Intel Teams up with ASUS and Colorful for first dedicated Iris Xe (DG1) Graphics cards

Intel published that it is entering the discrete GPU market in collaboration with AIBs, the first two listed are ASUS and Colorful. Initial dedicated graphics cards will be intended for entry-level users and small businesses. The cards are OEM based and cannot be purchased in stores. 

Based on Iris Xe, a 10nm DG1 GPU will have 80 Execution Units (640 Shader Units). Intel has not shared specs like a clock speed for the non-Max variant; the Iris Xe MAX would be clocked at 1650 MHz. The cards come with 4GB of LPDDR4X memory on a 128-bit bus interface. The cards will not be available to the public; instead, they are OEM-based and can end up in pre-built systems.

-- Intel  -- Intel codesigned and partnered with two ecosystem partners, including ASUS, to launch the Intel® Iris® Xe discrete desktop graphics cards (code-named “DG1”) in systems targeted to mainstream users and small- and medium-sized businesses. The cards are sold to system integrators who will offer Iris Xe discrete graphics as part of pre-built systems.

Following the launch of Intel® Iris® Xe MAX for notebooks, Intel’s first Xe-based discrete graphics processing unit, Intel and its partners saw the opportunity to better serve the high-volume, value-desktop market with improved graphics, display, and media acceleration capabilities.

The new cards offer a compelling upgrade to existing options in the market segment. They feature three display outputs; hardware video decode and encode acceleration, including AV1 decode support, Adaptive-Sync; Display HDR support, and artificial intelligence capabilities thanks to DP4a deep-learning inference acceleration. The Iris Xe discrete graphics cards come with 80 execution units and 4 gigabytes of video memory.