Intel is set to release its own graphics cards in 2019, according to a report from The Verge. The new cards will reportedly be built on the company’s latest architecture, known as Ice Lake. This news comes as a surprise given that Intel has been largely reliant on Nvidia for its graphics needs in recent years. However, the company is said to be working on new technologies that could make it a more serious player in the market. Intel’s new cards are likely to compete directly with Nvidia’s current offerings. While Nvidia still dominates the high-end market, Intel is expected to make significant inroads into the mid- and low-end segments over the next few years. This could have a major impact on both companies’ bottom lines. It remains to be seen whether or not Intel can successfully compete against Nvidia on a global scale. However, if its new cards are as good as rumored, it may well have a chance. ..
Intel’s New Arc GPU Brand Is Coming
Intel’s GPU devices were initially called “DG2,” but they’ve received the official Arc branding from Intel. The first GPUs in the Arc line have a brand new code name now, as Intel refers to them as “Alchemist.”
The company says it plans to ship its first batch of Alchemist products by the end of March 2022, so we’ll be waiting for some time before we can get our hands on these chips to see how they compare to NVIDIA and AMD’s offerings.
After Alchemist, Intel plans to ship devices with the codename Battlemage, Celestial, and Druid (see the pattern here?), but those are a long way out.
“Today marks a key moment in the graphics journey we started just a few years ago. The launch of the Intel Arc brand and the reveal of future hardware generations signifies Intel’s deep and continued commitment to gamers and creators everywhere,” said Roger Chandler, Intel vice president and general manager of Client Graphics Products and Solutions.
Unfortunately, Intel didn’t provide too much information about the actual performance of its upcoming cards, only saying they’ll support all DirectX 12 Ultimate features, ray-tracing acceleration, and AI-based supersampling for antialiasing. These features are required to compete with modern GPUs, but we’ll have to wait and see if Intel can offer anything else to make them stand out from the crowd.
Intel says we can expect to learn more about its upcoming GPUs later in 2021, so we’ll have to be patient for the time being.
Will These Cards Actually Be in Stock?
Of course, if Intel can produce enough cards to actually have them in stock, that would certainly give the company a leg up, as finding GPUs for anywhere near MSRP is almost impossible at this point. Hopefully, by March 2022, the GPU shortage will have worked itself out, and we will be able to easily get cards from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel at a standard price.
If you can’t wait until 2022, Intel is selling shirts with its Arc branding, though even those won’t ship for some time.
