Intel Arc Battlemage: Everything You Need to Know

Intel Arc is the brand name for Intel’s discrete graphics cards that aim to compete with Nvidia and AMD in the gaming and creative markets. The first generation of Intel Arc, codenamed Alchemist, was launched in late 2022, offering mid-range performance at reasonable prices. However, Intel is not stopping there, as it has already announced its plans for the next generations of Arc GPUs, codenamed Battlemage, Celestial, and Druid.

In this blog post, we will focus on Intel Arc Battlemage, the second generation of Intel Arc GPUs that is expected to launch in 2024. We will cover the release date, price, performance, specs, and features of Battlemage, based on the latest rumors and leaks.

Release Date

Intel has not officially confirmed the release date of Battlemage, but according to its Arc roadmap, it is projected to launch between 2023 and 2024. However, some sources suggest that Battlemage may be delayed until late 2024, due to the lukewarm response to Alchemist and the recent departure of Raja Koduri, the head of Intel’s GPU division. It is also possible that Intel may release some low-end Battlemage SKUs earlier in 2024, similar to how it released the Arc A380 in early 2023.

Price

Intel has not revealed the price of Battlemage either, but we can make some educated guesses based on the pricing of Alchemist and the competition from Nvidia and AMD. Intel Arc Alchemist GPUs ranged from $199 to $499, depending on the model and memory configuration. Intel Arc Battlemage GPUs are likely to be more expensive than Alchemist, as they will offer higher performance and more features. However, Intel may also try to undercut Nvidia and AMD, who have been raising their prices for their flagship GPUs in recent years. Therefore, we can expect Battlemage GPUs to cost between $300 and $800, depending on the SKU and availability.

Performance

The performance of Battlemage is the most anticipated and uncertain aspect of the new GPUs, as Intel has not shared any benchmarks or specifications yet. However, some leaks and rumors have given us some clues about what to expect from Battlemage. According to a report by Commercial Times, Battlemage will use the Xe2 architecture and be fabricated using TSMC’s 4nm process node. This means that Battlemage will have a significant improvement over Alchemist, which used the Xe architecture and was manufactured using Intel’s 10nm SuperFin process node. Battlemage will also support ray tracing, variable rate shading, mesh shading, and other advanced graphics features that Alchemist lacked.

According to a video by Moore’s Law Is Dead, a known leaker, Battlemage will have a flagship chip that will compete with Nvidia’s RTX 4090 and AMD’s RX 7950 XT, which are expected to launch in 2023. The flagship Battlemage chip will have a TDP of 225W and a performance of around 30 TFLOPS, which is comparable to the RTX 4090’s rumored performance of 32 TFLOPS. However, the video also claims that the flagship chip may be canceled, as Intel may focus more on the mid-range and low-end segments, where it can offer better value and availability.

Specs

The specs of Battlemage are also largely unknown, as Intel has not disclosed any details about the GPU cores, memory, or clock speeds. However, some leaks and rumors have provided some possible numbers for the Battlemage GPUs. According to a report by GPU Mag, Battlemage will have three main SKUs: B750, B770, and B790. The B750 will be the entry-level model, with 128 execution units (EUs), 8GB of GDDR6 memory, and a 128-bit memory bus. The B770 will be the mid-range model, with 256 EUs, 12GB of GDDR6 memory, and a 192-bit memory bus. The B790 will be the high-end model, with 512 EUs, 16GB of GDDR6 memory, and a 256-bit memory bus.

According to a patch submitted to the Linux kernel by Intel, Battlemage will also support a new feature called CMRR, which stands for Coordinated Multiple Refresh Rate. CMRR is a variation of variable refresh rate (VRR) technology that allows the GPU to dynamically adjust the refresh rate of the display to match the frame rate of the game, reducing stuttering and tearing. CMRR is expected to be compatible with existing VRR standards, such as FreeSync and G-Sync.

Features

Battlemage will not only offer better performance and specs than Alchemist, but also more features and software support. One of the main features that Battlemage will introduce is ray tracing, which is a technique that simulates realistic lighting effects by tracing the path of light rays in a 3D scene. Ray tracing can create stunning visuals, such as realistic shadows, reflections, and global illumination, but it also requires a lot of computational power. Battlemage will have dedicated ray tracing cores, similar to Nvidia’s RT cores and AMD’s ray accelerators, that will accelerate the ray tracing calculations.

Another feature that Battlemage will support is variable rate shading (VRS), which is a technique that allows the GPU to vary the shading rate of different parts of the screen, depending on the level of detail and visibility. VRS can improve the performance and image quality of games, by reducing the shading workload for areas that are less important or less noticeable, such as the periphery of the screen or objects that are occluded by other objects.

Battlemage will also support mesh shading, which is a technique that allows the GPU to dynamically adjust the level of detail of the geometry in a 3D scene, depending on the distance and perspective. Mesh shading can improve the performance and image quality of games, by reducing the number of polygons and vertices that the GPU has to process, while maintaining the visual fidelity of the scene.

Battlemage will also come with improved drivers and software support, as Intel has been working hard to optimize and update its graphics drivers for Arc GPUs. Intel has also partnered with Microsoft to leverage its DirectML and DirectStorage APIs, which can enhance the AI and storage capabilities of Battlemage GPUs. For example, Intel recently demonstrated a 2.7X performance boost in an AI image generator called Stable Diffusion, thanks to the use of Microsoft’s Olive, a DirectML-based library that enables efficient and scalable training and inference of deep neural networks on GPUs.

Conclusion

Intel Arc Battlemage is the second generation of Intel’s discrete graphics cards that will launch in 2024. Battlemage will offer a significant improvement over the first-generation Alchemist, in terms of performance, specs, and features. Battlemage will use the Xe2 architecture and the 4nm process node, and will support ray tracing, variable rate shading, mesh shading, and other advanced graphics features. Battlemage will also have better drivers and software support, thanks to Intel’s partnership with Microsoft and its use of DirectML and DirectStorage APIs. Battlemage will compete with Nvidia and AMD in the gaming and creative markets and will likely offer better value and availability than its rivals. Battlemage is an exciting product that will bring more competition and innovation to the GPU industry, and we can’t wait to see what it can do.