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Intel’s arrival in gaming GPUs (on the second try) may have just begun, and Intel began marketing preparations before the Xe HPG graphics were unveiled.
Intel’s first standalone graphics (Iris Xe Max) had a long way to go, against the original optimistic speculations about CES 2020, it finally came out in the advanced autumn. But maybe it could compensate for the second generation, which also by the way should bring much higher performance and also support for ray tracing.
Intel has already launched the first “teasers” on the Internet. This could signal that this gaming GPU – which will perhaps really demonstrate the potential of the largest graphics chip maker – could soon be at least introduced, if not immediately sent to almost pre-velvet empty store shelves.
This first “push” to the game graphics from the third camp has not yet shown anything concrete, so so far it is just a signal that the process leading to the release is slowly starting. Intel posted at the end of the stream from GDC 2021 short videoto indicate what will come from Intel “later this year.” It’s in animation the first generation of the Intel Xe LP GPU architecture figuratively charged with energy (from a laser or something similar) and transformed into a chip, into a video marked Xe HPG – which is the previously revealed name of the more powerful game architecture.
It is quite possible that Intel painted this animated video on a sample of the new GPU, which will be revealed later. Similarly, for example, AMD had these video trailers rendered by unreleased processors, and some of the employees who took care of the promotion switched to Intel.
Xe HPG microarchitecture teaser = ???????? pic.twitter.com/kdzBokBiW4
— Intel Graphics (@IntelGraphics) March 18, 2021
O Xe HPG we have had news here recently: allegedly it could be a GPU with up to 512 EU, ie 4096 shaders and 256-bit GDDR6 memory. Other configurations could have 3072 shaders with 192-bit bus, 2048 and 1536 shaders in combination with 128-bit memory, and eventually low-end versions with 768 and 1024 shaders and 64-bit bus would be released. Otherwise, these GPUs are said to be 6nm, manufactured on the TSMC process, not in Intel’s factories.
In the Intel video, the phenomenon of a chip divided into five rows and perhaps 18 columns (unfortunately not very well seen) of blocks can be seen at one point. It is not clear whether Intel suggests anything about the GPU configuration.
Notice for another unveiling March 26, competition?
We mention this because there are some clues in the video for those who want to play a little with marketing. In the year of the visualized chip, the binary code 00100011 10100000 11101101 11010000 is visible.
It was soon deciphered, it is the IP address 35.160.237.208, on which Intel launched the website http://xehpg.intel.com. On this site, Intel invites you to “Scavenger Hunt,” which is a designation for game where you get a list of items to find (and you have to find them). In this case, you will probably be able to enter codes on the site in question and maybe win something.
This game will probably take place together with a demonstration or unveiling of the Intel Xe HPG graphics on March 26 at 5:00 p.m. Maybe Intel will show the codes somewhere in the presentation or stream it will broadcast.
You can also read the text 79.0731W on the video at one time. In this case, however, no one has guessed what it should mean yet, so we do not know if this is any other clue. But make a note of Tuesday, March 23 anyway, because we may learn more about Intel’s graphics that day.
Updates: this code is the GPS coordinates and the second one, 43.0823N, was found on the video. This combination points to a river in the middle of Niagara Falls. It is possible that this refers to some codename that it uses internally for the Intel project, but the meaning may be different.
Here’s a better screenshot. Definitely 43.0823N pic.twitter.com/3PE7BQ4C7M
— Andy James (@BustOrBreak) March 18, 2021
Resources: Intel, VideoCardz (1, 2)
