Intel Teases Arc Limited Edition Discrete Desktop GPU

[harlan4096]

'Limited Edition' GPU teased for summer 2022.

At the end of Intel's Arc A-series mobile graphics announcement, the company teased a look at its first Arc-branded desktop GPU. The card, which appears to be called Intel Arc Limited Edition Graphics, is marked for release this summer.

For the most part, all we have to go on is the design, which features two axial fans rather than a blower-type arrangement. Most cards use this type of setup, which exhausts heat into the case, rather than outside. It appears that the card uses the full-fat ACM-G10 GPU that comes with 32 Xe cores. 

As you can see in the video above, the dual-slot dual-fan card has four DisplayPorts and one HDMI port.  We also see that four heat pipes deliver the thermal load to the fin stack on the integrated heatsink.

The render of the card doesn't show any connectors for supplemental power. That means all of the power would come from the motherboard, with nothing to attach to the PSU. For reference, the PCIe 4.0 spec calls for a limit of 75W of power from the slot. That suggests that this GPU will be a low-power, entry-level card, though it's possible this render isn't fully representative of the final product.

Intel's render had a flash animation of the card being put together, in which we noticed eight GDDR emplacements around the die. Now, there could be more underneath what we saw (assuming these renders are technically accurate, of course). What we can't tell, of course, is what kind of VRAM Intel is going with here. Intel may be going with 8 or 16GB of memory.

Last but not least, it appears that the Arc logo lights up.

This isn't Intel's first discrete GPU to go in a desktop. That honor goes to DG1, which was meant for a few pre-built PCs. (Or if we go way back, there was the Intel i740.) But this version, we assume, will address a larger market and not be locked to the PCs in which they were included.

While the Arc 3 mobile graphics are shipping soon, the Arc 5 and Arc 7 won't ship until the summer. That's when these dedicated graphics will be launched. Intel has been mum on specs, price and any other details, but we'll keep an eye out as more information trickles out. 
...

Continue Reading