Wednesday, March 9th 2022
Intel Plans May-June 2022 Launches of Arc "Alchemist" Desktop Graphics Cards
Intel is reportedly targeting early-Summer (May-June) for the launch of its ambitious attempt at AAA gaming graphics cards for desktops, the Arc "Alchemist" series, based on the Xe-HPG graphics architecture, according to a report by Igor's Lab. Product launches are expected anywhere between May 2 and June 1, so one could expect some market availability within Summer. The Arc "Alchemist" series is designed to be sold through a handful board partners Intel already has strong industry relations with. The Arc "Alchemist" lineup will initially target four market segments, including the performance segment, meant for maxed out AAA gaming, with XeSS possibly even enabling 4K Ultra HD gameplay. Intel's entry to the gaming graphics space is expected to introduce an element of competitive pressure against both NVIDIA and AMD, as the company has the financial muscle to keep investing in this market if it tastes success with "Alchemist."
Source:
Igor's Lab
31 Comments on Intel Plans May-June 2022 Launches of Arc "Alchemist" Desktop Graphics Cards
Even now, they're seeming to slip past the latest Q2 deadline, yet again.
It's not all bad, though. Maybe they'll come so late to the party that they will have no other option but to price quite competitively.
Let's just hope Arc 1 is intel's Xbox 1, let's say, rather than their Apple Pippin.
Even if next gen doubles the current terrible price/performance ratios, there is still plenty of room for Intel to sell gpus, especially with the crypto mafia hacking Nvidia to show that criminals are so desperate for cards to feed their mining activities that literally even if these cards are terrible for gaming, then if Intel turns off the crypto limiter, or doesn't have one, they can sell 100% of the cards to miners without even needing to care about gamers.
Oh Intel...
With 3 players on the market and after many people got conned by youtube influencers and hype to "invest" in mining, the market will be flooded with cheap and unwanted graphics card.
The bug is over, energy prices are increasing every month in some parts of the world ( war/russia ) , GPU interest will be equivalent to soundcards or network cards interest.
DO NOT BUY ANY GPU! they will be dirt cheap in a year.
We'll be lucky if at least AMD responds and tweaks pricing, since NVIDIA commands high brand loyalty and much of the GPU space despite Radeon 6000 series being extremely competitive this time around, and very rarely does NVIDIA ever cut their prices on models outside of global shifts in demand. If anything, NVIDIA is just more likely to flood the market with new sub-models that match price but has slightly better performance, like they've done the last few years with Ti/SUPER in-between models rather than lowering pricing.
Going to those same AIB's and expecting better pricing? Nah. Asus gonna Asus. If you complain, they'll laugh and say, "Haha, tariffs, haha."
Hope it's healthy competition without software/driver hiccups.
Unfortunately, the past 4 years showed them that they just “left tons of money on the table with being in line of pre-2018 pricing”.
Production issues, supply issues, transport issues, Corona pandemic, Crypto mining, scalping, “Inflation”, War in Ukraine, Entry level cards (100-150$) starting at 250-350$ respectively.
If the ARC-Alchimist lineup and its drivers are somewhat able to play current games at 1080p/1440p with around 60 FPS, they will sell cards if priced slightly cheaper.
If a card starts with a low MSRP, and then increases, people grumble about how the cards are overpriced. But if a card starts with a high MSRP, and then decreases, people feel like they're getting a deal. It's in the manufacturers' best interests to start high.