Next-gen Intel Arc gaming GPUs reportedly being made by TSMC

Cheaper graphics card prices could be on the way, with 4nm Battlemage GPU set to fight Nvidia and AMD in 2024, and 3nm Celestial coming in 2026.

Intel’s next Arc Xe2 PC gaming GPU, codenamed Battlemage, is reportedly lined up to be manufactured by TSMC on its 4nm fabrication process, which is also used to produce Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 GPUs.

Despite a bit of a shaky start, Intel is still clearly committed to its involvement in the GPU business, and it’s good for gamers to get another company finally taking some competition to Nvidia and AMD, particularly now that graphics card prices are so high.

According to Taiwanese financial website, Commercial Times, TSMC has won a large order from Intel for wafers of the PC gaming chip, which it says will be launched in the second half of 2024, with production kicking off in the first half of that year. The site says it received its information from anonymous industry sources.

In addition, the site’s sources say Intel’s Arc Xe3 GPU, codenamed Celestial, will also be produced by TSMC on its forthcoming 3nm fabrication process and is expected to be released in the second half of 2026. According to Commercial Times, TSMC is Intel’s only foundry partner for these GPUs.

Intel Arc desktop GPUs

Intel released its first Arc Alchemy gaming GPUs at the end of 2022 to a muted reception, with performance in a similar league to the aging Nvidia RTX 3060, while Nvidia was releasing the mighty GeForce RTX 4090 and generating all the gaming GPU headlines. Various problems plagued the original launch, including worldwide availability, driver issues and slow performance in older DirectX 9 games.

Let’s hope that the Battlemage launch is accompanied by decent availability and solid drivers. In the meantime, you can find our current gaming GPU recommendations in our best graphics card buying guide.