Intel Gen11 iGPU promises to be almost as fast as AMD Vega 8

Intel also talked about its graphics plans at its Architecture Day. One of the key elements here is that the chip giant's Gen10 graphics will not be adopted, instead the firm is jumping straight to Gen11. This new generation features 64 improved execution units (EUs), which is significantly more than the 24 offered by Gen9 graphics. Intel claims Gen11 will be able to break the 1 teraflops barrier. At least on paper, this makes it a rival to AMD's Vega 8 integrated graphics (AMD Ryzen 3 2200G).

The first 10nm processors with Gen11 integrated graphcis are expected in 2019, with the introduction of Sunny Cove. Besides a lot more EUs and architectural improvements, Gen11 will feature tile-based rendering, Coarse Pixel Shading (similar to NVIDIA's Variable Pixel Shading), a new HEVC encoder design, and Adaptive Sync support.

Next-Generation Graphics: Intel unveiled new Gen11 integrated graphics with 64 enhanced execution units, more than double previous Intel Gen9 graphics (24 EUs), designed to break the 1 TFLOPS barrier. The new integrated graphics will be delivered in 10nm-based processors beginning in 2019.

The new integrated graphics architecture is expected to double the computing performance-per-clock compared to Intel Gen9 graphics. With >1 TFLOPS performance capability, this architecture is designed to increase game playability. At the event, Intel showed Gen11 graphics nearly doubling the performance of a popular photo recognition application when compared to Intel's Gen9 graphics. Gen11 graphics is expected to also feature an advanced media encoder and decoder, supporting 4K video streams and 8K content creation in constrained power envelopes. Gen11 will also feature Intel® Adaptive Sync technology enabling smooth frame rates for gaming.

Intel also reaffirmed its plan to introduce a discrete graphics processor by 2020.