Intel: DG2 gaming GPUs are now sampling

We may start seeing more Intel DG2 leaks over the coming weeks as Intel is now sampling these gaming GPUs!

The announcement comes straight from Intel. Trish Damkroger, vice president and general manager of High Performance Computing at Intel Corporation, told the audience during a ISC High Performance 2021 stream that chips based on the Xe-HPG gaming architecture are now sampling to partners.

The first DG2-based discrete video cards from Intel are expected later this year. The company is expected to launch models for laptops and desktop PCs. Just like AMD and NVIDIA, Intel will offer various versions with different execution unit (EU) configurations, as well as cut-down models. It's believed Intel will have at least five DG2 configurations, but some of these won't hit the market until 2022. The initial focus is believed to be the mobile market.

Now that Xe-HPG is sampling, odds are good that we'll start getting a more detailed picture about the performance of Intel's new attempt at breaking into the gaming GPU market. So far, leaked benchmarks of the DG2 failed to impress but this could be due to software issues.

Xe-HPC, the server version of Intel's GPU, is currently being validated. This part is known as Ponte Vecchio and is Intel's attempt at competing with NVIDIA in the datacenter market.

Intel teases DG2 swag

Intel is also promising some Xe swag to Odyssey cardholders:

Thank you for joining Intel on this Odyssey. We are soon heading toward a milestone moment, the pending release of the Xe HPG microarchitecture from Intel. Some of you received an Odyssey card and were the first to engage with Intel on this journey. Now is the time to redeem this card, which is one in many steps we hope to formally take forward with you. We have a few required fields here to confirm you have received a card from us. As well if you agree to provide additional information, it will help us follow and recognize you for your commitment with Intel.

Do you still have your special event #JoinTheOdyssey cards? Now’s the time to use it! Fill in the details on the form here, and some swag may soon be coming your way… https://t.co/BuKBRk6aqb #XeHPG pic.twitter.com/CSLOQOjW3W

— Intel Graphics (@IntelGraphics) June 28, 2021