Intel has been in a bit of a dubious position for some time. With instabilities in its and its latest chips, the and , underperforming in games, Intel needs a bit of a win. It could just get that win next month if its new yono all app set of Battlemage GPUs is up to the task.
As reported by , reputable hardware leaker said the new line of GPUs will arrive next month. In their post on Weibo, a Chinese social media website, they said they are looking forward to the "wonderful performance" of . Though these are reported to arrive ahead of Nvidia's and line, it's important to note that Battlemage isn't aiming to compete with them.
Instead, Intel is aiming to match the rough performance of the , and For this reason, if you've been holding on, waiting for something better than Nvidia's 40-series lineup of cards, you won't be getting it next month.
However, if you want to move up from an older generation of graphics cards, Intel may be able to tempt you.
It is worth noting, however, that there might be a note of sarcasm
lost in translation of the Weibo post. The expectation
has long been that Intel would be launching Battlemage in 2024 and with only one month left of the year it may be that Golden Pig is referencing rather than any specific knowledge of a release plan. And also because the "exciting" or "wonderful performance" (depending on your machine translation) isn't necessarily what is being expected of Intel's next-gen GPUs, either.
We tested the and found them to be unoptimized with a heavy power draw. They made good competition in some ways but lacked that punch of power needed to really stand out. We have now seen the , and that does give us some hope things have changed. The iGPU is certainly more consistent in its gaming performance across a range of games in a way the initial Arc GPUs failed to do. But, as ever, the price/performance balance will be key to any success Intel sees with Battlemage.
Intel's iGPU performing better ties to a comment made just this week by Intel CEO. In the latest quarterly, Pat Gelsinger said he sees "", which might imply Intel is moving away from dedicated GPUs like the Arc line altogether.
Nothing is confirmed right now so everything needs to be taken with a grain of yono apk salt but and Intel really needs something to go right for it in the gaming space. We might know by this time next month if Battlemage is how Intel pulls back some of that goodwill.