Intel is actively targeting high-end 2K and 4K gaming with its ‘Arch’ graphics cards. The company has now offered a brief demo of Intel XeSS, which rivals NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR.
Besides supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate and offering real-time raytracing, the upcoming Intel Arc graphics cards with Intel Xe HPG DG2 GPUs will also offer the company’s own neural super-sampling.
Intel demos its own AI-accelerated super-sampling technology called XeSS:
Intel has been aggressively developing its own line of GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). The first iteration codenamed the Xe DG1 is already a part of the Intel Tiger Lake processors.
The second generation of the Intel Xe lineup will have the Xe HPG (High-Performance Gaming) or DG2 GPUs. The CPU-maker is branding these powerful graphics cards as Intel Arc. The top-end GPU is codenamed “Alchemist”.
The Intel DG2 Arc GPUs already meets all requirements for DirectX 12 Ultimate logo. In other words, the company’s GPUs can offer real-time Ray Tracing.
Intel is also demonstrating its answer to Nvidia's DLSS today. Known as XeSS, it uses AI super sampling and dedicated cores on Intel's upcoming GPUs to boost frame rates by upscaling from a lower resolution. @cgartenberg has the details: https://t.co/dhIHuV8XjA pic.twitter.com/7gmdLQUxr7
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) August 19, 2021
In addition to the most-sought feature in premium GPUs, Intel is also developing an AI-accelerated super-sampling technology. Intel is calling the feature XeSS (Xe SuperSampling).
It is not immediately clear why Intel has used the Xe branding along with the Arc branding. It is possible the company plans to extend the technology to even its Xe LP-based iGPUs, and the entry-level Iris Xe MAX discrete GPU.
Intel XeSS promises to cut down 4K frame render-times by half:
Gamers won’t have to wait long to buy the new Intel Arc graphics cards. The company, at the Intel Architecture Day 2021, demoed the brand new Xe SS SuperSampling technology, running on Xe HPG.
Intel has confirmed it is working with Unreal Engine, Microsoft (for DirectX 12 Ultimate), Vulkan (Kronos Foundation), and Unity for API. Simply put, all these popular game development engines should soon support XeSS.
Watch out NVIDIA. Intel just showcased XeSS, its answer to DLSS. https://t.co/CNOVMBRUV4
— Windows Central (@windowscentral) August 19, 2021
It is clear that Intel is competing with AMD FSR and NVIDIA DLSS. However, Intel XeSS seems a lot closer to NVIDIA’s DLSS.
Intel XeSS is based on Neural Networks (AI/ML-based), which is how NVIDIA DLSS works using Tensor cores. Additionally, Intel’s solution can reportedly work with far lower input information and offer far higher fidelity results.
Intel unveils ARC graphics roadmap, Xe-Cores and XeSS super resolution technology https://t.co/WLBIYeFdMQ
— VideoCardz.com (@VideoCardz) August 19, 2021
With Intel XeSS running, the company is promising to cut down 4K frame render-times by half. In other words, Intel is planning to deliver up to a 2x FPS increase on the same hardware using XeSS.
Here is Intel’s Spectacular Xe SuperSampling (XeSS) Demo In 4K Quality https://t.co/sIcc58tCNk pic.twitter.com/O8YJVjPI1B
— Wccftech (@wccftech) August 19, 2021
XeSS seems to have advanced motion vectors support. This alone should make images or frames appear “accurate” or shaper and cleaner in moving scenes.
It is interesting to note that Intel plans to make XeSS open source. However, the company will first complete development behind closed doors.