Intel introduced the Iris Xe discrete graphics processor months ago, but so far, only a handful of OEMs and a couple of graphics card makers have adopted it for their products. This week, VideoCardz discovered another vendor, Gunnir, that offers a desktop system and a standalone Intel DG1 graphics card with a rare D-Sub (VGA) output, making it an interesting board design.
It's particularly noteworthy that the graphics card has an HDMI 2.0 and a D-Sub output that can be used to connect outdated LCD or even CRT monitors. In 2021, this output (sometimes called the VGA connector, yet a 15-pin D-Sub is not exclusive for monitors) is not particularly widespread as it does not properly support resolutions beyond 2048×1536. Image quality at resolutions higher than 1600×1200 heavily depends on the quality of the output and the cable (quality is typically low). Adding a D-Sub output to a low-end PC makes some sense because some old LCD screens are still in use, and retro gaming with CRT monitors has become a fad.
As far as formal specifications are concerned, the Gunnir Lanji DG1 card is powered by Intel's cut-down Iris Xe Max GPU with 80 EUs clocked at 1.20 GHz ~ 1.50 GHz paired with 4GB of LPDDR4-4266 memory connected to the chip using a 128-bit interface. The card has a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface to connect to the host. The card can be used for casual games and for multimedia playback (a workload where Intel's Xe beats the competition). Meanwhile, DG1 is only compatible with systems based on Intel's 9th- and 10th-Gen Core processors and motherboards with the B460, H410, B365, and H310C chipsets.
It is unclear where these products are available (presumably from select Chinese retailers or to select Chinese PC makers), and at what price.
Intel lists Gunnir on its website, but the card it shows is not actually a custom Gunnir card but is a typical reference design of an entry-level add-in-board from Colorful, a company that officially denies it produces Intel DG1 products as it exclusively makes Nvidia-powered GPUs.
