Intel ARC Alchemist software will support overclocking

Posted on Wednesday, August 25 2021 @ 9:48 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
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In a new blog post on Medium, Intel discusses a couple of extra details about the upcoming ARC discrete video card series.

Why it's called ARC

Roger Chandler, Intel Vice President and General Manager of Client Graphics Products and Solutions, first reveals why Intel's new consumer GPUs are called ARC:
We all have stories to tell, and we form new ones every day when we work, when we play, and when we create. Each story has a structure, with plot and character inflections that flow in an arc. This inspired the name for our new consumer high performance graphics brand.
The first ARC generation is codenamed Alchemist. It will be succeeded by Battlemage, Celestial, and Druid. Alchemist is based on the Xe-HPG architecture and will hit the market in Q1 2022. There will be variants for the laptop and the desktop market.

Xe-HPG cores have 16 vector engines and 16 matrix engines, which Intel calls Xe Matrix eXtensions (XMX). Four Xe cores and four ray tracing cores make up a render slice. The highest-performing ARC Alchemist model will have eight render slices, which is the equivalent of 512 execution units.

ARC Alchemist is made on TSMC's N6 node. According to Intel, the 6nm node from TSMC offers a 50 percent better performance per Watt and clock frequency at the same voltage versus its previous generation. ARC Alchemist will support both DirectX Raytracing and Vulkan Ray Tracing, and variable rate shading tier 2. There's also support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, of course.

Xe render slice

Overclocking support out-of-the-box

Intel confirms the driver utility will have overclocking support:
We’re even integrating overclocking controls into the driver UI to give enthusiasts the tools they need to push the hardware to the limit.
Plus there will be some driver features for content creators:
Many gamers are also creators, so we’re developing robust capture capabilities that leverage our powerful encoding hardware. These include a virtual camera with AI assist and recorded game highlights that save your best moments.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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