Intel Arc Xe2 Battlemage GPUs rumored to arrive next month — ahead of AMD RDNA 4 and Nvidia Blackwell

Intel is on track to launch its next-generation Arc desktop GPUs codenamed “Battlemage” next month, per Golden Pig Upgrade Pack – a hardware sleuth and a reliable leaker. Battlemage will utilize Intel’s Xe2-HPG architecture – a spinoff of Xe2-LPG seen on Intel’s latest Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) CPUs.

The leaker doesn’t go in-depth regarding the details and says they’re looking forward to Battlemage on “desktop” next month. These GPUs are said to offer brilliant performance, but we don’t expect them to topple Nvidia’s RTX 4090 and the like. Again, if this leak is accurate, Intel has done a brilliant job in preventing leaks, as the lack of information about Arc has led many to believe that Battlemage’s desktop variant was effectively axed.

During the latest Q3 24 earnings, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger highlighted that the market doesn’t have much demand for discrete GPUs – indicating a shift in focus towards integrated mobile solutions. This did not bode well for Arc or whatever was left of it, as Intel has been unusually tight-lipped about Battlemage. In April, a rumor alleged that Intel aims to release Battlemage before Black Friday (November 29).

Whatever Team Blue’s strategies are, it is good to see that Battlemage is in the works and should be an excellent choice for the mainstream segment – provided the drivers are ironed out. As it stands, Battlemage will feature three primary GPUs: Arc BMG-31, Arc BMG-20, and Arc BMG-G10. An unnamed Arc Battlemage GPU recently surfaced wielding 32 Xe2 cores – probably the flagship.

Battlemage is oriented toward the budget segment, akin to AMD’s upcoming RDNA 4 GPUs. Nvidia will still lead the premium segment; however, given the increasing competition, Team Green might be forced to price its budget GPUs accordingly.

Intel appears to capitalize on the upcoming holiday season for its Battlemage GPUs. This makes sense because a CES launch, with actual capacity in the following weeks, might not have been as successful. In any case, should this leak materialize – Intel is expected to unveil its Battlemage desktop GPUs next month – likely before the holidays.