Intel’s cancelled Arctic Sound 2T GPU has popped up online, showing another ghost from Chipzilla’s messy graphics past.
A sample of Intel’s Arctic Sound 2T GPU, based on the Xe-HP architecture, has been pictured despite the product being cancelled years ago. A user reportedly ordered Ponte Vecchio, but instead received an Arctic Sound 2T GPU sample, which was canned in 2021.
For those who came in late, in 2018, the Intel graphics team was developing products based on its first-generation Xe GPU architecture. These included gaming, workstation and data centre parts.
Intel had already shown off Ponte Vecchio, its multi-tile and multi-package monster, while early details of Arctic Sound were starting to appear for workstations and servers. Former Intel graphics boss Raja Koduri shared the first pictures of the chip. The lineup was expected to include one-tile, two-tile and four-tile variants.
Then the cracks started showing. Chipzilla cancelled Arctic Sound, while Ponte Vecchio suffered huge delays before eventually landing in the Aurora supercomputer years after its planned debut. Intel then wandered into XPU land with Falcon Shores, which was cancelled, too. The company is now waiting for Jaguar Shores, which is planned for 2027.
Chipzilla is in better shape in graphics today, with stronger integrated GPUs and a workstation and server line that offers competitive value. Still, the cancelled stuff keeps turning up like silicon archaeology.
X user ChipsByLayers has shared pictures of the Arctic Sound GPU sample with a dual-tile configuration, which he received. The chip appears to feature two compute chiplets based on Xe-HP and four HBM2E sites. The package carries an “Intel Confidential” mark and a “QVS8 1.00 GHz” ID.
The two-tile Arctic Sound GPU was expected to feature 1,024 execution units, or 512 per chiplet. The one-tile Xe HP part was estimated at 512 execution units, 4,096 cores, 12.2 TFLOPs at 1.5GHz and 150W.
The two-tile version was estimated at 1,024 execution units, 8,192 cores, 20.48 TFLOPs at 1.25GHz and 300W. The four-tile version was expected to reach 2,048 execution units, 16,384 cores, 36 TFLOPs at 1.1GHz and between 400W and 500W.
The pictures do not reveal much more, but they show a period when Arctic Sound looked like a serious part of Intel’s data centre GPU plans.
Chipzilla has since moved away from HBM in much of its GPU work and now uses GDDR or LPDDR memory in newer designs. Big Battlemage is getting the Pro treatment and is being pitched as strong value for AI. Crescent Island is expected to arrive with up to 480GB of LPDDR5X memory.
