a discrete GPU that merges with integrated GPUs

Something to look forward to: Intel has unveiled the Iris Xe Max, their first Xe discrete GPU. It is designed for thin and light laptops and therefore is not very powerful, but it has a trump card up its sleeve: it can share its workloads with the integrated GPU of the processor, combining their performance.

At this point, the Iris Xe Max is a familiar product. It is physically identical to the graphics integrated in the latest mobile processors from Intel. However, in discrete form, it is clocked at 1650 MHz (instead of 1350 MHz) and it has 4 GB of dedicated VRAM.

The strength of the Xe Max is as a business card, that is, in content creation applications where Intel’s workload sharing feature called Deep Link comes into play. Integrated processor graphics calculate some of the simple components of the workload, freeing up the Xe Max for the tough stuff. Deep Link also modulates the power delivery of the system, to give the GPUs and processor the optimum amount of power.

	Iris Xe Max	Integrated Iris Xe
Release date	November 2020	September 2020
Process	10 nm SuperFine
Clock frequency	1650 MHz	up to 1350 MHz
Execution units	96	48 to 96
Memory capacity	4GB	shared with the system
Type of memory	LPDDR4X	–
Bandwidth	68 GB / s	–
Interface	PCIe 4.0	connection on die
TDP	28 W

Intel claims the combined GPUs can make AI workloads about seven times faster than the Nvidia MX350. Their combined encoding engines, running something called Hyper Encode, are said to be 78% faster than an Nvidia RTX 2080 Super Max-Q.

While not clearly stated, it seems obvious that Deep Link requires per-app support.

The Xe Max is also a reasonably capable gaming GPU, although Deep Link won’t work in games.

Intel claims that overall the Xe Max is equal to or better than the MX350 in popular titles. But beware: none of the GPUs can run modern games above 1080p without big sacrifices in visual settings.

The Xe Max is available from today, but wait a bit before buying one, as Intel will be launching bundles soon. Currently, there are three laptops confirmed to have the Xe Max: the Acer Swift 3x, the Asus VivoBook TP470 and the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 2 in 1. The Dell is already available at Best Buy, and the Asus and Acer will go on sale soon.

It’s exciting that Intel is ready to launch a new discrete GPU, but at the same time, we wanted it to be something more powerful or available as a desktop card. To that end, Intel has confirmed that a desktop equivalent will launch in the first half of next year, and they reaffirmed their promise that high-end gaming GPUs “will arrive in 2021.”