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61.1
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Impact LevelMedium
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Scope LevelMicro
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Last Update2025-08-14
Key Impacts
Positive Impacts (6)
Negative Impacts (1)
Event Overview
The update enforces stricter power limit settings for Intel's Lunar Lake CPUs in the MSI Claw 8 handheld, resulting in notable performance gains. This highlights advancements in thermal and power management for portable gaming devices, emphasizing efficiency and sustained performance under intensive workloads.
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Intel "Lunar Lake" PL2 Setting Update Yields Up to 30% Higher Gaming Performance on MSI Claw 8
Intel's Lunar Lake CPU, used in the MSI Claw 8 AI A2VM handheld gaming device, has received an update to its power limit (PL2) setting as of June 2024. The update mandates that PL2 must always be set at least 1 watt higher than PL1 or be fixed at 37 watts, matching the maximum TDP value for Lunar Lake chips. During testing, this update resulted in up to a 30% increase in gaming performance for specific titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Space Marine 2, while other games saw a baseline improvement of approximately 10%.
The change was delivered through an update to the MSI Center M app, which now prevents users from equating PL1 and PL2 values. Previously, matching these settings was possible. The test results also show that the MSI Claw AI A2VM, powered by the Lunar Lake CPU and Intel Arc 140V Xe2 GPU, became the highest-performing handheld gaming device tested, surpassing AMD-based rivals.
Intel emphasized that PL2 represents the maximum short-term power draw, allowing the CPU to run at elevated performance for a limited time (typically 56 seconds). Battery life with the new setting is expected to remain roughly the same or be slightly reduced compared to prior configurations.
MSI Claw 8 Lunar Lake Update Improves Power Limits and Performance
An update for the MSI Claw 8 AI A2VM handheld gaming device featuring Intel's Lunar Lake Core Ultra 7 258V processor revises the power limit settings. Intel now mandates that PL2 (short-term power limit) should always be at least 1 watt higher than PL1 (sustained power limit), and PL2 is capped at a maximum of 37 W. Users can no longer set PL2 equal to PL1—this is now enforced by updates to MSI Center M. Benchmarking after the change shows significant performance gains: up to 30% improvement in demanding games such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Space Marine 2, with at least a 10% increase across a broader range of titles. As a result, the MSI Claw AI A2VM is now the highest-performing handheld gaming device tested, even outperforming AMD-based competitors. Battery life remains largely unchanged, but peak power draw during high-performance use is higher due to the longer (56 sec) PL2 boost.