AMD's Ryzen Z1 series processors have dominated the handheld gaming PC landscape, with MSI being the only manufacturer that utilizes Intel CPUs in its handheld PC. However, it appears this is changing, and more handled makers are looking into Intel CPUs — particularly future Intel chips. PC World reports that OEM service provider Weibo is looking to use Intel Lunar Lake CPUs in its first-ever handheld gaming PC. The new machine is known as the GP10 and features an 11-inch display.
The GP10 will reportedly pack high-end internals, equivalent to today's flagship handled gaming PCs like the Asus ROG Ally. Specs include a 10.95-inch 1920 x 1200 multi-touch display (206 PPI) with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Lunar Lake CPU, LPDDR5 memory with a maximum capacity of 64GB, one M.2 2280 NVMe slot supporting up to 2TB, and WiFi 6. Port selection comprises one USB Type-C, TF, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Lunar Lake is Intel's next-generation mobile CPU architecture, which is set to arrive later this year. The new architecture is reported to consume 40% less power than Meteor Lake. Originally, Lunar Lake was destined to use Intel's 18A (1.8nm-class) process node, but delays have forced Intel to switch to TSMC's 3nm-class N3B process technology as a substitute. (Yes, Intel is taking advantage of its competitor's technology to build its new chips.)
Lunar Lake will utilize a combination of Lion Cove and Skymont performance and power-efficient CPU cores, combined with an eight Xe2 core iGPU, 12MB of cache, and up to a six-tile NPU 4.0 AI accelerator rated for 45 TOPS all by itself. One of the most significant changes in Lunar Lake's design compared to Meteor Lake is the adoption of LPDDR5X embedded right on the CPU itself. This will significantly improve Lunar Lake's memory performance, power efficiency, and size since laptop manufacturers won't need bulky SODIMM slots.
These attributes make Lunar Lake a compelling alternative to AMD's Ryzen Z1 processors for building a new handheld gaming PC. Even if Lunar Lake doesn't have amazing CPU performance improvements over Meteor Lake, the power efficiency gains alone will make Lunar Lake a significantly more capable SoC for handhelds. The extra bandwidth afforded by the LPDDR5/LPDDR5X modules will also provide the integrated GPU with much more memory bandwidth compared to mainstream DDR5 memory, boosting graphics performance.
The good news is that we won't have to wait long to see more details about this new Lunar Lake-handled gaming PC. Weibu will be showing off its new GP10 device at Computex next month.
