Intel Core Ultra 300 – new processors have up to 77% gaming performance boost

At CES 2026, Intel officially introduced the Core Ultra Series 3 processors, also known under the code name Panther Lake. According to the manufacturer, this is the first platform for AI-PCs, created using the Intel 18A process technology. The development and production of the chips were carried out directly in the United States.

Intel sees the Core Ultra Series 3 as a broad mobile line. According to the company, its partners are preparing more than 200 laptop models based on the new processors. At the same time, the chips themselves have already been tested and certified for use in embedded systems and scenarios for local data processing. This includes applications in robotics, smart city infrastructure, automated systems and medical equipment, where support for extended temperature regimes and 24×7 operation is important.

According to Jim Johnson, Intel vice president and head of the Client Computing Group, when developing the Core Ultra Series 3, the main emphasis was placed on improving energy efficiency, increasing the computing power of the central cores, increasing the capabilities of the integrated graphics, developing blocks for artificial intelligence tasks, and maintaining full compatibility with existing x86-.

Intel Core Ultra X9 and X7

In the upper segment of the line, Intel is launching Core Ultra X9 and X7 class processors. These solutions combine integrated Intel Arc graphics on the Xe3 architecture with an expanded configuration of computing and AI blocks. Depending on the model, the chips can be equipped with up to 16 CPU cores, up to 12 Xe graphics cores, and a neural processor with a performance of up to 50 TOPS. Intel is targeting these processors at gaming laptops, content creation, and heavy multitasking in mobile systems.

For its flagship Core Ultra X9 388H processor, the company claims a significant increase over the previous generation of Lunar Lake. This includes a significant increase in multi-threaded performance when comparing power consumption, a noticeable increase in gaming performance, and a long battery life, which, according to Intel, reaches up to 27 hours in the reference configuration of a Lenovo laptop.

Names of new Intel processors

Along with the announcement of the new chips, Intel announced an update to its processor naming scheme. The Core Ultra brand is retained as a designation for the premium segment, while Intel Core models based on the same architecture will be used in more affordable laptops. A clear division is made between the X-series and models without this index, as well as between solutions with and without the suffix H. H-series processors are designed for higher thermal packages and can operate at power consumption levels of up to 65 and even 80 W, while other versions are limited to 55 W.

Intel pays special attention to the capabilities of Panther Lake in local data processing and artificial intelligence tasks. According to the company’s internal measurements, the new processors demonstrate a noticeable increase in performance compared to the NVIDIA Jetson Orin AGX 64GB platform. In particular, a higher speed of large language models with a first-token delay, better efficiency per watt and dollar in video analytics tasks, as well as a significantly higher throughput in tests of vision language action models are noted.

As for the release dates, pre-orders for the first consumer laptops with Core Ultra Series 3 processors will begin on January 6, 2026. Full global sales are scheduled for January 27, 2026, with new laptop models arriving in the first half of the year. Panther Lake-based local computing systems are expected in the second quarter of 2026.