(Image credit: Intel)

Intel didn't talk about Panther Lake performance in detail when it took the wraps off its first 18A processors a bit ago, but a possible flagship SKU from the lineup — the Core Ultra X9 388H — has just appeared on Geekbench, and the scores are quite impressive. They not only one-up Intel's outgoing chips, but match AMD's top-end Strix Halo offerings as well.

(Image credit: Future)

The Core Ultra X9 388H got 3,057 points in the single-core test and 17,687 points in the multi-core test, both figures that put it way ahead of the Arrow Lake-H Core Ultra 9 285H, but also on par with the beefier Core Ultra 9 275HX.

That all is impressive enough, but compared to Ryzen AI Max+ 395, AMD's best mobile chip right now, the X9 388H's multi-core score is within the margin of error, but the single-core numbers are 8.7% ahead. The Geekbench listing also shows the CPU boosting to 5.1 GHz. Check out the table at the end of the article for a detailed breakdown.

These are exceptional values for a CPU that fits into an even tighter thermal envelope than Strix Halo. The X9 388H has a 45W default TDP versus the Ryzen AI Max+ 395's 55W default.

For some more context, the X9 388H is the highest-spec'd model from Panther Lake we've seen so far, featuring 16 cores in a 4P + 8E + 4 LP-E config, with no Hyper-Threading. The SKU also has the "X" designation because it features 12 Xe3 iGPU cores, but that's beyond the scope of this leak, though we've covered Panther Lake graphics before.

Panther Lake isn't supposed to come out until early next year, but excitement for the release is already dimmed. As it stands right now, surging memory prices may result in insane markups on laptops and other mobile devices featuring Panther Lake parts, no matter how impressive the SoC itself may or may not be.

Also, keep in mind that each Geekbench listing is different, so we have to wait for more benchmarks to come out before an average can be formed, but the first impressions with this leak sure do look great.

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