A short but noteworthy video has emerged of what appears to be a chunky twin-slot, twin-fan Intel Arc Alchemist graphics card. You can see the video in the tweet below. The sample picked up out of a box and man-handled looks like the exact component we wrote about yesterday in our Purported Intel Arc Alchemist Desktop Graphics Card Pictured article. It has the same appearance and finish, front and back. This leaked video adds weight to the previous pictorial leaks, though, of course, we recommend one or two grains of salt concerning these images being of a genuine so-called engineering sample (ES) that some have claimed it to be.
Just fyi I have no idea where this is from. pic.twitter.com/QEJs7D7TmbFebruary 5, 2022
In the brief embedded video clip above, you can see the scene starts with the Intel branded graphics card lying fans-down in sturdy enough but generic-looking packaging. Next, a hand swoops in to pick up the card by the cooling section of the shroud that extends beyond the PCB. Then we get to see the fan-side, PCB-side, and bracket for a few moments as the hand rotates the sample.
Unfortunately, Ayxerious' video is of relatively poor quality, even for Twitter. We grabbed the best quality video file available from the source, but it was only 640 x 352 pixels. Click on the image below to zoom in at some choice angles.
In yesterday's article about the leaked photos, we commented on the triple DisplayPort and single HDMI connector that are easy to spot here. It was evident from the pictures of this card shared yesterday that the PCB looks like it supports one each of a 6-pin and 8-pin power connector (for up to 300W).
Bionic Squash shared another leaked image today, exposing a nice clear picture of the PCB. It looks like the same engineering sample again – check the positioning of the black rubber stand-offs stuck to the card's PCB.
We can make more confident appraisals of further tech specs with a more precise image. It looks like there are going to be eight GDDR6 memory chips affixed to this PCB, presumably with a 256-bit interface. Also, there is evidence of at least 10 VRM phases being present. Lastly, this is undoubtedly one of the more significant Arc Alchemist GPUs on the way and might even be the top-end 512EU model, which allegedly challenges the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti desktop card in performance terms.
There is a lot of pent-up excitement about the prospect of Intel joining the PC discrete graphics card market to make it a three-horse race worth watching. Unfortunately, Intel is far from a thoroughbred in GPUs, despite its long history with its iGPUs, which have come on leaps and bounds in recent years. It still has lots to prove in hardware and software support, but with strong-looking teams on both wings. Recent benchmarking leaks have provided some assurance regarding performance, but it is still very much a wait-and-see type of product, with performance and features that we can't take for granted.