AMD’s Z2 Extreme Outpaces Intel’s Lunar Lake in Gaming Benchmarks — MSI Claw 8 at 17W Gives Z2E an 8.5% Edge, Reduces to 6% at 30W

Alright, here we go. Let’s dive into this tale of chips, power, and a sprinkle of randomness.

So, picture this: the usual showdown in the handheld gaming world. You know, where power meets performance in a head-butt kind of dance. And guess what? We’ve got the usual suspects—you’ve seen them before. MSI’s Claw A8, powered by AMD’s shiny new Ryzen Z2 Extreme, squaring off against the Claw 8 AI+ with Intel’s Core Ultra 7 258V. Who names these things? Anyway, they were pushed to their limits at different power settings, with the 17-watt mark being the hot spot everybody’s talking about. And, surprise-surprise, AMD seemed to jump ahead here.

What stood out? This 17-watt range. It’s like the sweet spot for handhelds, where they gotta be fancy without draining juice like crazy. AMD has a bit of a rocky past here—old chips couldn’t stomach less than 20 watts. They were fine for laptops but fell flat on handhelds. But this was a different beast.

The Z2 Extreme is AMD’s top dog in the handheld world—eight-core, sixteen-threaded monster with some Zen 5 sauce mixed in. You got three cores for power, five for efficiency—it’s like a little army. Speeds up to 5.0 GHz, running on TSMC’s 4nm tech. Throw in a Radeon 890M-like GPU and LPDDR5X-8000 memory support, and it’s like giving your favorite handheld a power drink. Plus, the chip does its little magic with external memory. Makes sense? Maybe. Maybe not.

Intel isn’t just sitting there, twiddling its thumbs though. Their Core Ultra 7 258V also flexes muscle with a hybrid core layout and some Xe2 graphics. Built on TSMC’s N3B node—I wish I understood what that really means—it targets slightly lower power. The memory’s right there on the chip—all cozy, which makes power metrics a bit tricky. Maybe more power-hungry? Who knows.

Now, if you thought things were straightforward, think again. The Ryzen’s power doesn’t include memory consumption, unlike Intel’s setup. So, maybe AMD seems more powerful because it’s not counting its pennies, or watts, fairly. Or maybe not. Let’s shrug it off because the results are intriguing enough.

Testing? Well, they kicked off with a power-efficiency curve to see wattage performance unfold. At 10 watts, the Z2 Extreme was flying—over 20 FPS in GR Extreme benchmarks—a huge leap from the last edition. Though there’s an odd twist: weird performance dipping after hitting 30 watts, like a botched up magic trick needing some rule-fixing. They sorted it out eventually.

Real games at 1080p are where things got spicy. Both chips danced at 17 watts, and AMD pulled a sneaky lead, just slightly but enough to notice. Something about smoother gameplay with AMD too, like buttery popcorn, if that makes sense. The reviewer even had a moment of revelation, almost a confession, about underestimated mobile SoCs and AMD’s prowess. Yes, those chips can be enigmatic.

At higher power, Intel began clawing back—no pun intended—but AMD retained its lead, though slimmer. Seems AMD’s crazy power doesn’t just keep shooting after 20 watts. Intel though, it gets more mileage out of more power.

Now, about specs—geek alert! AMD’s got 3x Zen 5 P-cores plus 5x Zen 5c E-cores, with a meaty GPU. Built on TSMC 4nm. Intel? Different flavors—4x Lion Cove and 4x Skymont cores. Just how I’d imagine naming tiny soldiers in a tech war. Builds and processes differ, mixing and matching for curiosity’s sake.

Why does it all matter? It’s a turnaround story for AMD—finally giving Intel a run for its handheld money. But don’t count Intel out; at ultra-low power, they might still shine. Maybe Lunar Lake has a trick up its sleeve—pocket power-saving magic?

Yet, if you’re looking at those MSI models, Claw A8 will let you tap into AMD’s sweet GPU performance and smoother frames. In my humble opinion, maybe with a pinch more power to spare if you’re all plugged in.

Who’d have thought handhelds could bring so much drama? Anyway, that’s my chaotic take. Don’t rush off—let’s see what unfolds next in this ever-shifting gaming realm.