Intel Core Ultra X7 358H “Panther Lake” CPU Spotted in Geekbench with 12 Xe3 GPU Cores

Intel’s next-generation Core Ultra X7 358H processor has made its first appearance in Geekbench benchmarks, offering a first look at the upcoming “Panther Lake” architecture. This marks the debut of Intel’s new Xe3 integrated GPU in its full 12-core configuration, signaling a major step forward for the company’s graphics technology.

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The tested chip features a 16-core CPU layout consisting of four Performance cores (P-cores), eight Efficiency cores (E-cores), and four Low-Power Efficiency cores (LPE-cores). It reaches a boost clock of 4.78 GHz and supports memory speeds up to 9,600 MT/s — the fastest memory subsystem seen in any Panther Lake configuration to date. Although this is likely an engineering sample, these frequencies should be close to Intel’s planned retail specifications.

Geekbench Performance and GPU Details

In OpenCL testing, the integrated Xe3 GPU achieved a score of 52,014 points. While not particularly high, this result places the iGPU in a similar range as NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3050 desktop GPU. However, Intel’s integrated GPUs historically underperform in Geekbench’s OpenCL suite compared to those from AMD and NVIDIA, so these early results should be interpreted with caution.

When compared to the previous Arrow Lake-H platform featuring the Arc 140T iGPU, the Xe3 architecture demonstrates roughly a 25% uplift in OpenCL performance. Interestingly, the 12-core Xe3 GPU also performs close to the Arc A550M discrete GPU, which packs 16 cores based on the first-generation Xe “Alchemist” microarchitecture, with a 60–80 W TDP and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory.

Driver Optimizations Expected Before Launch

These early benchmark results likely do not represent the full performance potential of the Panther Lake iGPU. As Intel continues to refine its graphics drivers and optimize for performance, significant improvements are expected before launch. Once finalized, the Xe3 architecture could deliver Intel’s most capable integrated graphics solution to date — a leap forward for gaming and creative workloads on thin and light laptops.

With Panther Lake expected to arrive in 2025, the Core Ultra X7 358H gives us a promising early look at Intel’s next generation of mobile processors — blending hybrid performance cores with advanced AI capabilities and next-gen GPU power.