The discrete graphics market is dominated by two companies: Nvidia and AMD. However, Intel remains the largest producer of GPUs in the world simply because its processors ship with integrated graphics. Come 2020, though, and Intel looks set to offer a graphics card.
We were reminded of this today because of a newly created Twitter account by the Intel Graphics team. The first tweet posted to the account includes a video teasing the new card. We even get to see it, albeit shrouded in shadow.
We will set our graphics free. #SIGGRAPH2018 pic.twitter.com/vAoSe4WgZX — Intel Graphics (@IntelGraphics) August 15, 2018
Intel working on a high performance discrete graphics solution isn't new news. The company confirmed it is happening back in June when the 2020 launch was also mentioned. But now it looks as though the department gained a marketing team and budget, and this new tweet is the first signs of that.
Kicking off the build up to launch this early at least puts Intel on the radar not just for consumers, but game developers who will be interested in ensuring they offer support when the card appears.
The key question will be how competitive can Intel be in the discrete graphics market? Nvidia just announced its latest Turing architecture for more powerful GPUs with new consumer cards expected very soon. AMD certainly won't be sitting still over the next couple of years and looks likely to continue to supply both Microsoft and Sony for the next generation of games consoles.
For consumers and professionals alike, Intel getting serious about graphics is good news. It means more competition, which will put a squeeze on prices while putting more focus on performance. We should all benefit if Intel manages to deliver competitive GPUs (and not another Larrabee).
By 2020, we'll also have 10nm Intel CPUs and whatever the chip giant has planned next for Optane memory. It's probably going to be the year to upgrade your gaming rig.