First batch of Intel's Arc GPUs is out now for laptops
Categories: Technology
Intel is ready to roll out the first batch of graphics processing units (GPUs) under the Arc brand. The US chipmaker said the Arc 3-Series A350M and A370M GPUs were now available for laptops. The GPUs support DirectX 12 and have dedicated ray-tracing hardware.The low-power GPUs are meant for portable devices and consume around twice the power compared to Intel's integrated Xe graphics. The A350M has 6 Xe cores, 6 dedicated ray-tracing units, a clock speed of 1150 MHz with 4GB of GDDR6 VRAM. It consumes between 25-35W of power. The A370M has two more Xe cores, eight dedicated ray-tracing units, clock speed of 1550 MHz and 4GB of DDR6 VRAM with the power consumption ranging between 35-50W.These are the entry-level models in the company's Arc 3-Series. Enthusiasts for mid-range and high-end GPUs will have to wait till early summer when Intel will debut the Arc 5 and Arc 7 series of cards.Customers waiting for the desktop variants of the GPUs will have to hold on till Q2 2022, when the first discrete GPUs for desktops will roll out. Intel said that its AI-powered XeSS technology, which super samples and upscales games to a higher resolution in real time, will also arrive in summer.As for performance, Intel's new GPUs outperform its integrated Xe graphics solutions by quite a margin. Intel shared performance numbers from popular games like Doom Eternal, Destiny 2 and Final Fantasy XIV. In nearly all of the scenarios, the Arc 3 series managed to maintain a steady 60fps at 1080p with graphics settings for the games set to medium. Intel's new GPUs will ship with a software solution called Arc Control, which will let users keep drivers up to date, monitor performance, stream games and use the in-game overlays to tweak settings on the fly. It also will not require customers to create an account.The first laptop which will offer the Arc 3 series as a GPU solution will be Samsung's Galaxy Book 2 Pro. Intel says there will be more laptops from Acer, Asus, HP, Dell, Lenovo, MSI and more in the coming weeks and months.