Intel details a rolling release schedule for the much-anticipated Arc GPU

Intel has provided more details about its much-anticipated release roadmap for discrete GPUs In a new blog post. The company plans to use a tiered approach, which will prioritize system builders and OEMs in China when it comes to desktop graphics cards. at the same time laptop chips It is currently exclusive to Samsung laptops in South KoreaThe hope is to expand to other manufacturers and markets soon.

Intel says it is working with other laptop makers like Lenovo, Acer, HP and Asus to release their laptops with entry-level “ASAP” Arc 3 GPUs. Laptops with more powerful Arc 5 and Arc 7 GPUs are planned for “early summer”. The company says it had hoped availability would be “wider” at this point, but it blamed software development and supply chain issues for the delay.

On the desktop side of things, Intel sticks with Q2 as an approximate release window. It says the first desktop GPUs will be the entry-level A3, which will be available to Chinese system builders and OEMs initially (so it won’t be available as a ready-to-install component in a self-built device) before expanding worldwide and self-builders. Later this summer, Intel plans to release the more powerful Arc A5 and A7 desktop cards, starting again with professional system builders ahead of expansion.

It’s a more accurate roadmap than the company Announced back in February When he simply said GPUs will hit laptops in the first quarter, desktops in the second quarter, and workstations in the third. But Intel offers two reasons for this tiered approach. First, by starting with system builders, they can focus on making their GPUs work with a set number of other components, rather than whatever a home builder might throw at them. Second, the Chinese market appears to have a “strong demand” for these types of entry-level GPUs, which are physically closer to factories that manufacture board components at a time when transportation costs have skyrocketed.

Logic aside, the upshot is that US and EU home PC makers aren’t likely to get their hands on Intel’s new desktop graphics cards until at least the end of the summer. With Nvidia expected to release a new 4000 series of graphics cards later this year, that could mean that the fledgling Intel GPUs will face some stiff competition from a very well-established player at launch.