Intel's first Iris Xe Max discrete GPUs may initially launch in notebooks like the Asus VivoBook Flip 14

While the general performance of the new laptop-grade Tiger Lake processors from Intel is not really that impressive compared to what AMD already offers with the Renoir series, at least the new Xe iGPUs are a decent upgrade over the previous UHD series, proving a bit faster than the AMD Vega 8 and almost matching the Nvidia MX350 in some scenarios. We’ve been hearing that Intel is also preparing to launch discrete Xe GPUs for desktops, but, if the latest specs for the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 are indeed accurate, it looks like the first discrete Xe GPUs will actually be launched on notebooks.

Asus recently added complete spec sheets for the new VivoBook Flip 14 model TP470EZ, which include mentions of Intel’s first discrete graphics card. Of course this is not really accurate, as Intel released its first discrete GPU back in 1998. In any case, the Asus notebook will be among the first models to include the Xe dGPU that is now known as the Iris Xe Max (codename DG1). Unfortunately, its exact specs are not listed by Asus except for the 4 GB dedicated VRAM, yet we are hearing that these boards have higher TGPs and include the same Xe G7 iGPU chips with higher clocks and GDDR5 memory. Interestingly enough, Intel only expects a relatively small performance bump over the Xe G7 iGPU, so performance might be on par with the Nvidia MX450, provided Intel also delivers decent driver support. Still, if performance gains are that low, we are not sure why laptop OEMs would want to pair the new dGPUs with Tiger Lake Xe G7 iGPUs.

Other specs for the new VivoBook Flip 14 convertible include a choice between the i5-1135G7 and i7-1165G7 CPUs coupled with either 8 or 16 GB of LPDDR4x-4266 RAM, plus an NVMe SSD with up to 1 TB capacity or an Optane 32 GB + 512 GB SSD storage combo. The model also features a quality 14-inch FHD IPS touchscreen and the new Thunderbolt 4 connector.

Still no word on actual availability and pricing for this convertible, but, since the word is out on the Iris Xe Max dGPUs, Intel should soon make an official announcement regarding the laptop and possibly the desktop discrete cards.