Intel Core Ultra 200V guide: Lunar Lake specs and release date

Intel has formally simply launched a brand new vary of chips for gaming handhelds and thin-and-light gaming laptops, proudly claiming that it now has the “quickest built-in GPU” for these merchandise. Previously codenamed Lunar Lake, the brand new lineup of Intel Core Extremely 200V chips combine CPU cores, as much as 32GB of RAM, and a brand new Intel Arc Xe2 Battlemage into one package deal, that means there’s no must for producers to make room for reminiscence modules and separate CPU and GPU chips.

The brand new Intel chips had been unveiled on the IFA present in Berlin, and the corporate says that over 80 machines are already lined up to make use of the brand new Core Extremely 200V chips, from over 20 totally different producers. These not solely embody new contenders for the most effective gaming laptop computer within the skinny and lightweight class, however the brand new MSI Claw 8 AI+ may also be taking a shot at the most effective handheld gaming PC with one of many new chips too.

After all, Intel is making an enormous deal concerning the AI capabilities of those new chips, as all of them have an built-in neural processing unit (NPU), however the Core Extremely 200V vary additionally seems to be set to supply first rate gaming efficiency. The truth is, Intel is making daring claims concerning the new built-in GPU, saying it’s not solely considerably quicker than the Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite X1E-84-100, however that it additionally beats the brand new AMD Ryzen 9 HX 370, with its built-in Radeon 890M GPU.

Intel Arc 140V GPU

The Lunar Lake GPU is the primary outing for Intel’s new Battlemage Xe2 structure, and on this case it comes with eight Xe 2 cores, that are the massive over-arching constructing blocks of Intel’s GPUs, a bit like Nvidia’s Streaming Multiprocessors and AMD’s compute items. Every Xe2 code incorporates eight of Intel’s vector items and eight of its XMX matrix cores too. The latter are for AI calculations, a bit like Nvidia’s Tensor cores, for accelerating Intel’s XeSS upscaling tech to enhance body charges. There are additionally eight {hardware} ray tracing cores within the GPU.

Throughout the launch at IFA, Jim Johnson, Intel’s senior vp and basic supervisor of the Shopper Enterprise Group, claimed that “the typical efficiency elevate of every core is about 30%,” when in comparison with Intel’s previous-gen Meteor Lake GPU, which is used within the MSI Claw handheld. Nevertheless, he additionally added that “in lots of video games, for instance, Cyberpunk, Spider-Man, Hogwarts Legacy, we’re seeing efficiency enhancements of as much as 50%. The crowning achievement of Xe2 is straightforward – it’s the quickest built-in GPU within the business.”

To again up this level, Johnson claimed that Intel had examined almost 50 video games on the Core Extremely 200V GPU, and in contrast it to the efficiency of the AMD Ryzen 9 AI HX 370 and Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite X1E-84-100. On common, Johnson claimed that the Lunar Lake GPU was over 68% quicker than the Qualcomm chip, and 16% quicker than the AMD chip. He additionally identified that 23 of the check video games additionally wouldn’t even run on the Qualcomm chip, because it makes use of the Arm structure.

Testing at 1080p, Johnson claims the Core Extremely 200V’s Arc 140V GPU can run Diablo 4 at a median of 66fps, in comparison with 39fps on the Qualcomm chip, and it may possibly additionally run Doom Everlasting at 71fps and Cyberpunk 2077 at 39fps. Intel additionally says the brand new chips are far more power-efficient than the competitors relating to gaming, with Johnson demonstrating the three above chips operating Dota 2.

On this specific check, there’s lower than a 10fps distinction between the efficiency of all three chips, and the efficiency goes forwards and backwards, however the Intel Core Extremely 200V chip notably solely consumes 29.1W within the screenshot beneath, in contrast with 42W for the AMD chip, and 58.8W for the Qualcomm chip. If these numbers stand as much as scrutiny, we might genuinely be taking a look at first rate gaming efficiency on a thin-and-light laptop computer or gaming handheld, in addition to first rate battery life.

After all, the massive query right here is compatibility and driver help, on condition that we skilled a number of points in our Intel Arc A770 evaluation, and the MSI Claw was stricken by issues when it was first launched. Johnson addressed this to a sure extent, saying “gaming is extra than simply efficiency. Our funding in drivers and day zero recreation compatibility are an enormous a part of the expertise for our clients.”

Intel Core Extremely 200V CPU

The opposite huge a part of the equation is, in fact, the CPU, and Intel is making some daring claims right here too. All of the CPUs within the new Core Extremely 200V lineup have the identical core configuration, with 4 P-Cores for efficiency and 4 low-power (LP) E-Cores to select up additional threads within the workload with out driving up the facility draw.

The brand new P-Cores use the identical core structure because the Intel Arrow Lake desktop CPUs which can be anticipated to reach by the tip of 2024. Intel says that these performance-focused cores are, on common, 14% quicker than the equal cores in Intel’s present Meteor Lake laptop computer CPU structure. Based mostly on Intel’s new Lion Cove core, Intel says the brand new P-Cores enhance the directions per clock (IPC) by 14% in comparison with Intel’s present skinny and lightweight laptop computer chips, and ups the efficiency per Watt by 15%.

The larger deal, nevertheless, is the E-Cores. Johnson says Lunar Lakes “E-Cores ship virtually double the efficiency” of the equal cores in Intel’s Meteor Lake CPUs. Keep in mind that we’re speaking about LP E-Cores right here, quite than the higher-power E-Cores present in Intel’s desktop chips, however that’s nonetheless probably an enormous generational enchancment.

Intel says it’s elevated the directions per clock (IPC) of those LP E-Cores by over 68% in comparison with its present laptop computer chips, and once more makes huge claims concerning the energy effectivity. Lunar Lake is “ probably the most environment friendly household of x86 processors ever,” says Intel, saying that the facility draw of the general package deal is as much as 50% decrease than that of the present Core Extremely 7 165HG.

Intel Lunar Lake Specs

These are the Intel Core Extremely 200V specs:

Intel Lunar Lake launch date

The Intel Core Extremely 200V launch date is Tuesday, September 24, 2024, with pre-orders for gadgets ranging from September 3, 2024.

After all, we solely have Intel’s claims in the intervening time, and the proof will probably be within the pudding. We’ll have to attend till we’ve got one of many new Core Ultras 200V laptops in our palms for benchmarking, in addition to the MSI Claw 8 AI+, to see whether or not Intel’s new Core Extremely 200V can actually ship on its promise. Within the meantime, take a look at our information to the most effective skinny and lightweight gaming laptops, if you happen to’re searching for a super-portable machine proper now.