Intel launches a discrete desktop GPU

Quizzical

Their next goal is presumably to launch a discrete desktop GPU that actually works.  Because to say that this one works is fairly dubious.

https://www.legitreviews.com/intel-iris-xe-discrete-card-will-only-work-with-select-cpus-and-motherboards_225470

A tech site asked Intel for a review sample.  Intel declined, saying that it will only work with a special BIOS that is only available on certain motherboards.  What a weird product.  How hard can it be to make a PCI Express add-in card that actually works?

The new GPU, the Intel Iris Xe DG1, is a cut down version of the integrated GPU in Intel's Tiger Lake CPUs.  They launched their Intel Server GPU (no really, that's the full name of the product) late last year, and they have to do something with the defective parts, so they made a desktop GPU out of them.

As much as I'd like to see Intel launch a competitive product to push Nvidia and AMD, their latest move doesn't inspire confidence.

Ridelynn

It's odd that it's only be paired with low end PCs that already have (presumably) IGP available.

And that they have specifically locked it so you can't pull it out of those PCs and put in any old PC.

Yeah, it smells like 3 day old fish... maybe this is what Desperate Intel looks like.

Could also be they have some exclusivity arrangement made with the OEMs, but that doesn't make good business sense from the outside looking in.

The only way sites are going to be able to get good benchmark numbers is from buying one of these OEM PCs, and then yanking the Intel and dropping in other cards - assuming the special BIOS will let you do that.

I have no idea what Intel is thinking.

Quizzical

This will be a faster integrated GPU than Intel's desktop CPUs otherwise come with.  It's likely that OEMs will include it with the F-series CPUs that have the integrated GPU completely disabled.  With AMD thus far declining to offer consumer desktop APUs based on their Zen 3 or even Zen 2 CPUs, this could make some degree of sense if priced appropriately to someone whose target level of GPU performance is that of a relatively good integrated GPU.  I don't think that's much of a market, though.

Drivers are also likely to cause headaches.  Low volume orphan products aren't likely to be a high priority for driver support in years to come.  If Nvidia or AMD were to offer a special GPU architecture and say that they'll only sell 10k chips of that architecture ever, you don't want one of them.  Rumors say that the people who bought a Titan V to play games on it haven't been pleased with the driver support, for example.

TwistedSister77

They have been discussing this for 15 years... 

Ridelynn

Quizzical said:

This will be a faster integrated GPU than Intel's desktop CPUs otherwise come with.  .... I don't think that's much of a market, though.

Yeah, but will it as fast as a low end discrete card (5500, 1650, etc)? 

The other GPU makers got out of that very low end niche (the $80-150 range) because IGP got fast enough to make it not worthwhile. And now that’s exactly the market Intel is trying to break back open?

I think I agree with you - this isn’t much of a market and sounds like another serious Intel misstep. That’s before we get into the world of Intel video drivers...

Quizzical

Ridelynn said:

Quizzical said:

This will be a faster integrated GPU than Intel's desktop CPUs otherwise come with.  .... I don't think that's much of a market, though.

Yeah, but will it as fast as a low end discrete card (5500, 1650, etc)? 

The other GPU makers got out of that very low end niche (the $80-150 range) because IGP got fast enough to make it not worthwhile. And now that’s exactly the market Intel is trying to break back open?

I think I agree with you - this isn’t much of a market and sounds like another serious Intel misstep. That’s before we get into the world of Intel video drivers...

Whether it will be as fast as a low end discrete card from AMD or Nvidia depends on what you consider a low end discrete card.

A Radeon RX 5500 or a GeForce GTX 1650?  Ha ha ha.  Not even close.

A Radeon RX 550 or a GeForce GT 1030?  It might plausibly be competitive.  We'd need to see benchmarks to know.

A Radeon HD 6450 or GeForce GT 710?  Sure, it will beat those handily.

I'm reminded some of when SIS or S3 or someone released a new discrete GPU and their marketing message was, hey look, it's barely faster than a Radeon HD 4350 in our cherry-picked benchmarks.  The Radeon HD 4350 was, at the time, ATI's bottom of the line.