Intel is set to debut its brand new Xe graphics card and GPU architecture sometime next year, but very little is still known about the semiconductor maker’s elusive graphical offering. Recently, a post made on the China-based tech forum, Chiphell, is suggesting that Intel will only be launching a card with a reference cooler, and nothing else.
The posting, which was first made back in November, suggests that almost all potential AiB partners are currently snubbing Intel’s Xe graphics card, and with supposedly valid reason. Firstly, Intel’s Xe GPU is said to have very poor power efficiency, despite the company’s initial reports that it had passed the initial power test.
Moving on, the Chiphell post also points out that it is highly unlikely the 1000+ EU versions Xe GPU will meet its targeted two-year launch window. As PCGamesN points out, the largest Xe GPU the world has heard about, to date, is the DG2 with 512 EUs.
All of the above points to the likelihood that Intel is, unsurprisingly, finding the idea of making its first graphics card frustratingly difficult to get right. As if things weren’t already difficult enough, the company recently saw a major exodus of its staff; Chris Hook, Graphics and Visual Technologies Marketing Chief at Intel Corporation, And Heather Lennon, Senior Manager at Intel, recently left the company’s Xe division, leaving its boss, Raja Koduri, short two people.
Specs-wise, the Intel Xe GPU is expected to based on a 10nm die process, and will reportedly be available in four variants. Beyond that, not much else is known about the GPU, not even its performance.
