Almost since the beginning of this year, Intel’s marketing department has announced that the release of Xe / DG2 (= Discrete Graphics 2) graphics cards is just around the corner, will take place soon and so on. The DG2 series is to consist of five models built on three GPUs. But there is one small catch: There will be mobile models (for laptops) and desktop models (for desktops). This complicates the assessment of the situation around each new Intel Xe report a bit, because if the source does not specify whether it is talking about one or the other series of models, it is not clear which new information applies.
So far, the situation should look like, together with the summer-autumn (back to school) offer of a laptop equipped with new processor models Tiger Lake There will also be a mobile line of Intel Xe graphics chips to complement them. Later, perhaps for the pre-Christmas season, Xe for the desktop will follow, ie separate graphics cards for the PCIe bus.
Intel Xe HPG DG2 s 512 EU
According to the latest information, however, it seems that the formal release of Intel Xe will not take place at all this year and will not take place until January 2022 at CES. The source does not specify whether it should be a release of mobile or desktop models. So there may still be little hope that at least mobile graphics will hit the market later this year. However, if there is a snag that postpones availability, then there is a good chance that the problem concerns both series.
Currently, it looks like the Intel Xe / DG2 will not be released until the beginning of 2022, ie after processors Alder Lake / Core 12000. One of the highlights that Intel attaches great importance to is PCIe 5.0 support. Last week, information emerged that the benefits of PCIe 5.0 will be difficult for Intel to defend, as no PCIe 5.0-equipped products will be available in the foreseeable future, so the processor will be formally capable of it, but usability and practical benefits will be zero for quite some time. Release of Intel Xe / DG2, the only known PCIe 5.0 desktop device, up to po Alder Lake, this will not make it easier for Intel to market (PCIe 5.0 reports prepared by OEM partners for release Alder Lake they simply will not).
If the postponement for next year is confirmed, it will complicate Intel’s situation in other respects as well. While in the current situation the top model with 512 EU was supposed to have performance somewhere around the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti – RTX 3070 – RTX 3070 Ti (according to the source), next year no one will compare these models, as Nvidia is preparing to release GeForce RTX for Christmas 3000 Super.
The bar of performance and the consumption / performance ratio will be a bit higher and for a completely new product (from this point of view) of a new and inexperienced manufacturer it will mean a much more difficult situation. While competition will increase performance, it will not be higher in the case of Intel, it will only arrive later and, given the possible problems of delay (if, for example, a weaker consumption / performance ratio is an unpleasant surprise of test samples), it may be lower.
In conclusion, we can dwell on the possible credibility of the deferral information. If until recently it was planned to release first mobile Xe for a new wave of laptops with Tiger Lake planned for the so-called back to school season, it is really suspicious that (although it is already August) no new information on the topic of Xe is missing. If such hardware were to go to the counters by September 1, it would already have to lie with laptop manufacturers and someone would take care of a photo or benchmark leak. The absence of this type of message suggests that something is not really going according to plan. Of course, it is not possible to determine whether this means a postponement until CES, but some delay (at least in the order of lower units of months) is practically certain.
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