Intel and AMD Trade Blows Over Panther Lake
Intel’s new Panther Lake chips are shaping up to be one of the most important launches the company has had in years, especially for gamers and handheld PC fans. After the lukewarm reception of Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake, and the controversy around Raptor Lake instability, Intel is clearly banking hard on Panther Lake and its cutting edge 18A manufacturing process.
Panther Lake officially debuted at CES and it did not take long for the rivalry with AMD to heat up. Both companies are firing shots over performance claims, process technology and who really has the best silicon for gaming.
On the AMD side, Rahul Tikoo, SVP and GM of the Client Product Group, has been very direct. He claims that AMD’s upcoming Strix Halo, also branded as Ryzen AI Max in some segments, will simply outclass Panther Lake in graphics performance. In his words, it is “not even a fair fight” and gamers who care about performance will aim for dedicated gaming focused chips anyway.
Part of AMD’s criticism is that Intel’s benchmark comparisons for Panther Lake have not been against AMD’s strongest parts. Tikoo points out that Intel has been pitting its highest tier Panther Lake chips against midrange and older Ryzen models rather than against AMD’s best current or upcoming hardware.
Panther Lake Performance Claims and Process Advantage
Intel’s own numbers for Panther Lake are impressive on paper, especially for integrated graphics gaming. The company is reporting up to 77 percent faster gaming performance compared to its previous Lunar Lake chips. That is notable given that Lunar Lake already delivered surprisingly good results for thin laptops and handheld PCs.
Intel also claims big leads over AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 when you look at specific GPU tests. According to Intel, Panther Lake can deliver around an 82 percent uplift in native rendering performance and about 73 percent with 2x upscaling enabled. Those are the kinds of gains that would seriously shake up integrated graphics if they hold up in independent testing.
However, AMD is skeptical and points toward pricing as the catch. Tikoo suggests that when the final price tags land, Panther Lake’s top models will not look as competitive as the benchmarks might suggest. To be fair, AMD’s own highest end chips are not exactly budget friendly either, especially the big Strix Halo dies targeting premium gaming devices and creator laptops.
One area where Intel clearly feels confident is process technology. Panther Lake is built on Intel’s 18A node with gate all around transistors and backside power delivery. That is a cutting edge design intended to offer better power efficiency and performance scaling. On the other side, AMD’s upcoming Gorgon Point AI 400 series, along with Strix Halo and Strix Point, are still using TSMC’s N4 node, which is an enhanced version of its older N5 FinFET process.
Intel’s argument is that it is shipping brand new architectures on a leading edge node, while AMD is largely refreshing existing designs. Gorgon Point is essentially a refined Strix Point with better power management rather than a ground up redesign, and all of these chips still rely on the RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture.
Outdated Silicon, Confusing Names and the Handheld War
The back and forth is not just about raw performance. Naming schemes and product positioning are also in the spotlight, especially in the rapidly growing market for PC gaming handhelds.
AMD’s mobile and handheld lineup is a good example of how confusing things have become. There are multiple chips with “Z2” branding that actually use very different technology.
- The Ryzen Z2 A is based on older 7 nanometer silicon with Zen 2 CPU cores and RDNA 2 graphics. It is clearly outdated for modern handheld expectations.
- The Ryzen Z2 Go moves up to a Rembrandt design with Zen 3 plus CPU cores and 12 RDNA 2 compute units. It is more powerful but still built on older architecture.
- The standard Ryzen Z2 finally brings modern tech, with Zen 5 CPU cores and an RDNA 3.5 GPU setup, making it far more capable for today’s games.
- The Ryzen Z2 Extreme pushes even further, standing out as one of the strongest mobile gaming chips on the market right now.
The problem is that from a name alone, it is hard for buyers to tell which Z2 is which. In some cases, the weakest chip in the family only launched last year, yet it can be slower than older generation hardware that carries a different label. That kind of confusion can mislead gamers who just look at branding rather than deep specs.
Intel is not entirely innocent either. Over the past few years it has done its own series of refreshes and rebrands. Raptor Lake saw multiple refresh waves that bled into the Core Series 2 lineup. There is also the awkward split between Core Series 2 and Core Ultra Series 2, which actually refers to different underlying architectures such as Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake. Given that history, Intel’s criticism of AMD for using old silicon has a hint of hypocrisy.
Still, Intel is now attempting to tighten up its naming schemes and present a cleaner generational story, while also calling attention to AMD’s reliance on refreshed designs. It feels like a clear play to win back enthusiasts and handheld makers who might have shifted toward AMD in recent years.
For players, the real winner of this spat might be the market itself. A fired up Intel going head to head with a confident AMD means faster innovation in integrated graphics, better efficiency and hopefully more powerful and affordable handheld gaming PCs. Devices like the Asus ROG Ally X and other upcoming handhelds will benefit from stronger chips on both sides.
If Intel’s Panther Lake delivers on its claimed performance gains in real world gaming and keeps power in check, it could seriously challenge AMD’s current lead in handhelds and thin gaming laptops. If AMD’s Strix Halo and Z2 Extreme continue to dominate graphics heavy workloads, Intel will have to fight even harder.
Either way, the next generation of portable PC gaming is going to be far more interesting. When Panther Lake finally shows up in a compact handheld, we will see whether Intel’s big bet on 18A and new GPU architecture can really take the crown from AMD’s RDNA powered rivals.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/amd-claims-intels-ces-comparisons-are-not-even-a-fair-fight-intel-says-amd-is-selling-ancient-silicon-but-theyre-both-guilty-of-using-confusing-tactics/
