Intel’s foray into the graphics card market with its Arc Alchemist GPU was, to put it mildly, underwhelming. Now, with the next-gen Arc Battlemage looming on the horizon, whispers from the industry suggest a similar bleak outlook. AIBs, the companies that manufacture and sell graphics cards, are reportedly wary of supporting Intel’s new chip, with some going so far as to say that AIB support for Battlemage is expected to be “terrible with almost zero desire to gamble on Arc again.”
Leaker Tom from Moore’s Law is Dead, a well-known source for hardware news, has provided an update on the upcoming Battlemage GPU, scheduled for launch in October 2024. Two SKUs are expected: the G31 and the G21. The G31, boasting 32 Xe Cores, 20Gbps GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit memory bus, and PCIe 5.0 + DP2.1 support, is projected to achieve RTX 4070 levels of performance. The G21, on the other hand, will feature 20 Xe Cores, GDDR6 memory (likely at 16Gbps or 18Gbps) on a 192-bit memory bus, and PCIe 5.0 + DP2.1 support, aiming for RX 7600 XT levels of performance. While these specs appear promising, the lack of enthusiasm from AIBs paints a concerning picture.
Sources suggest that Intel’s laptop Battlemage plans have been scrapped, but a limited release of two desktop SKUs is anticipated within the next four months. This move seems aimed at utilizing the already manufactured dies, but the limited scope raises questions about Intel’s confidence in the product. Furthermore, Biostar is mentioned as a potential AIB partner, but the overall support for Battlemage remains anemic. AMD’s aggressive strategy of bundling Ryzen processors with RDNA 4 graphics cards is believed to be influencing AIBs to prioritize their investment in AMD’s offerings over Intel’s.
Despite the gloomy outlook, Intel is reportedly optimistic about Battlemage’s performance, claiming more consistent performance and better drivers than Alchemist at launch. However, the company is expected to launch the product on a tight budget, facing stiff competition from AMD’s RDNA 4. With these factors in play, the future of the Battlemage remains uncertain, and Intel’s next-generation dGPU, the Celestial die, is already facing potential cancellation if the Battlemage doesn’t perform exceptionally well.
The lack of AIB support and the looming shadow of AMD’s RDNA 4 make Intel’s path with the Arc Battlemage a risky one. While the company claims performance improvements, the industry’s reaction suggests that Intel may have an uphill battle to win over the market with this next-generation graphics card.