Intel's Arc graphics cards will take on Nvidia GeForce, AMD Radeon GPUs in 2022

Intel recently revealed the brand name for its upcoming graphics cards: Intel Arc.  The Arc brand will encompass hardware and software powering Intel’s high-end discrete GPUs. The first silicon will appear in products in the first quarter of 2022, in both mobile and desktop form factors.

The Arc brand will cover hardware, software, and services, and will span multiple hardware generations, with the first generation, based on the Xe HPG microarchitecture, code-named Alchemist (formerly known as DG2). Additionally, the CPU manufacturer also revealed code names of future generations under the Arc brand: Battlemage, Celestial, and Druid.

The first of these will appear in products during the first quarter of 2022, in both mobile and desktop form factors. It is codenamed “Alchemist” with Intel publishing a teaser showcasing the prototype silicon powering PUBG, Psychonauts 2, Metro Exodus, and more.

Roger Chandler, Intel VP and GM of Client Graphics Products and Solutions said, “Today marks a key moment in the graphics journey we started just a few years ago. The launch of the Intel Arc brand and the reveal of future hardware generations signifies Intel’s deep and continued commitment to gamers and creators everywhere. We have teams doing incredible work to ensure we deliver first-class and frictionless experiences when these products are available early next year.”

Intel’s Arc GPUs will be capable of mesh shading, variable-rate shading, video upscaling, and real-time ray tracing. Intel also promises AI-accelerated supersampling, which sounds like a competitor to Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology or AMD’s own FidelityFX Super Resolution.