Recent benchmarks reported by LaptopReview show that the flagship Core X9 388H model achieved an impressive score of up to 6, 300 points on the 3DMark TimeSpy test. This milestone is largely attributed to the inclusion of the upgraded 12 Xe3 cores in its integrated GPU, marking a remarkable performance increase of approximately 45% to 50% compared to Lunar Lake’s Arc 140V.

Comparison of Panther Lake with Core Ultra X9 388H, showcasing memory frequency and TimeSpy graphics scores. — Image Credits: LaptopReview

It is important to recognize that these benchmarks are preliminary and have been compiled while Arc drivers for the ‘Celestial’ Xe3 architecture continue to undergo optimization. Therefore, actual results could differ. Nevertheless, Intel’s assertion of a 50% increase in graphical performance relative to the Lunar Lake platform seems substantiated by these findings. Notably, when compared to NVIDIA’s mobile GPU, the Core Ultra X9 388H iGPU is on par with the RTX 3050 laptop variant, reflecting competitive capabilities.

Overview of Intel Xe3 Graphics performance, highlighting features such as enhanced RT Units and increased Xe cores.

Delving into the technical specifications of the Core Ultra X9 388H, this WeU incorporates a configuration of 4+8+4 cores across P/E/LP-E models, along with 12 Xe3 iGPU cores. Representing one of the most advanced PTL models, the graphics benchmarks observed serve as the potential peak performance metrics for Intel’s upcoming mobile lineup. This is a marked enhancement from the Lunar Lake, especially considering the doubling of Xe cores. However, when directly compared to AMD’s Strix Halo and the Radeon 8060S iGPU, the Panther Lake still lags significantly behind.

As the official launch approaches, it is anticipated that benchmarking performance will continue to improve. Early indications suggest that the Panther Lake series will provide solid enhancements over Intel’s previous offerings, including Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake-H. We expect additional information to surface shortly, so stay updated for more insights.

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