Intel Arc Alchemist: High-end graphics card with 16 GB GDDR6 memory shows for the first time

The Intel Arc Alchemist high-end graphics cards, with which the company wants to attack NVIDIA and AMD, are apparently already in circulation. The graphics solution is now shown for the first time in pictures and in a video.

Intel Arc Alchemist graphics card

Still in the first quarter of 2022, Intel wants to compete against NVIDIA and AMD in the graphics card market with the Arc Alchemist. Many details of the new Arc cards are yet to be revealed. However, we already know that Intel will offer the cards with 12 GB or 16 GB GDDR6 graphics memory. The top model is also equipped with 512 execution units (EUs).

The website VideoCardz summarizes the first pictures of an engineering sample of the graphics card, which provide details about the features. According to these, the motherboard has one 8-pin and one 6-pin connector for the power supply, but preparations for a dual 8-pin connection have already been made.

The connectors

In addition, the pictures show a relatively short PCB with a far protruding black dual-fan cooling solution and eight memory chips. Furthermore, the video that Twitter user Ayxerious posted also turns out to be exciting, as it allows a look at the Intel Arc Alchemist graphics card’s connectors.

According to this, Intel installs three DisplayPorts and one HDMI port. The Intel card is rumored to already support DisplayPort 2.0, which results in a significantly higher bandwidth compared to the current DisplayPort 1.4 standard. Instead of 32.4 Gbit/s, 80 Gbit/s are possible.

This allows 8K HDR monitors and displays to run at a constant 60 frames per second without any limitations. DisplayPort 2.0 is also supposed to be used in the upcoming AMD RDNA3 cards.

Nevertheless, the Intel Arc graphics card doesn’t quite seem to reach NVIDIA’s top models. Currently, it is expected that the card’s performance will be on par with the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. Intel wants to serve “millions of gamers with Arc graphics cards” in the course of the year according to its own statement.