Intel Arc Celestial “Xe3” and Battlemage “G31” GPUs Unveiled: Blue Team Commits Fully to the Discrete Market Segment

Intel’s rumored retreat from the discrete GPU market seems to be losing steam as we’ve seen fresh evidence of their upcoming Arc Celestial "Xe3" and the more advanced Battlemage "G31" chips making their rounds on the internet.

Recently, Intel pulled back the curtain on its Battlemage B-Series lineup, introducing the Arc B580 and Arc B570 graphics cards. Targeted at the mainstream crowd, these cards come with a price tag under $250, poised to challenge current and future offerings from AMD and NVIDIA.

Intel has its sights set on the broader gaming community with the Arc Battlemage series, mirroring AMD’s approach with their imminent RDNA 4 "Radeon RX 8000" series. It seems Intel might have a trick up its sleeve, hinting at an unexpected move.

In the latest cargo logs from NBD.ltd, Intel’s BMG-G31 SoC has reappeared, fueling speculation about the possible launch of a higher-end B-Series graphics card in the near future. The Arc B580 and B570 models are equipped with BMG-G21 SoCs, but the G31 promises more Xe2 cores, sparking whispers of its integration in future products like the B770. Intel’s Tom Petersen has teased a beefier Arc B-series GPU, making the G31 a likely candidate for this lineup.

Shifting focus to the Celestial or Xe3 discrete GPUs, shipping manifests reveal codenamed "Panther Falls" units, a designation for Celestial models. According to Twitter user @Haze2K1, these belong to the Arc family, and quite a few have been spotted. Intel has confirmed Celestial’s development is done, and teams are already diving into the Druid "Xe4" project.

The listings feature numerous Qualification Samples, including PCBs and complete boards. Another Celestial GPU was detected by Tomasz Gawronski, potentially a 128 EU or 16 Xe3 variant. With Panther Lake CPUs set to sport Arc Xe3 GPUs boasting up to 12 Xe3 cores, this might serve as a beginner-friendly discrete option.

In my view, these advances effectively debunk the recent buzz about Intel abandoning its Arc lineup. With the second generation of Arc products out, and the progression toward forthcoming models, Intel is hinting at higher-end offerings within the Battlemage GPU range. Anticipate more definitive news from Intel about its discrete GPU strategy during CES 2025, as models like the B580 and B570 fortify Intel’s position in the mainstream gaming sector.

Intel ARC Gaming GPU Lineup:

• GPU Family: Intel Xe-HPG, Intel Xe2-HPG, Intel Xe3-HPG, Intel Xe Next
• GPU Products: ARC Alchemist, ARC Battlemage, ARC Celestial, ARC Druid
• GPU Segment: Mainstream / High-End Gaming (Discrete)
• GPU Gen: Gen 12 through Gen 16
• CPU iGPU: Naming for generations such as Panther Lake
• Process Node: Ranges from TSMC 6nm to possible 3nm for future generations
• Specs/Design: Varying, with some models featuring 512 EUs per tile
• Memory Subsystem: Generally GDDR6
• Launch Timeline: From 2022 stretching potentially to 2026 and beyond.

These details highlight the evolving chess match among hardware giants as Intel positions itself as a formidable rival in the gaming GPU marketplace.