What simply occurred? At a latest occasion showcasing the brand new Lunar Lake cell processors, Intel let slip some juicy particulars about its next-gen GPU structure, codenamed Xe2. This up to date design will energy not simply the built-in graphics in Lunar Lake chips, but in addition Intel’s upcoming discrete “Battlemage” gaming graphics playing cards. However maybe probably the most important development is improved compatibility with video games.
With Xe2, Intel marks a shift in the way it refers to its GPU tech. There aren’t any extra complicated Xe-HPG or Xe-LPG naming schemes. As a substitute, Xe2 is a unified structure that may scale throughout Intel’s whole product stack, from low-power laptop computer chips to beefy desktop GPUs.
The nuts and bolts have seen an overhaul too. Xe2 GPUs are constructed from “Render Slices,” every containing 4 “Xe-cores,” which in flip pack eight “Vector Engines” apiece. The Lunar Lake cell chips coming later this yr will rock a modest eight Xe-cores. However if you would like a preview of what Battlemage may provide, look no additional than the present Arc A770 – it has 32 Xe-cores underneath the hood.
After all, extra cores do not robotically at all times imply higher efficiency. The Xe2 structure has been redesigned to enhance gaming compatibility, a significant shortcoming of Intel’s Arc “Alchemist” GPUs. Tom Petersen, Intel’s graphics spokesperson, stated on the briefing that “most frequently you will see video games working proper out of the field” on Xe2 {hardware}.
The important thing to this revamped gaming expertise is “correcting” the wrongs of the earlier era, Petersen revealed, alongside a slew of updates like switching to extra environment friendly SIMD16 vector operations.
Ray tracing {hardware} has additionally been overhauled, together with boosting mesh shading, vertex processing, and texture sampling throughput. Intel has additionally put within the work to align Xe2’s graphics instructions extra intently with what trendy sport engines anticipate.
Different Xe2 highlights embody new XMX blocks with 67 peak INT8 TOPS for accelerated AI computations. The show engine has leveled up too, now supporting 8K60 HDR, 1440p360 output, and the most recent HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, and eDP 1.5 requirements.
All these architectural enhancements include the promise of significant efficiency positive factors. In comparison with the earlier Xe graphics, Intel claims a 50% efficiency uplift over Meteor Lake’s on the identical energy.
Lunar Lake cell CPUs are slated to reach within the third quarter of this yr, giving us our first style of the Xe2 silicon. As for discrete Battlemage GPUs, Intel is remaining coy on an actual launch window. However with NVIDIA’s next-gen “Blackwell” RTX 50 sequence looming, you possibly can wager Intel desires Battlemage out sooner relatively than later.
