Intel’s upcoming consumer GPUs will be part of its newly announced Intel Arc brand. Intel Arc includes hardware, software, and services, including consumer graphics meant to compete with the best GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD. The company explains that its Arc brand will span across multiple generations of hardware.
The first generation under the Intel Arc brand is codenamed “Alchemist.” Previously, it was known as DG2. Alchemist GPUs will appear in desktops and laptops. Future generations under the Arc brand include Battlemage, Celestial, and Druid.
Intel’s Alchemist will support ray tracing and artificial intelligence-driven super sampling. The latter of these seems similar to NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), which also uses AI to upscale gameplay. AMD has a somewhat similar technology called FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), though it uses spatial upscaling to make games look better. Alchemist will also fully support DirectX 12 Ultimate.
Intel vice president and general manager of Client Graphics Products and Solutions, Roger Chandler, said of today’s news:
Today marks a key moment in the graphics journey we started just a few years ago. The launch of the Intel Arc brand and the reveal of future hardware generations signifies Intel’s deep and continued commitment to gamers and creators everywhere. We have teams doing incredible work to ensure we deliver first-class and frictionless experiences when these products are available early next year.
Intel shared a teaser video that shows preproduction hardware running Metro Exodus, PUBG, and some of the best PC games. It also announced that Alchemist products are set to ship in Q1 2022.
