Next gen Intel graphics cards could arrive in time for Black Friday

gamesradar.com:

Intel is allegedly gearing up to release a new next gen wave of ‘Battlemage’ graphics cards, and they might land amid the chaos of Black Friday. The Arc successor is set to be the tech giant’s second generation of GPUs, following the slow launch of cards using ‘Alchemist’ chips throughout the last two years

Just like Nvidia and AMD’s best graphics card contenders, Intel’s first GPU line-up released the final quarter of 2022. The Arc A770 arrived on October 11, but it took a while for the entire range of discrete and dedicated options to make it outside of China. Not to mention a range of driver issues originally caused a ruckus for players, with issues plagued gaming PC performance for early adopters. Thankfully, cards are now both widely available and feature pretty robust drivers due to ongoing support, and that might be why we’re finally hearing whispers about a successive generation.

According to a report by Computerbase, “industry circles” say that Intel Arc Battlemage graphics cards will land “before Black Friday.” That may sound a little vague considering the big sale takes place just after Thanksgiving, but it’s perhaps a nod that the line-up will emerge either early November or even late October. Opting for the latter would create somewhat of a launch pattern since Alchemist launched at the same time of year, and we know that GPU makers love sticking with a release date rhythm. 

The report backs up its Battlemage release date claim by stating that Intel wants to “take advantage of the strong sales season,” which makes sense given that many players hold off on buying parts until the big event. It’d also give the company a nice excuse to discount Alchemist cards and clear up stock, as last year’s bonanza slashed the range to record low prices. 

That said, Intel is once again potentially releasing its next gen GPUs dangerously close to the launch date of RTX 5000 cards, with rumours also pointing towards late 2024. I’d argue doing so is somewhat of a gamble,