Intel’s Xe-HPG graphics cards are slated to launch in the first half of 2022. Since this will be the company’s first real foray into the discrete graphics card market, a lot needs to go well for a successful launch. Going by rumors and leaks, it looks like Intel will focus on the mid to upper midrange GPU market segments, along with gaming notebooks. This was confirmed by @Greymon on Twitter earlier today who believes that the DG2’s official competitors will be the GeForce RTX 3070 from NVIDIA and the Radeon RX 6700 XT from AMD.
It’s worth noting that the GeForce GTX 1060, 1650/1660, and the RTX 2060 have been the most popular GPUs among PC gamers over the last several years. All these SKUs fit into the $250-$350 segment, with the higher-end parts contributing to just a few percent of the overall sales (even though the revenue brought in by them can be substantial due to the larger profit margins).
| SKU 1 | SKU 2 | SKU 3 | SKU 4 | SKU 5 | |
| Package Type | BGA2660 | BGA2660 | BGA2660 | BGA1379 | BGA1379 |
| Supported Memory Technology | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
| Memory speed | 16 Gbps | 16 Gbps | 16 Gbps | 16 Gbps | 16 Gbps |
| Interface / Bus | 256-bit | 192-bit | 128-bit | 64-bit | 64-bit |
| Memory Size (Max) | 16 GB | 12 GB | 8 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Smart Cache Size | 16 MB | 16 MB | 8 MB | 4MB* | 4MB* |
| Graphics Execution Units (EUs) | 512 | 384 | 256 | 196 | 128 |
| Shaders | 4096 | 3072 | 2048 | 1024 | 768 |
| Graphics Frequency (High) Mobile | 1.1 GHz | 600 MHz | 450 MHz | TBC | TBC |
| Graphics Frequency (Turbo) Mobile | 1.8 GHz | 1.8 GHz | 1.4 GHz | TBC | TBC |
| TDP Mobile (Chip Only) | 100 | 100 | 100 | TBC | TBC |
| TDP Desktop | 175-225W | 150-175W? | 120-150W? | 120-130W | 100W? |
On the mobile side, the GeForce GTX 1650 and 1650 Ti have been shipped with roughly half of all the gaming laptops over the past 2-3 years. For a large chunk of the PC gaming audience, these GPUs are still the de-facto options.
Lack of competition from AMD has allowed NVIDIA to delay the RTX 3050/3050 Ti as they’re undoubtedly going to be much more expensive to make, further reducing the profit margins. As you can guess, this will be a ripe target for Intel to establish a foothold. Thanks to its OEM partnerships, the company will have an easier time penetrating the mainstream GPU market.
While the 512 EU SKU will compete with the RTX 3070/RX 6700 XT, the 384/256 EU part will lock horns with the GeForce RTX 3060/3060 Ti, likely offering higher raster performance at the same price points. If Intel can secure a consistent supply from TSMC, then the deltas between the offerings will be even more apparent.
