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(Photo: Videocardz) The gaming world is waiting with bated breath for more details about Intel’s new Arc GPUs, which will mark the company’s return to the discrete GPU market after its failed attempt with Larrabee over 10 years ago. Things will be different this time, we’re told, as the company has hired some serious engineering talent and is ready to take on both Nvidia and AMD with what it describes as a “high performance” GPU replete with next-gen features. Despite all the PR generated by Intel so far, we still don’t have a lot of firm information about the GPUs, including their specs. This is a bit odd, given the fact that they were originally supposed to launch in Q1 2022. Despite Intel’s secretive nature about the cards, some photos and a potato-quality video recently leaked, given us a few insights as to what the card might be capable of.

As Videocardz notes, there have been previous low-quality leaks, but the newer high-res images are much sharper and more detailed, and align with previous leaks, lending credence to the veracity of the photos. The images show a dual-slot card that’s all-black with Intel branding, with two fans slotted across a typical-looking heatsink. Interesting highlights include the I/O panel, which features three DisplayPort (DP) connectors and one HDMI connector. Intel has stated previously that its Arc lineup will offer next-gen features, with DisplayPort 2.0 being one of them, as opposed to DisplayPort 1.4a used by current cards. DP 2.0 will offer a huge performance increase over 1.4a, enabling 16k at 60Hz, or 10K at 80Hz, or 4K at 144Hz without compression, which is not possible with the current standard.

Intel’s Arc Alchemist engineering sample. (Image: Videocardz)

Other interesting tidbits are the card features a six-pin and eight-pin PCIe connector, with a bit of room included in case they need to go with a dual eight-pin arrangement for a future version that requires more power. This configuration allows up to 300W of power to be provided to the card, indicating it’s more than just a midrange or budget model. Videocardz notes that the PCB photo shows eight memory modules, which would allow for either 16GB of VRAM, indicating it’s the flagship SKU, or 12GB depending on how many modules are on the other side of the card, under the cooling solution. The 16GB version will ostensibly offer a 256-bit memory bus with 16Gb/s modules made by Samsung, according to previous leaks.

Tom’s Hardware also flagged the Twitter account @ayxerious, which posted a short, blurry video of the card being taken out of a box, in case you wanted to see what it looks like “in the flesh.” There’s nothing in the video that’s not visible in the image leaks, but at least we can verify the card does look like a real and functioning unit instead of just a clever Photoshop, which is common with pre-release GPU leaks.

From @ayxerious on Twitter, a blurry glimpse of Intel’s Arc GPU.

Anticipation is high for Intel’s fledgling offering, mostly due to the ongoing difficulty gamers are having finding a GPU close to MSRP for sale. Intel hasn’t discussed pricing for its lineup so far, but has commented publicly that it’s aware of the pain gamers are experiencing, and that it hopes to flood the market with its Arc GPUs sometimes soon. Intel previously released a teaser video a short while ago that indicates the flagship model would be targeting 1440p and 60Hz gameplay. and previous leaks have hinted at the GPU competing with Nvidia’s RTX 3070/Radeon RX 6700 XT. As we wrote above, the GPUs were supposed to launch this quarter, but Intel removed all references to “Q1” on its website for Arc, so it seems as if they are delayed, possibly to Q2.

Now Read:

• Intel CEO on the GPU Shortage: ‘We are On It’
• Intel Quietly Removes ‘Q1’ References from its Website for Arc Graphics Launch
• Intel’s New Arc-Branded GPUs Will Battle Nvidia, AMD in Q1 2022

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