Intel Arc Alchemist Gaming Graphics Availability Reportedly Delayed To Mid Summer, Drivers Still Problematic

Intel’s highly anticipated Arc Alchemist gaming graphics cards could very well be postponed to mid-summer based on the latest information from Igor’s lab† The graphics cards launch is slated for the end of the second quarter, but due to various driver issues, the launch is likely to be delayed.

Intel’s first Arc Alchemist gaming graphics cards reportedly delayed to mid-summer 2022, drivers cited again as cause of delay

A few days ago we reported the expected release time of Intel’s Arc Alchemist graphics cards for the gaming segment. Based on the Alchemist Xe-HPG architecture, the first Arc A-Series cards were expected to hit retail shelves by the end of this quarter. In fact, Intel has already announced the summit, Arc Limited Edition Graphics Cardfor launch by the end of Q2 2022. Intel also has: announced the winners of the Scavenger Hunt to be the first to get their hands on the new graphics cards, even before they hit the shelves.

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But as of now, the right launch reports look bleak. Igor Wallosek reports that based on several sources, Intel may be delaying the actual availability of its graphics card for gaming until late summer. This sets a time period from July 1 to August 31. Igor also reports that AIBs are getting quite frustrated with Intel’s schedule and not knowing when the graphics cards will actually be launched.

The reason, again, is cited as the drivers. Maybe you remember our previous report that also mentioned how drivers are the main cause of the slowdown and Intel wants to fix all issues before releasing their cards. That is one of the reasons why Intel has made a limited launch of its first Arc A series products in the Asian markets. The Arc A350M and Arc A370M GPUs for laptops are available now, only available in select Asian regions and select laptops† The US, EU and other major regions do not yet have access to Arc-powered laptops. With the entry-level lineup shipping in such a limited volume, one can imagine how low volume the high-end Arc 5 and Arc 7 series will get.

As for how this delay affects the entire lineup, the final specifications are already set in stone, so clocks and firmware are unlikely to change. But right now the drivers are questionable at best. No one has the ultimate drivers and those who hold them in their hands are either to disguise the actual achievements or to avoid negative reporting through the online press media.

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Based on their findings, NVIDIA and AMD are already convinced that their current offerings are competitive enough to tackle everything Intel brings to the table in the form of Arc Alchemist gaming graphics cards. NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 16GB cancellation and AMD not pushing the RX 6750 XT much higher than the RTX 3070 is proof that both GPU giants are very confident in their existing lineups. A mid-to-late summer availability would also mean the Intel lineup will end up super close to the launch of next-generation graphics cards from NVIDIA and AMD, which is also expected around Q4 2022.

Plus, all these delays and driver issues don’t bode well for Intel’s first graphics launch. And if this continues, Intel could lose potential board partners, further impacting the rollout of their Arc graphics cards. Overall this isn’t looking good at all, but hopefully Intel can bring out a better launch time upcoming ‘VISION’ event followed by more detailed specs and pricing information on Computex 2022 at the end of this month.

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