Intel’s first dedicated graphics card for PC gaming is moving from the drawing board to early production.
Intel CEO Bob Swan this week said the company is now producing initial samples of the “DG2” graphics card. “We also powered on our next-generation GPU for client DG2,” Swan said during an earnings call. “Based on our Xe high-performance gaming architecture, this product will take our discrete graphics capability of the stack into the enthusiast segment.”
Swan’s comments suggest Intel is on track to deliver the gaming graphics card in 2021. Interestingly, the company is tapping an unidentified third-party foundry to manufacture the GPU with rumors suggesting the supplier is TSMC.
The card follows DG1, another discrete GPU — but designed for laptops that specialize in content creation, not gaming. During the call, Swan revealed the DG1 is “shipping now and will be in systems from multiple OEMs in Q4.”
Indeed, both Acer and Asus have announced two upcoming laptops that plan to use Intel’s first dedicated graphics card for laptops. And according to the vendors, the DG1’s official name is the “Iris Xe Max.”
At CES 2020 in January, Intel previewed the DG1 to journalists by showing off a prototype GPU designed for a desktop PC. The test model was a small, one-fan model, but capable of running the first-person shooter Warframe, originally released in 2013.
Intel’s head of graphics, Raja Koduri, said the company’s plan is to build gaming graphics cards “up and down the stack,” meaning we should get various GPUs at different price points. The same cards will be capable of ray-tracing effects, for more realistic shadow and lighting in games.