The Intel specialized graphics desktops are hard to come by, to the point that they begin to flirt with the term “eternal promise.” However, the years of waiting may be coming to an end as CEO Pat Gelsinger reiterated plans to launch such products during the second quarter of this year.

At the latest Intel financial conference, Pat Gelsinger said that the Advanced Computing and Graphics Group (AXG) was on the right track and that laptop models had already been launched, in addition to planning to launch the first desktop SKU in Q2 2022 and other products from the same line for the rest of the year. This is in line with the information circulating for several months.

The data provided by Pat Gelsinger does not resolve much of the doubt, but it seems to pave the way for the definitive introduction of Intel’s dedicated desktop graphics. Rumors point to the introduction of eight Alchemist models, which may not appear at the same time and do not close the door to multiple models, so the company can be expected to start or at least clearly show its catalog over the summer.

However, the supply of quality through a dedicated graphics card does not only depend on the brute strength of the hardware, which seems to suit Intel, but you also have to take care of the software, ie Drivers. At this point, the CEO of Intel noted that the players know this “there is a lot of individual optimization work on some key titles. We are also working with our OEMs to complete their product portfolio. ”.

As CPU integrated graphics become more and more capable, to the point that it goes very well for basic and even professional tasks that do not handle the heavy workloads at the GPU level, it is clear that Intel’s dedicated graphics will be forced to compete. when making video games within consumption. Not starting well here means not being able to deal with NVIDIA, which is increasingly dominant.

Steam Survey of March 2022

Intel Arc Alchemist graphics, required by Linux users more than Windows?

With AMD unable to break NVIDIA’s dominance, Intel’s arrival may end in the sky by helping to increase the amount of dedicated graphics available in the market and open the door to further innovation, as it sees more that XeSS could compete with DLSS, which FSR in the end it isn’t (or at least it wasn’t in its first version).

But you have to be realistic. Windows users are obviously very happy with NVIDIA graphics, so Linux users are probably most interested in Intel Arc Alchemist., a system for which the NVIDIA driver does not conform to established standards. This situation has led to the dissatisfaction of many and even caused conflicts with kernel developers. With this panorama, Intel Arc Alchemist can be a great value for Linux users that would contribute to the good work that AMD has done in recent years.

Of course, when we talk about the state of video game drivers, it is not necessary to refer only to Windows, because the Vulkan driver for Linux still has room for improvement if it wants to compete with what NVIDIA offers. and AMD (Vulkan driver for Radeon used by default on Linux is unofficial).