Budget Intel Arc Alchemist GPU may come with 6GB memory

The Intel Arc Alchemist graphics cards might be a few months away from launching, but if a new photo is any indication we know a little more about Intel's budget offering.

The photo, which was posted to Chiphell, is considerably blurred (presumably to protect the identity of the leaker), and superimposes different colored squares over the different components of the pressed circuit board, so the picture itself really needs to be taken with a tableful of salt.

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That said, assuming the picture is legit, it does indicate that there are three memory modules around the GPU, and since GDDR6 memory modules come in 2GB blocks, that would give this graphics card 6GB GDDR6 RAM. The leaker also claimed that the card itself was on the shorter side, with a board power consumption of around 65W, which is lower than previous leaks that only pegged the power consumption to less than 75W.

As VideoCardz points out, IgorsLAB shared a similar photo of a board schematic for a mobile version of the GPU running with Intel Alder Lake, and the board configuration is definitely different, indicating that this would be a desktop version of the GPU. They also point out that there are screw holes in the board to allow attachment of a cooling solution, further evidence that this would be a desktop graphics card.

The mobile version of the GPU has one less memory module as well, which could mean an interface of either 64-bits or 128-bits, with the desktop version of the GPU having a 96-bit interface.

Analysis: Intel Arc Alchemist could take a strong lead with the budget gaming segment

While this photo may or may not be legit, the Intel Arc Alchemist DG2-EU128 GPU is, and based on the number of execution units, this GPU could feature  performance in the range of an Nvidia GTX 1650 or even a GTX 1660 Super.

While this might seem a bit underwhelming considering that these are Nvidia Turing GPUs, they are still the most popular GPUs currently in use, given their price. If Intel prices its DG2-EU128 card right, it could easily take the crown from Nvidia in the budget segment where the majority of users actually exist.

All that remains to be seen, but for a first discrete graphics card offering, it could be an important beachhead for Intel to establish itself in the current graphics card market duopoly of AMD and Nvidia.

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