Intel's Arc GPU launch appears to have gone from headache to migraine

pcgamer.com:

Intel's Arc graphics card launch is not going swimmingly. The CPU giant was always going to have a tough time with its new gaming GPU launch, but inconsistent performance is causing it a headache, though that does not appear to be the end of its problems. Even before Intel's discrete GPUs have reached Europe or the Americas, a report suggests Intel's partners are hesitating.

«I have asked some dealers, potential distributors and also manufacturers in the European area about Intel’s Arc cards and the plans of these companies in this regard. However, there was predominantly little to no interest in even embarking on the adventure with this new product,» says Igor of Igor's Lab(opens in new tab).

The report, which claims to be the sentiment from sources close to the matter, states Intel does not want to guarantee prices and it isn't offering as competitive a package for RMAs, which could all be seen to make Arc appear a riskier investment. Intel may be attempting to push Alchemist to system integrators and OEMs in a bid to circumvent the challenging retail market.

«At least one of the big board partners has even stopped the production of Intel cards completely ('due to quality concerns'),» the report later says.

That's certainly not a great sign of things to come for the Alchemist generation of GPUs, which is only the first of four named generations for Intel Arc graphics, the upcoming generations being Battlemage, Celestial, and Druid. This is further to another report from YouTuber Moore's Law Is Dead(opens in new tab) that suggested similar issues for Intel's Alchemist GPUs.

Of course, we can't be 100% certain that either report paints the whole picture, but we've personally not heard many positives from the launch so