Originally, AMD competed with Intel for processors (CPUs) and with NVIDIA for display chips (GPUs). This also means that Intel will join AMD and NVIDIA in the GPU battle. But recently Intel has announced the first discrete graphics card Iris Xe Max for ultra-portable laptops and notebooks. This also means that Intel will join AMD and NVIDIA in the GPU battle.
The Iris Xe Max discrete graphics card uses Deep Link technology, which supports the PCIe Gen 4 interface as part of Intel Adaptix to meet the performance requirements for content creation on thin and light laptops.
Computers currently running the Iris Xe Max include the Acer Swift 3x, Asus VivoBook Flip TP470, and Dell Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1 PC.
According to Intel, the 11th generation of intelligent Intel Core Mobile processors with Iris Xe Max discrete graphics cards feature Additive AI, which enables artificial intelligence-based creation up to seven times faster than comparable laptops with third-party graphics cards, and Super Video Encoding, which encodes video up to 10 times faster than high-end desktop graphics cards. The speed increase is up to 1.78x.
In addition to its use in laptops, Intel said it will work with manufacturers to bring Xe-LP-based discrete graphics cards to entry-level desktops, which it expects to do in the first half of 2021. It believes the Xe graphics architecture will expand from the low-end to the high-end end of the graphics market and from game cards to data center graphics cards.