Intel's ARC Alchemist Gaming GPUs have been further detailed and it looks like there are going to be lots of SKUs for gamers and workstation users on desktops and notebooks.

Intel ARC Alchemist Discrete Gaming GPUs For Desktops, Laptops & Workstations Pictured, Xe-HPG 'DG2' Graphics Lineup Detailed

We mention workstation and gaming together because the underlying architecture for Intel's ARC Alchemist lineup is primarily designed for gaming first, hence the naming scheme of Xe-HPG (High-Performance Gaming). The latest information from Moore's Law is Dead not only provides us info on the graphics lineup but also provides first die closeups of the two DG2 SKUs that will be used on Intel's first outing of ARC graphics cards.

Intel's ARC Alchemist lineup will have two GPU dies and each die will have several configurations ready for launch in Q1 2022. These will include three configurations based on the top DG2-512 EU (DG2-SOC1) die and three configurations based on the DG2-128 EU (DG2-SOC2) die.

Intel ARC Alchemist (Xe-HPG DG2) Graphics Lineup Details (Image Credits: Moore's Law is Dead):

2 of 9

Although there are more GPU configs that we have seen in leaks, it looks like those may be used in future products or were early SKUs used for validation and testing. So let's start with the top die first.

Intel Xe-HPG 512 EU GPU Powered ARC Alchemist Gaming Graphics Lineup

The top Alchemist 512 EU (32 Xe Cores) variant is said to feature at least three configurations. The full die features 4096 cores, a 256-bit bus interface, and up to 16 GB GDDR6 memory featuring a 16 Gbps clock though 18 Gbps cannot be ruled out as per the rumor. Following are all the ARC 512 EU variants that we can expect based on the DG2-SOC1:

512 EU (4096 ALUs) / 16 GB @ Up To 18 Gbps / 256-bit / 225W (Desktops) & 120-150W (Laptops)384 EU (3072 ALUs) / 12 GB @ Up To 16 Gbps / 192-bit / 150-200W (Desktops) & 80-120W (Laptops)256 EU (2048 ALUs) / 8 GB @ Up To 16 Gbps / 128-bit / 60-80W (Laptops)

The Alchemist 512 EU chip is expected to measure at around 396mm2 which makes it bigger than the AMD RDNA 2 and NVIDIA Ampere offerings. The Alchemist -512 GPU will come in the BGA-2660 package which measures 37.5mm x 43mm. NVIDIA's Ampere GA104 measures 392mm2 which means that the flagship Alchemist chip is comparable in size while the Navi 22 GPU measures 336mm2 or around 60mm2 less. This isn't the final die size of the chip but it should be very close.

Intel ARC A780 Graphics card leaked renders. (Image Credits: Moore's Law is Dead)

NVIDIA packs in tensor cores and much bigger RT/FP32 cores in its chips while AMD RDNA 2 chips pack a single ray accelerator unit per CU and Infinity Cache. Intel will also have dedicated hardware onboard its Alchemist GPUs for Raytracing & AI-assisted super-sampling tech.

The Xe-HPG Alchemist 512 EU chip is suggested to feature clocks of around 2.2 - 2.5 GHz though we don't know if these are the average clocks or the maximum boost clocks. Let's assume that it's the max clock speed and in that case, the card would deliver up to 18.5 TFLOPs FP32 compute which is 40% more than the RX 6700 XT but 9% lower than the NVIDIA RTX 3070.

In terms of performance positioning, the top 512 EU variant is said to compete against the RTX 3070 / RTX 3070 Ti, the 384 EU variant is said to compete against the RTX 3060 / RTX 3060 Ti on desktops. On the laptop side, the 512 EU might be just as fast as the RTX 3080, 384 EU variant around RTX 3070 level and the 256 EU will end up against the RTX 3060.

Also, it is stated that Intel's initial TDP target was 225-250W but that's been upped to around 275W now. We can expect a 300W variant with dual 8-pin connectors too if Intel wants to push its clocks even further. In either case, we can expect the final model to rock an 8+6 pin connector config, The reference model is also going to look very much like the drone marketing shot Intel put out during the ARC branding reveal.

As for the launch, the SOC1 variants are planned for launch in Mid-February & while AIBs are waiting on final dies to test with their custom PCB designs, desktop variants may be launching first, followed by laptop and then workstation in late 2022.

Intel ARC ACM-G10 vs NVIDIA GA104 & AMD Navi 22 GPUs