DF Direct Special: Inside Intel Arc - What’s Happening With GPUs, XeSS and Ray Tracing?
It’s been a rocky road to market for Intel with its Arc range of graphics cards... and just over a year since Intel talked to us about its plans. In this extended interview, Alex and Rich talk to Intel Fellow Tom Petersen about the state of play with Intel Arc, what’s going on with DX11, DX12, Vulcan and Resizeable BAR, plus there’s new information on XeSS upscaling (which we’re currently testing) and what Intel says is best-in-class ray tracing performance. Also: just where will machine learning take us in the graphics space?
Join the DF Patreon for pristine video downloads, behind the scenes content, early access to DF Retro, early access to DF Direct Weekly and much, much more:
Subscribe for more Digital Foundry:
Want some DF-branded tee-shirts, mugs, hoodies or pullovers? Check out our store:
00:00 - Intro
00:35 - How has Intel’s projections for Arc’s release date evolved?
02:06 - How did Intel decide on the release strategy for Intel Arc?
05:07 - Intel Arc GPU stack
06:56 - Intel Arc performance landscape
08:28 - What is the difference between games that makes them run better or worse by default on Intel Arc without driver optimizations?
11:14 - How did Resizable Bar become essential to the performance of Intel Arc?
13:19 - Why focus on Ray Tracing in the 1st generation of Intel Arc?
15:58 - What is it about Arc that makes it performant in Ray Tracing?
18:48 - What does XeSS bring to the market vs the competition (DLSS, FSR 2.0)?
20:53 - DP4a Performance
22:21 - What is the endgame for XeSS’s place among upscalers?
25:07 - How is XeSS versioned and integrated into games?
27:09 - Does XeSS handle user-configurable image sharpness?
28:10 - Is the footprint of XeSS low-enough to still be performant on DP4a?
29:25 - How does the machine learning model contribute to XeSS?
36:12 - Are there other areas that AI could expand to in the GPU?
38:00 - Could AI interpolate temporally (synthesize new frames)?
40:29 - How does XeSS handle object disocclusion?
42:03 - Does Intel plan to target to upper echelon of performance with Intel Arc?
44:28 - Intel in the long-term as the 3rd major competitor in the GPU space
45:03 - What are some things you’d love to see in the Intel drivers in the next 5 years (no promises)?
47:48 - How does Intel Smooth Sync work?
50:34 - What is Intel doing in the space of GPU accelerated compression/decompression?
52:08 - Could Intel Arc support writing data from disk directly into VRAM?
53:16 - Conclusion
Thanks Hikaru Yoroi for the timestamps!
4 hours ago
1 view
12
3
2 weeks ago 00:18:43 1
Grand Theft Auto Vice City + San Andreas Definitive Editions - PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S Tested!
2 weeks ago 00:15:05 7
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: PS5 Pro vs PS5 - A Vast Improvement At 60FPS
2 weeks ago 01:58:38 1
DF Direct Weekly #180: The PS5 Pro Breakdown: GT7, TLOUp2, Ratchet, Horizon, Alan Wake 2 + More!
3 weeks ago 00:18:16 1
Ghost of Tsushima PC - DF Tech Review - PS5 vs PC, Optimised Settings + More
3 weeks ago 00:19:57 5
Black Myth: Wukong: Projecting PS5 Pro Improvements, Improving PS5 Modes, Series S Perf Projections
3 weeks ago 00:13:02 2
Hunt: Showdown 1896 - PS5/Xbox Series X|S Tech Review - A CryEngine Revamp For Current-Gen
4 weeks ago 01:08:16 1
PS5 Pro Reveal Reaction - Tech, Specs, Games, Price - A DF Direct Special
4 weeks ago 00:22:17 1
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 - PS5/Xbox Series X|S/PC Tech Review - Is 60FPS Viable on Consoles?
4 weeks ago 00:22:57 1
Astro Bot on PS5 - Virtually Flawless - Digital Foundry Tech Review
1 month ago 00:12:00 2
Starfield: Xbox Series S Performance Mode Tested - How Viable is 60FPS Gaming?
1 month ago 00:29:58 1
Star Wars Outlaws - PC Tech Review - The High-End Graphics Experience
1 month ago 00:04:25 1
KANDAALO Lyrical Video | Pushpa 2 The Rule | Allu Arjun | Rashmika | Shreya Ghoshal | Sukumar | DSP
1 month ago 00:19:03 1
Bloodborne PS5 at 60FPS... With AI Upscaling To 4K Resolution!
1 month ago 00:21:22 4
Star Wars Outlaws - PS5/Xbox Series X|S Tech Review - A Standout Snowdrop Engine Effort
1 month ago 00:14:22 1
Marvel Rivals Hands-On - PS5/Xbox Series/PC - Can Unreal Engine 5 Deliver A Locked 60FPS?
1 month ago 00:21:02 1
Black Myth: Wukong - PC Tech Review - The High-End Graphics Experience
1 month ago 00:33:13 2
Black Myth: Wukong - PS5 Tech Review - Excellent Visuals, But Too Many Tech Problems
2 months ago 00:31:14 2
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 Hands-On - The Swarm Engine Delivers A Promising Sequel
2 months ago 00:18:47 5
Doom + Doom 2: The Classics Return - But Are Nightdive’s Remasters Definitive?
2 months ago 00:49:07 2
Inside Penny’s Big Breakaway - They Made Their Own 3D Engine! - Developer Deep Dive
2 months ago 00:42:58 1
Inside Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 - An Unreal Engine 5 Masterpiece - The Ninja Theory Breakdown
2 months ago 00:15:22 1
Microsoft Auto SR Tested: AI Upscaling For Every Game... But How Good Is It?
2 months ago 00:17:08 1
Forza Motorsport Modded - Enhanced Ray Tracing, Extra Detail - Graphics Analysis
2 months ago 00:15:59 3
iPad Pro Review - Apple M4 Silicon vs Triple-A Gaming - Faster Than iPhone 15 Pro... Much Faster