Intel Arc Celestial “Xe3” & Battlemage “G31” GPUs Revealed: Blue Team Commits Fully to the Discrete Market

Whispers about Intel exiting the discrete GPU market are gradually dying down, thanks to emerging details about the upcoming Arc Celestial "Xe3" and the beefier Battlemage "G31" chips making waves online.

Intel’s Continued Commitment to Xe3 and Xe4 GPU Innovations and the First Look at Arc Celestial "Xe3" and Battlemage "G31" GPUs

Intel has recently pulled back the curtain on its next-gen Battlemage B-Series, showcasing the Arc B580 and Arc B570 graphics cards. These cards aim for the mainstream market, priced below $250, and they’re set to challenge both current and future offerings from AMD and NVIDIA.

Their primary goal with the Arc Battlemage series is to win over the broad gaming audience—something AMD also plans with the forthcoming RDNA 4 "Radeon RX 8000" range. Yet, Intel seems to have an ace up its sleeve, and it might take everyone by surprise.

NBD.ltd’s shipping manifests have noted the Intel BMG-G31 SoC once again, suggesting that a more powerful B-Series card might be on the horizon. This offers some hope for a beefed-up option in the not-so-distant future.

The Arc B580 and B570 graphics cards utilize the BMG-G21 SoCs. The G31 SoC is speculated to feature a greater number of Xe2 cores and may find its way into models like the B770. Intel’s Tom Petersen has hinted at a more robust Arc B-series GPU in the pipeline, and this chip might just be the powerhouse in those offerings.

Turning to the Celestial or Xe3 GPUs, there are several "Panther Falls" discrete GPUs listed—a codename for Celestial chips. As noted by @Haze2K1, all the SKUs belong to the Arc suite. Intel’s engineers have crossed the finish line with Celestial and are now accelerating development of the Druid "Xe4" series.

Tweets suggest that, as Intel prepares to officially unveil the Arc B-Series, work is already underway on their C-Series discrete GPUs. These tweets also indicate that code-names like "Niagara Falls" and "Churchill Falls" are associated with the Alchemist and Battlemage lines, respectively, while "Panther Falls" ties into the Celestial lineup.

Among these updates, Tomáš Gawroński spotted what looks like a 128 EU or 16 Xe3 model discrete GPU, which could serve as an entry-level option. Given Intel’s plan for future Panther Lake CPUs to house Arc Xe3 GPUs with up to 12 Xe3 cores, this makes sense as a potential strategy.

Collectively, these revelations seem to firmly debunk the rumors of Intel scrapping the Arc series. Having launched its second generation of Arc products and confirmed ongoing development for future generations, Intel looks poised to make significant moves in the high-end segment with the Battlemage GPUs. As Intel preps for CES 2025, news about discrete GPUs like the B580 and B570 could strengthen their momentum as a formidable player in the mainstream market.

Intel ARC Gaming GPU Lineup

Intel’s strategic ambitions with its Arc GPUs are becoming clearer, as it continually pushes toward more advanced, competitive solutions.