Intel Continues its Desktop GPU Journey: New Battlemage Models Appear in Shipping Records

Intel is continuing to make waves in the dedicated graphics card scene, as recent shipping manifests hint at the development of a new Battlemage and an enigmatic SKU.

### Intel’s Ongoing Battlemage “BMG-G31” Project: Aimed at AI and Professional Use?

Last year, Intel took everyone by surprise with the unveiling of its Battlemage GPUs, the Arc B580 and B570. These grabbed significant attention, primarily because AMD and NVIDIA hadn’t yet unveiled their next-gen solutions. Fast forward to the close of the second quarter, and Intel has kept mum on its desktop GPU strategy. This silence left many thinking Intel’s aspirations in this area might have fizzled. However, fresh insights from shipping records suggest a different narrative.

It turns out the manifests have listed a “BMG-G31,” a more advanced silicon compared to what we’ve seen in current Battlemage models. Rumors suggest this variant boasts around 24-32 Xe2 cores, a 256-bit memory bus, and 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. However, whispers online have been circulating about the potential cancellation of the BMG-G31, with speculation that Intel might not be prepping a consumer release. Instead, the classification of the BMG-G31 entry in shipping manifests as “R&D purpose” hints that this version could be aimed at AI or professional workloads.

In addition, there’s a mysterious mention of a BMG “C32” in a different manifest. Its name is intriguing, blending Battlemage and Celestial initials, which adds to the confusion. According to @mikdt, this model seems to be part of the Battlemage family, perhaps a “reworked” version of the BMG-G31, indicating Intel might be juggling multiple Battlemage variants. However, the real question remains: are these GPUs destined for consumer desktops?

Watching Intel’s strategic direction with its discrete GPU range will be intriguing, especially since they’re also crafting the Xe3 “Celestial” architecture intended for the Panther Lake SoCs. With Intel’s leadership switch, priorities are now veering towards AI projects. So, it’s plausible that Intel’s main thrust could be geared toward those needing GPUs for AI-heavy tasks.