Intel has finally decided to step in the discrete GPU industry and we might be seeing the Arctic Sound codename Intel Xe graphics card in less than two years. There is not much information about this graphics card but with time we will get to know more details. The company has only revealed the name and has mentioned that it was originally designed top-shelf data centers but now they are also targeting the enthusiast gaming market.
Intel first debuted in the dGPU industry back in 1998 with its Intel i740 but that card offered inadequate performance and the company decided to withdraw it from the market in August 1999. They also tried developing a hybrid GPU codenamed Larrabee that also did not make it to the market.
Now finally they are serious about this tech and have made an official announcement that they are working on dedicated GPU which will most likely be launched in 2020. The first installment in the series will be based on Intel Arctic Sound that features 12th generation graphics architecture.
To understand it better, the current integrated Intel GPUs like UHD Graphics 630 features 9th generation graphics architecture. This comes with most of Intel’s CPUs starting from entry-level Pentium Gold G5500 to high-end Core i7 8700K. There is no 10th generation, they have directly developed 11th generation which will be integrated in their upcoming devices for 2019.
The 11th generation seems like it will deliver great performance as the company has made some major improvements which showcase that Intel is on the right path of making the top of the line GPUs. They have finally added features like Adaptive Sync and HDR which the other companies like AMD and Nvidia have been offering for years.
Intel needs to be really committed if they want to compete directly in the graphics industry. They have hired some of the experts in the field including Raja Koduri who previously worked for AMD as the chief architect of the Radeon series and also worked on Vega and Navi architecture.
Raja Koduri has been working with Intel for over a year now. Intel also directly hired Jim Keller in mid 2018 who was heading the AMD’s Zen architecture and is now leading the Intel’s silicon development which according to the company will revolutionize the way they build silicon.
This all might contribute to the development of Intel’s 10nm process which they have been working on lately. Many other industry experts have also joined in including Darren McPhee who is leading Intel’s product marketing for dedicated GPUs. Also, Chris Hook is now working with them who previously served 17 years at AMD as the director of global product marketing.
So this is all that we know so far about the Intel Arctic Sound graphics card. We will keep updating it with more details as soon as we get them. If you have any queries then make sure to drop down a comment below.