It's simultaneously a shocking shakeup of the PC chip triumvirate (AMD must be fuming), a much-needed lifeline for struggling Intel, and a recipe for a potentially exciting future - the world's foremost graphics pioneer joining forces with the company formerly known as Chipzilla. Imagine the possibilities!
But I also have to ask myself at the same time: What does this mean for the future of Arc, Intel's own in-house graphics project?
Intel Arc's short history shows promise…
Arc is still in its infancy. Intel famously canceled its early "Larrabee" graphics architecture in the 2000s, which became a liability after the rise of Bitcoin and AI demonstrated the powerful potential of GPUs. Intel realized it missed the boat and rushed - slowly, at times - to orchestrate both the Arc brand and the Xe graphics architecture girding it.
The first Arc graphics cards launched in just October 2022, delivering great value for its price despite an onslaught of annoying bugs. Intel diligently fixed those bugs over time, and by the time the second-gen Arc B580 launched in late 2024, we called
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