Intel Gamer Days Takes Over the Newegg Gamer Zone
August 12, 2026
Four custom rigs on display. A handheld running Arc graphics changing hands every few minutes. A Counter-Strike 2 bracket that might end with the underdogs on top. Intel Gamer Days landed at the Newegg Gamer Zone with gamers, creators, and students in the room, all to watch Intel-powered hardware prove itself in real time.
Newegg host Ben opened the day, welcoming the crowd and introducing the people who put it together: Intel's own Eric Eshaghoff, Leonard Pienta, and Taiga Ryu, Sales Director Gina Moore, and Intel VP of North America Dorin Vanderjack, who took the stage next for the day's keynote.
Dorin met the moment head-on. RAM and CPU supply is tight, prices have been climbing, and AI demand is pulling on the same silicon PC gamers depend on, a reality he described plainly before turning it into the point of the day: a market this difficult is exactly what pushes a company to get sharper.
Hardware in Motion
From the keynote, the room moved from listening to experiencing, as MSI brought out the Vector, running Intel's Core Ultra 9 275HX, and the Stealth 16, powered by a Core Ultra 7 255H, each drawing a steady rotation of hands through the afternoon. The real pull, though, was the handheld station, where the MSI Claw 8EX, built on Intel's Arc G3 Extreme graphics architecture, moved from person to person, each curious to feel what it could do and play.
Just as much of the draw were the four modded builds across the room, each powered with different Intel Core Ultra CPU. No two builds looked alike. Different sizes, different case styles, different personalities, from Jordan Kliss's RGB-lit build to bluehorse.studios' larger E-ATX rig to PC Werkz's futuristic robot on legs. Advanced Battlestations, ABS, brought a build who stood out even in that lineup, housing a physical chippy, and a digital chippy vibing on the large screen built into the side panel.
From there, a stamp card sent attendees around to four stations scattered throughout the room, with a completed card earning a shot at the raffle. Between stops, anyone could claim an open PC to play whatever they liked, while Olive Garden kept the room fed.
Settling It on Counter-Strike 2
Off the back of a summer that's kept Counter-Strike in the spotlight, from an electric IEM Cologne Major to the Esports World Cup just getting underway in Paris, our creators picked up where the pros left off, taking to Dust II as they battled it out across five teams of four, from RichHomieQuinn and Katliente to Kahhma, Katy Benz, and Glimmerguppy, all going head-to-head against a student team representing USC and San Bernandino Valley College.
When the last round ended, it was the student team that walked away with it, having played their way through a room full of creators and influencers to take the win. An award ceremony sent the students off with their prizes, a round of raffle giveaways sent a few more attendees home happy, and cameras came out one last time to catch it all before Ben closed the day with a few final words.
What's Next
To Intel, MSI, our four builders, and every creator and student who filled the Newegg Gamer Zone: thank you for making this Intel Gamer Days one to remember.
By Johnson Nei, Newegg Marketing