1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:06,000 Oh no, stay back. 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:11,599 You know, I can't even pretend to be that mad about this. Thanks. MSI 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:15,920 sponsored this video to show off a couple of laptops that are built around 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:22,240 what might be the single most exciting thing that I've seen out of Intel in 5 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:25,760 years. Core Ultra Series 3, aka Panther 6 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:27,760 Lake, is here. And yes, you're a good 7 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:33,520 Mr. Kitty, aren't you? Let's start with the big picture. The new XC3 integrated 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:35,440 GPU in Panther Lake is up to 50% faster 9 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:39,920 than last gen, which if you guys remember was already shockingly 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:46,079 competitive with AMD's top mobile gaming APUs. This could be a stunning upset. 11 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:48,640 And there's more. Intel boasts 50% lower 12 00:00:46,079 --> 00:00:52,559 power in multi-threaded loads at similar performance compared to last gen. Are 13 00:00:50,719 --> 00:00:57,600 you kidding me right now? Again guys, I remind you this is compared to a 14 00:00:54,320 --> 00:01:00,079 platform that already managed over 20 15 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:03,760 hours of battery life in some designs. The other big one if you care about 16 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:07,520 consumer choice and costs is flexibility. And you can see that 17 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:12,400 clearly on display in the machines that MSI has us showing off here today. Both 18 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:17,280 the Prestige series and the newly redesigned Stealth gaming laptop are 19 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:24,880 equipped with a 16 core Core Ultra 9 CPU. And yet, this one has high-speed 20 00:01:21,119 --> 00:01:28,159 soldered LPDDR5X memory and a whopping 21 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:30,560 12 core XC3 GPU, while this one uses 22 00:01:28,159 --> 00:01:35,200 sodium memory for easy user upgrades and a smaller GPU core since it's going to 23 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:38,720 be paired with up to a mobile RTX 5090. Anyway, more on these later, though. 24 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:44,079 First, I want to talk about how Intel's modular approach to this platform starts 25 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,680 way down at the chip level. If you look 26 00:01:44,079 --> 00:01:50,000 closely at this Prestige series motherboard, there are fine lines 27 00:01:47,759 --> 00:01:54,640 between the various modules that make up the Panther Lake SOC. And Intel sent 28 00:01:52,399 --> 00:01:58,719 over these great slides that show exactly what it is that we are looking 29 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:04,479 at here. At the top left, we've got their largest CPU module with a total of 30 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:09,520 16 cores. To the right is an IO die that contains PCI Express, USB, networking, 31 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:14,400 Thunderbolt, that sort of thing. Above and below that are filler dies. Then at 32 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:20,480 the bottom left is an absolute unit of an integrated GPU with 12 overhauled XC3 33 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:24,080 battle mage cores. Intel has a total of three different Panther Lake 34 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:29,120 configurations to meet different needs. And they vary in the amount of CPU 35 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:33,920 compute, GPU compute, and IO that they're equipped with. But what they all 36 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:40,560 have in common is advanced packaging and high-speed dieto-d interconnects that uh 37 00:02:36,959 --> 00:02:42,400 lead me to believe that this is just the 38 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:48,720 beginning. Intel describes their scalable fabric as IP agnostic, which is 39 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:54,879 a boring business monster way of saying that nothing would prevent a partnership 40 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:58,080 with say NVIDIA to put a GeForce GPU 41 00:02:54,879 --> 00:03:00,239 right on package with Intel CPUs. And I 42 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:04,400 don't know, who knows? Maybe a a risk 5 AI accelerator from Tensor torrent or 43 00:03:02,239 --> 00:03:08,640 something. The sky is the limit. For now, we don't have that, but Panther 44 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:13,280 Lake is still packed with other exciting bits, too. The new media engine supports 45 00:03:10,879 --> 00:03:18,239 encode and decode operations across an insane range of codecs. The new IPU 46 00:03:16,159 --> 00:03:22,400 looks poised to significantly improve webcam performance and flexibility for 47 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:28,720 form factors that might demand more cameras. And the new NPU or neural 48 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:31,040 processor is amazing. Not because it has 49 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:36,319 more AI tops or whatever, but because instead Intel opted to maintain the same 50 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:40,159 50 top performance from last generation while shrinking it and reducing its 51 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:46,319 power consumption so they could spend that die area on other cooler things. 52 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:49,920 Stellar choice, Intel. There's a whole bunch of other architectural stuff too, 53 00:03:48,239 --> 00:03:54,879 like the way that the bigger compute dies share level three cache between the 54 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:58,560 pores and the extra ecores, while the ecores in the low power cluster just 55 00:03:56,879 --> 00:04:02,480 kind of vibe on their own for maximum efficiency. Also, the thread director is 56 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:07,360 better at managing task scheduling now. But yeah, you've heard enough yak yak. 57 00:04:04,959 --> 00:04:12,879 Let's see this thing in action. MSI actually loaded up one of their Prestige 58 00:04:09,599 --> 00:04:14,879 16s with Cyberpunk for me to game on. 59 00:04:12,879 --> 00:04:18,000 I'm not allowed to show the FPS counter, but I am allowed to play with the 60 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:23,040 settings, and I am allowed to tell you guys how much FPS it feels like. Uh, was 61 00:04:21,280 --> 00:04:27,759 this the one? Did the battery finally die? It was running the whole time I was 62 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:30,960 writing the script. Let's load something in the city. I 63 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:36,000 don't want to go easy on it. Not going to lie, guys. 64 00:04:33,919 --> 00:04:39,840 There is clearly some upscaling going on here right now. And she's a little 65 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:46,720 floaty. I think we've got a little bit of frame generation on, 66 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:48,880 but this is a very usable experience. 67 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:56,479 So, we're in kind of performance mode for XCSS running on low. Wo! No 68 00:04:53,840 --> 00:05:01,759 combination of low and medium. We are using frame gen, but we're running at 69 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:06,960 2880 by 18800. That's insane. Why would we even do that? Okay, let's turn it 70 00:05:04,479 --> 00:05:12,639 back down to a reasonable resolution. can't go full screen. Uh, you know what? 71 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:16,960 That's fine. We're running at 1920 x 1200 now. Now, we're getting a better 72 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:24,639 feel for the raw performance. If I had to guess, I'd say this is probably in 73 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:28,479 the 40 to 45 FPS range. Very, very 74 00:05:24,639 --> 00:05:31,199 playable. And like 75 00:05:28,479 --> 00:05:37,680 it's not even that loud. Like, it's hard to believe we are getting that level of 76 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:39,199 performance with this cooler. 77 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:43,280 Look at the thickness of this vapor chamber. And you got this tiny little 78 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:46,639 heat sink array, which raises the obvious question. Are they going to put 79 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:53,520 this thing in a gaming handheld or are they just going to tease me with laptops? Well, MSI wouldn't confirm 80 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:58,479 anything. But I will say that the vibe felt pretty good, so I'm optimistic. For 81 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:03,919 now, though, the Prestige series is pretty darn shiny as far as silver 82 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:05,759 medals go. MSI has completely overhauled 83 00:06:03,919 --> 00:06:11,600 the fit and finish of their business laptops, including more rounded edges 84 00:06:08,319 --> 00:06:14,160 and a new letter mark. And both the 14 85 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:20,639 and 16-in models are available as either a traditional clam shell eh or as a 86 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:24,800 twoin- one with their nano pen being a pretty cool solution to never losing 87 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:30,160 your stylus again. It just tucks in right here at the bottom and gets 45 88 00:06:27,039 --> 00:06:31,520 minutes of charge in just 13 seconds. I 89 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:37,440 think the coolest feature though might be their new action trackpad. It's 90 00:06:34,319 --> 00:06:39,280 really big, which is pretty neat. But it 91 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:45,199 also allows you to configure better touch tool style gestures like sliding 92 00:06:42,479 --> 00:06:49,520 here for volume control or sliding here for display brightness. 93 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:54,800 Pretty cool, right? You can even configure your own functions. Both sizes 94 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:58,960 feature 16x10 OLED displays with the 16-in going up to 120 Hz variable 95 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:03,520 refresh rate. and both feature Windows Hello on the fingerprint power button as 96 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:08,319 well as the webcam with its really nicely indicated privacy slider. All in 97 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:13,360 all, the package is shockingly thin when you consider the performance and the IO 98 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:17,599 on tap. Turns out there never was a reason to take away our USBA and HDMI 99 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:24,400 ports. The same is true of the completely redesigned MSI Stealth. Man, 100 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:25,840 what a glow up this thing got. I think 101 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:31,440 they finally did it. I think they finally built something that you could pull out at a business meeting without 102 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:35,599 raising any eyebrows. Maybe turn the RGB off on the keyboard. Then take it back 103 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:41,520 to your hotel room and game up a storm. This uses the small GPU Panther Lake 104 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:45,039 with up to 16 CPU cores alongside an RTX 105 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:47,599 5060, 5070, 5080, or 5090 mobile 106 00:07:45,039 --> 00:07:51,840 depending on uh how much pain you like in your wallet region. Probably the 107 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:57,199 coolest thing about this from a gaming perspective is the extra 20 watts of GPU 108 00:07:55,199 --> 00:08:03,759 power that MSI managed compared to their last gen despite it being in a device 109 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:05,199 that is less than 17 mm thick. Oh, and 110 00:08:03,759 --> 00:08:12,560 since we're at cool stuff, I guess the display is pretty cool, too. 2560x600 111 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:14,800 16x10 has to be the sweet spot for pixel 112 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:19,599 density and image clarity at this size. And while it doesn't support variable 113 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:22,960 refresh rate, it is OLED and it does go 114 00:08:19,599 --> 00:08:25,840 up to 240 Hz. I also always like to see 115 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:30,400 dual Thunderbolt 4 ports and 2 and 1/2 gig networking. This is a pretty sick 116 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:35,839 machine for gamers, and it's pretty good for non-gamers, too. We get a giant 117 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:41,519 trackpad, albeit without action macros, large front-facing speakers, and up to 118 00:08:38,399 --> 00:08:42,959 100 Ws of USB PD charging. So, if you 119 00:08:41,519 --> 00:08:47,440 know that you're not going to be gaming, you can leave the bulky power brick at 120 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:50,320 home. If, on the other hand, you like bulkier things. 121 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:54,720 >> Oh, yeah. >> They're also showing off a redesigned 122 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:57,680 Raider series here. Yeah, sure, she's a little thicker, but you'll also get up 123 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:05,360 to 300 [snorts] W of total system power for its 16 core 124 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:07,279 Aerolake CPU and mobile RTX 5090. Now, 125 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:11,440 one thing we didn't see in MSI's demo room was the smallest Panther Lake. So 126 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:15,440 there are still some question marks around that one. But if the bigger 127 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:19,440 kitties are anything to go by, this is a big return to form for Intel and it 128 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:23,680 couldn't come at a more important time. Apple silicon has upended the laptop 129 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:29,120 processor market more broadly and on the PC side, the dual threats from AMD and 130 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:33,040 more recently Qualcomm haven't gone away either. Now, we just have to hope that 131 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:36,640 Intel can continue to execute on this path now that they have fired the leader 132 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:40,160 who put them back on the right track before even giving him a chance to see 133 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:44,880 his vision come to life. But I'm not going to think about that right now. Instead, I'm going to think of a fun 134 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:48,720 video for you to watch. How about checking out the one where I installed a 135 00:09:46,399 --> 00:09:53,360 new MSI gaming monitor with a fifth gen QD OLED panel that addresses both the 136 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:59,080 magenta issue and the soft surface hardness of previous QD OLEDs. It's 137 00:09:55,839 --> 00:09:59,080 pretty sick.