QuoteBut here, the article is about the X9 388H, not the less powerful variants that have a very weak iGPU. They used the ZenBook Duo UX8407 for tests with the X9 388H.

All 3 (as of this posting) Arc B390 iGPUs are about equally fast (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panther_Lake_(microprocessor)#Panther_Lake). The Duo just makes getting a Arc B390 APU quite a bit more expensive. Also, the title is "Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra X9 388H performance analysis - Outpaces Arrow Lake and exceeds Zen 5 in efficiency" and nothing with Duo in it. Doesn't matter what they used, all B390 will be about equally fast. So, again, the cheapest B390 will be 1300 + taxes AFAIHaveSeen. The 32 GB soldered RAM, even if it's 9600 MT/s, is a downer tho, so I'm only interested if it's like no more than 700 bucks..maybe in 2-3-4 years it will be like that, used. The cheapest (used) RTX 4060 laptop (not 4050 laptop, so it's faster than the Arc B390), can be get for 700 bucks.. But an iGPU-only laptop may be lighter than a 4050 laptop.

QuotePanther Lake combines hybrid CPU cores [..]

Not sure on what [Intel] node the predecessor CPU part is made on, but Panther Lake has not improved on the CPU front, if I saw it correctly, at least not in power efficiency, but it's fine, for me the iGPU performance matters much more and here Panther Lake delivered, but price is the elephant in the room.

Quote from: ye on February 01, 2026, 21:14:07

Quote(we're talking CPU here as the iGPU is produced by TSMC) versus the Ryzen that still uses an old 4nm process.

According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panther_Lake_(microprocessor), Panther Lake is using TSMC N3E and it may not the best available node, this may go to N3P (Apple is supposedly using it for its M5 series chips). (currently best available is prob TSMC 2N, but of course, everyone would be surprised if it was used for Panther Lake)

Panther Lake combines hybrid CPU cores manufactured using Intel's in-house 18A process with integrated graphics based on the Arc Xe3 architecture. However, it's important to note that some models, particularly the 12-core iGPUs, continue to rely on TSMC manufacturing for the GPU, utilizing the N3E process.

Moreover, both Strix Halo and Strix Point CPU and iGPU are produced with TSMC's N4P fabrication process.

This raises significant concerns. As I have mentioned, Intel utilized the best resources they have for the CPU, the 18A node about which they've been telling "stories" for years and which has often felt like unobtanium (because it wasn't functioning, and in reality, it's still not ready even now after years, as it still has very low yields). For the iGPU, they opted for the most recent manufacturing process available at TSMC (excluding those that are already fully booked). Yet, the results are what we see today.

I want to emphasize that this CPU family was launched now, not a year ago. It was supposed to be competitive in future perspective. More advanced fabrication processes should enable greater performance if the chip design is good. However, it seems that the best they could achieve is only this. For me, this is a disappointing outcome.

Quote from: ye on February 01, 2026, 20:47:35The same iGPU in the flagship Core Ultra X9 388H at 35W and above is even beaten by itself when paired with the smaller 358H. The 358H with exactly the same iGPU is faster.

QuoteIf it's true, it's a pro-B390 point.

For me, it means that the B390 requires significantly more watts to function optimally. When paired with a more powerful CPU that consumes additional watts, the CPU and iGPU struggle to share the power. In my opinion, this indicates that, in order to showcase low power consumption for the 388H, Intel set a limit on the maximum power, which is too low as the main goal was to demonstrate an efficiency that is not actually the story they want to sell us. In fact, the updated benchmarks reveal that the reality is quite different, as added later.

Quote from: ye on February 01, 2026, 20:47:35For these reasons a laptop that uses them costs about $2,600

QuoteI think the cheapest B390 APU-only laptop so far is roughly 1300 + taxes? (which is too much, if you ask me)
Indeed, in the end, the price to performance will decide. Cheapest 4050 laptop is like 700-800 bucks.

But here, the article is about the X9 388H, not the less powerful variants that have a very weak iGPU. They used the ZenBook Duo UX8407 for tests with the X9 388H. According to the article on this website, 'In Germany, the new ZenBook Duo UX8407 can be pre-ordered from Asus for an RRP of 2,599 euros (approximately $3,080 based on late January 2026 exchange rates). Deliveries commence on February 18.'

This means the price is even worse for the X9 388H, not around $2,500, but closer to $3,100.

Prices aren't relevent when nothing is going to be available for another 5 months.

strix halo is in approximately 0 consumer laptops. (Z13 is a tablet, zbook ultra g1a is business)

I dislike Asus so the tuf A14 does not an option for me at all. The first real halo laptop for me will be in the upcoming Lenovo legion, but afaik, that's not launching for at least another 8 months.

So both are pretty much paper launches as far as I'm concerned.

What people see in retail shops in the streets is LNL, ARL-H/HX and KRK.

Also, it's difficult to compare nodes when the numbers are all marketing and they're all so highly specialised. 18A seems better than 4nm but by how much we don't really. Could be more like a 3.5nm or 3nm or 2.5nm..which is why I try to avoid the nm discussion entirely.

Quote(we're talking CPU here as the iGPU is produced by TSMC) versus the Ryzen that still uses an old 4nm process.

According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panther_Lake_(microprocessor), Panther Lake is using TSMC N3E and it may not the best available node, this may go to N3P (Apple is supposedly using it for its M5 series chips). (currently best available is prob TSMC 2N, but of course, everyone would be surprised if it was used for Panther Lake)

Quoteand perhaps update or remove the outdated comparative charts that are still present, for example in this one.

(the rest of the text seems mostly about the price, which is fair enough (you say 2500 is too much? I say 1300 is still too much)) Which ones?

Quote from: ChaliEx on February 01, 2026, 18:33:30So you buy a flagship that costs over $2,500 and then always run it at only 15W?

Everything is overpriced atm. Even amd handhelds, costing $1500 for z2 Extreme. So it's reasonable to expect these to atleast be as much. 2.5k is for the very niche dual screen notebooks, those have always been very premium even before ram shortage.

Running something at 110w? You're far better doing so in SFF pc, if you need something higher wattage with _sustained_ performance but still portable.

Quote from: ChaliEx on February 01, 2026, 18:33:30MFG?

MFG is personally not useful to me as someone only interested in online multiplayer but I could see it being usable for someone who plays slower paced single player cinematic story games.

Quote from: ChaliEx on February 01, 2026, 18:33:30Seriously, just take your smartphone or a large tablet to play some Android games, it's faster and saves you over $2,500 for nothing.

The biggest issue here is no portable arm device comes with a proper desktop class GPU (most of the arm igpu's come with terrible drivers). The closest thing to this for me would be exynos 2600 w/ Xclipse 960 (based on rdna4) but I hate Samsung. The next closest thing would be n1x but it's not out yet.

QuoteThe same iGPU in the flagship Core Ultra X9 388H at 35W and above is even beaten by itself when paired with the smaller 358H. The 358H with exactly the same iGPU is faster.

If it's true, it's a pro-B390 point.

QuoteFor these reasons a laptop that uses them costs about $2,600,

I think the cheapest B390 APU-only laptop so far is roughly 1300 + taxes? (which is too much, if you ask me)
Indeed, in the end, the price to performance will decide. Cheapest 4050 laptop is like 700-800 bucks.

(text after that I'm gonna read later)

Update 3: Ryzen AI CPUs are still better. After more testing we've established that, up until now, we'd been talking nonsense, but we had to write something positive about Panther Lake, with some nice misleading headlines. We were in a hurry after all, Panther Lake was a "surprise" (it had only "just" been announced and delayed for ages), so we didn't have time to properly check what we were writing. Besides, the Ryzen chips had been on the market for a year and everyone had already tested them at very low voltages, but we forgot to do the same properly.

Summary:

• The smaller Core Ultra X7 358H at lower power limits is beaten by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.
• The flagship Core Ultra X9 388H at 28W and above is beaten by the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395. At 20W the scores are 794 vs 717. lol
• The same iGPU in the flagship Core Ultra X9 388H at 35W and above is even beaten by itself when paired with the smaller 358H. The 358H with exactly the same iGPU is faster.

And for this "miracle" Intel used the best manufacturing process it had available, the much-hyped 18A with all the "amazing" improvements we've been nagged about for years (we're talking CPU here as the iGPU is produced by TSMC) versus the Ryzen that still uses an old 4nm process. Good luck next round as AMD has already started producing server Venice at 2nm, when desktop and mobile Zen 6 will also arrive.
Intel also forces manufacturers to use only LPDDR5X-9600 (1600 faster than LPDDR5X-8000 of Ryzen) for the fastest models as this 388H.
Manufacturers had to redesign laptops from scratch because, as usual, Intel keeps changing the platform.
Production costs for these Panther Lake CPUs are huge because yields are poor. For these reasons a laptop that uses them costs about $2,600, even more than one with the Ryzen 395+.

And this is the final result?

Oh, and the iGPU...it's awful. It loses by a "hair" to the 8060S...is "only" 40% slower. lol

Yes, but this Panther Lake flagship 388H can be somewhat competitive when used at 15...10...5...1W.
So you buy a flagship that costs over $2,500 and then always run it at only 15W? Or leave it idle for hours?
It's a laptop, you need it to turn on and be usable, not a desktop that can sit idle for hours. Don't you have a better, cheaper option if you only need something for browsing or light use?
For the iGPU it's even worse as at that power it will always be under 30 FPS, so games are unplayable. It's useless. MFG? No, please not again. I beg you, let's not start explaining why that isn't a solution. It has already been explained extensively why it solves nothing, so don't make us go through this stupidity again.
Seriously, rather than accepting these unusable FPS from B390, just take your smartphone or a large tablet to play some android games, it's faster and saves you over $2,500 for nothing.

Maybe, besides inserting updates here and there across the Panther Lake articles it would also be useful to modify also the headlines accordingly (not just this article but the others too), and perhaps update or remove the outdated comparative charts that are still present, for example in this one.

QuoteWe start with the single-core performance, and here the new Panther Lake processor is only just ahead of its predecessors.

CPU seems unchanged vs the predecessor. So for next gen in 2027, Intel needs to improve their CPU side of things, maybe single-core especially, as even Snapdragon X Elite and Plus have a higher Points per Watt power efficiency.

@opckieran
,,What the heck are you talking about?? "Wiping my a**" has literally everything to do with sewer and sanitization..."
I never had a high opinion of the "geniuses" who voted for Bush jr. or now Trump, but you are unique even among them, because even an imbecile (IQ ca 30-50) would understand that simple sarcastic remark...

So, for the Trump "geniuses" - my remark that you can't even wipe your a** in the USA without foreigners means, that without those foreigners the USA would COLLAPSE, you "genius", because a significant part of the lousy jobs no American wants to do, you "genius", those are very often the worst jobs and of course, poorly paid ones, you "Trump-type genius".
That is one pillar of the US economy - the use of cheap labor of foreigners/from abroad.

The second, much more important, is printing worthless green paper, the production of which costs 1-2 cents per piece, but has a face "value" 100 (USD), which you then export to the whole world and the world gives you REAL VALUES for that paper - that is a 5000-10 000-fold appreciation of the green paper. Drug dealers can only dream about that, and this is exactly what the prosperity of the US is based on - these 2 pillars.

When it comes to foreigners and the worst jobs, it often changes after 1-2 generations, because those foreigners very often do not suffer from intellectual deficits (which is not your case), which is why they manage to get high on the social ladder.
Just look at the people who work and often even manage, for example, Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Google or other companies, because being born in the USA is not a qualification, you also need to have something in your head and you "geniuses" cannot understand that and the only thing you know is whining and blaming others for your own incompetence and you are clear proof of that...

Without foreigners, exporting green paper to the whole world, and patents from Britain (for free) and the Nazis (stolen) you would still be producing that old Nazi's car - the Ford T!
That's why you should kiss foreigners' asses, not insult them, you retard...sorry, "genius".

Quote from: Citizen_not_Consumer on January 28, 2026, 17:32:10But X9 388H needs 61.4 watts when playing games, so no, 22 watts is not what matters.

You do realize 65 watts is the absolute max this chip can draw right?

It draws 60+ watt when running Prime95+Furmark combined.

Obviously, that 61.4 watts is running on max profile and likely when connected to charger. (Although author could make it a bit more clear here)

But just like strix halo can get much of its performance at 55w and even scales well to down to 35w from its max 120w. So too can panther lake. It does not need the full wattage to perform well:

notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/webp/Notebooks/Asus/ExpertBook_Ultra_B9406CAA/stresscyberbala-png-q82-w2560-h.webp

This from running Cyberpunk stress test on balanced profile. You see here, 25w.

Quote from: well on January 28, 2026, 10:03:09

Quote from: M2026 on January 27, 2026, 20:36:50@all the stupid Mr. Bullyist and other "geniuses":

According to ThePhawx YT video, here are the numbers:

CPU/TDP        10W    15W    20W    28W    30W    35W    40W    45W
AI MAX 390    370    587    645    840    910    1005    1080    1140
AI MAX+ 395    510    674    796    1020    1075    1155    1228    1379
X9 388H        560    691    796    940    975    1025    1078    1120

So, the X9 388H is better than the 395 only up to ca 22W and better than the 390 only up to ca 38W. That is it...

But isn't this power envelope is what matters for reasonable lightweight and portable laptops.

But X9 388H needs 61.4 watts when playing games, so no, 22 watts is not what matters. At 61.4 395 Halo leaves it in the dust: notebookcheck.net/Asus-ExpertBook-Ultra-review-One-helluva-debut-for-Intel-Panther-Lake-X7.1209366.0.html#c15434979

Quote from: M2026 on January 27, 2026, 20:36:50@all the stupid trumpist and other "geniuses":

According to ThePhawx YT video, here are the numbers:

CPU/TDP        10W    15W    20W    28W    30W    35W    40W    45W
AI MAX 390    370    587    645    840    910    1005    1080    1140
AI MAX+ 395    510    674    796    1020    1075    1155    1228    1379
X9 388H        560    691    796    940    975    1025    1078    1120

So, the X9 388H is better than the 395 only up to ca 22W and better than the 390 only up to ca 38W. That is it...

But isn't this power envelope is what matters for reasonable lightweight and portable laptops.

Ok, but just speak of US citizens.

Quote from: M2026 on January 27, 2026, 21:09:18@opckieran
,,Nobody said anything about Intel falling because of foreigners."
Of course not, but I thought (naively) that you can get the point – it was about whether foreigners are responsible for "everything bad" in the USA – including Intel's results...
You didn't get it, but that's okay...


,,And if you want to talk about being able to wipe your a**, the non-western world has a much bigger problem with that. Public sewer/sanitation doesn't even exist as a concept to many of them!"
That wasn't about sewer/sanitation at all. loool

To make you understand, I tried to point out that people who are bothered by foreigners would be completely done without them - figuratively speaking, "you can't even wipe your ... without them"...

PS: who do you think is a "true American"? You? Then you must be a native American whose origins date back to before 1492!
(as a "true American" I hope you at least know why I mentioned 1492 :)))

What the heck are you talking about?? "Wiping my a**" has literally everything to do with sewer and sanitization loool unless you're gross and just drop it wherever (again, far more common outsite the West).


And since clearly facts are a real challenge for you:

An American is someone who is a descendent of the Anglo/Western European settlers who eventually founded and constituted the internationally diplomatically recognized power known as the United States of America (Hence, "American"). It does not pertain to any peoples of any other groups or nations which may have been here beforehand; those people did not even refer to themselves as Americans! They had their own cultures and customs. So, implying them to be "true Americans" is just an inaccurate, cope thing to do. Typical of TDS.

Please tell me you didn't pay too much for your Learing Center Diploma 🤣🤣🤣