Intel Xe DG2 Arc Alchemist to have Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT firmly in sight at US$500 while being relatively uncontested in the US$100-150 segment

We had previously reported that Intel could be targeting Radeon RX 6800 and RTX 3070 levels of performance with the top-end Xe-HPG DG2 card. Looks like that will indeed be the case with Intel initially aiming to take on midrange Nvidia and AMD cards with its Arc Alchemist lineup.

This information comes from a leaked Intel slide that talks about product lineup comparisons between Nvidia, AMD, and upcoming DG2 variants. The authenticity of the slide itself is somewhat questionable, but its contents are more or less on expected lines. 

Intel could be offering DG2 Arc Alchemist under two broad categories — an SOC1 with a TDP range between 175 W and 225 W, and an SOC2 with a 75 W TDP. It is not immediately clear whether SOC1 and SOC2 here refer to just two physical SKUs or whether we will see several ones derived from the same silicon.

SOC1 will likely be comprised of SKUs with 512 execution units (EUs). We may even see 256 and 384 EUs being clubbed under SOC1 given the wide TDP range, but that's just speculation for now. According to the slide, SOC1 falls between a purported Radeon RX 6500 XT and the RX 6700 XT in comparison with Navi 2x GPUs and between the RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 in the case of Nvidia. 

AMD has not announced an RX 6500 XT yet, so this does raise some questions about the genuineness of the slide, but that is not to say we won't be seeing such a card some time down the line. If indeed true, we could be looking at the top-end DG2 Arc Alchemist being priced somewhere near the US$500 mark. 

The SOC2 lineup may feature GPUs with 128 and 192 EUs at a 75 W TDP to take on the likes of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Super in the US$100-US$199 segment. If priced right, SOC2 could offer some tough competition to entry-level and lower mid-range competitor GPUs. Moreover, there's currently no competition to Intel in the US$100-US$150 range.

The slide does not seem to reflect the new Arc branding, so this could be dated information and needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Top-tier Nvidia and AMD offerings can rest easy as Intel's focus seems to be getting the mid-range right for the initial launch, which does not seem to be a bad strategy for starters. With the company all set to officially launch DG2 Arc Alchemist parts in early 2022, it won't be long before we get to see leaked benchmarks of these GPUs in action.

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