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Intel has made a significant stride in the iGPU space with its latest Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" laptops. The introduction of the Arc iGPUs, codenamed "Xe-LPG," has brought Intel back into the competition against AMD's RDNA 3 iGPU offerings.

Previously, Intel had fallen behind AMD in the integrated graphics market as AMD's Vega iGPU family gained prominence. With the introduction of RDNA, AMD expanded its reach into top-notch graphics performance for Mini PCs and handheld devices. In contrast, Intel's Iris Xe solutions had been lacking in the graphics department. However, all that has changed with the arrival of the Arc iGPUs in the Core Ultra lineup.

The Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" CPUs are equipped with three configurations of Arc Alchemist iGPUs. These configurations include 8 Xe-Cores, 7 Xe-Cores, and 4 Xe-Cores. These iGPUs can boost up to 2350 MHz (Core Ultra 9 185H) and deliver impressive performance scaling when paired with higher bandwidth memory such as LPDDR5X. Supporting DX12 Ultimate, XeSS (DP4a), and AV1, these iGPUs are crucial components of Intel's latest processors.

Gaming benchmarks conducted by Golden Pig Upgrade (Bilibili) indicate that both Intel's Arc iGPUs and AMD's RDNA 3 iGPUs are highly competitive against each other. In low 1080p resolution tests, the top configurations of both iGPUs secured an equal split of wins in four games each. In 1080p High tests, the Arc iGPU of the Core Ultra 7 155H model dominated in seven out of eight games tested, while even the Core Ultra 5 125H maintained a lead over the RDNA 3 graphics solution. Comparatively, the Meteor Lake CPUs demonstrated superior performance compared to NVIDIA's MX solutions and were closely aligned with the GTX 1650 Max-Q discrete GPUs.

The Meteor Lake Arc iGPUs exhibit better scalability with faster memory than AMD's RDNA 3 GPUs. However, it is essential to consider pricing, as the Meteor Lake laptops are positioned at a premium price point, giving AMD an edge in terms of pricing for its Ryzen 7040/8040 family of laptops.

In terms of power efficiency, the Core Ultra 100H CPUs outperformed AMD's Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix" CPUs in the graphics department at 28W+ TDPs. However, AMD maintained an advantage at lower TDPs below 25W. Intel's low-power oriented Core Ultra 100U chips, designed for 9-15W TDPs, could be a better choice for entry-level and handheld devices set to launch in the upcoming months.

Various tech outlets, including Dave2D, HardwareCanucks, and Jarrod's Tech, have also conducted gaming performance tests, all showcasing impressive gains in performance compared to previous generation Intel Iris/UHD GPU solutions. The Intel Arc iGPU demonstrated competitive performance against AMD's RDNA 3 GPUs. Driver updates from both Intel and AMD are expected to further enhance performance in respective areas.

Looking ahead, the full capabilities of Intel's Arc iGPUs will be explored as gaming handhelds and Mini PCs enter the market. With the ability to scale up to 115W and the potential for overclocking, these chips hold promising performance uplifts. These current performance figures serve as a teaser for what is to come in the Core Ultra iGPU department, with more updates and device offerings anticipated in the future.