When it comes to gaming, Intel currently has a bit of a positioning problem. The company is working to build interest and awareness of its Xe discrete GPU family, which is expected to drop sometime in 2020. But unlike AMD or Nvidia, both of whom have an established product base, Intel is essentially starting from scratch. The company's integrated GPUs improved nicely from 2011-2015, but Intel hasn't put much effort into boosting its consumer GPU performance since. As such, the company is looking to build interest in the areas where it can offer improvements and evidence of growth until its hardware solution is ready.
Enter the Intel Graphics Command Center.
The Intel Graphics Command Center is a new application for controlling game settings and GPU-related controls, including a one-click optimization center and -- and we rather like this function -- a new option that explains various GPU
(Opens in a new window) settings in-menu. This kind of feature is often given short shrift and neither AMD nor Nvidia offer extensive in-menu contextual assistance like this.
The new application is a significant departure from Intel's previous UI design for its graphics application, but we like what we see. It should be a solid foundation for the rest of the company's work as it brings its discrete GPUs to market.
Intel also teased the announcement of new Core i9 9th Gen mobile processors coming later this year and an effort with Spirit AI to add voice detection to moderator tools and an exploration of whether or not AI can be used to reduce player toxicity in gaming. The role of AI in content moderation of all types continues to be a major research topic, and Intel's own business interests in AI make this an area of overlap. The company is also ramping up its investment with game developers with its new Game Dev Boost marketing program -- we'd expect Intel to make more efforts like this as launch day for its own hardware approaches.
No actual hardware details on Xe yet, but then, it's still quite early. We expect to start hearing more in the back half of the year. Intel's Gen 11 graphics should also give us an early preview of where the company is headed, though obviously, we'll still be seeing an interim step towards the company's discrete architecture filtered through the limits of an iGPU.
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