Wednesday, December 21st 2022

Intel Reorganises its Graphics Chip Division, Raja Koduri Seemingly Demoted

Big things are afoot at Intel's graphics chip division once again, as the company has just broken up its Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics (AXG) business unit which will result in some big changes. For starters, Raja Koduri has been—what we can only refer to as—demoted, given he's back to being chief architect rather than being in charge of the AXG business unit. Some of his staff will be moved to other business units inside Intel as the AXG business unit will cease to exist. This doesn't mean Intel will stop making discrete consumer GPUs, with at least the Battlemage/Arc B-series launch still being planned to take place sometime in 2023.

At the same time, it looks like Raja Koduri will be out of action for what is likely to be at least a month since he posted on Twitter that he's had emergency back surgery while on a business trip. How this will affect his transition back to his role as chief architect is anyone's guess at this point in time. However, he will not be focusing solely on GPUs in the future, but the broader range of products that Intel offers—particularly the integration of GPU, CPU and AI architectures at Intel. We've posted an official statement from Intel after the break, which Intel provided to Tom's Hardware. We also wish Raja a speedy recovery!
Discrete graphics and accelerated computing are critical growth engines for Intel. With our flagship products now in production, we are evolving our structure to accelerate and scale their impact and drive go-to-market strategies with a unified voice to customers. This includes our consumer graphics teams joining our client computing group, and our accelerated computing teams joining our datacenter and AI group.

In addition, Raja Koduri will return to the Intel Chief Architect role to focus on our growing efforts across CPU, GPU and AI, and accelerating high priority technical programs.
Sources: Bloomberg (paywall), Tom's Hardware, Raja Koduri (on Twitter)
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131 Comments on Intel Reorganises its Graphics Chip Division, Raja Koduri Seemingly Demoted

#101
Solaris17
Super Dainty Moderator
TheLostSwedewhat we can only refer to as—demoted, given he's back to being chief architect rather than being in charge of the AXG business unit.
Curious. I dipped my toes into management for a few years and went back for engineering because I hated it. Not sure I’d call it a “demotion” they are two different ladders at most big boy tech companies.

“Management “ isn’t the crown of the corporate ladder lol
Posted on Reply
#102
Avro Arrow
Solaris17Curious. I dipped my toes into management for a few years and went back for engineering because I hated it. Not sure I’d call it a “demotion” they are two different ladders at most big boy tech companies.

“Management “ isn’t the crown of the corporate ladder lol
To me, whatever job pays the most is the crown of the corporate ladder. It's probably completely dependent on which company we're talking about.
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#103
Solaris17
Super Dainty Moderator
Avro ArrowTo me, whatever job pays the most is the crown of the corporate ladder. It's probably completely dependent on which company we're talking about.
Not really FAANG companies for example along with other big tech companies and even ones you might not think are so big like Micron or like Logitech certainly use different ladders.

These places aren’t McDonald’s . I certainly get paid more than managers above me and other principal engineers and architects get massive checks.
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#104
Fluffmeister
ARFLet's hope nvidia takes him on board :D
Nah, no need. They can pay anyone to stand around smiling holding a piece of silicon.
Posted on Reply
#105
Solaris17
Super Dainty Moderator
FluffmeisterNah, no need. They can pay anyone to stand around smiling holding a piece of silicon.
To be fair to the jacket, it probably is a really nice jacket.
Posted on Reply
#106
wNotyarD
Solaris17To be fair to the jacket, it probably is a really nice jacket.
But just imagine Raja wearing Jensen's jacket.
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#107
chrcoluk
Xex360You have to look at reality, Intel couldn't compete with 2 years old GPUs (the 770 is similar to the 3070 in size), Intel came late to the party and knows that they won't be able to compete for several generations, sales will be abysmal unless sold at loss (as it's probably the case with the 770).

iGPUs do count, they out to HDMI DP DVI...etc, decode video and compatible with all DX versions hence play games. You could argue it's difficult to scale them but it seems Intel's new GPU division didn't use their expertise, performance could be excused but not the lack of compatibility with earlier DX versions and all the issues they have now are not.
This should have been known from start they wouldnt be competing on performance probably for at least 2 generations of products.

The DX and price stuff probably killed the market these GPUs could have been aimed at. I would recommend a $100 Intel GPU to someone who wanted to play old games.

Top end performance historically has only been a small part of the market.
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#108
AusWolf
Xex360You have to look at reality, Intel couldn't compete with 2 years old GPUs (the 770 is similar to the 3070 in size), Intel came late to the party and knows that they won't be able to compete for several generations, sales will be abysmal unless sold at loss (as it's probably the case with the 770).
The fact that the A770 didn't compete at the top end didn't surprise me. What I found lacking is its availability (which is practically non-existent still, months after release), its price, the terrible driver support, the high idle power consumption, and the inconsistent performance across different games. It does quite okay in some (especially with RT on), but completely tanks in others.

To be honest, I was more than ready to buy one. I couldn't care less that it performs at 2070-2080 level maximum, but the above things broke the deal for me.
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#109
TumbleGeorge
Support of too old DX is stupid. Who wishes to play so old games must use his old PC if it is alive for that task. Instead of disposing of it as polluting e-waste.
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#110
shovenose
AusWolfThe fact that the A770 didn't compete at the top end didn't surprise me. What I found lacking is its availability (which is practically non-existent still, months after release), its price, the terrible driver support, the high idle power consumption, and the inconsistent performance across different games. It does quite okay in some (especially with RT on), but completely tanks in others.

To be honest, I was more than ready to buy one. I couldn't care less that it performs at 2070-2080 level maximum, but the above things broke the deal for me.
How is availability non existent? There are like 5 different Arc cards on Newegg…
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#111
TumbleGeorge
shovenoseHow is availability non existent? There are like 5 different Arc cards on Newegg…
6 with a one A380 model.
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#112
AusWolf
shovenoseHow is availability non existent? There are like 5 different Arc cards on Newegg…
Newegg... UK? Over here, there's literally one retailer that has it for £380.
TumbleGeorgeSupport of too old DX is stupid. Who wishes to play so old games must use his old PC if it is alive for that task. Instead of disposing of it as polluting e-waste.
I disagree. Just because a game is old, it doesn't mean I like it any less. Not having to mess with retro PCs just to play them is a must for me.
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#113
TumbleGeorge
There are still quite a few people with old computers available. Your reasons are important in a your personal way. You cannot impose them on other people.
Posted on Reply
#114
AusWolf
TumbleGeorgeThere are still quite a few people with old computers available. Your reasons are important in a your personal way. You cannot impose them on other people.
I don't. All I'm saying is, there are people out there who like playing both old and new games.
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#115
ThrashZone
Hi,
I like the seemingly demoted part
He really got promoted because now failure blame is someone else's problem so back to team/ zoom meetings management :laugh:
Posted on Reply
#116
ZoneDymo
TumbleGeorgeThere are still quite a few people with old computers available. Your reasons are important in a your personal way. You cannot impose them on other people.
yet you are doing the exact same.....are you ok man?
Posted on Reply
#117
Unregistered
TumbleGeorgeSupport of too old DX is stupid. Who wishes to play so old games must use his old PC if it is alive for that task. Instead of disposing of it as polluting e-waste.
One of the best things about PC gaming is the ability to play old and new games, with old games getting a boost in performance with new hardware.

Personally, lots of the new games are rubbish, we have 16 cores desktop CPUs yet we still don't have a game that comes close to Supreme Commander.

As for e-waste, I have a 10+ years old laptop that still perfect for word processing, Excel, web browsing...etc (a 120gb SSD can bring everything back to life), instead of throwing your old stuff sell or give it away.
#118
MIRTAZAPINE
Xex360One of the best things about PC gaming is the ability to play old and new games, with old games getting a boost in performance with new hardware.

Personally, lots of the new games are rubbish, we have 16 cores desktop CPUs yet we still don't have a game that comes close to Supreme Commander.

As for e-waste, I have a 10+ years old laptop that still perfect for word processing, Excel, web browsing...etc (a 120gb SSD can bring everything back to life), instead of throwing your old stuff sell or give it away.
I remember Total Annilation it was so fun to build thousand of robots. I have not tried my hand on the spiritual successor supreme commander. I don't think games nowadays are as experimental and creative as the 90s to late 2000s with nowadays less room for that as company need to make profit.
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#119
sephiroth117
Do people think it will take only one iteration for Intel to join AMD/Nvidia level of finition ?

Come on, it's a long term project, driver and hardware wise.

I think if you bought an intel GPU, you bought a "promise" too that they'd improve drivers over time, I think they will do that but it will require time.


Otherwise people mentioning Nvidia is cheating on image quality..don't know what to tell you, I mean it's not like we had tools to measure image quality and back up those kind of claims...

Price apart, the 7900XTX is awesome but so is the 4090, no need to use disinformation and lies to justify your preference, period.
Posted on Reply
#120
Totally
MIRTAZAPINEI remember Total Annilation it was so fun to build thousand of robots. I have not tried my hand on the spiritual successor supreme commander. I don't think games nowadays are as experimental and creative as the 90s to late 2000s with nowadays less room for that as company need to make profit.
Turning a profit doesn't seem to be the problem. Companies nowadays are just hell-bent on minimizing risk and maximizing profit. It's no longer simple risk aversion. Even if a project has low risk and guaranteed profit, if it isn't enough of a profit it won't be entertained. Until that changes I don't believe MTXs, a direct symptom of this problem, will go away.
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#121
AusWolf
sephiroth117Otherwise people mentioning Nvidia is cheating on image quality..don't know what to tell you, I mean it's not like we had tools to measure image quality and back up those kind of claims...
Besides, who's not cheating one way or another? AMD still has their "AMD Optimized" Tessellation option which I think limits the number of tessellated edges to a certain number, yet no one complains about it.
Posted on Reply
#122
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
sLowEndHis batting average hasn't been very good, but hopefully he can hit a homerun this time.
Never happen
L'EliminateurExactly,
it's not like intel NEVER made anything with graphics, they're new to the DISCRETE GPU market, that's it.
But it does look like the teams that make the igpus/software for them might as well be in a different company as they tried to do everything from scratch and reinvent the wheel.

What i don't understand is how they could fuckup basic stuff like a driver installer, or the driver UI
No they are not, they released a i740 agp and it flopped, arc feels the same way
Posted on Reply
#123
Jism
eidairaman1No they are not, they released a i740 agp and it flopped, arc feels the same way
It worked for what it was, 2D with some basic 3D functionality. But for performance you needed to go 3dfx, ati or nvidia or some other smaller name or brand thats no longer in the running these days.

I think i owned a i740 graphics card as well, was a good thing for 2D imaging and let the 3D be done by a Voodoo2 in SLI.

But as with most names, brands and cards from that generation most flopped in 3D. 3dfx set the bar and shooked the industry.

Arc is a first release. It will need a few generations to catch up. But eventually they will, such as their drivers and all that.
Posted on Reply
#124
pyron83
"emergency back surgery" usually means they have to fix your back asap or you could remain paraplegic. Cauda equina syndrome and so on. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Posted on Reply
#125
lexluthermiester
pyron83"emergency back surgery" usually means they have to fix your back asap or you could remain paraplegic. Cauda equina syndrome and so on. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Slipped or ruptured discs comes to mind. Whatever it was, it's no one's business but his own. Good point!

For people to belittle someone for a medical condition and then criticize them professionally for same is low class, low brow and indicative of a small mind thinking small.
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