Intel Xe-HPG, first PCB images leaked
Intel Xe-HPG
YouTube channel Moore's Law is Dead has posted a video showing the back of the PCB of Intel's new video card, the Xe-HPG DG2-512EU, which is the most anticipated configuration for the desktop and mobile series. Apparently, the channel in question has always managed to post information thanks to some sources that seem to divulge confidential information. Obviously the version visible in the photo is the discreet one for desktop: it therefore remains to be seen what the differences will be between this laboratory sample and the final product, which should arrive on the market between January and March 2022. DG2 graphics cards is made up of three variants: DG2-128, DG2-384 and DG2-512, whose identification number indicates the quantity of execution units. Since the DG2-384 and DG2-512 share the same package, the space occupied on the PCB will be the same for both (the only difference between the two is in the layout of the memories, with the DG2-512 being equipped with 8 memory modules and the DG2-384 which instead has 6).The rumors about the launch of graphics cards in the period from January to March next year are also confirmed in the statements of Moore's Law is Dead. However, the fact that we could see a presentation of the Xe-HPG series by Intel already towards the end of 2021 cannot be ruled out. Announcement that would eventually follow what has already been declared by the same company, from which a product capable of compete with the high-end GPUs of the two direct competitors: AMD and NVIDIA, especially considering the very acute shortage of GPUs of the last period.
If this amount of information is not enough, the same channel that revealed the first images of the graphics card states that the code name of the DG3 series should be “Elasti“. It also appears that Intel is hard at work developing for "Smooth Frame Delivery", competing directly with NVIDIA's Reflex and AMD's Radeon Boost.
In the table below we have grouped together the main features of what they should be all the versions of the new Intel DG2 Mobile:
SKU1 SKU2 SKU3 SKU4 SKU5 Package BGA2660 BGA2660 BGA2660 BGA1379 BGA1379 GPU DG2-512EU DG2-384EU DG2-384EU DG2-384EU DG2-128EU Execution unit 512 384 256 128 96 Shading units 4096 3072 2048 1024 768 Memory 16 GB GDDR6 12 GB GDDR6 8 GB GDDR6 4 GB GDDR6 4 GB GDDR6 Bus 256-bit 192-bit 128-bit 64-bit 64-bit Base clock 1.1 GHz 0.6 GHz 0.45 GHz TBC TBC Clock boost 1.8 GHz 1.8 GHz 1.4 GHz TBC TBC TGP 120 W 80 W 60 W 35 W 25 W Amazon offers you 15 months of Norton 360 Deluxe 2021 license for a short time, discounted by 68%!
Intel Xe-HPG DG2 Discrete Gaming Card PCB Pictured In Leaked Image
It's no secret that Intel's true desktop performance graphics card is on its way, affectionately referred to as DG2. Thanks to a leak earlier in the month, we know that Xe HPG (Xe High Performance Gaming) will apparently come in five distinct flavors, with anywhere from 128 to 512 execution units. We've also gotten a look at the rumored PCB layout for at least one DG2 SKU. Now, however, it looks like we're getting a first look at actual PCBs based on Intel's big GPU.Thanks to YouTuber Moore's Law is Dead, we get a (heavily watermarked) photo of the PCB along with some apparent specifications changes. Let's get to those first. Apparently now, the 512 EU version of DG2 will boost up over 2.2 GHz, which is more than 20% faster than previously reported. The power target for desktop versions is supposed to be less than 235 Watts, which is comparable to NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3070. That seems to line up with the rumored performance, which has been somewhere between the 3070 and larger GeForce RTX 3080.
When overlaid with the diagram previously posted by Igor's Lab, the ball grid array (BGA) of the photographed graphics card seems to line up pretty well with the supposed high-end 512 EU version. However, the way that the cooler appears to be mounted in the photo conflicts with where the GDDR6 VRAM would be, so perhaps we should take this with a grain of salt. Intel's Pete Brubaker says the final version of the card is 'right around the corner' so we'll see how it turns out. Beyond just pure graphics grunt, Intel is apparently confident in the other features of its DG2. The YouTuber quotes his leaker source as saying that Intel is 'confident they will crush' competing video encoders on other discrete graphics cards. Intel's QuickSync was one of the first technologies to offload video encoding from the CPU and onto dedicated hardware, and every consumer graphics card in recent years has the same ability. Ray tracing support is on the table, of course, and Intel apparently believes that it has a competitive solution, but expects NVIDIA's second-gen RTX hardware to maintain an advantage. Apparently Team Blue also has a DLSS alternative technology in the works, a necessity when it comes to limiting the performance impact ray-traced graphics rendering. AMD's DLSS competitor is still in development, and Big Navi GPUs could really benefit from it as well.Hopes are pretty high around the PC enthusiast community, considering all the shortages of both NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards. NVIDIA has tried to combat its supply issues with new Low Hash Rate (LHR) models, but it remains to be see if that will give a boost to available cards and bring them closer to retail pricing. If Intel's new GPU can also hit the rumored performance levels of somewhere approaching a GeForce RTX 3080, that would likely further increase the supply of discrete graphics on the market and bring relief to gamers everywhere.
