Skip to main content

Intel heats up graphics battle against Nvidia with ray tracing-capable Xe cards

insecure intel exploits logo
AFP/Getty Images / .

Intel’s forthcoming graphics chips are poised to deliver some serious competition to Nvidia, which embraced real-time ray tracing when the company launched its RTX series graphics cards late last year. Intel also announced that it will back the new feature.

For gamers, ray tracing brings cinematic rendering by rendering how light is absorbed, reflected, or refracted on surfaces in real time. Initially, Intel’s support for ray tracing will be for the company’s data center graphics cards. Intel’s line of discrete graphics cards are scheduled for a 2020 launch.

Recommended Videos

Though Nvidia’s GeForce RTX graphics are targeted at consumer desktops and laptops, Intel’s Xe graphics architecture is used primarily for data centers. Intel is targeting creatives with its server-based technology, and the company envisions that hardware-based ray tracing on its Xe architecture will be utilized for visual effects and in animated films.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

“Studios continue to reach for maximum realism with complex physics processing for cloth, fluids, hair and more, plus modeling the physics of light with ray tracing,” Jim Jeffers, a senior principal engineer and senior director of Intel’s Advanced Rendering and Visualization team, wrote on the chipmaker’s blog. “These algorithms benefit from mixed parallel and scalar computing while requiring ever-growing memory footprints. The best solutions will include a holistic platform design where computational tasks are distributed to the most appropriate processing resources.”

Earlier this year at the GPU Technology Conference, Nvidia showed off how it will leverage its server-based RTX graphics to allow designers to collaborate on creative projects. RTX servers will also be used as part of Nvidia’s GeForce Now game streaming platform as the company fends off new competition from Google’s emerging Stadia service, which is powered by graphics from rival AMD.

There’s speculation, however, that support for ray tracing could trickle down to Intel’s forthcoming line of consumer graphics cards. “Given that this type of functionality is typically embedded at a foundational level in the microarchitecture, Intel’s support for ray tracing with data center graphics cards strongly implies the desktop variants could also support the same functionality, though it is noteworthy that the company is splitting its offerings into two distinct architectures,” Tom’s Hardware reported.

Intel hasn’t given any indications if it will support ray tracing on consumer graphics, though the company had stated in prior interviews that it would bring unspecified new experiences to its graphics cards. AMD, on the other hand, previously stated that it will only adopt ray tracing once the feature can be supported on all of its graphics cards, not just the premium ones. Since the launch of the RTX graphics cards, Nvidia appears to have shared in AMD’s vision, and ray tracing support has been extended to older GTX series cards with varying degrees of performance.

Chuong Nguyen
Silicon Valley-based technology reporter and Giants baseball fan who splits his time between Northern California and Southern…
Nvidia is bringing ray tracing and DLSS 3 to your car
Cyberpunk 2077 running in a Tesla.

I know it sounds crazy, but a new MediaTek chip powered by Nvidia graphics promises to bring AAA gaming, ray tracing, and the coveted DLSS 3 to your car. The chips I'm talking about are MediaTek's new Dimensity Auto Cockpit, which integrated an Nvidia GPU, along with a host of AI and gaming capabilities.

It's not clear what Nvidia graphics are packed on MediaTek's chips, but clearly, they're using some variation of the Ada Lovelace architecture we see on RTX 40-series GPUs. Those are the only GPUs that support DLSS 3's frame generation capabilities, and they're extremely efficient -- important for a chip packed into a car.

Read more
Intel claims up to 268% gaming boost with latest Arc graphics drivers
Two intel Arc graphics cards on a pink background.

Intel has released a new graphics driver update for its Arc lineup of GPUs. It is the company's first major update this year, primarily supporting new game titles like Enshrouded, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Tekken 8, and Palworld. As always, the new Game On drivers (31.0.101.5186) also ensure a substantial performance boost to many existing DirectX11 and DirectX12 games.

As per Intel, gamers can expect a massive increase of up to 268% average fps (frame per second) uplift in Just Cause 4 at 1080p with very high settings and about 160% average fps uplift in Just Cause 3 with similar settings. Popular titles like Tekken 8 (DX12) also witness up to 15% average fps uplift at 4K with ultra settings and up to 8% average fps uplift in The Last of Us Part 1 at 1080p with ultra settings.

Read more
Intel may already be conceding its fight against Nvidia
Two intel Arc graphics cards on a pink background.

Nvidia continues to own the top-of-the-line GPU space, and the competition just hasn't been able to, well, compete. The announcement of the impressive-sounding RTX 40 Super cards cements the lead even further.

As a result, AMD is said to be giving up on the high-end graphics card market with its next-gen GPUs. And now, a new rumor tells us that Intel might be doing the same with Arc Battlemage, its anticipated upcoming graphics cards that are supposed to launch later this year. While this is bad news, it's not surprising at all.
Arc Battlemage leaks
First, let's talk about what's new. Intel kept quiet about Arc Battlemage during CES 2024, but Tom Petersen, Intel fellow, later revealed in an interview that it's alive and well. The cards might even be coming out this year, although given Intel's track record for not meeting GPU deadlines, 2025 seems like a safer bet. But what kind of performance can we expect out of these new graphics cards? This is where YouTuber RedGamingTech weighs in.

Read more