Intel has started working on its next-gen Xe3 graphics architecture support powering the Celestial GPU architecture at Linux.
Intel Xe3 "Celestial" GPUs Are Now Receiving First Support at Linux, Several PCI IDs for Panther Lake PCI IDs listed
Intel just launched its Xe2 graphics architecture powering the GPU Tile on its Lunar Lake "Core Ultra 200V" CPUs & now, the company has started prep work for its next-gen Xe3 "Celestial" architecture.
The latest additions for the next-gen Xe3 "Celestial" GPU architecture were added as a pull request for Linux 6.13 in the drm-xe-next code. Along with the new addition, the PCI IDs for various Panther Lake CPUs "Core Ultra Series 3" were also spotted by Phoronix which include:
- 0xB080
- 0xB081
- 0xB082
- 0xB090
- 0xB091
- 0xB092
- 0xB0A0
- 0xB0A1
- 0xB0A2
It's great to see that Intel has its priorities set straight for its next-gen GPU development. The Xe2 GPU is seen as the biggest improvement in the Lunar Lake CPUs and we can expect the same in the coming generation with Xe3. Now as for what to expect from Panther Lake's GPUs, they are going to offer up to 12 Xe3 cores which will be a nice increase over the 8 Xe2 cores featured on the Lunar Lake CPUs.
So coming to the SKUs, there are four chips mentioned in Panther Lake-H and Panther Lake-U flavors. These include the following:
- PTL-H SKU #1: 4 P-Cores + 8 E-Cores + 0 LP-E Cores + 4 Xe3 Cores (45W)
- PTL-H SKU #2: 4 P-Cores + 8 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores + 12 Xe3 Cores (25W)
- PTL-H SKU #3: 4 P-Cores + 8 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores + 4 Xe3 Cores (25W)
- PTL-U SKU #1: 4 P-Cores + 0 E-Cores + 4 LP-E Cores + 4 Xe3 Cores (15W)
The Intel Xe2 graphics architecture is first featured on Lunar Lake as an integrated solution and is also expected to launch within the Arc Battlemage lineup which will be the discrete offerings. The dGPUs will target both laptop and desktop platforms and are expected to be unveiled either later this year or early next year. Certain configurations with up to 20 Xe2 cores have already appeared in online databases.
Intel brought an impressive 50% performance uplift with its Xe2 architecture for Lunar Lake GPUs along with a range of improvements to ray tracing, XeSS, and media/video capabilities. We can also expect a similar round of improvements for the next-gen Xe3 "Celestial" GPUs when they arrive first in the second half of 2025 as Panther Lake's iGPU solution.
Intel ARC Gaming GPU Lineup
| GPU Family | Intel Xe-HPG | Intel Xe-HPG | Intel Xe2-HPG | Intel Xe3-HPG | Intel Xe Next | Intel Xe Next Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU Products | ARC Alchemist GPUs | ARC Alchemist+ GPUs | ARC Battlemage GPUs | ARC Celestial GPUs | ARC Druid GPUs | ARC E*** GPUs |
| GPU Segment | Mainstream Gaming (Discrete) | Mainstream Gaming (Discrete) | Mainstream / High-End Gaming (Discrete) | Mainstream / High-End Gaming (Discrete) | Mainstream / High-End Gaming (Discrete) | Mainstream / High-End Gaming (Discrete) |
| GPU Gen | Gen 12 | Gen 12 | Gen 13? | Gen 14? | Gen 15? | Gen 16? |
| CPU iGPU | Xe-LPG (Meteor Lake) | Xe-LPG+ (Arrow Lake) | Xe2-LPG (Lunar Lake) | Xe3-LPG (Panther Lake) | TBA | TBA |
| Process Node | TSMC 6nm | TSMC 6nm | TSMC 5nm (3nm Lunar Lake Tile) | TSMC 3nm? | TBA | TBA |
| Specs / Design | 512 EUs / 1 Tile / 1 GPU | 512 EUs / 1 Tile / 1 GPU | 1024 EUs / 1 Tile / 1 GPU | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Memory Subsystem | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Launch | 2022 | 2024 | 2024 | 2025? | 2026? | 2026+ |
News Source: Phoronix
