Intel's Arc GPUs are still nowhere to be found after being teased last year, though they might finally make an appearance this month.
Intel Arc is bringing a gaming graphics brand for Intel, and the company promises its release by the first quarter of 2022.
It won't be what you expect though. According to VideoCardz, Team Blue has teased the first release for their Arc graphics cards: March 30th, but laptops will be the first ones to get a crack at it. That is made quite evident in this tweet from Intel's Graphics division, which shows a laptop clear as day along with the date "3/30/22."
3/30/22 pic.twitter.com/eWt8hdC2co
— Intel Graphics (@IntelGraphics) March 26, 2022
But while this might sound annoying for those who have been waiting for Intel Arc GPUs for a while, this is still pretty much within Team Blue's ballpark of announcements. They did say way before that they're going to launch the laptop versions of Arc first before the desktop ones.
Plus, they once again confirmed this when a fan asked whether the March 30th launch will only cover laptops. To this, they said "yes," while also saying that the devices would be from their OEMs. The presentation of the aforementioned laptops will begin at 8:00 A.M. PST, and will be accessible via this link on Intel's website if you're interested.
As to which laptop brands will show up in the presentation, only two were confirmed to launch on the day. One of these will be Samsung's Galaxy Book2 Pro. According to VideoCardz, the laptop has been listed early by US retailer BHPhotoVideo for $1,349.99 and will feature an unnamed Arc integrated graphics chip paired with a 12th-gen Alder Lake CPU.
Another one is the Acer Swift X, which features a named Arc GPU this time: the Arc A370 (once again via VideoCardz). The Swift X was listed by European retailer Proshop for as much as 1549 EUR (around $1700 US at the time of this writing) if you're going for the model with the higher-end Alder Lake i7-1260P chip.
Read also: This Intel ARC Alchemist GPU Is FASTER Than An RTX 3070 Ti In Leaked Test
When Will The Desktop Intel Arc GPUs Release, Then?
So the first Arc GPUs will come for laptops, then. What about the desktop versions poised to take the fight to AMD and NVIDIA?
Earlier this year, Tech Times reported that the release of discrete desktop Arc chips could be delayed because Team Blue removed any mention of the original Q1 2022 release window on the official Arc website. Intel never formally confirmed a delay, but this could very well be accurate if the latest rumors are correct.
According to PCGamer, new leaks suggest that the Alchemist Arc GPUs have slipped down to a May-June release window. This information comes from German site Igor's Lab, which says that the release window is due to qualification samples of the card "being taped out" (essentially ready to ship) by now.
These qualification samples, says Igor's Lab, will be the very cards that Intel software folks will use to fine-tune drivers. They're also going to be used by AIB partners to be integrated into their own graphics card designs.
Related: Intel Hires Former Lead AMD Discrete Graphics Architect To Boost Its GPU Department
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
