Skip to main content

New Intel Arc specs reveal an advantage over AMD and Nvidia

YouTube channel Hardware Unboxed was able to find new information about Intel Arc Alchemist GPUs that could potentially give them an edge over AMD and Nvidia. This information was not shared by Intel during the GPUs’ release announcement on March 30.

According to the findings, it seems that Intel Arc has a higher transistor count than some Nvidia and AMD GPUs.

A render of Intel Arc Alchemist chip against a blurred blue background.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Intel shared some information about the Arc Alchemist GPUs, released yesterday, but certain details have been missing, such as the card’s transistor count and die size. However, Hardware Unboxed obtained both of these missing pieces and was able to confirm them to be true. This gives us a little more insight into the Arc graphics cards and their expected performance.

Intel’s laptop GPUs are split into two variants: The ACM-G10 and the ACM-G11. The G10 was previously referred to as DG2-512EU and is the top chip Intel will be offering, but it’s not launching until later this year, or as Intel said, “early summer.”

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

According to HardwareUnboxed, the Intel ACM-G10 is a 406 mm² die with 21.7 billion transistors. VideoCardz compared these numbers to those of the AMD Navi 22 GPU and the Nvidia GA104 GPU, both of which are Intel’s competitors for this graphics card. In both cases, Intel wins in terms of the number of transistors and die size: Navi 22 measures 336 mm² and has 17.2 billion transistors, while Nvidia GA104 has a 392 mm² die size with 17.4 billion transistors. This means that the Intel ACM-G10 GPU has a higher transistor density than its competitors, beating Nvidia by 20% and AMD by 6%.

The ACM-G11 GPU is smaller, measuring 157 mm², and comes with 7.2 billion transistors. In comparison, the AMD Navi 24 GPU has a 107 mm² die size and 5.4 billion transistors, while the Nvidia GA107 has around 200 mm², but this has never been officially confirmed.

A screenshot shows specs for Intel Arc Alchemist mobile graphics cards.
Intel

It’s important to note that not all of these graphics cards are manufactured using the same process nodes. The ACM-G10 is made using TSMC’s N6 process, the AMD Navi 22 uses the N7 process, and Nvidia GA104 used a different foundry entirely, having been made using Samsung’s 8nm process. Comparing these numbers is therefore not all that straightforward.

On paper, the big desktop version of Intel Arc Alchemist is supposed to be a competitor to AMD Radeon RX 6700 and Nvidia RTX 3070. The information provided by Intel and discovered by Hardware Unboxed shows that this could be plausible. We won’t know this with any certainty until the Intel GPU is benchmarked upon its release, however. Intel was also rumored to release a midpoint between its budget and flagship GPU, one with 384 execution units (EUs), but it hasn’t been mentioned by Intel recently.

Today’s news is encouraging for Intel’s first discrete graphics card line, especially seeing as Intel is entering a market that is dominated by two giants and has been for years. Intel Arc’s breakthrough is not going to be easy. However, considering the ongoing GPU shortage and the fact that Intel plans to ship 4 million Arc GPUs this year alone, the company may still capture a lot of customers if it offers better prices and availability than Nvidia and AMD.

Editors' Recommendations

Monica J. White
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
How Intel could win the GPU war this year
Intel Arc A580 graphics card on a pink background.

Intel faced an uphill climb with Arc Alchemist, and it looks like it might have another fight ahead with its next-gen Battlemage GPUs. The competition is always fierce, and AMD and Nvidia have big plans for the year ahead.

Despite the clouds that loom on the horizon, Intel might still surprise us with Battlemage -- in a good way. Here's where Intel Arc Battlemage is currently at, and why it might have a shot at being one of the best GPUs of the year.
Déjà vu
Prior to the release of Intel Arc Alchemist, one of the main complaints was that the general public was kept in the dark a lot of the time. The release date was pushed back more than once, and the information about the GPUs was fairly scarce compared to the constant hype we've all grown used to with Nvidia and AMD leaks.

Read more
Why I’m feeling hopeful about Nvidia’s RTX 50-series GPUs
The RTX 4070 Super on a pink background.

I won't lie -- I was pretty scared of Nvidia's RTX 50-series, and I stand by the opinion that those fears were valid. They didn't come out of thin air; they were fueled by Nvidia's approach to GPU pricing and value for the money.

However, the RTX 40 Super refresh is a step in the right direction, and it's one I never expected to happen. Nvidia's most recent choices show that it may have learned an important lesson, and that's good news for future generations of graphics cards.
The price of performance
Nvidia really didn't hold back in the RTX 40 series. It introduced some of the best graphics cards we've seen in a while, but raw performance isn't the only thing to consider when estimating the value of a GPU. The price is the second major factor and weighing it against performance can often tip the scales from "great" to "disappointing." That was the case with several GPUs in the Ada generation.

Read more
CableMod’s adapters damaged up to $74K worth of Nvidia GPUs
Melted 12VHPWR connector made by CableMod for the RTX 4090.

CableMod's adapters were meant to fix the problem of melting connectors on Nvidia's top GPU, the RTX 4090, but it appears that things didn't go as planned. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has posted a notice that the CableMod 12VHPWR angled adapters are being recalled due to fire and burn hazards. More than 25,300 adapters are to be returned, and the affected customers are eligible for a full refund.

The connectors on the RTX 4090 have been melting ever since the GPU hit the shelves in late 2022, and so far, the only fix seems to lie in careful installation and picking the right PC case that can accommodate this monstrous card. CableMod's angled adapters showed a lot of promise, at least initially. Seeing as bending the cable can contribute to the overheating, an angled adapter should have been just the fix -- but unfortunately, the melting continued, even with the use of CableMod's solution.

Read more