Please note that this post is tagged as a rumor .
Battlemage GPUs in November?
ComputerBase citing ‘industry circles’ is claiming that Battlemage GPUs will launch before Black Friday, after Thanksgiving.
At Embedded World 2024 in Germany, Intel has unveiled six new Arc Alchemist graphics cards designed for edge and embedded systems. Those GPUs arrive more than 2 years after the first Alchemist discrete processors were released.
While attention is focused on the new Arc Alchemist GPUs, there’s little chatter about the successor, Battlemage . Also referred to as Xe2-HPG or Xe2-LPG, this next-gen GPU architecture is set to debut later this year under Lunar Lake SoCs (LPG variant). However, details on the discrete GPU section (HPG) powering the next-generation Arc Bx00 GPU series for gamers and workstations remain scarce from Intel.
According to reports from ComputerBase, discussions among Intel partners at the trade fair suggest that Battlemage might launch before Black Friday , which falls on November 29 this year. This timing is crucial for hardware companies, particularly those targeting gamers, as they aim to release new products ahead of the holiday shopping season.
At the fair, it’s now whispered that the manufacturer is aiming for the fall and definitely wants to capitalize on the sales season, which peaks with Black Friday. This aligns with Intel’s already officially announced schedule: After all, Black Friday falls about five weeks before the end of the year, this year on November 29th. So, a product launch must happen no later than November. Intel Arc 1.0 was released in early October 2022.
— ComputerBase
Officially, Intel has remained tight-lipped about Battlemage, merely confirming that it’s on schedule and emphasizing the team’s focus on software rather than hardware development. Intel Fellow Tom Petersen has hinted at efforts being directed towards Celestial, the architecture succeeding Battlemage.
The publication notices that Intel is taking completely different approach in marketing communication for Arc GPUs now. Rather than hype and claim different release dates, the employees are now only sharing what’s necessary. Hopefully, this approach that will pay off by surprising gamers with competitive architecture.
| Intel ARC Graphics Roadmap | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VideoCardz | Intel ARC “Alchemist” | Intel ARC “Battlemage” | Intel ARC “Celestial” | Intel ARC “Druid” |
| Architecture | Xᵉ HPG | Xᵉ² HPG | Xᵉ³ HPG | Xᵉ Next Architecture |
| Fabrication Node | TSMC N6 | TBC | TBC | TBC |
| Release Date | 2022 | 2024-2025 | 202x | 202x |
| GPUs | ACM-G10 ACM-G11 ACM-G12 | BCM-G10 BCM-G21 | TBC | TBC |
| PCIe | PCIe 4.0 | PCIe 5.0 | TBC | TBC |
Source: ComputerBase via Andreas Schilling