Intel says it remains committed to its Arc graphics project — 'Intel will continue to have GPU product offerings'

(Image credit: Intel)

All talk in town right now is all about the Intel-Nvidia partnership, and a question on many minds is whether that means Intel might be scrapping its plans for upcoming Arc graphics cards or iGPUs. The company is attempting to assuage those fears, as one of its spokespeople told PCWorld, “We’re not discussing specific roadmaps at this time, but the collaboration is complementary to Intel’s roadmap and Intel will continue to have GPU product offerings."

Intel also reiterated that its collaboration with Nvidia is "complementary" to the company's extant roadmap. Both those statements seem clear at face value, but some might find it a little hard to believe, given everything that's happened with Intel in the past year, namely but not only the major cuts to its workforce and a refocusing on profitability. The wording of the statement is also curious, as the company stating it will still have GPUs doesn't clarify what type they will be, or who will design them.

Last December, Intel's ex-CEO Pat Gelsinger left abruptly. Shortly after, former CEO of Products Michelle Holthaus stated that Intel remained committed to Arc. In March, Intel named Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO, who issued more staff cuts and reportedly issued an order that any of Intel's new products have a 50% gross margin. Additionally, Holthaus was ousted recently, after a mere 10 months in charge of Products. The company offered no updates to its Arc roadmap in the meantime.

All those events would be enough to question Arc's continued existence, but now the Nvidia partnership has added further concern, especially in light of Intel saying that it intends to use RTX chiplets in mobile and gaming devices, casting a pall over Arc iGPUs. Judging by the latest Steam hardware survey, Intel's share has remained fairly steady over the past couple of years, sitting at 7.9%. If RTX chiplets in mobile devices prove popular, they would certainly eat away at it.

Intel and Nvidia both claim their partnership won't affect existing roadmaps, but some in the enthusiast community fear that a $5 billion cash influx from Nvidia could come with pressure for Intel not to compete with RTX cards — assuming Nvidia is still fully focused on the gaming market, given how it now represents a small fraction of the company's business.

We reviewed the Arc B580 in December and found it to have the best value in its price bracket despite some misgivings about its drivers. The $250 price point is hotly contested, and a high volume of sales in this bracket would certainly translate into additional market share for Intel, which has seen the size of its slice remain steady over the past couple of years. The existing Arc roadmap looks promising, but despite Intel's statement, many feel its future is under threat.

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Bruno Ferreira is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. He has decades of experience with PC hardware and assorted sundries, alongside a career as a developer. He's obsessed with detail and has a tendency to ramble on the topics he loves. When not doing that, he's usually playing games, or at live music shows and festivals.

6 Comments Comment from the forums

atomicWAR

"Intel says it remains committed to its Arc graphics project ."

I want so badly for this to be true but I have so little faith that it is with their joint move with Nvidia.
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vanadiel007

Let's be honest: they are and never were in a position to challenge either Nvidia or AMD.
I don't see many purchase an Arc graphics card...
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palladin9479

The B580 is a really solid entry level GPU, I hope they continue developing their drivers and the next generation product ends up being even better in that segment.
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JarredWaltonGPU

Maybe this will be better than Kaby Lake G? LOL
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Notton

If the Intel+Nvidia partnership remains on track, the earliest we are likely to see a desktop/mobile/handheld chip from them is 2028 with Hammer Lake.

Given Intel's track record, I'd expect 2029 at the earliest (high end SKU) and 2030 for a viable product (for us plebs). And Just because Nvidia joined, it doesn't mean we'll get to see something sooner. Maybe the GPU tile will be fine, but the CPU tile is a big question mark.

So, my guess, Arc dGPU will stick around until at least 2027, but we'll still see an Arc iGPU until 2030-ish. Whether or not they stop at Celestial remains to be seen, though I'd guess they will. There really isn't any incentive to go to D-series or E-series.

The main problem with Arc is the die size, as in they are colossal for the performance they offer.
Still interested to see how well B770 will perform. They're printing box art for it, apparently.
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Penzi

“Last December, Intel's ex-CEO Pat Gelsinger left abruptly.” Ousted is indeed abruptly…

There is nothing in any way certain from Intel, but my hope is that the Arc series gets both a return of its mid-grade flagship (7 series) and a genuine leap in capabilities in the Celestial generation, which is when I expect to replace my 4070… I’d rather not support nVidia next time. Perhaps AMD will keep up the decent work that resulted in the 9070XT… but I’d still rather snag a C770 or whatever it’ll be called. With about a million caveats.
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