The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ may soon be available in a more affordable flavour, as a new model of the handheld PC appears to have broken cover. According to a new leak, this less expensive variant won’t feature the same chip we’ve seen at work in existing models, opting for the more modest Intel Arc G3 instead.
According to MSI documents obtained by tech site Videocardz.com, the company is preparing a Claw 8 EX A+ CG3M handheld to sit alongside the current CG3EM lineup, with the ‘E’ naturally standing for Extreme. A product listing for the new model has also emerged on website CompSource, listing the handheld for $1,499.
| Arc G3 Extreme | Arc G3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cores | Performance: 2 Efficient: 8 LP Efficient: 4 | Performance: 2 Efficient: 8 LP Efficient: 4 |
| Threads | 14 | 14 |
| Base clock | Performance: 1.9GHz Efficient: 1.5GHz LP Efficient: 1.5GHz | Performance: 1.9GHz Efficient: 1.5GHz LP Efficient: 1.5GHz |
| Boost clock | Performance: 4.7GHz Efficient: 3.4GHz LP Efficient: 3.1GHz | Performance: 4.6GHz Efficient: 3.3GHz LP Efficient: 3.1GHz |
| Graphics | Arc B390 | Arc B370 |
| GPU cores | 12 | 10 |
| GPU boost clock | 2.3GHz | 2.2GHz |
| TDP PL2 | 80W | 80W |
Intel announced both the Arc G3 and Arc G3 Extreme just prior to Computex 2026, bringing the power of its Panther Lake architecture from laptops to handhelds. That said, we’ve only seen the latter of the two chips make its way into systems like the Claw 8 EX AI+ since then.
The two G3 chips are largely similar, with the same number of cores and threads, and minor 100MHz differences in boost clocks. However, the biggest difference between the two stems from graphics, with the Extreme packing an Arc B390 featuring 12 Xe3 GPU cores running at 2.3GHz, while the standard SoC rocks an Arc B370 with 10 Xe3 cores at 2.2GHz.
It’s difficult to predict how exactly gaming performance will differ between these two chips each running in a Claw 8 EX AI+, but going with the less-powerful chip could prove more cost-effective. The existing G3 Extreme model costs $1,854.31 from the same site, incurring a 23.7% premium.
MSI is yet to confirm the existence of the Claw 8 EX AI+ CG3M, outside of this leaked documentation, so I’d take all the above with a pinch of salt for the moment. For more on MSI’s latest handheld tech, check out our Claw 8 EX AI+ hands-on from earlier this year.
