Rumors, Delays, and Early Testing Suggest Intel's Arc GPUs are on Shaky Ground

upstart writes:

Possible outcomes run the gamut from "more delays" to outright cancellation:

Almost a year ago, Intel made a big announcement about its push into the dedicated graphics business. Intel Arc would be the brand name for a new batch of gaming GPUs, pushing far beyond the company's previous efforts and competing directly with Nvidia's GeForce and AMD's Radeon GPUs.

Arc is the culmination of years of work, going back to at least 2017, when Intel poached AMD GPU architect Raja Koduri to run its own graphics division. And while Intel would be trying to break into an established and fiercely competitive market, it would benefit from the experience and gigantic install base that the company had cultivated with its integrated GPUs.

[...] The first Arc GPUs were initially targeted for early 2022, and Intel managed to announce a pair of low-end 300-series laptop GPUs at the tail end of March. To date, the number of those laptops that is actually available for purchase is relatively small, and no one in the US has been able to buy anything else. A desktop version of the 1080p-focused Arc A380 has appeared in China, though, and a few publications have managed to import and test it.

[...] Arc's performance is also worst when playing older games that don't support the DirectX12 or Vulkan APIs, pointing to one huge issue that Intel has openly acknowledged: The company is struggling with its GPU drivers.

Read more of this story at SoylentNews.