Intel Arc Graphics Card for Desktops to Debut in Q2, Cloud GPU Service “Project Endgame” Announced

Intel Arc GPUs for desktop computers have been delayed to the second quarter, the chipmaker announced at its 2022 investor meeting. The GPUs were originally scheduled to debut in the first quarter. However, Intel is on track to start shipping its discrete Arc GPUs for laptops in Q1 itself. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company also announced its cloud service called Project Endgame which is supposed to offer virtual access to Intel Arc GPUs. Intel’s latest decisions are likely to give AMD and Nvidia a tough fight – the two companies that have benefited from a duopoly in the PC graphics market.

Contrary to original plans that were revealed in August last year, Intel announced on Thursday that it would launch discrete Arc GPUs for desktops in Q2 and for workstations in Q3.

Intel’s first-generation GPUs are codenamed “Alchemist” and will initially be available in laptops starting this quarter. The second generation is in development as “Battlemage”.

Intel also announced that it has begun architectural work even for the third generation of its Arc GPUs which is codenamed “Calestial” and aims to address the “ultra-enthusiast” segment. The plan here seems to take high-end graphics cards such as AMD’s Radeon RX 6900 XT and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.

Additionally, the chipmaker introduced during the virtual meeting that its 2023 Meteor Lake processor platform, which will be the 14th generation lineup of the series, will use a separate graphics tile which will be based on Arc GPU technology. This will most likely be the Battlemage architecture which is still under development.

Overall, Intel aims to ship more than four million discrete GPUs in 2022. The company has former AMD Radeon graphics chief Raja Koduri and several other industry names on board to support its development plans for new graphic technologies.

Last month, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing group, Gregory Bryant, told Gadgets 360 that the company plans to bring many of its Deep Link features to all Arc users. Deep Link technology is intended to provide better collaboration between CPUs and GPUs.

In addition to bolstering its discrete GPU category, Intel appears to be rivaling Nvidia’s gaming-focused GeForce Now with Project Endgame. The company claimed its offering would allow users to access Intel Arc GPUs through a service for an always-accessible, low-latency computing experience.

Intel’s Endgame project promises to be available to users in the latter part of the year. However, exact details on how the service will be delivered to users and pricing have yet to be announced.