Has Intel made low-end GeForce laptop graphics irrelevant with ARC B390?
Intel is coming for low-end GeForce laptops with its new Panther Lake gaming chips
Low-end GeForce laptops have long been the mainstay of many PC gamers. While they aren’t high-end, they get the job done, especially if you enjoy eSports titles or older games. With its new Core Ultra 3 “Panther Lake” laptop CPUs, Intel wants to make low-end GeForce laptops irrelevant. With its ARC B390 integrated graphics, Intel’s giving GeForce a run for its money.
Compared with Nvidia’s RTX 4050 laptop GPU, Intel claims that a Core Ultra 388H gaming laptop with its ARC B390 GPU delivers 10% faster performance on average. Furthermore, Intel claims that it can do this while drawing less power, giving gamers a longer battery life. This was at 1080p high settings with upscaling enabled on supported titles.
Strong performance + a strong feature set
With its ARC B390 GPU, Intel has delivered a modern GPU with a strong feature set. It supports AI super-resolution via XeSS and up to 4x Frame Generation. This is something that no other integrated graphics solution delivers. For Nvidia’s GeForce laptop graphics, you need an RTX 50 series discrete GPU to have the same feature set.
Today, Nvidia’s RTX 4050 remains widely available in new laptops, despite the release of newer RTX 50-series laptop GPUs. With its ARC B390 mobile GPU, Intel claims to deliver smoother performance in popular games like Cyberpunk 2077. With just upscaling, Intel claims a performance lead. Once frame generation is added, Intel dominates.
Moving on to Battlefield 6, we get a similar story. Stronger performance with just upscaling at 1080p, and that lead continues with frame generation. With multi-frame generation, Intel achieves ultra-smooth framerates in Battlefield 6. That’s great news for low-spec gamers. However, it is worth noting that Battlefield 6 is an Intel sponsored game on PC.
Are integrated graphics killing off low-end discrete laptop GPUs?
Intel’s ARC B390 integrated graphics are no joke. Intel has achieved serious levels of gaming performance with its ARC B390 GPU. However, we can’t say that Intel has killed low-end discrete GeForce GPUs until we see product pricing. After all, strong performance needs to be backed up by solid pricing, especially if you want to appeal to budget-focused gamers. If low-spec GeForce laptops are cheaper, then they will remain the preferred solution. That said, if affordable laptops with Intel B-series ARC graphics are available, Intel could dominate the low-spec laptop gaming market.
Regardless, Intel has started an integrated graphics race. AMD can’t ignore this competition. Furthermore, Intel has no intention of abandoning its ARC graphics ambitions. This will create a situation in which integrated graphics erodes discrete GPU market share in the laptop market. In time, this could bring an end to the era of low-spec GeForce laptops. That said, Nvidia will likely remain dominant in the more lucrative high-end gaming laptop market.
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