Intel Arc Alchemist DG2 full lineup leak: 512 EU GPU to target RTX 3070 Ti on desktop and RTX 3080 on laptop, to be priced 10% cheaper than Nvidia but offer 10% higher performance

Tom confirms that Arc will end up being offered in five different SKUs. These include ones with 512, 384, 256, 2x 128, and 96 execution units (EUs). While the 384 EU variant is a cut-down version of the 512 EU chip, we are now getting to know that Intel will be extending this binning to as much as 256 EUs. What this means is that the 384 EU variants that don't clock high-enough will be further sliced to 256 EU chips for use in laptops. Essentially, Intel will be having peak clocks in all variants of the Arc lineup.

According to Tom, who seems to be quite confident with his sources, the following is the expected segmentation in the Arc Alchemist family.

SOC1 is expected to start production only in mid-February. Add-in board (AiB) partners aren't apparently too happy with this as they were expecting the GPUs to be available in January for testing and validation. SOC1 should be available for gaming desktops sometime in Q1 or Q2 followed by laptop parts, and ultimately for workstations in late 2022. 

Similarly, SOC2 should be available for laptops by late Q1 followed by other form factors in late Q2. 

The interesting tidbit here is that Intel may price the cards about 10% cheaper than equivalent Nvidia offerings with scope for a 10% increase in performance as drivers mature. 

There will be both laptop and desktop versions of Arc Alchemist with the desktop SKUs targeting the RTX 3070 / RTX 3070 Ti class with the laptop parts eyeing up to an RTX 3080 depending on the TDP.

It is with with the workstation variants that Intel plans to undercut Nvidia's offerings. For instance, Tom's sources seem to indicate that the 512 EU variant will offer Quadro RTX A4500 levels of performance for the performance of a Quadro RTX A4000. Intel is also apparently considering a 32 GB challenger to the Quadro RTX A4500, Quadro RTX 5000, and AMD Radeon Pro W6800, but this may require a new board layout.

According to Tom's sources, the timelines for Arc DG2 do not particularly seem to be that encouraging with Intel apparently flip-flopping on communicated dates.

Nevertheless, Q1 2022 is when pre-samples are expected to be seeded to OEMs and AiB partners. These are not actual production units, but we can expect a lot of leaks towards later this month and in the next. Workstation cards are expected to sample sometime in the middle of Q1 2022 with mobile SOC2 slated for a paper launch in March.

The beginning of Q2 2022 will see desktop SOC2 getting readied before SOC1, and before releasing widely on laptops. AiB SOC1 cards will be ready by April, but a lot depends on how well drivers get optimized before March. Intel may even hold back AiB releases if it finds the drivers aren't ready yet. Reference edition SOC1 cards will be available by mid-Q2. Following the desktop launch, laptops will get SOC1 sometime in late Q2.

Coming to workstation SKUs, Intel is expected to out the 8 GB, 12 GB, and 16 GB variants by late summer. A 32 GB card, if any, will only arrive sometime in Q4.

Intel will be gunning for the low-end and mid-range for the bulk of sales than going at the top dogs from Nvidia and AMD. This is not a bad idea per se as it makes sense to test the waters before taking the plunge. OEMs already expect Nvidia and AMD to lose quite a chunk of mid-range market share to Arc Alchemist.

This also gives invaluable learning experience for Intel to develop Arc Alchemist's successor, Arc Battlemage, as a competitor to what would then be high-end Nvidia Lovelace and AMD RDNA 3 offerings.

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