Intel calculates Arc Alchemist GPU clock speeds differently

pcinvasion.com:

Intel Arc Alchemist GPU specs will be a bit different than those from Nvidia and AMD. A lot of the time, when judging and comparing graphics cards, you would likely check out the card’s base clock speed. But with Intel’s GPU lineup, things won’t be apples to apples compared to other brands. This was discussed in a recent live stream on the HotHardware YouTube channel. Intel fellow Tom Petersen joined the stream to discuss Arc Alchemist’s clock speeds in further detail.

The first thing to note about all of this is that the operating clock speeds of these GPUs can reach far higher than what’s listed as of now. Take a look at the released specs for Arc Alchemist mobile GPUs, and you’ll see that Intel refers to its clock measurement as the “Graphics Clock.” This measurement is a general estimate for the clock speeds of different GPUs that are under moderate workload stress, thermally constrained, and limited to minimal power consumption. It’s a figure that represents the guaranteed minimum operating clock speed of the GPU, even in the worst conditions.

The Arc Alchemist GPUs work in an interesting way in comparison to others on the market. Essentially, these GPUs boost clock speeds whenever possible and only when it’s safe to do so. If there’s headroom for the GPU to boost its clock higher, then it will do that automatically. This behavior sounds similar to how Intel designs its CPUs to work.

What this means is that the Intel Arc Graphics Clock is more like an average minimum clock speed. Since Intel derives these numbers from harsh test conditions with limited power allotment, it thinks the Graphics Clock is a good real world performance spec. This means users can expect better clock speeds in most scenarios.

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