Intel Core Ultra X9 388H chip crushes AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, Core Ultra 9 285H in latest Passmark appearance

[Redaktion]

As revealed by recent Passmark listings, the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H "Panther Lake" CPU appears to maintain a 10% lead over its predecessor in multithreaded tests, despite trading two P-cores for E-cores. The chip also maintained its lead over the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, which also debuted at CES 2026.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-Ultra-X9-388H-chip-crushes-AMD-Ryzen-AI-9-HX-370-Core-Ultra-9-285H-in-latest-Passmark-appearance.1210727.0.html

[Kei]

Please fix the title; it's Ryzen AI HX 470 not 370.

Well, Intel's Core Ultra X9 388H is definitely promising; it would be the only APU to actually deliver entry-level gaming performance (RTX 4050 level) since this chip will be equipped in high-end/premium slim/thin laptops. These laptops almost always have high-resolution displays. AMD's Radeon 890m iGPU of Ryzen's 370/470 failed to fit in this formula since it delivers playable fps only on 1080p-screen laptops, which is not the suitable case as mentioned above. That's why Intel will have a better advantage in this segment. However, I'm concerned about the pricing of laptops equipped with Intel's X9 388H chip; if they cost more than last year's releases, it would be almost a niche thing, since for higher pricing, going with a discrete GPU would always be a better choice.

[Sambit Saha]

Oops, my bad!

I agree. I do believe this chip will be a great fit for mini PCs... could really benefit from some fresh competition in a space AMD has largely dominated.

Please fix the title; it's Ryzen AI HX 470 not 370.

Well, Intel's Core Ultra X9 388H is definitely promising; it would be the only APU to actually deliver entry-level gaming performance (RTX 4050 level) since this chip will be equipped in high-end/premium slim/thin laptops. These laptops almost always have high-resolution displays. AMD's Radeon 890m iGPU of Ryzen's 370/470 failed to fit in this formula since it delivers playable fps only on 1080p-screen laptops, which is not the suitable case as mentioned above. That's why Intel will have a better advantage in this segment. However, I'm concerned about the pricing of laptops equipped with Intel's X9 388H chip; if they cost more than last year's releases, it would be almost a niche thing, since for higher pricing, going with a discrete GPU would always be a better choice.

[Worthless]

Passmark is a worthless benchmark.

Intel's Core Ultra X9 388H is definitely promising

Unfortunately, I think it'll be short-lived now that N1X is going to be announced officially in a few months. Proper Nvidia drivers with RTX 5070 performance in an APU. Why would anyone get this anymore?

[M2026]

@Worthless
"Why would anyone get this anymore?"
Maybe it is a shock for you, but "some" people even work.

[not a fair comparison?]

The N1X APU looks to have a 256-bit wide memory interface?

388H looks to be 128-bit wide.

Twice the memory bandwidth means the N1X is going to be approx twice as fast, and the probability that the N1X is going to support twice the memory (128 GB RAM) is also higher.

[jdrch]

The best thing about Intel laptops is not having to deal with the shitty Mediatek NICs AMD laptops ship with.

[Worthless]

yeah, the smaller N1 would likely be more comparable to it. But afaik, the specs of this haven't been confirmed yet. When I mean, N1X I mean any and all versions of it, including the smaller N1.

The best thing about Intel laptops CPUs is not having to deal with the shitty Mediatek NICs AMD laptops ship with.

Oh f*** me. I almost forgot about this. Considering this is a collab with Nvidia-mediatek (I believe?) it's likely going to have same mediatek NIC :(

[jdrch]

yeah, the smaller N1 would likely be more comparable to it. But afaik, the specs of this haven't been confirmed yet. When I mean, N1X I mean any and all versions of it, including the smaller N1.

The best thing about Intel laptops CPUs is not having to deal with the shitty Mediatek NICs AMD laptops ship with.

Oh f*** me. I almost forgot about this. Considering this is a collab with Nvidia-mediatek (I believe?) it's likely going to have same mediatek NIC :(

Did Qualcomm stop making laptop NICs?

[Worthless]

I believe they still do. But why would they license or give them to other companies? Especially their direct competition (Nvidia), which are literally their enemy.

It's kinda like how we see no amd laptop with intel NICs. The few rare times we see it it's usually from some small boutique manufacturer (e.g. minisforum or something) doing it. I'm guessing that when or if amd approached intel for their NICs either, intel either would say no or given unfavourable terms like charge substantially for it making it unfavourable.

This is all wild speculation on my part. All this stuff happens under NDAs, I have no real evidence, so just my 2 cents but that could possibly be the underlying reason.

There's still broadcom, which is used in MBPs. They could possibly use that maybe still.

Worse case scenario, even if Nvidia really do go mediatek.. I hope they write their own wireless drivers for it. The past Tegra's had great linux support so maybe it could be done.

If all fails as a last resort, and wlan chip is soldered un-upgradeable, I guess I would just either use an external wireless usb adaptor or wired ethernet..