Intel Xe video card, is there still much work to be done?

During 2020 Intel should present its first dedicated video cards based on Xe graphics architecture. At the head of the project, carried out by Intel's Visual Technologies Team, there is the former boss of AMD's Radeon Technologies Group Raja Koduri. The Xe architecture, as recently announced also on the occasion of the first details on the “Ponte Vecchio” accelerator, will scale in all sectors, also ending up on the company's desktop and mobile CPUs.

Obviously there is a lot of interest regarding the possible solutions dedicated to the consumer market, where Intel would compete with AMD's GeForce proposals from Nvidia and Radeon. At the moment the company has not yet released any official information, but from China filter unsafe rumors. Take them with due caution, given that it is “rumor”.

According to a user of the Chinese Chiphell forum, “wjm47196”, not new to the publication of rumors about various products, the project is experiencing some problems too. The efficiency of the Xe GPU would in fact be much lower than the competition and it is rumored that at launch there will be no models made by the partners, but only Intel reference solutions. Also – but this is entirely predictable for a new product – drivers would take time to improve.

It should be noted that we are talking about the first version of the Xe GPU and not the 7 nanometer solution expected in 2021 which will constitute the Ponte Vecchio accelerator. The first consumer GPU will likely be at 10 nanometers, but there is no certainty at the moment.

As said, you have to take the indiscretions with the pliers, but in the last few days it has been a little surprising to know that Chris Hook and Heather Lenon, two central figures of the Intel GPU marketing, have left the company for another non-lido better specified.

All that remains is to await new rumors or better official information. According to previous corridor rumors, the Santa Clara house would be working on several dedicated Xe solutions, with an Execution Unit (EU) number of 128, 256 and 512.

The only certain information, communicated by CEO Bob Swan on the sidelines of the last quarterly, is that Intel has tested and validated its first dedicated GPU (codenamed DG1) a few months ago, which means that beyond the current rumors , there is time and a way to improve the situation in view of the launch expected by the end of 2020.