AMD’s Z2 Extreme Surpasses Intel’s Lunar Lake in Gaming Benchmarks — MSI Claw 8 Shows Z2E Leading by 8.5% at 17W, Reducing to 6% at 30W

Sure, let me see if I can capture the essence of the piece in a way that feels more human and less robotic. Here goes:

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Alright, strap in folks, because we’ve got another showdown in the handheld gaming world. You know how it goes—power versus performance, AMD versus Intel, the whole shebang. This time, it’s the MSI Claw A8 rocking AMD’s new Ryzen Z2 Extreme against the Intel-backed Claw 8 AI+. Why am I obsessed with this stuff? Honestly, not sure, but it’s fascinating, right?

Anyway—wait, did I mention the power limits? No? Okay, well, they tested these things at different watts. The 17-watt mark is the sweet spot everyone’s obsessing over, and AMD? Well, they’re not just keeping up. They’re taking the lead for once.

So, handheld PCs—kind of live and die by how efficient they are. Both these babies cost somewhere between $900 to $1,000. You drop below 20 watts, historically, and Intel starts to shine. AMD struggled with its older chips. Nope, not shading them—okay maybe a little—but it’s just what happened. But now? AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme is like, “Hey, I’m here to change the game.”

This Z2 Extreme beast from AMD is all about those Zen 5 cores and RDNA 3.5 graphics. Tech jargon aside, it’s fast. They’re using this 4nm process, which sounds cool, even if I don’t totally get it. Meanwhile, Intel’s playing with their new Core Ultra 7, which also sounds snazzy but the power strategy seems a bit different.

Oh, funny thing—this one time, I was looking at the performance data and got all crossed up because the curves went weird after 30 watts. Started thinking my brain was fried. Turns out, it was a thing with power settings. Needed a tweak—someone give the GPU its snacks or it goes sulk-mode, and I’m no tech guru but that felt like a big “Oh, duh” moment.

When they threw these chips into real games—like Cyberpunk or Monster Hunter—AMD pulled ahead with juicy frame rates. Surprise? Maybe. Over at 17 watts, AMD just danced over Intel, which isn’t something I’m used to seeing. I was like, “Wait, AMD?” Because yeah, they rocked it.

At higher wattage, the gap closes (kinda boring compared with the lower watt fight), but AMD hangs onto the win. You can tell though, Intel’s better when the power’s super low—might have the edge if you’re saving battery.

And if you’re picking between these MSI things, maybe you lean toward AMD’s Z2 Extreme? Especially if you care about frame pacing and squeezing as much juice as possible when plugged in. But dang, these choices are almost as tricky as picking my next meal—who can decide?

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Hope that captures the vibe!