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Intel Confirms the Existence of a DG2-448 Arc GPU
Intel appears to be producing another Arc GPU model, according to GitLab. The post describes pixel pipeline optimizations for Intel GPUs, and at the same time, also leaks the existence of a new DG2-448 GPU. If this is true, the DG2-448 will be Intel's fourth known SKU in its Arc GPU lineup so far and slot in-between the DG2-512 and DG2-384 configurations.
We already know of three Arc SKUs that will exist sometime in the future: the base model will feature 1024 cores, the mid-range 3072, and high-end 4096 cores. The DG2-448 should slot right in-between the 3072 and 4096 core versions, as its name relates to the amount of Vector Engines the GPU has. So if we do some quick math, the amount of cores the DG2-448 has comes out to 3584.
We already suspect that Intel will divide its lineup of Arc GPUs into two dies: one for the high end and mid-range SKUs, and the other for lower end-entry level GPUs. Thus, the DG2-448 will most certainly belong on the largest core count wafer, with some disabled to cut the GPU to 3584 cores.
A multi-die strategy is optimal for any GPU manufacturer to ensure damaged wafers are not gone to waste, improving the efficiency of the fabs. However, this also means fully enabled wafers will be rare and harder to come by. If true, then we could see far more DG2-448 Arc GPUs in the wild than DG2-512s.
For reference, Nvidia has still not produced a graphics card with a fully enabled GA102 core; its highest core count GPU die to date. This puts into perspective how difficult producing fully enabled dies can be without defects occurring along the manufacturing line.
The performance of the DG2-448 is still largely unknown although we estimate by core count alone that it will be around 15-17 TFLOPS of raw GPU compute performance. However, gaming performance remains a mystery on all of Intel's Arc GPUs. We won't know more until more official (or leaked) benchmarks come out.
For now, it appears the DG2-512 will act as Intel's RTX 3080 SKU. Thus, we can expect the DG2-512 to be a top-tier flagship GPU, with low yields. On the other hand, the DG2-448 could act as Intel's RTX 3070, featuring far greater yields thanks to disabled cores, allowing for the use of defective wafers.
