Intel Iris Plus Graphics 950 Gen 11 GPU Leaked: 64 EUs, Over 1 TFLOP Compute
Intel has been particularly focused on graphics late, more so than we can recall in recent years. Between hyping its first modern discrete GPU that is still scheduled to debut in 2020, revamping its Graphics Command Center, and sharing details about its upcoming integrated GPU refresh, it's clear where Intel's mind is at. A lot of details are still under lock and key, though. That said, a recent driver update may provide some clues about Intel's upcoming Gen11 graphics.
Gen11 will make its debut later this year, complementing Intel's upcoming 10-nanometer Sunny Cove CPU architecture, which itself will form the basis for both Core (consumer) and Xeon (server) processors. A recent whitepaper published by Intel shared some interesting details about the Gen11 architecture. Peak throughput, for example, will be 1TFLOPS, and Gen11 will feature a technique called Coarse Pixel Shading that could improve performance without sacrificing fidelity.
Not all Gen11 GPUs will be created equal, of course, as we expect Intel to release multiple versions, or tiers. That assumption is backed by a breakdown of Intel's latest graphics driver. The folks at TechPowerUp tore into the driver package and discovered more than a dozen (or exactly a baker's dozen) Gen11 variants. Here's a look at them...
Source: Intel driver via TechPowerUp
Initially, Gen11 will be a part of at least two processor architectures, those being Ice Lake and Lakefield. We could also see Gen11 implemented into low power Pentium Silver and Celeron system-on-chip (SoC) based on Elkhart Lake as well.
As for the listings in the driver INF, there are 13 variants of Gen11 graphics pegged for Ice Lake. The most powerful of those is the Intel Iris Plus Graphics 950. That part will feature the full allotment of 64 execution units (EUs) and have the highest clockspeeds of the bunch, enabling a top theoretical throughput of 1TFLOPS.
Being a flagship SKU, we will most likely see Iris Plus Graphics 950 on Core i9 and perhaps Core i7 processors. Underneath it will be the Iris Plus Graphics 940, also with 64 EUs, but likely clocked slower.
The same goes for the Iris Plus Graphics 930 tier, though in addition to a variant with 64 EUs, there will also be a cut down version with 48 EUs. We anticipate this being found on Core i3 processors.
Underneath all that sits the Iris Plus Graphics 920 family. These GPUs have 32 EUs, and are good candidates for Pentium Gold processors.
None of this has been confirmed, obviously, but given that Intel is working the Gen11 GPU architecture into driver releases now, we have a pretty good idea of what to expect. We also have a rough idea of performance, based on recently leaked benchmarks. At the top end, Gen11 could deliver up to twice the performance of Gen9, if that leak turns out to be accurate.
