Now all Intel needs is a big-name handheld to show its stuff.
Intel is an empire past its prime and is beset on all sides. Just as Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides of Dune monologued on the many futures he perceived, there is “a narrow way through” for the beleaguered chipmaker. The way forward could be with a newfound gaming focus on its next-gen chips. Its desktop CPUs may be getting a gamer-centric upgrade, but the real surprise may be how it could win out in a market it has yet to truly compete in: handheld gaming.
Handheld gaming PCs need Intel to shake things up. It’s a thought I couldn’t shake loose as soon as I saw leaked benchmark figures for the upcoming MSI Claw A8. The handheld is a sequel to the less-than-stellar MSI Claw 7 and the chunky, though incredibly powerful, MSI Claw 8 AI+. Compared to the last two Intel-based handhelds, the A8 is running on the upcoming AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme. That chip is an APU, aka an accelerated processing unit, which is a CPU that contains graphics processing capabilities. AMD first announced its flagship chip for handhelds in January this year. We have yet to get our hands on any device showcasing the chip’s capabilities in the many months since then.
AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme@17W (MSI Claw A8)
vs
Intel Core Ultra 7 258V@17W (MSI Claw 8 AI+)https://t.co/dN3oqGzzCX pic.twitter.com/JNmPJHCkjs
HXL (@9550pro) August 3, 2025
Leaked benchmarks stemming from Chinese-language social media may explain why we haven’t seen too much about AMD’s latest chip.
