Intel's next-gen Arc Battlemage 'Xe2' discrete GPUs rumored to be on TSMC's 4nm process node

Intel's next-generation Arc Battlemage "Xe2" discrete GPUs will reportedly be made on TSMC's newer 4nm process node, according to new leaks.

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In a new post from DigiTimes, the outlet reports that TSMC's 4nm process node will be used for Intel's upcoming Arc Battlemage "Xe2" discrete GPUs, graphics cards to compete against AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 8000 series "RDNA 4" graphics cards and NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" graphics cards.

The current-gen Arc Alchemist "Xe" GPUs are made on the 6nm process node at TSMC, so when Intel is promising up to 50% more performance, we should expect some good efficiency out Battlemage "Xe2" GPUs, but they won't be competing with the GeForce RTX 5090 or RTX 5080, or even AMD's new higher-end RDNA 4 GPU offerings.

We've heard rumors of gaming performance that'll hit the spot around the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, which is fine for the majority of gamers, as not everyone needs (or can afford) the highest-end GeForce RTX series GPU, which will be the Blackwell-based GeForce RTX 5090 later this year.

• Read more: Intel Arc Battlemage X2 and X3 GPUs spotted: up to 448 EUs on a 256-bit memory bus
• Read more: Intel's next-gen Xe2 'Battlemage' GPU: 50% perf uplift, Lunar Lake first, discrete GPUs later
• Read more: Intel next-gen Lunar Lake CPU preview: over 100 TOPS for AI, 50% faster Battlemage GPU, more
• Read more: Intel's next-gen Battlemage Xe2 and Celestial Xe3 GPUs rumored to be delayed, even cancelled
• Read more: Intel's next-gen Battlemage Xe2-HPG GPU with up to 24 GPU cores, 12GB VRAM spotted
• Read more: Intel next-gen flagship Battlemage GPU leaked specs: performance similar to RTX 4070 SUPER
• Read more: Intel rumored to not have next-gen Battlemage GPUs for laptops, only discrete graphics cards

TSMC says its 4nm process node has an 11% performance improvement over N5, so we should expect even higher gains from going down to 4nm on Arc Battlemage "Xe2" versus 6nm on Arc Alchemist "Xe2". We've recently heard of at least two Arc Battlemage "Xe2" GPUs with the BMG-21 and BMG-31 rumored for later this year.

Intel's next-gen Battlemage "Xe2" gaming GPU rumored features:

• Up To 50% Performance Increase Versus Alchemist
• Next-Gen Memory Subsystem & Compression
• Improved Ray Tracing
• Micro-Architecture improvements
• Next-gen ML-based rendering tech
• Latest DeepLink capabilities
• Targeting Performance/Enthusiast Gaming