Intel Xe graphics card for gamers could arrive in 2021 with ray tracing and GDDR6 memory

Intel’s Xe graphics card for gamers will arrive in 2021 complete with support for ray tracing and GDDR6 memory, according to the rumor mill.

This comes from Videocardz, which claims that the Intel Xe-HPG graphics card will target enthusiast gamers at the mid-range, and will come with hardware accelerated ray tracing (which has been previously talked about by Intel for high-end GPUs for heavyweight usage, but not consumer products).

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The Xe-HPG range will also run with GDDR6 video memory, according to the sources that Videocardz tapped, to make for a more cost-effective product (compared to using HBM memory which will be employed with the heavyweight Xe cards, namely Xe-HP models).

The report contends that Intel is currently testing these Xe-HPG products in its labs, and planning to ship the finished items in 2021 as mentioned. As we’ve heard before on the GPU grapevine, the plan is to manufacture these graphics cards using a third-party foundry (in other words, Intel won’t be making the GPUs itself).

Xe portfolio

Sitting below the Xe-HPG enthusiast graphics cards will be the family of entry-level Xe-LP GPUs, which will include integrated Tiger Lake graphics, the much talked about DG1 discrete card (for laptops), and an SG1 offering that will apparently be a dedicated server graphics card.

And above the Xe-HPG we have the aforementioned heavyweight data center Xe-HP products, which will run up to 2048 execution units (EUs) and 42.3 TFlops, rumor has it. At the very top will be Xe-HPC or high-performance computing (Exascale) offerings.

What’s interesting about the timing of this leak is that it comes on the day when it was previously rumored that Intel might drop some more details on Xe Graphics. That speculation was based on a tweet from the chip giant that's now been deleted, but seemed to promise a sizeable revelation – which might just indicate that we could hear something official about Intel’s gaming-targeted Xe graphics card in the very near future (maybe – just maybe – even later today).

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