Intel is making strides to cement its presence in the discrete GPU market, with recent shipping manifests hinting at exciting developments around the new Battlemage and a rather intriguing, yet a bit ambiguous, SKU.
### Intel Moves Forward with Battlemage “BMG-G31” Variant; Focused on AI/Professional Applications?
Last year, Intel caught many of us off guard by unveiling two Battlemage GPUs, the Arc B580 and B570. These GPUs piqued considerable interest at the time, largely because NVIDIA and AMD hadn’t yet rolled out their next-gen offerings. Fast forward to nearly the end of the second quarter this year, and Intel had remained fairly tight-lipped about its strategy for desktop GPUs. This silence sparked speculations that Intel might be stepping back. But, contrary to such beliefs, new insights from shipping manifests suggest otherwise.
Take, for instance, the “BMG-G31”, a GPU model exceeding the capabilities of Intel’s current Battlemage lineup. This variant is rumored to sport about 24-32 Xe2 cores supported by a 256-bit memory bus and 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. However, rumors are swirling about the potential cancellation of the BMG-G31, with talk of it not entering the consumer market. Interestingly, the shipping manifests describe this model as meant for “R&D purpose”, suggesting Intel may be angling this GPU towards AI and professional use cases instead.
Moreover, another manifest hints at a unique model, the BMG “C32”, which raises eyebrows due to its unusual naming—blending Battlemage and Celestial together. It appears to be a variant within the Battlemage family, possibly a reimagined “BMG-G31” model, as hinted by industry insider @mikdt. This suggests Intel is exploring multiple Battlemage designs, but whether these are going to be available for desktop consumers remains to be seen.
The industry eagerly awaits Intel’s next moves in discrete GPUs, especially considering its ongoing work on the Xe3 “Celestial” architecture set for Panther Lake SoCs. Under the new leadership of Intel’s CEO, there seems to be a pivot towards prioritizing AI. Consequently, we might see Intel channeling its efforts into GPUs geared specifically for AI-heavy tasks. Keep an eye on Team Blue as their roadmap unfolds.
