Intel to reportedly host a GPU conference in December to discuss “Arctic Sound”

According to DigiTimes, Intel is planning to host a conference that is dedicated to their graphics technologies sometime in December, with Raja Koduri taking the helm. At this event, Intel will provide updates on their graphics technologies and their business unit’s outlook, perhaps giving us our first look at the company’s long-awaited discrete graphics solutions. 
   
In 2020, Intel plans to release their “Arctic Sound” discrete graphics cards onto the market, creating a three-way war between AMD, Nvidia and Intel, injecting another layer of competition onto the GPU market. With their Arctic Sound graphics architecture, the company plans to target gaming, AI and machine learning, leveraging their dominance in the CPU market to help secure early sales. 

Over the past year, we have seen Intel reorganise their driver ecosystem, offering their users frequent driver updates with game-specific optimisations, a factor that is a must if the company plans to enter the gaming market. Even if their hardware is competitive with AMD and Nvidia, it won’t sell well if they cannot prove to consumers that their drivers are reliable.