A blurry image of an Intel ARC Alchemist graphics card with a DG2-128 GPU has been leaked to Chiphell.
There are not many details in the photo, but the source indicated where the GPU and memory are located on the board. The holes for attaching the cooling solution can also be easily located, further confirming that we are considering a desktop design.
Intel DG2-128 Dekstop, Source: Chiphell
The user who posted the image on Chiphell claims that the card is extremely small compared to other models from Intel and other manufacturers, and consumes 65W of power.
The source claims that the Intel ARC Alchemist graphics card is equipped with 6GB GDDR6 memory and also offers 96-bit memory via 32+64-bit controllers.
According to new data, Intel Alder Lake processors will go on sale from November 4th. Desktop processors will be available to order starting October 27th.
The sales start date is indicated in the message from MSI. The manufacturer is offering owners of PhD coolers an upgrade kit for the new LGA1700 socket, and this promotion will take effect from November 4th.
MSI LGA1700 upgrade kit form, Source: MSI
According to VideoCardz, other sources have confirmed that Alder Lake processors will be available on November 4th. Wccftech author Usman Pirzada claims on Twitter that pre-orders will start from October 27th. On this day, the Intel Innovation event will begin, where the manufacturer will publish all the details about Alder Lake.
Previously, there were rumors that Alder Lake processors and their accompanying Z690 chipset would be released on November 19th.
In August, Intel provided detailed information about the architecture of its Alder Lake processors, but the official lineup of processors has not yet been announced. Initially, only three Alder Lake processors are expected in K and KF variants. The latter do not have an integrated GPU.
MSI has introduced a new series of M.2 SSDs in the form of the Spatium M390 family.
The MSI Spatium M390 is an M.2 2280 solid state media based on PCI Express 3.0 x4 and NVMe 1.4 interfaces. Here we used a Phison E15T controller, about which there is not much information on the network yet, and an unspecified 3D TLC NAND memory.
The new MSI SSDs are offered in 500 GB and 1 TB capacities.
Linear read and write speeds in the Spatium M390 reach 3300/3000 MB/s, respectively. The performance level when working with arbitrary 4KB blocks can be 420K/550K IOPS.
The Taiwanese emphasize that the M390 supports a wide range of data error correction features, including LPDC ECC and E2E Data Protection.
The MSI Spatium M390 series comes with a 5-year manufacturer's warranty. Release dates and prices have not been announced.
The first series of graphics cards from Intel will be called "Arc aXXX", where "a" stands for Alchemist, the first generation of Arc GPUs.
The leak has uncovered a sample Intel Arc GPU chart that lists all the right and wrong ways to name upcoming series. It is unlikely that gamers and the press will follow this guideline, but retailers, board partners and system integrators should follow these guidelines.
It can be concluded that the next three series will use the names Arc bXXX, Arc cXXX and Arc dXXX, since Intel has already confirmed the code names for these series: Battlemage, Celestial and Druid.
Intel has officially confirmed that the first generation of discrete Arc series GPUs will debut in the first quarter of 2022.
SiSoftware Sandra was recently leaked with preliminary data from reviewers. The CPU showed strong AVX2 performance, but the preview was missing a lot of detail.
This time, an entry about the Intel Core i9-12900K processor appeared in the CPU-Z database. The very name of the processor has been blurred, showing that the CPU has 24 threads, which matches the specification of the chip, which has 16 cores (8x Performance and 8x Efficient) and 24 threads (only Performance cores support Hyper-Threading).
In the single thread test, the processor scored 825 points, a 27% improvement over the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5900X. At the same time, this result is 20% better than Intel's current flagship Core i9-11900K (based on the Cypress Cove architecture).
Intel Core i9-12900K CPU-Z, Source: Bilibili
Multi-threaded performance was blurred, but we can see that the blue bar matches the width of the purple bar (5950X), which suggests that both processors should have the same performance.
SiSoftware Benchmark Developer Sandra shares preliminary test results for Alder Lake's flagship SKU.
Intel's 12th Gen desktop processor family based on Alder Lake, dubbed Alder Lake-S, along with flagship motherboards based on the Z690 series chipsets, is rumored to launch on November 19th, which means the processors are currently undergo rigorous benchmarking and testing by Intel and partner vendors.
The Core i9-12900K matches the i9-11900K in some benchmarks, sometimes offering lower performance. The charts are missing a lot of data.
Despite these facts, the processor shows high AVX2 performance, although it does not support AVX512 instructions.
The tests were done on 64-bit Windows 10, it is possible that we will see better results in Windows 11, since Microsoft's next generation OS has Alder Lake-specific optimizations built in.
Intel Core i9-12900K in SiSoftware Sandra, Source: SiSoftware
Intel Core i9-12900K in SiSoftware Sandra, Source: SiSoftware
Intel Core i9-12900K in SiSoftware Sandra, Source: SiSoftware
According to the latest information posted on Moore's Law is Dead channel, Intel is going (at least initially) to release three ARC graphics cards with two different Alchemist chips.
The first GPU variant will be equipped with 512 EU units, in which case we are dealing with a full-fledged Alchemist SoC 1 core. The core clock speed of current samples should range from 2200 to 2500 MHz, with a TGP of no more than 235 watts. According to the source, currently pre-built cards with this SoC require one 8-pin and one 6-pin power connector to be powered. The performance itself depends on specific games - some games assume the level of GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, others - GeForce RTX 3070 Ti.
The second variant of Alchemist SoC 1 should have 384 active EUs and use a 192-bit bus (as opposed to a 256-bit full core). The performance of this version of the card fluctuates between GeForce RTX 3060 and GeForce RTX 3060 Ti.
Intel is also working on a second ARC graphics core, the Alchemist SoC 2, which will be prepared for a budget graphics card. It will feature 4 or 8 GB of VRAM on a 64-bit memory bus, offer 128 EU units, and a core clock of 2200-2500 MHz. Alchemist SoC 2 performance should fluctuate around the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 and GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER cards. The card must also be highly energy efficient, as its TGP must not exceed 75W.
According to Moore's Law is Dead, Intel ARC pricing will be aggressive towards competing GPUs, according to his sources. Let's hope.
Intel Arc Alchemist GPU Configurations, Source: Moore's Law is Dead
NVIDIA Unveils GA104 GPU for RTX 3060 Graphics Cards. Galax and Gainward have confirmed they are preparing graphics cards for launch, but only in China for now.
Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 with GA104 GPU, Source: Gainward
Gainward GeForce RTX 3060 with GA104 GPU, Source: Gainward
Both manufacturers are ready to introduce RTX 3060 graphics cards with three different GPU options: GA106-300, GA106-302 and GA104-150.
The first option is, of course, the original RTX 3060, while the GA106-302 is the version with the updated Cryptocurrency Mining Limiter (LHR). GA104-150 is a new GPU with 3584 CUDA modules that works with 12GB of GDDR6 memory. Its efficiency should be at the level of the mentioned GA106, but it is possible that there are differences in power consumption. We expect that the first independent tests will appear in the near future, which will clarify this issue.
The new graphics cards from GALAX and Gainward should only be available in China. However, it is possible that NVIDIA plans to offer the new GA104-150 GPUs to more of its partners. It is possible that after some time we will see such units in our market. It is worth recalling that the GeForce RTX 2060 KO (TU104) from EVGI is finally available in Europe.
Galax GeForce RTX 3060 with GA104 GPU, Source: Galax
AMD and Mediatek are in talks to form a joint venture, according to a DigiTimes report.
Last year, MediaTek became the largest smartphone chip maker in the world. AMD aims to leverage MediaTek's wireless, 5G, and high-bandwidth capabilities to create new lines of mobile SoCs for the notebook market.
A ComputerBase.de source notes that the companies are already working together on a smaller scale, with the MediaTek MT7921K Wi-Fi controller being used by AMD under the alias RZ608 in some new laptop models. The joint venture between the two companies could also provide a stronger presence for MediaTek in the notebook market, and AMD will receive valuable Wi-Fi 6 and 5G chip integration projects for future products.
DigiTimes estimates that the joint venture will launch its first laptop SoCs with built-in Wi-Fi, 5G, and wired connectivity by 2024. Both companies have yet to confirm the rumors.
According to Chinese web publication MyDrivers, ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI have already begun working on their own variants of Xe-HPG 3D accelerators.
"Currently, there are OEM factories including ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte and others that will produce discrete Intel Arc graphics cards, hoping to jointly develop more business opportunities in the discrete graphics technology and graphics card market," MyDrivers said.
So far, nothing has been heard of Gigabyte being interested in Intel Arc GPUs. ASUS and MSI have now confirmed this. ASUS has already released a dedicated Iris Xe (DG1) solution with a single-slot passive design, confirming that they are working closely on Intel Xe GPU architectures. Intel also reportedly approached MSI about DG2-based GPUs.
The official debut of Intel Arc Alchemist 3D accelerators will take place in the first quarter of 2022.
