Intel’s next-generation Panther Lake CPUs just popped up on Geekbench. Two models, the Intel Core Ultra 9 386H and Core Ultra 5 322H, are powering upcoming Acer laptops. One sits at the top of the stack, the other near the bottom but both give us an early look at Intel’s hybrid approach moving forward.
Flagship specs for the Intel Core Ultra 9 386H
The Core Ultra 9 386H appears in what looks like a new Acer Predator machine. Backed by 64 GB of RAM and an NVIDIA RTX 5060 GPU, it posted solid Geekbench results: 2,840 single-core and 15,167 multi-core. That’s right in line with the Arrow Lake-based Ultra 285H.
It runs 16 cores 4 performance, 8 efficient, and 4 low-power. Clock speeds hit 4.7 GHz, just below the rumored 4.9 GHz ceiling. Surprisingly, Intel skips its Arc B390 graphics here, opting for an unknown internal GPU alongside discrete NVIDIA power.
Intel Core Ultra 5 322H shows up quietly
The Ultra 5 322H also made an appearance, though its benchmark was marked invalid. Still, it confirms a basic 6-core configuration: 2P, 2E, and 2 LPE cores. It’s featured in an Acer Swift laptop with 16 GB of RAM and an RTX 5060 as well.
Even so, its role is clear low-watt performance for light laptops that still want some graphical headroom.
A tale of two chips
Unlike the X-series, both CPUs here ditch the Arc B390 iGPU. That split hints at Intel segmenting its Panther Lake line by graphics capability. Expect premium chips to carry Arc, with the rest leaning on integrated fallback options or discrete add-ons.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s inside each system:
- Intel Core Ultra 9 386H
- 16 cores (4P+8E+4LPE)
- 4.7 GHz boost
- RTX 5060 GPU
- 64 GB RAM
- Acer Predator
- Intel Core Ultra 5 322H
- 6 cores (2P+2E+2LPE)
- Unknown boost speed
- RTX 5060 GPU
- 16 GB RAM
- Acer Swift
Acer’s move points to wider adoption
Acer locking these chips into both Swift and Predator lines suggests wider rollout is coming soon. While Intel hasn’t confirmed launch details, the presence of working systems in Geekbench shows these aren’t vapor.
The Core Ultra 9 386H will lead for performance, while the 322H plays anchor. If Intel keeps this pace, the Panther Lake rollout won’t be a slow crawl; it’ll be a sprint.
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