There's a lot going on in the GPU market right now. Despite shortages expected to continue, graphics card prices have been coming down, to the point where some are even below their MSRPs. Alongside this, both AMD and Nvidia are inching closer to releasing RDNA 3 and Ada Lovelace, respectively. That just leaves Intel, which, despite looking to join the other two in the graphical hardware industry, has yet to release its Arc desktop product. However, one has been seen in the wild.According to a recent tweet from user @theBryceIsRt, as reported by PC Gamer, an Intel Arc graphics card has been spotted at this year's IEM, a pro-gaming tournament which is sponsored by the tech giant. A few pictures that accompany the tweet show the GPU behind a glass display case. While it can be seen from a few angles, there's no image showing the actual display ports, though it does appear to show the power connectors upon closer inspection. In any case, this is hopefully an indication that it will be launching soon. However, there may be some time to wait, as a recent rumor suggested that Intel may not even release the desktop Arc card until Q4 of this year. There's been no official statement from the company that the product has been delayed, but given that many were expecting it to come out earlier this year, perhaps around the time the mobile GPUs were launched, it's clear that something is up, but no one really knows what. Some suspect that, while the GPU is finished, as indicated by these latest images, Intel is still tinkering with the drivers.
With speculations that Nvidia may be launching the RTX 4090 this August, with additional models to follow in September and October, it's looking like team blue is going to be left eating its newest competitor's dust. Intel is probably going to have to pull something out of its sleeve in order to convince people that it has a fighting chance within this market, but hopes seem to be fading as time marches on.
With the CEO of Intel also saying that chip shortages could go on until 2024, the industry on the whole could still be due some hardships, especially as the next generation arrives. The important thing, it seems, is that the tech giant has marketed a series of graphics cards that it hopes will outshine the rest, yet it just seems like it keeps dragging its feet about releasing the desktop variants.
Source: PC Gamer