Skip to main content

MSI Claw is a rumored Steam Deck rival with a twist – it’ll use an Intel CPU, and that might be a key advantage

MSI apparently has a gaming handheld in a similar vein to the host of Steam Deck rivals that have appeared in recent times, and it’ll launch imminently at CES 2024.

Content creator CameronRitz shared a purported image of the inbound MSI handheld on X (formerly Twitter) – feast your eyes on that above – and followed up that tweet with some rumored specs which come with an interesting twist.

See more

Unlike the existing big-name portable gaming PCs (Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and so on) which use AMD silicon, MSI is the first to use an Intel CPU. (The first high-profile vendor, mind, as there are obscure Chinese offerings that were revealed late last year, for example, an Emdoor handheld with a Meteor Lake chip, though it isn’t out yet.)

MSI is supposedly giving the Claw a Meteor Lake engine with 16 cores (6 performance, 8 efficiency, and 2 low-power cores), and the APU sports integrated graphics with 8 Xe Cores. It’s also going heavy on the system memory with a mighty 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM.

Initially, CameronRitz wasn’t sure about the authenticity of the leaked press image, but later said it’s now been verified, before adding those rumored specs into the mix.

So, it seems this device is really happening, considering that MSI has been dropping heavy hints about ‘getting a grip’ on a new breed of device set to be revealed at CES 2024, and Intel has too.

Analysis: A mighty swipe from a Dragon’s Claw?

What we don’t have yet is any rumored price for the MSI Claw, but we haven’t got long to wait to find out, as CES 2024 is just around the corner. (Is it us or does the MSI Claw name make it sound like something that’ll eventually result in serious hand cramps, giving you claw-like appendages? We’re not sure if we're massively sold on the name if it turns out to be this, but hey, it’s not like ROG Ally is particularly catchy either).

The big twist as mentioned is using an Intel rather than AMD APU, but from what we’ve seen, Meteor Lake looks like a sound choice, and promising on the integrated graphics front (very promising, in fact). What could be key here, though, is Intel’s drivers, and where the performance weak spots still lie with the Arc for some games – though Team Blue has been making major strides with improving its graphics driver with every release throughout last year, pretty much.

As noted, while there are some lesser-known brands with plans for Intel-powered gaming handhelds, an outfit like MSI has a much better chance of coming up with a compelling Steam Deck rival (presumably Windows-powered) that makes good use of Meteor Lake silicon.

As the leaker comments, the MSI Claw does look pretty similar to the ROG Ally, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – and CameronRitz notes that the screen is from the same supplier as the Asus handheld.

Roll on CES 2024, as those keen on Windows-powered gaming handhelds could be looking at a real contender here, with that Meteor Lake performance backed up by a chunky 32GB of system RAM. What kind of battery life the Claw achieves with an Intel APU will be something that’ll be keenly anticipated, too, though we can’t expect miracles.

You might also like



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TechRadar's Year in Review: AI revolution, smartphone evolution, and visions of the future

If I had to sum up 2023 in one word it would be AI. Okay, technically that’s two initials, but let’s not quibble – because there’s no doubt that it provided the year in tech with its main story arc. Artificial intelligence was everywhere this year, as every company in the world gawped at the massive impact of ChatGPT, and decided they wanted to jump aboard that bandwagon. You could barely move for new chatbots, new image generators, and new AI-enhanced features in every device released in 2023. And there’s no sign of that changing in 2024; in fact, we expect it to be an even bigger deal. Elsewhere, phones and laptops did much the same as they had the previous year – well, except where they had new AI-enhanced features – so it was in the virtual reality space where bigger changes were afoot. If the Meta Quest 3 was impressive then the Apple Vision Pro looks to be genuinely game-changing, and we can’t wait to see what impact it has in the next 12 months. Of course we also saw plenty ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Microsoft and Sony enter "binding agreement" to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation

Microsoft has announced that it has reached a "binding agreement" with Sony, pledging to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.  With Microsoft having won its anti-trust case with the US Federal Trade Commission , its planned acquisition of Call of Duty developers Activision Blizzard has taken a big step closer to becoming a reality. In order to alleviate the concerns of monopoly-building that got Microsoft in legal hot water to begin with, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, announced yesterday via Tweet that it has entered into an "agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation."  This agreement will no doubt come as a relief to fans concerned that Microsoft's acquisition plans might result in Call of Duty becoming an Xbox exclusive, following in the footsteps of future Bethesda releases. Since Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda caused the studio to break its tradition of offering titles cross-platform for upcomi...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Stardew Valley-like farming sim plays at the bottom of your screen so you work and play at the same time

Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing are among some of the best choices out there if you're looking for a game to get swept up in for hours at a time. But, if you're a fan of management sims and a multitasker as well, this upcoming farming sim will likely pique your interest.  Developed by Mister Morris Games, Rusty's Retirement is an idle-farming simulation game that runs at the bottom of your gaming monitor, allowing you to focus on other tasks like working while you tend to your crops. Set to release in Q1 2024 on Steam , the idle sim puts you in the shoes of a wholesome robot as you grow crops and use them to produce clean and energy-efficient biofuel. Having gathered this "vital robot power source," you'll then need to sell your harvest to the other machine inhabitants of your settlement. This, in turn, will let you reinvest the money into expanding your farm. If you're a terrible procrastinator (like me) this might not sound like your cup of tea...
Post a Comment
Read more