Intel Arc A350M, A370M Discrete Gaming GPUs for Thin-and-Light Laptops Announced, Desktop GPUs Coming Later This Year

gadgets.ndtv.com:

After years of teasers and buildup, Intel has finally launched its first discrete Intel Arc GPUs. Two A-series models, the Arc A350M and Arc A370M will soon be available in thin-and-light laptops, with pre-orders for models from multiple top manufacturers including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Samsung beginning as early as today. More powerful Arc 5 and Arc 7 GPU models for higher-end gaming laptops will follow these Arc 3 GPUs later this year. Details of upcoming desktop GPUs will also be announced later in 2022.

All the laptops with Intel Arc GPUs announced so far feature Intel's 12th Gen ‘Alder Lake' mobile CPUs, and many of them are thin-and-light models that qualify for the Intel Evo badge. Intel has announced that OEMs will be able to leverage its ‘Deep Link' technology to dynamically balance a CPU and GPU within a laptop's heat and power envelopes to optimise performance for different types of workloads. Arc GPUs and ‘Alder Lake' CPUs with integrated graphics capabilities can also work together to speed up certain video encoding and AI workloads, thanks to their shared Xe architecture.

DirectX 12, variable rate shading, and ray tracing are supported across the lineup, though Intel's XeSS image upscaling tech will not launch alongside this first set of chips. The company also touts its support for hardware AV1 video encoding and today's newest HDMI and DisplayPort standards.

Intel's new Arc Control software will serve as a gamer hub with community features, streaming and camera controls, performance profiles, and also in-game events and rewards. The company has also committed to monthly driver updates and a close working relationship with game developers, including day-zero patches for newly released titles.