Intel unveils its first chips with AMD's Vega graphics

signal · Jan 8, 2018

First reported back in November

Intel's startling marriage with AMD's graphics chips has finally borne fruit, as Intel announced five new Core H-series chips that use two variants of the AMD "Vega M" GPU. The combination of Intel and AMD technology should outperform a last-gen system with a discrete Nvidia chip, Intel says.

The new 8th-generation, quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 chips, together with what AMD calls the Radeon RX Vega M GPU, will power laptops from Dell and HP. They'll also appear in new Intel-branded "Hades Canyon" NUCs, with prices beginning at $799 and $999, Intel said.

Intel originally disclosed that its new processor contained an H-series Core chip, the AMD GPU, and HBM2 memory, all within the same package. We now know the clock speeds of the five Core i5 and i7 cores will range from 3.8GHz to 4.2GHz, and that 4GB of HBM2 memory will accompany both the Vega M GH and Vega M GL, the two GPU versions whose 20 and 24 compute units appear to be much more powerful than AMD's own Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 for laptops.

Intel says its new chips will be 7 percent faster in 3DMark versus a Core i7-7700HQ system with an Nvidia GTX 1060 Max-Q (6GB) chip accompanying it, and up to 13 percent faster in games.

Most notable among the new chips—which differ in processor speed, vPro capabilities, and whether they use the Vega M GH and Vega M GL—is the Core i7-8809G. That chip, leaked last week, was the first indication that Intel's new chips would indeed include AMD's Vega cores. It's also the only one of the five chips that totally unlocks the CPU, GPU, and HBM.

Alongside the Core i7-8809G, though, are the Core i7-8709G, the Core i7-8706G, the 3.1Core i7-8705G, and the Core i5-8305G. As the chart below shows, they all share a common cache size (8MB), a common integrated Intel GPU (the Intel HD620), and two memory channels connecting to DDR4-2400 memory.

Unfortunately, the Core cores are probably the least interesting element of the new design, as the Radeon RX Vega M is clearly the star of the show. It's worth noting, though, that these new chips actually include two GPUs: Intel's integrated Intel HD 630 GPU can process video and other less stressful video tasks, leaving the Vega M core to power up if needed.

As for the NUC talked about above:

Intel's new NUC will show off AMD's Vega GPU

We've called Intel's NUC "the future of tiny desktops." That's truer than ever with the newest version of the device, which is powered by the company's new 8th generation CPU with AMD RX Vega M graphics. In fact, it sports the fastest version of that chip, making it an even better desktop replacement. Intel claims it's so powerful, the 1.3 liter NUC is the smallest VR-ready system so far. And based on its specifications, we're inclined to believe them.

The new NUC, codenamed "Hades Canyon," is a bit thicker and taller than the "Skull Canyon" version was saw in 2016. It comes in two versions: the most powerful includes a Core i7-8809G chip with powerful RX Vega M GH graphics, running at speeds between 3.1GHz and 4.2GHz. The other model is still pretty capable, with an i7-8705G chip, a clock speed between 3.1GHz and 4.1GHz and slightly slower RX Vega GL graphics.

No price in the Engadget article but PCworld says "They'll also appear in new Intel-branded "Hades Canyon" NUCs, with prices beginning at $799 and $999, Intel said."

LewieP · Jan 8, 2018

Why did they ruin an otherwise nice design with that ugly skull?

Maneil99 · Jan 8, 2018

good console replacement

signal · Jan 8, 2018

LewieP said:
Why did they ruin an otherwise nice design with that ugly skull?

To differentiate it from the non-gamer oriented NUCs, duh!

nampad · Jan 8, 2018

Can't wait for the Macbooks with these.

Atolm · Jan 8, 2018

Very nice thing indeed. This will be very helpful to laptop gamers, it seems to be a gigantic leap.

Fezan · Jan 8, 2018

Isn't Max-Q GTX1060 slightly faster than GTX1050ti ?

nihilence · Jan 8, 2018

Tactical Nukes. Right?

BernardoOne · Jan 8, 2018

GPD Win 3 pls

Deleted member 4346 · Jan 8, 2018

This may be the only way you can buy an AMD Vega chip, lmao. Extreme scarcity and inflated prices on standalone Vega GPUs. Still.

DigitalOp · Jan 8, 2018

Im guessing these are still susceptible to Spectre and Meltdown?

Interesting marriage... Well see if it pays off

xenocide · Jan 8, 2018

Apharmd said:
This may be the only way you can buy an AMD Vega chip, lmao. Extreme scarcity and inflated prices on standalone Vega GPUs. Still.

I would go a step further and say this may be the reason there is a Vega scarcity. Do you think AMD is more likely to A, sell Vega to end users and hope they all get bought, or B, sell them all to Intel where they can negotiate a good price and have reliable income on a product they know will sell?

signal · Jan 8, 2018

Apharmd said:
This may be the only way you can buy an AMD Vega chip, lmao. Extreme scarcity and inflated prices on standalone Vega GPUs. Still.

Or is it...???

Interestingly, though the chip is called the Vega M, Intel won't confirm that it uses the AMD Radeon Vega core. "This is a custom Radeon graphics solution built for Intel," an Intel spokeswoman said in an email. "It is similar to the desktop Radeon RX Vega solution with a high-bandwidth memory cache controller and enhanced compute units with additional Render Output Units."

DigitalOp · Jan 8, 2018

xenocide said:
I would go a step further and say this may be the reason there is a Vega scarcity. Do you think AMD is more likely to A, sell Vega to end users and hope they all get bought, or B, sell them all to Intel where they can negotiate a good price and have reliable income on a product they know will sell?

Im still trying to figure out how this exists..

I mean this is awesome for consumers and its really cool in computing in general but isn't this way more in Intels favor than AMD? Out of nowhere Intel has almost a decade old flaw show up, AMD Ryzen chips are uber competitive on market now...

Why would AMD not take advantage of this timing and go all in with their own Ryzen mobile chips w/ Vega iGPU? Why essentially "hand the patents over" in this manner

edit At least its a custom solution for this joint chip, I thought they handed the baby over lol

xenocide · Jan 8, 2018

DigitalOp said:
Im still trying to figure out how this exists..

I mean this is awesome for consumers and its really cool in computing in general but isn't this way more in Intels favor than AMD? Out of nowhere Intel has almost a decade old flaw show up, AMD Ryzen chips are uber competitive on market now...

Why would AMD not take advantage of this timing and go all in with their own Ryzen mobile chips w/ Vega iGPU? Why essentially "hand the patents over" in this manner

edit At least its a custom solution for this joint chip, I thought they handed the baby over lol

Because this has been in the works for years--before Ryzen dropped and that flaw was unveiled. Rumors of this came up like 2-3 years ago when Polaris was out and Vega was still completely under wraps, and there was some secret intensive meetings between Intel and AMD. AMD's Vega isn't great as a standalone product, they had a contract with Intel, and their CPU's have their place in the market. I'm kind of surprised AMD hasn't started shoving Zen-based APU's out the door already, but I guess they decided it wasn't worth the effort.

mrtl · Jan 8, 2018

LewieP said:
Why did they ruin an otherwise nice design with that ugly skull?

If it's anything like the previous iterations it's swappable.

BeI · Jan 8, 2018

Fezan said:
Isn't Max-Q GTX1060 slightly faster than GTX1050ti ?

According to passmark, that cut down 1060 is 10-15% stronger than a 1050 ti. And that 1060 is around 10% weaker than an Rx 470, so the Vega GPu could be near PS4 pro level of performance if it's stronger than the Max-Q 1060.

Dingens · Jan 8, 2018

DigitalOp said:
Im guessing these are still susceptible to Spectre and Meltdown?
[...]

This. Why would anyone want to buy new hardware that is known to have serious bugs

Mendrox · Jan 8, 2018

Dingens said:
This. Why would anyone want to buy new hardware that is known to have serious bugs

Yeah let us all wait 6 months to 3 years. lol

Alexandros · Jan 8, 2018

A cheaper version of that Intel NUC would make for a great 'Steambox'.

Lebon30 · Jan 8, 2018

DigitalOp said:
Im guessing these are still susceptible to Spectre and Meltdown?

Dingens said:
This. Why would anyone want to buy new hardware that is known to have serious bugs

Only Spectre is unsolvable for now. Meltdown can be patched in-software.
And Spectre is much harder to pull-off than Meltdown. Also, these security holes is much more frightening if you are a company with cloud storage, or big servers holding personal information than a mere customer which's computer memory probably don't have any personal info in RAM. Performance-wise, you shouldn't worry about it. Post-Patch tests indicates the performance to be very negligible.
In other words, patch your system for Meltdown and don't worry too much about Spectre.

As for the news itself, that's a very weird combination Intel has there. Hopefully it's succesful so more PCs can come with said combo.

Ada · Jan 8, 2018

Put one of these in a macbook and i can finally pick up a nice looking work laptop that can actually game.

Ayirek · Jan 8, 2018

I'm really interested in what this kind of tech could mean for next gen consoles.

Liam Allen-Miller · Jan 8, 2018

Maneil99 said:
good console replacement

I mean, it's small and discrete (barring the oh-so 2002 skull design), but at the end of the day it's the price of a PC for the functionality of a PC, so I'm not so sure. Modern consoles cost around 20-25% of the price of this nowadays. Cool device, nonetheless.

signal · Jan 8, 2018

Looks neat.

Dingens · Jan 8, 2018

Mendrox said:
Yeah let us all wait 6 months to 3 years. lol

Lebon30 said:
Only Spectre is unsolvable for now. Meltdown can be patched in-software.
And Spectre is much harder to pull-off than Meltdown. Also, these security holes is much more frightening if you are a company
with cloud storage, or big servers holding personal information than a mere customer which's computer memory probably don't have any personal info in RAM. Performance-wise, you shouldn't worry about it.Post-Patch tests indicates the performance to be very negligible.
In other words, patch your system for Meltdown and don't worry too much about Spectre.

As for the news itself, that's a very weird combination Intel has there. Hopefully it's succesful so more PCs can come with said combo.

My PC turns ten next year, but still I'd rather wait another 3 than knowingly paying money for a flawed product.
Vote with your wallet has no meaning nowadays it seems, as everyone tries to brush off and ignore serious concerns.
But hey, if you feel comfortable rewarding a company that has known about this bug for along time, yet still could not be bothered to fix it with its latest iteration... be my guest

Roytheone · Jan 8, 2018

So what does this mean for the price of laptops? You can already get a pretty powerful gaming laptop , the issue is more that they are super expensive. Any chance laptops with this technology will be a bit cheaper?

xyla · Jan 8, 2018

Mh, maybe it's time to finally buy a new laptop later this year. Doesn't have to be top of the line, but should be able to run some 1080p stuff in (really) low details like Pubg.

This is suspected to hit laptops and mass markets this year?

2+2=5 · Jan 8, 2018

I hope there will be something suitable for the gpd win 3.

Mendrox · Jan 8, 2018

Dingens said:
My PC turns ten next year, but still I'd rather wait another 3 than knowingly paying money for a flawed product.
Vote with your wallet has no meaning nowadays it seems, as everyone tries to brush off and ignore serious concerns.
But hey, if you feel comfortable rewarding a company that has known about this bug for along time, yet still could not be bothered to fix it with its latest iteration... be my guest

Got to be nice to live in that world where you live. ;-) I would love to say this in my company, but life is not that easy.

xyla said:
Mh, maybe it's time to finally buy a new laptop later this year. Doesn't have to be top of the line, but should be able to run some 1080p stuff in (really) low details like Pubg.

This is suspected to hit laptops and mass markets this year?

It "could" be next year but it could also be in 2020.

Fastidioso · Jan 8, 2018

Ps5.2019.Believe.

Alexandros · Jan 8, 2018

2+2=5 said:
I hope there will be something suitable for the gpd win 3.

Now that I would pay a high price for.

Chettlar · Jan 8, 2018

Mendrox said:
Yeah let us all wait 6 months to 3 years. lol

I mean that's exactly what I'll be doing.

signal · Jan 8, 2018

2+2=5 said:
I hope there will be something suitable for the gpd win 3.

Alexandros said:
Now that I would pay a high price for.

Doesn't the Win not use the Core i series of processors?

Alexandros · Jan 8, 2018

signal said:
Doesn't the Win not use the Core i series of processors?

Yeah, the latest one is Core M something or Y something.

Ac30 · Jan 8, 2018

An RX 580 has 36 compute units so this probably won't touch a desktop GPU, but it's a massive jump for integrated cards that's for sure.

signal · Jan 8, 2018

Alexandros said:
Yeah, the latest one is Core M something or Y something.

Yeah unless this gets an atom version or something, seems unlikely.

~Fake · Jan 8, 2018

Hope Dell make a inspiron with that.

Durante · Jan 8, 2018

I think selling that GPU as "VR-ready" is a borderline scam.

You won't have a good time in most VR games with it.

Deleted member 30887 · Jan 8, 2018

signal said:
Doesn't the Win not use the Core i series of processors?

AMD did just announce the 2200u. Maybe they can downclock/undervolt, disable CUs/cores/smt. Seems like a much better fit for a "GPD win3" to me. (I don't know wtf I'm talking about).

Poison Jam · Jan 8, 2018

Apart from the ugly skull, that's a pretty sexy computer. Very neat specs for something the size of a Wii U.

tuxfool · Jan 8, 2018

YBdisk said:
AMD did just announce the 2200u. Maybe they can downclock/undervolt, disable CUs/cores/smt. Seems like a much better fit for a "GPD win3" to me. (I don't know wtf I'm talking about).

Yeah, an undervolted/clocked 2200u iteration seems much more appropriate to a gpd win 3.

You get a much better gpu out of that, which seems more critical to a gaming device.

It would have to be undervolted or better binned by quite a bit as it targets a 15W power envelope.

Sirhc · Jan 8, 2018

Hmm been looking at laptops with a 1060 to replace my wife's old one, this might just make that wait abit longer now depending on price.

Croash · Jan 8, 2018

I'm so tired of using a huge tower as a desktop pc, so if we eventually get tiny boxes with enough power in them (kinda like what the Xbox One X is aiming for), I would be more than happy to jump in.
For now my GTX 670 will suffice until 2020 or whenever such technology goes beyond its baby steps.

...I guess I'd best prepare myself for disappointment and think about building another mountain in my living room T_T

~Fake · Jan 8, 2018

That Radeon Vega Icon is so good. Hope the Ryzen with Vega have that icon seal too.

Nachtmaer · Jan 8, 2018

Croash said:
I'm so tired of using a huge tower as a desktop pc, so if we eventually get tiny boxes with enough power in them (kinda like what the Xbox One X is aiming for), I would be more than happy to jump in.
For now my GTX 670 will suffice until 2020 or whenever such technology goes beyond its baby steps.

...I guess I'd best prepare myself for disappointment and think about building another mountain in my living room T_T

I have a feeling that this doesn't need to be pointed out, but there are a number of size options between this and a full tower without sacrificing much, if any, performance.

Not that this matters in any way, but I find it rather funny that nowhere AMD gets mentioned, just RX Vega. A couple of days ago Intel didn't shy away from namedropping AMD and ARM in their damage control.

Deleted member 30887 · Jan 8, 2018

Nachtmaer said:
I have a feeling that this doesn't need to be pointed out, but there are a number of size options between this and a full tower without sacrificing much, if any, performance.

But now that hbm apus are a thing (not really but almost there) we could finally get DIY smaller than itx boards/cases (no pci16, no/1ram slot). I've been thinking of this ever since hbm was announced. And we all know Intel will just sell us overpriced nucs instead so I'm hoping AMD will give us the option.

Dekuman · Jan 8, 2018

Do these intel chips still have the circuits for the intel integrated graphics?

Kthulhu · Jan 8, 2018

Dingens said:
My PC turns ten next year, but still I'd rather wait another 3 than knowingly paying money for a flawed product.
Vote with your wallet has no meaning nowadays it seems, as everyone tries to brush off and ignore serious concerns.
But hey, if you feel comfortable rewarding a company that has known about this bug for along time, yet still could not be bothered to fix it with its latest iteration... be my guest

Source? Wasn't this bug discovered a few months ago?

Deleted member 3010 · Jan 8, 2018

This has great potential for a little emulator box capable of running GC/Wii/PS2/Wii U emulators at 1080p! CPU is very good and that graphic chip should be enough to push out the native resolution to 1080p, especially for these older games.

Kind of interested!

Intel unveils its first chips with AMD's Vega graphics

nøthing but silence

User requested account closure

Circumventing ban with an alt account

Circumventing ban with an alt account

User requested permanent ban

Dark Souls Man

User requested account closure.

Hasn't made a thread yet. Shame me.

User requested permanent ban

User requested account closure.

User requested account closure