Intel’s Arc GPU will be a “limited edition” release in 2022

While integrated Iris Xe graphics represents what Intel can do with ultra-book-level GPUs, the company is also looking to challenge NVIDIA in 2022 with its new Arc GPU for desktops.

Yesterday, Intel debuted its Arc GPU via a press release and 50 second YouTube teaser. As far as the public is concerned, the only solid information regarding the Arc card is what its physical manifestation will look like.

Intel didn’t get into details regarding turbo boosts, MHz, or clock speeds as of yet, but assured customers that the first retail appearances will be summer of 2022 as “limited edition” releases.

The term “limited edition” may denote a branding scheme similar to its closest competitor in NVIDIA which uses the “Founder Edition” to identify its special brand of GPUs. Along with the “limited edition” Arc cards will come Arc 5 and 7 GPUs and the company’s AI-powered upscaling technology in the XeSS this summer as well.

From a cursory view, the Arc card appears to host an HDMI port alongside three additional DisplayPort connectors which we presume will support 4, 5 and 8K displays.

Intel is doing the long tease for its reemergence in the GPU game with its announcement at CES, its tease yesterday and presumably a few more detail leaks before the systems go on sale this summer. However, AMD and NVIDIA are not sitting by idly as both companies look to push the FidelityFX Super Resolution technology and RTX 3090 and RX6800 respectively.

Perhaps the most interesting thing among these announcements is that GPU makers seem much more confident about acquiring resources in 2022 than scant supplies and deliveries in late 2021.