Intel Xe Graphics to feature up to 4 tiles (512 EUs)?

Today DigitalTrends leaked a slide from Intel’s early 2019 presentation about Xe Graphics deployment in data centers.

Intel Xe up to 512 EUs and 500W TDP

The leaked slide is proof that Intel is developing a tile-based architecture for its discrete graphics. A product known as ‘Arctic Sound’ has been speculated for a long time it seems that this ‘graphics accelerator’ is designed for pure computing power and it should end up in data centers.

At CES, Intel revealed its DG1 SDV (software development vehicle) the first discrete graphics card based on the Xe graphics. The DG1 is expected to be up to 96 EUs (execution units), however, it speculated that each tile may feature up to 128 EUs (meaning DG1 tile is not a full-fat tile-design). The tile-based design will be used for SDVs and RVPs (reference validation platforms), where the latter is expected to be closer to retail products.

The most interesting part of the leak is how Intel has divided the design by TDP (thermal design power). There is no 3-tile design planned, but 2-tile graphics are more than likely to also appear in pure gaming form. These are expected to fit under 300W, so exactly where AMD’s and NVIDIA’s enthusiasts’ graphics currently sit.

The tile design is a new approach to GPU manufacturing, Digital Trends explain:

The documentation shows Intel’s Xe GPUs will use “tile” modules. Intel doesn’t call these “chiplets” in the documentation, but the company revealed in November that its Xe cards would use a multi-die system, packaged together by Foveros 3D stacking.

The requirement of 48V input voltage pretty much means that the 4-tile design (400-500W) won’t appear in the consumer market, as this voltage is only provided by server power supplies. That said, Arctic Sound might be exclusive to the server market.

Source: DigitalTrends