Intel Xe HPG GPU lineup specs leaked conveniently

The leak talks about Intel Xe HPG (DG2) GPU lineup which emphasizes six variations specifically for discrete gaming graphics cards. The entry-level is expected to have 96 EUs on a 64-bit memory bus bundled with a 4GB VRAM based card. The bit upper increment versions have 128 CUs with the same VRAM and memory bus. The variations above it will have 192 EUs, a 128-bit bus with either 4 or 8GB VRAM.

The flagship would use an eight or 16GB VRAM GPU with 512 EU (4096 streaming processors), a 256-bit bus. It shouldn’t be surprising that these GPUs would be using GDDR6 memory. But as we all know, leaks should be taken with a grain of salt- even from well-known leakers. Aside from being speculative, nothing is set in stone yet so anything can change.

Three-to-tango!

Nothing concrete is known about Xe-HPG lineups- or how many AIC partners are signed up. Heck, even the names of these model variations are not known, yet. This will be Intel’s first gaming graphic discrete graphics cards. Irrespective of how it performs, a third discrete GPU supplier is healthy in the long run. That puts more pressure on AMD Radeon as Nvidia is enjoying a much longer consistency in best selling options. Factors such as low power consumption, heat, multiple AIC partners and user’s seamless experience play a major role in purchasing decisions. AMD Radeon still doesn’t have anything to compete with NVENC encoding which is usually favoured heavily by video and livestreaming content makers. However, both GPU chip makers have stifled the supply of chips resulting in ridiculous price gouging. So one would like to see Intel Xe-HPG nudge everyone in place.

The State of GPU Fabrication

It will be interesting to see how Intel’s Xe HPG plans rollout. And it likely it would use TSMC to fabricate some (if not all) of these chips. Both AMD and Nvidia use TSMC to fabricate chips, though Nvidia has been using Samsung’s fabrication to make RTX 3000 series GPUs. It was assumed Nvidia will roll out RTX 3080 Ti and further speculated we might see TSMC made chips by 2021. Again, everything is hopeful and speculative. Its already known NVIDIA scaled down its plans for RTX 3080Ti’s launch in January but went ahead with RTX 3060 announcement as said earlier.