AMD’s Z2 Extreme Surpasses Intel’s Lunar Lake in Gaming Benchmarks — MSI Claw 8 Shows 8.5% Advantage at 17W, Reducing to 6% at 30W

Okay, here goes nothing. I mean, have you ever really thought about handheld gaming? It’s like this whole world where tiny powerhouses duke it out. And now, we’ve got this big clash: the MSI Claw A8 vs. the MSI Claw 8 AI+, all thanks to AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme and Intel’s Core Ultra 7 258V. It’s wild how these chips face off at power limits, like that magic number—17 watts. Funny thing, the AMD one didn’t just spar; it sprinted ahead. Totally unexpected, right?

I stumbled across this gem while just… scrolling. Thanks, HXL! I mean, the cost is a heart-stopper—$900 to a grand. But hey, it’s all about performance-per-watt now. Once upon a time, Intel was the king here. Their chips just grooved better under 20 watts. AMD was designing for laptops and totally missed the handheld gig. Whoops. Their latest sheriff in town, though, kinda changes everything.

Ryzen Z2 Extreme sounds epic, doesn’t it? Eight-core, sixteen-thread—like a mini action-hero team. Wait, three performance cores, five efficiency ones. Wow, numbers make it sound so impressive. It’s like, if I understand this, with LPDDR5X-8000 memory, running wild at 15 to 35 watts. Oh, wait, memory is perched outside the chip? Talk about quirky.

Intel’s Ultra 7? It’s got some flair with Xe2 graphics but aims lower on the TDP scale. Memory’s hugging it closely, though, which messes with power metrics. Uh, did the reviewer catch that? I mean, I’m just thinking out loud. Maybe I’m wrong?

Anyway, tests kicked off with a power-efficiency curve, whatever that means. Z2 at 10 watts hit 20 FPS on some benchmark thingy—an 80% boost! My head’s spinning with numbers. But there’s this bump at 30 watts—CPU sucking power and, oops, the GPU starves. They fixed it, duh, by locking something to 48 watts. Whew, problems solved with a twist.

Let’s talk real games, the juicy stuff, right? Both chips at 17 watts. Witnessed numbers and… AMD upped the game. Not just on paper but snappier gameplay at 1% lows. The nerdy reviewer even apologized, can you believe that? Changed their opinion just like that.

Now, higher power, a closer fight. AMD’s lead shrinks but Intel can’t snatch the win entirely. Their extra power boost? Eh, minimal effects. And it’s fascinating how AMD reworked everything with those hybrid cores and RDNA 3.5 graphics. Intel? Better at being quiet, low-power vibes. But for most who hover in the 15-20 watt zone, AMD’s got an edge, unless… power metrics skew the scene.

Mind-blowing moment: locking all threads to the efficiency cores ups performance by 10% at low power. Like, who knew tweaking could do that? Picking between MSI’s Claw A8 and Claw 8 AI+ boils down to AMD’s robust GPU play and consistent frames.

So, is there a winner? Between the same-priced contenders, I guess AMD’s meshing of parts edges ahead. Wow, what a ride. I’ll see my way out with all these thoughts hanging around.