The year 2024 is only two weeks away, and the latest rumors surrounding the next generation of GPUs are already in full swing. The latest claim is that Intel's next graphics architecture, Battlemage, will not compete with the likes of the RX 7900 series or RTX 4080, but will focus on mainstream sales. In any case, it would be a shame if we have to wait another two years for a true third contender for the GPU halo crown, although that would not be at all surprising if true, since the vast majority of GPU sales are in the mainstream. [At least that's what YouTube channel RedGamingTech claims. According to their earlier video, the largest Battlemage chip will feature 56 Xe cores, boost clocks up to 3 GHz, and 116 MB of L2 cache connected to a 256-bit memory bus.

It is now suggested that the previous core details were correct, but the cache and memory were not. Instead, the top-of-the-line Battlemage GPU will have a 192-bit memory bus, 8MB of L2 cache, and 512MB of "Adamantine" cache. The "adamantine cache," believe it or not, is a genuine one, and was presented in the Intel patent we mentioned earlier. This is a level 4 cache layer for the CPU, but one that can also be accessed by the integrated GPU. [In other words, it works like the Infinity Cache in AMD's RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 chips, helping to reduce the number of times data is requested from VRAM. [Nonetheless, RedGamingTech also suggests that it is likely that Intel will not actually bother to release this chip. Instead, they will likely focus on offering a smaller GPU with 40 Xe cores, 18MB of L2 cache, no L4 cache, and a 192-bit memory bus.

Since Intel's Arc A770 already has 32 Xe cores, 16MB of L2 cache, and a 256-bit memory bus, if the above claims are true, then mainstream Battlemage chips with higher clock speeds or better Xe cores Unless there is a higher clock speed or a better Xe core, we will not see any significant improvement.

We know that Battlemage is the GPU architecture used in the upcoming Lunar Lake CPU, a small, low-power design for laptops. Vector Engines (XVE) extension for this processor, it claims. So instead of Alchemist's SIMD8 design (i.e., handling 8 threads at a time), Battlemage is SIMD16. [AMD, Intel, and Nvidia use different terminology when talking about GPU shaders, but they are all basically doing the same thing. That is, one AMD Stream processor or one Nvidia CUDA core does the processing in one thread. In other words, one AMD Stream Processor or one Nvidia CUDA core does the processing in one thread. If this rumor is true, one Battlemage XVE would be equivalent to two Alchemist XVEs.

However, the size of the Xe core itself is not doubled. All Alchemist GPUs have 16 XVEs per Xe core, but Intel may reduce that to 8 in Battlemage. This would not be a major change, as Intel's HPC GPUs' Xe cores are currently arranged this way.

The A770 chip has a much larger die size of 406 mm², even though it is manufactured on TSMC's older N6 process node. [Doubling the width of the XVE unit and increasing the amount of L2 cache would require more transistors, and even if the desktop Battlemage does not have that many Xe cores, it is still a big chip. Or rather, it would have been if it were still made with N6.

Switching it to N5 or even N3 would result in a much smaller and more power efficient GPU. However, since Battlemage is still a long way off and there is no hardware evidence in the form of leaked benchmark results to suggest a certain direction, anyone can claim whatever they like about this architecture.

Regardless of what the architecture looks like, it is a bit disappointing to read that another GPU manufacturer is ceding the top-end market to Nvidia for at least another year. AMD is rumored to be doing this with its next-generation chip, RDNA 4, which, if it all comes to fruition, will give the green team a complete monopoly on the ultra-high end space.

But one thing is certain: 2024 is going to be a great year for rumors and GPU shenanigans, with Intel possibly competing with AMD's RDNA 4 and even Nvidia's Blackwell. Let the battle begin.