Intel's Arc G3 chips are here to pick a fight with AMD's Ryzen Z2

Rising component costs may have slowed the market for handheld gaming PCs (or gaming PCs in general), but that’s not stopping Intel from delivering on its promise. Just as the company said last year it would, and then reiterated at CES 2026, it’s now launching a new lineup of mobile processors specifically for Windows 11-based gaming handhelds. Ahead of Computex 2026, Intel has announced the new Intel Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme processors that take on AMD’s Ryzen Z-series.

The new Arc G3 series is based on Intel’s Panther Lake, the codename for the Core Ultra 300 series, built on the company’s 18A fabrication node. However, Intel says these are specifically designed for handhelds, in “close collaboration with hardware manufacturers,” to ensure gaming performance comparable to that of gaming PCs.

The Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme come with a 14-core CPU design, with two P (performance), eight E (efficiency), and four LP E (low-power efficiency) cores. While the G3 offers a peak frequency of 4.6GHz, the Extreme goes a bit higher at 4.7GHz. Both chips also support up to 96GB of LPDDR5X memory for the handful of lucky folks who can afford that without selling their parents’ house.

Adding to the visual performance is the iGPU based on Intel’s Intel Xe3 architecture (marketed as Arc B390 graphics). The GPU also supports XeSS, Intel’s name for AI-based graphics upscaling.

For connectivity, the Arc G3 gets Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Additionally, the chips support Thunderbolt 4, which should allow users to connect eGPUs for even better performance when devices are docked.

Among the first to use Intel’s Arc G3 chips is Acer, which is announcing the Predator Atlas 8 handheld, with two variants featuring both chips.

This won’t be the first time Intel chips would be deployed inside handheld PCs. We’ve seen the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+ handhelds featuring Core Ultra 7 with older Lunar Lake architecture. Along with Acer, MSI is also expanding its lineup with the Claw 8 EX, which packs the new Arc G3 chips. ONEXPLAYER 3 also joins the league. These devices are expected to hit shelves no earlier than June 2026.