We Tested Intel’s Panther Lake “Arc B390” iGPU In Several Games, & It Truly Is A Game-Changer

At CES, Intel gave us the opportunity to test their newest Panther "Arc B390" iGPU, and the gaming performance truly impressed us.

Intel Panther Lake "Arc B390" iGPU Tested, Stunning Performance That Doesn't Even Break The 50W Barrier

A few days ago, Intel officially launched its Panther Lake "Core Ultra Series 3" CPUs, which are the first chips to feature the company's bleeding-edge 18A process technology. The architectural upgrades on Panther Lake are worth the wait, but what's even more impressive is the integrated GPU, based on the newest Xe3 architecture. Intel has already showcased some remarkable numbers, but we wanted to see whether those performance claims were correct and what gaming performance the Arc B390 delivers in general.

During the Core Ultra Lounge Tour, Intel provided us with a Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 laptop to explore. This featured the top Core Ultra X9 388H CPU with the full 12 Xe3 core "Arc B390" iGPU.

The laptop has been configured at a base TDP of 25W, and has a PL1 set to 85W and a PL2 set to 95W. Despite these higher ratings, in gaming, the laptop hardly breached the 50W barrier, which is great for battery life, and it also managed to stay super silent. While playing games, the fans hardly spun up or were so quiet that they barely produced any noise. Earlier, the demo room was jam-packed, but when we got started testing, the room was fairly empty with only a handful of people, so not hearing any noise in such ambient conditions is simply mind-boggling.

With that said, let's look at the gaming performance that the Arc B390 iGPU on Intel's Panther Lake has to offer.

Here are the full numbers before we dissect the performance we saw in each game:

Intel Arc B390 iGPU Gaming Benchmarks

Game Name	Settings	Average FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	1080p, RT Medium, XeSS Balanced, Frame-Gen 2x	73.15 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	1080p, Medium, XeSS Balanced, No Frame-Gen	99.45 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	1080p, Medium, XeSS Balanced, Frame-Gen 2x	165.74 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	1080p, High, XeSS Quality, Frame-Gen 2x	122.97 FPS
Forza Horizon 5	1080p, High, XeSS Quality, No Frame-Gen	111 FPS
Forza Horizon 5	1080p, Ultra, XeSS Quality, No Frame-Gen	68 FPS
F1 25	1080p, Ultra High, XeSS Quality, No Frame-Gen	44 FPS
F1 25	1080p, High, XeSS Balanced, No Frame-Gen	104 FPS
Doom The Dark Ages	1080p, High, XeSS Balanced, No Frame-Gen	58.4 FPS
Doom The Dark Ages	1080p, High, XeSS Balanced, Frame-Gen 2x	97.8 FPS
Borderlands 4	1200p, High, XeSS Balanced, No Frame-Gen	50.2 FPS
Borderlands 4	1200p, High, XeSS Balanced, Frame-Gen 2x	82.2 FPS
Ghost of Tsushima	1080p, High, XeSS Balanced, No Frame-Gen	53 FPS
Ghost of Tsushima	1080p, High, XeSS Balanced, Frame-Gen 2x	89 FPS
Assassins Creed Shadows	1080p, Medium, XeSS Balanced, No Frame-Gen	58 FPS
Assassins Creed Shadows	1080p, Medium, XeSS Balanced, Frame-Gen 2x	118 FPS
Battlefield 6	1080p, High, XeSS Balanced, No Frame-Gen	47.5 FPS
Battlefield 6	1080p, High, XeSS Balanced, Frame-Gen 4X	192 FPS

Cyberpunk 2077

In Cyberpunk 2077, the Intel Arc B390 iGPU delivered 99.45 FPS on average at 1080p using the Medium Preset and Balanced XeSS preset. The Strix Halo iGPU scores 111.92 FPS in the same benchmark at a 54 Watt TDP, but that has a much bigger GPU, so Intel doing 100 FPS with just 12 Xe cores is a solid uplift & that's apparent when we compare it to the Radeon 890M which delivers just 59.72 FPS or the Arc 140T which delivers 58.12 FPS at 70W TDPs. The Intel Arc 140V inside an ASUS ZenBook S14 offers close to 60 FPS with the same settings, so that's a 66% improvement versus the prior generation.

Next, we wanted to try the game with frame-gen enabled. The Arc B390 iGPU is the first and only iGPU right now to support Multi-Frame Generation up to 4x. But don't worry, we didn't go as high as 4x MFG; we used the standard 2x mode and saw the FPS boost to 165.74 FPS, another 66% uplift over standard upscaling. At 1080p with the high preset, Quality XeSS upscaling, and frame-gen 2x, the chip delivered 122.97 FPS versus the 72.10 FPS on a Strix Halo chip with the same settings at 54W. It seems like Strix Halo has some troubles with its frame-gen mode, while Panther Lake doesn't show any such issue and delivers a solid bump.

Lastly, we wanted to see how the GPU held up at a higher visual preset. We used the same 1080p res and changed the preset from Medium to Ray Tracing: Medium. Frame-Gen was enabled to 2x mode, and XeSS was set to Auto, which typically selects "Balanced" mode. Here, we saw 73.15 FPS.

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Forza Horizon 5

For Forza Horizon 5, we wanted to do two benchmarks, first at a more reasonable setting and then on a much higher level preset to see what sort of potential we expect from the new Arc iGPU. At 1080p, a Medium Quality preset, and with XeSS set to Quality with no frame-gen, we got a solid 111 FPS. This has no frame-gen involved, so users can get even better smoothness with the technology enabled.

Next, we ran the game at 1080p using the Ultra Quality preset with XeSS upscaling set to Quality too. This again is done without any frame-gen. We got 68 FPS. Achieving over 60 FPS with maxed out details is just insane for this iGPU, and once again, you can enable frame-gen to further smooth out the frame-rate.

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F1 25

We wanted to try another racing game, and this time, we went for F1 25. This game has previously been used by Intel to showcase its upscaling and frame-generation technologies. Knowing that it was a very Intel-optimized title, we decided against using frame-generation and pushed the quality to Ultra Preset at 1080p and used Quality XeSS Upscaling. We got 44 average FPS, and this is the game running maxed out.

With a more reasonable High Preset and the Balanced mode XeSS, we got 104 FPS on average. The game once again supports frame-gen, so we could've gotten even more smoothness at the Ultra Preset if we wanted to.

Doom: The Dark Ages

One huge test for the Intel Arc B390 iGPU, which we wanted to see it handle, was running Doom: The Dark Ages. Although the team at Id has put lots of optimizations within its latest engines, Dark Ages is a very graphics-heavy title that can tank even the best of GPUs out there. Current iGPUs struggle to deliver a playable experience in this title, and it is only possible using Performance Upscaling with frame-gen topped in.

The Intel Arc B390 iGPU was tested at 1080p with the High Preset, Balanced XeSS upscaling, and no frame-gen. With these settings, we were able to achieve FPS between the 50-60 mark, and were even close to 70 FPS in certain instances. This is an awesome performance on an iGPU, and with a lower preset or with frame-gen enabled to 2x mode, you can achieve even better smoothness.

Borderlands 4

Borderlands 4 is one of the heaviest Unreal Engine 5 titles released last year. Even high-end GPUs were struggling to run the game at launch. To test Borderlands 4, we settled for 1200p resolution with High Quality preset, and Balanced XeSS mode. No Frame-Gen was used. During the initial sequence of the game, we managed to get around 50 FPS on average. Toning down the settings to Medium did get us 60FPS and higher, but if you want more visual quality, then you will have to select between performance upscaling modes or frame-gen (2x is advised).

Ghost of Tsushima

Ghost of Tsushima is also something we wanted to try on the Arc B390 iGPU. It's a very optimized title, and that shows because at 1080p with the High Preset and Balanced XeSS upscaling, we managed to get over 60 FPS during gameplay and around 50 FPS on average during the cutscenes. This was all without any frame-generation involved.

Assassin's Creed Shadows

In Assassin's Creed Shadows running at 1080p, Medium Preset, and XeSS set to Balanced, the Arc B390 iGPU was able to achieve 58 FPS on average, and with frame-gen enabled to 2x mode, we saw the FPS hover between 110-120 FPS. This is a very recent game, and it's quite graphics-intensive; once again, a very strong showcase for the Arc B390 iGPU.

So that's all the Intel Panther Lake "Arc B390" iGPU testing we were able to achieve in the limited time we got to test it.

Our early impressions are very positive for the Arc B390 iGPU, offering playable framerates in the latest AAA titles, and achieving over 100 FPS with frame-gen and even more with MFG 4X support. The iGPU is the best part of Panther Lake, and with longer battery times and whisper-quiet operation, the next-gen laptops from Intel and its partners are really going to offer consumers and gamers a true next-generation experience. Expect our full review of an Intel Panther Lake laptop soon.

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