Intel has announced the arrival of its Intel Iris Xe GPU for desktop computers.
The GPU market is NVIDIA and AMD’s right now, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more players. A small and humble entry into the world of GPUs comes from Intel, who unveiled its first GPU in 1998.
The new GPU were originally developed under the codename ‘DG1‘ and we saw them officially appear in notebooks October 2020. Now the processor company has decided to release desktop versions with more power.
Intel Iris Xe desktop GPU specs
However, there is no intention of competing with NVIDIA and AMD (for the time being) in the gaming sector. Intel Iris Xe is focused more on improving the graphics power of conventional computers. This means, for example, support for multiple displays. They are designed to include a total of three outputs to 4K displays, as well as HDR support.
On the other hand we find hardware acceleration for certain codecs. The new GPUs for example allow decoding AV1 content with 4GB video memory. Intel says they are also enabled with artificial intelligence to improve performance.
That said, the graphics cards are not going to be available for purchase. At least not individually from a retailer. Intel is going to distribute them to manufacturers and directly integrated into their computers. Its main partner in this regard is ASUS, and the graphics cards will be co-designed to some extent in collaboration with the manufacturer that purchases them.
The roadmap
As you can see, these Intel graphics cards are a far cry from what NVIDIA or AMD are offering in their high-end GPUs. Intel does not yet seem to want to enter that market, at least not for the time being. These first notebook GPUs and the new desktop GPUs are a humble entry into the market to introduce its Xe architecture in GPUs.
We know that the company is also building a version intended for data centers. At the moment they don’t seem to be in a hurry on this path. Even more so if we consider that GPUs have not been their forte for more than two decades.
Exciting to see these next to each other. Intel's first data center GPU that's in production, between Xe HP GPUs that are sampling to customers. We have ways to go, but an incredible journey so far. 🙏 the incredible team at Intel🙏 2020 is a memorable year for GPU technology pic.twitter.com/2fsJvVeDOK
— Raja Koduri (@RajaXg) December 8, 2020
Since they are distributed directly to manufacturers, Intel has not provided an exact launch date. This means that in the coming weeks or months we will see some of the first computers coming with the new Intel Iris Xe integrated.
