Intel is getting deadly serious about its GPU ambitions, and the company has announced at ISC 2021 that the Xe HPG platform, previously known as DG2, is now sampling to partners. This is a huge milestone since it means that not only has the design and prototyping been finalized but the company is getting into the final leg of the journey: sampling and production. This also means that gamers will likely see the first Intel discrete graphics card in 6 months' time - likely at CES 2022.
Good news for gamers: Intel's Xe HPG prototype 'DG2' is now sampling to Intel partners
Last week, Intel, restructured the company to put graphics front and center and created a new business unit, the Accelerated Computer Systems and Graphics (ACSG) Group, lead by the Intel GPU Chief Raja Koduri. This is sort of the "Radeon" of Intel, although admittedly is much less sexy as far as names go, and goes on to show just how serious the company is in breaking the duopoly of NVIDIA and AMD (and turning it into a triopoly).
Intel's Xe HPG is planned to offer up to 512 execution units with 8 ALUs each, making up for a total of 4096 ALUs (or cores). However, we have already seen the rough performance of up to the 448 EUs in the wild and it does not disappoint. Keeping in mind this is Intel's absolute first attempt at this, the bar was not high to begin with and we would have been satisfied with a commercial mid-end GPU but looks like Raja is planning to come out of the gates swinging because the Xe HPG actually matches NVIDAI's RTX 3070 at the 448 EU level and should beat it at the 512 EU level.
RX 6700 XT 100%
RTX 3070 97%
448EU @ 1.8 GHz 92%⬅️----------------------------------
128EU @ 1.9 GHz 100%⬅️
GTX 1650 88% pic.twitter.com/giPGE8JtBJ— APISAK (@TUM_APISAK) June 18, 2021
Keep in mind however that when Intel says DG2 is sampling, they are likely talking about the mobility version of the GPU and not the desktop variant (although both will be discrete). This means that the initial numbers we are seeing will be power efficiency-focused and will have the TDPs limited to a max draw of 100 watts. In a desktop condition, this could easily go up to 150 watts without breaking a sweat and the 1.8-1.9 GHz clocks we are seeing on the mobility chip should easily cross the 2.0-2.1 GHz mark.
Intel Xe-HPG DG2 GPU Expected Specs
| GPU Variant | GPU SKU | Execution Units | Shading Units (Cores) | Memory Capacity | Memory Bus | TGP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xe-HPG 512EU | DG2-512EU | 512 EUs | 4096 | 16/8 GB GDDR6 | 256-bit | TBC |
| Xe-HPG 384EU | DG2-384EU | 384 EUs | 3072 | 12/6 GB GDDR6 | 192-bit | TBC |
| Xe-HPG 256EU | DG2-384EU | 256 EUs | 2048 | 8/4 GB GDDR6 | 128-bit | TBC |
| Xe-HPG 192EU | DG2-384EU | 192 EUs | 1536 | 4 GB GDDR6 | 128-bit | TBC |
| Xe-HPG 128EU | DG2-128EU | 128 EUs | 1024 | 4 GB GDDR6 | 64-bit | TBC |
| Xe-HPG 96EU | DG2-128EU | 86 EUs | 768 | 4 GB GDDR6 | 64-bit | ~120W |
This level of performance is more than enough for the vast majority of gamers that are not planning to exceed the 4K 60 standard and considering it has hardware support for raytracing is already ahead of the current line up of Navi GPUs when it comes to features. Thanks to hardware support for raytracing, it will also have an actual DLSS competitor in the form of XeSS - which is a machine-learned/motion vector supported form of upscaling.
If Intel is able to do XeSS just right, the value offered by Xe HPG will be absolutely phenomenal, assuming, of course, it has bad mining performance. If it turns out to have amazing mining performance (and we admit there is nothing to suggest they don't) then we will likely see prices go through the roof for this GPU as well. Considering Xe HPG will be fabricated on a TSMC process, there will be no supply advantage to be had as well. One thing is for sure though: the GPU landscape is getting very competitive, whether or not you can buy the damn things.
