Intel Teases Arc Limited Edition Discrete Desktop GPU

Image of Intel Arc Limited Edition GPU — (Image credit: Intel)

At the end of Intel's Arc A-series mobile graphics announcement, the company teased a look at its first Arc-branded desktop GPU. The card, which appears to be called Intel Arc Limited Edition Graphics, is marked for release this summer.

For the most part, all we have to go on is the design, which features two axial fans rather than a blower-type arrangement. Most cards use this type of setup, which exhausts heat into the case, rather than outside. It appears that the card uses the full-fat ACM-G10 GPU that comes with 32 Xe cores.

The render of the card doesn't show any connectors for supplemental power. That means all of the power would come from the motherboard, with nothing to attach to the PSU. For reference, the PCIe 4.0 spec calls for a limit of 75W of power from the slot. That suggests that this GPU will be a low-power, entry-level card, though it's possible this render isn't fully representative of the final product.

Intel's render had a flash animation of the card being put together, in which we noticed eight GDDR emplacements around the die. Now, there could be more underneath what we saw (assuming these renders are technically accurate, of course). What we can't tell, of course, is what kind of VRAM Intel is going with here. Intel may be going with 8 or 16GB of memory.

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Last but not least, it appears that the Arc logo lights up.

This isn't Intel's first discrete GPU to go in a desktop. That honor goes to DG1, which was meant for a few pre-built PCs. (Or if we go way back, there was the Intel i740.) But this version, we assume, will address a larger market and not be locked to the PCs in which they were included.

While the Arc 3 mobile graphics are shipping soon, the Arc 5 and Arc 7 won't ship until the summer. That's when these dedicated graphics will be launched. Intel has been mum on specs, price and any other details, but we'll keep an eye out as more information trickles out.

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Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Threads @FreedmanAE and BlueSky @andrewfreedman.net. You can send him tips on Signal: andrewfreedman.01

49 Comments Comment from the forums

deesider

8GB of ram would be generous for a low-end card
Reply
hotaru.hino

The lack of PCIe aux power doesn't preclude that this is a 75W only board. After all, this is a rendering for marketing, not a technical one. Especially when you consider the VRM looks too beefy for 75W and unless Intel's trying to aim for the world's quiestest air cooled video card, a four heat-pipe setup is way overkill for a 75W board.
Reply
saltweaver

We are coming to gaming and rendering era where 16GB should be minimum.
Reply
deesider

saltweaver said:
We are coming to gaming and rendering era where 16GB should be minimum.
No we aren't. Not for many years.
Reply
saltweaver

deesider said:
No we aren't. Not for many years.
Baking lightmaps, using 4K textures requires as much VRAM as you can get. Also if VRAM is inexpensive as memory RAM DDR4, then all the better to use more of inexpensive resource. If you plan to game on 4K you would need solid VRAM GPU.
Reply
RodroX

More GPU press news, and still no actual device to test or buy.

How about we get the "standard" desktop GPUs on the market, and then we talk about a probably tiny niche collectible product.
Reply
TerryLaze

RodroX said:
More GPU press news, and still no actual device to test or buy.

How about we get the "standard" desktop GPUs on the market, and then we talk about a probably tiny niche collectible product.
Oh intel is going to flood the market with GPUs, doesn't mean that they will succeed as a GPU maker or even that this first gen is going to succeed but the GPUs will be available at large numbers.
Reply
RodroX

TerryLaze said:
Oh intel is going to flood the market with GPUs, doesn't mean that they will succeed as a GPU maker or even that this first gen is going to succeed but the GPUs will be available at large numbers.

Perhaps, I learn to not believe/trust what hardware makers state until I actually see it.

As you wrote, if they actually can - sorta - "flood" the market, and thier product is decent (performance/price compared to nvidia and amd) that will be a big relief after the last two years. Even if they can not go over an RTX 3070 performance.
But yet we have to see it happend first.
Reply
jp7189

TerryLaze said:
Oh intel is going to flood the market with GPUs, doesn't mean that they will succeed as a GPU maker or even that this first gen is going to succeed but the GPUs will be available at large numbers.
Nope. As far as I understand Intel is vying for the same limit supply of TSMC produced chips that AMD and NVIDIA are. They won't be able to bring their foundry might to bear on Arc production. I don't know what the supply agreement looks like but my crystal ball says they won't outcompete on volume.

Also, with the timeline slipping, it looks like discrete Arc will compete with next gen GPUs. If they launched earlier against current gen and with insatiable demand, they might have had a chance.

Lastly, redirecting their GPU IP to bitcoin miners seems to me like a desperate Koduri's CYA to save his job, and an admission that they can't make a profit in the mainstream GPU market.
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Soaptrail

My first computer about 22 years ago had an Intel GPU. Either Intel is only really going for mobile or this is going to be another short blip as it was 22 years ago. Limited Edition desktop, HA!
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