Intel Xe-HPG DG2 Graphics Card PCB Leaks Out – 4096 Cores, 16 GB VRAM, Gaming Performance Close To NVIDIA RTX 3080

Intel’s Xe-HPG DG2 GPU-powered graphics card’s PCB pictures have now been leaked by Moore’s Law is Dead. The pictures are of the same engineering sample that was leaked by the source back in April.

Intel Xe-HPG DG2 GPU Powered Graphics Card PCB Pictures Leaked – Gaming Performance Said To Be Close To NVIDIA’s RTX 3080

The PCB pictures for the Intel Xe-HPG DG2 GPU-powered graphics card are here and while they are still of an engineering sample, they do give us a better idea of what to expect from Intel’s upcoming line of enthusiast and gaming graphics cards. For starters, the graphics card PCB is still in a very early engineering state. The PCB is colored green and there are 8 solder points for GDDR6 memory that confirm a 256-bit bus interface. Intel could go with either 8Gb or 16Gb DRAM dies for 8 GB & 16 GB VRAM capacities.

Intel Xe-HPG DG2 GPU Powered Graphics Card’s PCB Leaks Out. (Image Credits: Moore’s Law is Dead)

This PCB has certain connectors are switches that won’t be seen on the retail variant. On the back of the PCB are solder joints for two 8-pin connectors and several polymer aluminum SP-Caps (21 to be precise). The back of the GPU has several MLCC-caps along with a few filters. The card doesn’t have any multi-GPU connector though that could be due to two reasons, first being an engineering board, and second that Intel could offer mGPU functionality over the PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes, similar to AMD. There are certain areas blacked out which might have serial numbers and codes for the card, making it easy to track the source. Other than that, there’s not much to talk about this PCB.

Intel Xe-HPG DG2 384 package was leaked out a couple of months back by Igor’s Lab

The most interesting thing about this leak is that it matches the first package photo of the Xe-HPG DG2 GPU that was leaked by Igor’s Lab. The GPU package should measure around 42.5 x 37.5mm which puts it at 1593.75mm2. The GPU die will obviously be much smaller than the package.

Following are the first pictures of an Intel Xe-HPG DG2 graphics card’s engineering sample. Do note that the following is not a final design. (Image Credits: Moore’s Law is Dead)

The previously leaked engineering card featured an 8+6 pin connector configuration and MLID states that the expected ‘Target’ TDP of the Intel Xe-HPG DG2 gaming discrete graphics card is expected to be less than 235W.

Intel Xe-HPG DG2 512 EU Discrete Gaming Graphics Cards Specifications

Each Xe-HPG based DG2 GPU SKU will come in various configurations which will range from the full-fat chip to several cut-down variants. This is similar to NVIDIA’s Ampere GA102-400, GA102-200 naming schemes, or AMD’s Navi 21 XTX, Navi 21 XT, Navi 21 XL naming conventions. The top DG2 512 EU variant has just one configuration listed so far and that utilizes the full die with 4096 cores, 256-bit bus interface, and up to 16 GB GDDR6 memory (8 GB GDDR6 listed too). Based on demand and yields, Intel could produce more variants of this flagship chip but we can’t say for sure right now.

The Xe-HPG DG2 512 EU chip is suggested to feature clocks of up to 2.2 GHz though we don’t know if these are the average clocks or the maximum boost clocks. Also, it is stated that Intel’s initial TDP target was 225-250W but that’s been upped to around 275W now. We can expect a 300W variant with dual 8-pin connectors too if Intel wants to push its clocks even further.

Intel Xe-HPG DG2 GPU Based Discrete Gaming Graphics Card Specs:

Intel Xe-HPG DG2 512 EU Discrete Gaming Graphics Cards Performance & Features

Once again, these are just a few of several variants that will be utilizing the Xe-HPG architecture. The Intel DG2 GPUs will be coming to both desktop and mobility designs later this year and are rumored to be based on an external foundry process node, most probably TSMC and its 6nm (N6) node.

Besides that, some performance targets are also mentioned and the flagship Xe-HPG DG2 discrete graphics card is hinted to be close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 which should put it close to the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT too. The 3DMark TimeSpy scores vary a lot based on various samples and end up somewhere between the RTX 2080 and the RTX 3090. The performance metrics could be for differently configured DG2 SKUs.

It is stated that the company will have very good drivers but that depends on the timing of the cards itself as Intel could go two routes, either push the line back for drivers to mature or release them early but still offer good support but lack in terms of other features, similar to AMD’s RDNA 2 which still hasn’t received its DLSS competitor months after launch. On the same front, Intel is said to offer its own ‘XeSS’ solution to rival DLSS and FSR. The encoding and prosumer capabilities are also going to be very impressive for Xe-HPG graphics cards.

Intel Xe-HPG DG2 512 EU Discrete Gaming Graphics Cards Availability & Pricing

The leaker states that the card is nowhere ready for a launch until Q4 2021 or even early next year (proper availability). No AIBs have received proper information about the cards yet as the cards are still receiving design tweaks by Intel themselves. Prosumer variants are also expected but they will not be ready till 2022. It looks like the 512 EU SKU will be heading out to the consumer segment-first followed by 128 EU SKUs shortly after. The leaker also states that the successor to DG2 GPUs will be known as Elasti ‘DG3’ and has a release date scheduled for 2023. A Q1 2022 release is hinted and good quantities are expected at launch.

As for pricing, the mid-range cards are expected to be priced at around $200-$300 US which is what Raja Koduri considers to be the sweet spot for gaming. There’s no mention of pricing for the higher-end variants but the lineup is expected to land in several variants with aggressive pricing starting at $349 and $up to $499 US. We can get a glimpse of the Xe-HPG DG2 GPU powered cards at Intel’s Computex keynote next week.

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