GPU rumors: Intel DG2 with 6/8GB GDDR6 or as a 960 EU flagship

Intel Xe HPG combines three strands

The rumors about Intel upcoming graphics cards of the higher performance classes are picking up speed. The internally named DG2 graphics solution will offer 384 execution units (EU) and 6 GB GDDR6 in a smaller version. In a variant with 8 GB GDDR6 512 EUs are assumed.There is also evidence of a top model with 960 EUs.

Intel first graphics cards: DG1 made the beginning

The first step to the currently only served by AMD and Nvidia parquet of standalone graphics solutions (Discrete Graphics) Intel has completed with the DG1. The entry-level discrete GPU has 96 EUs and thus no more execution units than the strongest integrated GPU of the Tiger Lake processors. The DG1 has so far only been delivered as a software development vehicle (SDV) for developers, a product for end customers does not yet exist, although via a notebook chip iDG1LPDEV"is speculated on the basis of DG1, which according to unconfirmed rumors addresses 3 GB GDDR6 and reaches a boost clock of 1,500 MHz.

New evidence for stronger DG2

There is much less information about the higher performance classes of Intel GPUs with their own Xe architecture. The VideoCardz website summarizes current information about the DG2 variant via Twitter. There, for example, a DG2 version with 384 EUs, 192-bit memory interface and 6 GB GDDR6 is described, whose GPU has an area of 185 to 188 mm², which would be comparatively small compared to current chips from AMD and Nvidia.

Furthermore, there is talk of a DG2 variant with 8 GB GDDR6, which allegedly has 512 EUs, in which a 256-bit memory interface would be conceivable. There is no information on the storage capacity of the alleged top model with 960 EUs, which is inevitably associated with the term Intel Xe HPG (High Performance Gaming), which Intel has already formulated publicly. According to Intel’s lead GPU architect Raja Koduri, who used to be in charge of Radeon GPUs at AMD, a gamer graphics card with GDDR6 and raytracing is expected to appear in the Xe HPG segment in 2021.

The smaller DG2 variants speculate that they are discrete GPUs for the notebook sector. This assumption is supported by an illustration that describes a notebook platform with Intel Tiger Lake or the successor Alder Lake on the CPU side as well as an Intel DG2 with 8 GB GDDR6 as a graphics solution. Ultimately, the DG2 GPUs could also serve desktop graphics cards in parallel, as it is handled by AMD and Nvidia.

Speculated specs on Intel discrete Xe graphics solutions

For the various expansion stages of the discrete Xe GPUs, there were already indications in advance, which indicated variants with 128, 256 and 512 EUs. However, there was still no mention of 384 EUs or 960 EUs.