Intel has unintentionally leaked several upcoming CPU and GPU codenames within its latest drivers for the 11th Gen NUC. The drivers reveal codenames and branding for upcoming GPUs such as the DG3 'Elasti' discrete, branding for ARC Alchemist DG2 graphics cards, and CPU codenames such as Meteor Lake, Arrow Lake, & Lunar Lake
Intel unexpectedly releases test drivers for several unreleased GPU & CPU variants: Raptor Lake, Meteor Lake, Arrow Lake, and Lunar Lake iGPUs, and a DG3 dGPU codenamed "Elasti"
The tweet shows that it was released on 12/7/2021, but clicking the link to Intel's website, the release date of the driver is 12/14/2021. KOMACHI_ENSAKA continues to break down what the release is prior to this exact tweet.
[Intel] Intel Graphics DCH Driver for Intel® NUC Kit 11th Gen 30.0.101.9999 (12/7/2021). https://t.co/TygtGxOhsW
— 遠坂小町 (@KOMACHI_ENSAKA) December 16, 2021
Upon investigating the Twitter user's account, on September 24th, the user posed the question in a tweet, "If Ponte Vecchio is PVC, Arctic Sound is ATS, and ELG is heck?" A few months passed, and then posed a follow up to the tweet, continuing to break the code of what ELG could be.
BMG (ELG) = Battlemage? https://t.co/RbOvDGkpv2
— 遠坂小町 (@KOMACHI_ENSAKA) November 6, 2021
KOMACHI_ENSAKA is referring to the DG3 GPU family extpecting to be utilized by the Arc Battlemage desktop and future mobile GPUs.
An hour ago was when the discovery was found. The user discovered that "Elasti" DG is what was being referenced with the moniker "ELG," and deduced that due to the driver numbers ending in "9999" were referencing that this new driver is a "testing driver," before posting the top tweet. This driver was not to see the public eye as of yet, but is now available on Intel's website.
"Elasti" is an internal codename that was given by Intel for an unreleased DG3 GPU series. The driver also supports several integrated GPUs featured on Intel's next-gen CPUs such as Raptor Lake, Meteor, Arrow Lake, and Lunar Lake. Again, none of the GPUs have released at the time of this writing.
However, DG3 was originally discovered by YouTuber Moore's Law is Dead in May 2021 during a discussion on the Intel Xe-HPG PCB for DG2 GPU family, where he had released images of the DG2 GPU, and had also discovered that DG3 (Elasti) would be the expected successor of the DG2 family.
In the configuration files for the driver, the following CPUs are revealed in tandem with the Device PCI IDs:
- Raptor Lake-S (RPLS)
- Meteor Lake (MTL)
- Arrow Lake (ARL)
- Lunar Lake (LNL)
Intel Mainstream CPU Generations Comparison:
| Intel CPU Family | Processor Process | Processor Architecture | Graphics Architecture | Processors Cores/Threads (Max) | Platform | Memory Support | PCIe Support | Launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alder Lake (12th Gen) | Intel 7 | Golden Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | HD 700 Series | 16/24 | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2021 |
| Raptor Lake (13th Gen) | Intel 7 | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | HD 700 Series | 24/32 | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2022 |
| Raptor Lake Refresh (TBA) | Intel 7 | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | HD 700 Series | 24/32 | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2023 |
| Meteor Lake | Intel 4 | Redwood Cove (P-Core) Crestmont (E-Core) | Xe1 (Alchemist) | 22/28 | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2024 |
| Arrow Lake | Intel 20A | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | Xe1 (Alchemist) | 24/32 | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2024 |
| Arrow Lake Refresh (TBA) | Intel 20A | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | Xe1 (Alchemist) | TBD | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2025 |
| Lunar Lake | Intel 18A | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | Xe2 (Battlemage) | 8/8? | LGA 1851? | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2025 |
| Panther Lake (TBA) | Intel 18A | Cougar Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | Xe3 (Celestial) | TBD | LGA 1851? | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 6.0? | 2026 |
| Nova Lake (TBA) | TBA | TBD | TBA | TBA | TBA | DDR5? | PCIe Gen 6.0? | 2026 |
| Adams Lake (TBA) | TBA | Douglas Cove (P-Core) | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | 2026-2027? |
It is determined that the PCI IDs will be used to further pinpoint leaks in the future.
Intel's NUC Kit 11th Gen driver 30.0.101.9999 currently lists two different DG3 GPUs, giving users a signal that the new GPU is still in development. In addition to these, Videocardz has also discovered a pile of ARC Alchemist GPUs listed within their latest graphics driver (30.0.101.9999) which include:
- Intel (R) Arc (TM) A380 Graphics Family.
- Intel (R) Arc (TM) A350 Graphics Family.
- Intel (R) Arc (TM) A370M Graphics Family.
- Intel (R) Arc (TM) A350M Graphics Family.
- Intel (R) Iris (R) Xe A200M Graphics Family.
Intel Xe-HPG Based Discrete Alchemist GPU Configurations:
| GPU Variant | Graphics Card Variant | GPU Die | Execution Units | Shading Units (Cores) | Memory Capacity | Memory Speed | Memory Bus | TGP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xe-HPG 512EU | ARC A780? | Arc ACM-G10 | 512 EUs | 4096 | Up To 32/16 GB GDDR6 | 18 / 16 / 14 Gbps | 256-bit | ~225W (Desktops) 120-150W (Laptops) |
| Xe-HPG 384EU | ARC A580? | Arc ACM-G10 | 384 EUs | 3072 | Up To 12 GB GDDR6 | 16 / 14 Gbps | 192-bit | 150-200W (Desktops) 80-120W (Laptops) |
| Xe-HPG 256EU | ARC A550? | Arc ACM-G10 | 256 EUs | 2048 | Up To 8 GB GDDR6 | 16 / 14 Gbps | 128-bit | 60-80W (Laptops) |
| Xe-HPG 128EU | ARC A380? | Arc ACM-G11 | 128 EUs | 1024 | Up To 6 GB GDDR6 | 16 / 14 Gbps | 96-bit | ~75W (Desktops) |
| Xe-HPG 128EU | ARC A350? | Arc ACM-G11 | 128 EUs | 1024 | Up To 4 GB GDDR6 | 16 / 14 Gbps | 64-bit | 35-50W (Laptops) |
| Xe-HPG 96EU | ARC A330? | Arc ACM-G11 | 86 EUs | 768 | Up To 4 GB GDDR6 | 16 / 14 Gbps | 64-bit | ~35W (Laptops) |
It looks like this driver (released 2 days ago), only lists two DG3 GPUs thus far. This suggests that the DG3 is still far from being ready.
Source: Videocardz, Intel, @KOMACHI_ENSAKA, Moore's Law is Dead
