Intel’s New Core Ultra: A Mix of Power and Economy, But Is It Enough?

Intel’s Latest in Focus

Authors at TechPowerUp have also had a go at testing the new Intel Panther Lake processors. Their lab received an Asus laptop equipped with the Core Ultra 9 388H. Unfortunately, the authors list the names of other laptops they compared but do not mention their specifications. Only a discrete GPU is noted. This leaves readers somewhat in the dark, but we can use some of their test data.

For instance, regardless of its competitors, Asus’s new offering set a record for battery life while playing YouTube videos, lasting 20 hours. Its nearest competitor delivered less than half that.

Performance Comparisons

Evaluating CPU performance is difficult for the above-mentioned reason, but the authors conclude it falls slightly below the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. It’s worth noting that technically, the Ryzen 470 is exactly the same. However, things look better with games as the authors have a broader test set than many others. For instance, in Alan Wake 2, in Full HD with minimal settings, the iGPU delivers 48 fps. It’s unclear why there are no tests with upscalers, but this is an excellent result. Let us remind you that in this particular game, Arc B390 surprisingly outpaces even the Xbox Series S.

In Baldur’s Gate 3, one can count on 50 fps even at maximum settings. In Counter-Strike 2, one can achieve 72 fps at maximum and over 230 fps at minimum. Cyberpunk 2077 gives 49 fps and 74 fps respectively in the same manner.

In Elden Ring, you can play with frequencies of 61 and 95 fps, respectively. In Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the indicators are 30 and 47 fps. In Kingdom Come 2, you can count on 38 and 83 fps. Space Marine 2 gives 36 and 51 fps, Starfield – 32 and 54 fps, and The Last of Us Part II Remastered shows 39 and 59 fps. Unfortunately, there are no tests with upscaling, where they would really come in handy. However, it can be noted that the new Intel often falls short of the RTX 5060 Laptop. Early tests, recall, demonstrated similar results to the RTX 4050 Laptop. To summarize, the authors note that the new Intel processors stand out for their low energy consumption, relatively high CPU performance for this class, and an unprecedented level of GPU performance.