Please note that this post is tagged as a rumor.
Intel employees hint on Battlemage/Celestial process nodes
The LinkedIn profiles of Intel employees are a goldmine for rumors.
Intel Arc GPU Series, Source: Intel
As development teams switch to other projects, employees add new products to their portfolios, often giving everyone a general idea of what would otherwise be a secret. This is how we learn about upcoming products before they are even announced. However, finding those profiles can be a tedious job.
Luckily for us, Gamma0burst found time to go through many profiles from Intel, AMD or Qualcomm employees, and some interesting details were discovered. Intel employees do not always name the products that they have been working on, but they might still give a small hint on what process the next-gen architecture might be used.
In this case, we learn that some Intel engineers have been working on a 3nm and 4nm discrete GPUs. This is backed by another profile that lists 5nm, 3nm GPU die and 3nm Graphics IP. The 5nm process has already been used for Arc Alchemist GPUs, so what comes next could be Battlemage and Celestial.
Intel employees on next-gen GPU projects, Source: Gamma0burst
Last year, Intel confirmed that the GPU ASIC team is now fully focused on the next-gen GPU series. With Battlemage expected to debut next year, that process should be entering a new validation phase soon. Both Battlemage (Xe2) and Celestial (Xe3) architecture should also launch as a GPU block for next-gen client CPUs, this might explain why one of the profiles mentions 3nm Graphics IP.
Intel ARC Graphics Roadmap | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
VideoCardz | Intel ARC “Alchemist” | Intel ARC “Battlemage” | Intel ARC “Celestial” | Intel ARC “Druid” | Intel ARC “E_” |
GPU Family | ACM | BMG | TBC | TBC | TBC |
GPU µrchitecture | Xᵉ HPG | Xᵉ² HPG | Xᵉ³ HPG | Xᵉ Next Architecture | TBC |
Fabrication Node | TSMC N6 | TSMC N4 (?) | TSMC N3 (?) | TBC | TBC |
Release Date | 2022 | 2024 | 2025? | 2026? | TBC |
Source: Gamma0burst via Wccftech