Intel’s Upcoming Meteor Lake Systems Showcase Promising Gaming Performance with XeSS Upscaling Tech

Intel has recently provided a sneak peek into the gaming prowess of its yet-to-be-released Meteor Lake systems through a demo featuring Dying Light 2. The pre-production system operated on a Meteor Lake Xe-LPG integrated GPU (iGPU), exhibiting smooth gameplay at a native 1080p resolution. Notably, the performance saw a boost of 1.6 to 1.8 times when utilizing Intel's XeSS upscaling technology.

The demo, elucidated by Intel's Senior Technical Marketing Engineer, Chuck Duvall, showcased the new graphics tile within Meteor Lake, which, according to Duvall, elevates the performance to a level comparable to having "a discrete graphics card... integrated right into the processor." The side-by-side comparison highlighted the game running at 1080p native on the iGPU versus a 720p resolution enhanced to 1080p imagery using XeSS AI-upscaling. Although exact frame rates were not disclosed, the XeSS technology evidently led to a frame rate that's around 1.6 to 1.8 times faster than the native 1080p.

Furthermore, the demo also touched upon the power consumption figures, essential for mobile platforms. The power usage remained fairly similar in both gaming scenarios, hovering just under 30 watts. This demonstration marked the first official run of XeSS on Intel's integrated graphics, portraying a promising outlook for modern AAA gaming on portable, thin, and light devices. With over 80 PC titles currently supporting XeSS, gamers could anticipate a significant enhancement in their gaming experience on the upcoming Intel Core Ultra Meteor Lake systems, slated for retail release either late this year or early next, following a scheduled launch in mid-December.