We all know that when Intel launched its Arc G3 series, the blue chipmaker released two variations of the handheld processor: the standard Arc G3 and a G3 Extreme, the latter having launched with the MSI Claw EX 8 AI+ gaming handheld, which we’ve also reviewed, but not a word on a model with the non-Extreme model. Until now, that is.
ExcaliberPC, an online PC retailer based in the US, recently posted a listing for the Claw EX 8 AI+ running on the non-Extreme G3 processor. The differences between this version and its G3 Extreme counterpart appear to be minimal, to say the least.
At a glance, everything about the Taiwanese PC brand’s gaming handheld remains the same, sans the chipset onboard (obviously) and storage capacity being halved to 512GB. Beyond that, you’re still looking at the same 32GB LPDDR5X-8533 RAM, the same 8-inch FHD+ IPS display with 120Hz refresh rate, the same 80Whr battery, Hall Effect sticks and triggers, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports.
Revisiting the technical details of the Arc G3, the processor is obviously a slightly slower variant of the Arc G3 Extreme, but still based on Intel’s delightfully zippy Panther Lake architecture. Specifically, it still runs on the same 14-Core CPU, comprising two P-Cores, eight E-Cores, and four low-power (LP) E-Cores, with the P-Cores capable of turboing up to 4.6GHz.
Of course, the Arc G3 iGPU is a lower-tier B370 instead of the B390: it has 10 Xe3 cores instead of 12, and runs ever so slightly slower at 2.2GHz, instead of 2.3GHz. Additionally, the iGPU can hit 90 TOPS in INT8 inferencing, compared to the 113 TOPS of the B390. Oh, and it comes in a nice shade of Luminous Blue, too.
At the time of writing, ExcaliberPC lists the Claw EX 8 AI+’s availability as 30 October this year. Price-wise, preorders for the handheld is set at US$1,499 (~RM6,119). That’s US$300 (~RM1,224) less than the price of the ARC G3 Extreme version of the Claw EX 8 AI+, but honestly, that’s still really pricey for a gaming handheld. And while we would like to see how this version of the handheld performs, there is still no official word on local pricing and availability.
With regards to the last point, we’ve reached out to MSI Malaysia for details.
(Source: ExcaliberPC, Videocardz)
