In a recent Tweet by @momomo_us, new mysterious Intel Arc GPUs have been spotted on the SiSoftware database, called the A40 and A50. The most intriguing part of the discovery is these GPUs are carrying the Pro moniker, which suggests Intel is building professional versions of its Arc Alchemist GPUs. This is the first we've heard of such GPUs from Intel, and besides some core specifications, we have no idea what additional features these professional graphics cards will offer.
According to the SiSoftware database, the A40 and A50 are listed as a single entity known as "A40/A50," so we don't know if the A40 or A50 is a typing error, or if something else is going on. Either way, this A40/A50 combo is listed as having 1152 shader cores on 128 cores, a clock speed of 2.45GHz, and nearly 5GB of memory.
The shader count and core count numbers are quite puzzling. Technically this combination of specs should not exist, since Intel's smallest Arc die does not support this configuration with a maximum specification of 128 cores and 1024 shaders. The only possible explanation for this conflict is the author made a typing error. Either the A40 or A50 is running 128 cores and 1024 shaders on the smaller die, or it's operating on a partially disabled larger die with 144 cores and 1152 shaders.
The whole situation is quite confusing, but the main story is that Intel is very likely planning professional Arc GPUs of some sort. The biggest question we now have is what features Intel will implement in its Pro GPUs that will separate it from both its competitors and its consumer-based Arc GPUs.
Intel has plenty of opportunities to add features to its Pro GPUs. AMD and Nvidia already do this with their own Pro versions, by adding exclusive features such as ECC memory, more security, dedicated drivers optimized for worksations, and more. The main point of these GPUs is to provide the best experience possible for workstation systems and professional applications, which can behave far differently from gaming workloads.
Intel could add all the above to its Pro GPUs, or add additional features we haven't thought of before to make them stand out from the competition. We'll have to wait and see what happens when (or if) Intel announces these GPUs sometime in the future.
