Intel Alchemist Gaming GPU

Interesting that Intel will use TSMC's foundry instead of their own for those GPUs. Maybe for the performances, maybe for other reasons as well: apparently they will do the same with some of their CPUs to keep up with the volumes, consumption and yield.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Big question here is how attractive are their cards for crypto miners?

I know that at least one country has made cryptocurrency official, but I'm wondering if it's not time to stop this nonsense and find a less power-hungry method.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
I know that at least one country has made cryptocurrency official, but I'm wondering if it's not time to stop this nonsense and find a less power-hungry method.

The US is thinking of making the currency more official also. Texas is leading the charge and trying to attract lager crypto mining firms in what they call the new gold rush.

Some of those server rooms have thousands of cards working 24 hrs a day.

Well, Texas isn't exactly known for being a hotbed of intelligence.

A friend of mine called, wants to buy a new PC, asked anything he should know I recommend.

So I actually browsed some stores, this is a disaster.
Everything and I mean everything except external storage is more expensive than 3 years ago. And I'm not talking about brand new stuff. Outdated technology has a higher price today than on it's release.
Something else unbelieveble before, became a reality: it's cheaper to buy a built rig with a name then buy every part separately.

WTF.
What to tell him, what?
I told him to prepare tons of $.

The funny thing is that cryptocurrency came about to create a currency that wasn't regulated by the government.

Somehow it became a tradable commodity and many sold out to cash in on regulated dollars.

Now those that didn't sellout will find their cryptocurrency government regulated one day and defeat the whole purpose of it to begin with. But I guess on the plus side they will be filthy rich.

As for intel gnu's I'm not really interested in price/performance trade off so wake me if the overtake Nvidia.

Originally Posted by joxer
A friend of mine called, wants to buy a new PC so anything he should know I recommend.
What to tell him, what?
I told him to prepare tons of $.

Then I actually browsed some stores, this is a disaster.
Everything and I mean everything except external storage is more expensive than 3 years ago. And I'm not talking about brand new stuff. Outdated technology has a higher price today than on it's release. WTF.

Tell him to browse New-egg for pre-built gaming machines or browse one of the many online sellers of pre-built Pc's. Otherwise you'll be paying a lot more to build it yourself.

Open-box or refurnished is a good option as well.

Originally Posted by sakichop
As for intel gnu's I'm not really interested in price/performance trade off so wake me if the overtake Nvidia.

More then likely never gonna happen but they can become another choice like AMD. I'm more worried about the software side and how well games will be optimized.

For years we've been stuck with one dominate maker and AMD on the cheaper side. So more competition is good. Though cheap doesn't apply with current prices.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
You can keep nVidia and their overpriced garbage.

Seriously AMD as well the current GPU prices should be considered price gouging. Another competitor into the monopoly both nVidia and AMD have is a good thing.

The free market would dictate otherwise, considering they can't keep GPUs in stock at any price. Blame crypto miners or whatever else you want, but supplies are scarce and getting scarcer for a lot of electronic devices. Apple announced that they had to cut their new production of the next iPhone by something like 10 million units due to chip and rare precious metal shortages. This is why you also can't buy a new PS5 etc.

Sony could raise the price on the PS5 to $999 a unit and they would still sell out, this has been proven by what people are willing to pay to get their hands on one.

A friend of mine who works with supply chains the other day and I were talking about how "mid range" products are going away and price/profit margins are more going towards mass-producing cheap crap that everybody can afford, and on the other end producing very expensive items that are mainly purchased by those we'd call the "top 10%" in the US, at least. So you either go low-end disposable or you go high-end and durable, if you can afford it.

I hope that the supply issues for GPUs clear up eventually because one day I will want to upgrade my 2080.

Will Intel bring more competition or just more competition for raw resources in an already struggling market? Time will tell!

You can ignore my grumbling as I'm just getting frustrated with the whole market in general. Inflation is leaning towards hyper-inflation, and the free market doesn't help.

As you can tell I'm not one of the upper 10% who can waste a thousand dollars easily.

More rumours. EDIT: from Gamerant so FWIW, it's not their specialty

Rumor: Intel ARC Alchemist GPU Could Be Out March 2022

Intel announced its ARC graphics cards a few months back and many have been eagerly awaiting it, with new info saying it could be out in March.

Up until now, there have been two major powerhouses in the graphics card industry, Nvidia and AMD. However, Intel, known largely as a CPU manufacturer, will be joining them in 2022. Although the chip shortages are expected to go on until 2023, it isn't stopping all three tech giants from battling it out on the GPU playing field, come what may. Given that "team blue" is due to launch its first range of products very soon, many have been wondering exactly when that is. With that, it seems a new rumor feels the "Alchemist" card could be out in about three months.

According to a recent report from Tom's Hardware, Intel may be getting ready to launch the first of its ARC graphics cards in March 2022, still within the Q1 range which was an early prediction. Originally, it seemed that the company was looking to launch sometime in January, or at least the mobile versions, with the possibility of a Q2 launch for its desktop range. However, anonymous sources indicate that two of the DG2 ARC cards will launch in March instead, which will target the mid-range market at first.

The Intel "Alchemist" is said to rival Nvidia's RTX 3070 Ti, which is not the most powerful card on the market, but is seemingly a decent place for Intel to start before it works its way up to the high-end. However, it should be stated at this stage that these are just speculations, and no matter how reliable the sources may be, the reality won't hit until the first graphics cards land on the market next year. That is, of course, if people can get hold of any of it.

The arrival of this competitor in the industry has likely shaken things up for the other big companies. With Nvidia looking to launch the RTX 3090 Ti, a more souped up version of its 3090 card, as well as AMD rumored to be unveiling some entry-level products, there is perhaps everything to play for as the new year approaches.

Early benchmark tests show that the Alchemist could rival Nvidia's GPUs, so it's entirely possible that Intel has what it takes to make a name for itself in the graphics card landscape. Early 2022 could be a fierce time for all three companies, but with the next generation of graphics technology not far away, and an Intel roadmap showing it has plans afoot, there's at least going to be a lot more choice for PC enthusiasts and gamers next year.