Have you heard? Intel is getting into discrete graphics to make a play for that best graphics cards crown, and has assembled some industry bigwigs to help with that endeavor. That's not really a genuine question, because of course you've heard—Intel's hired a bunch of marketing vets and even plucked some individuals from the enthusiast community (most recently Kyle Bennett from HardOCP) to make sure its message is heard. But it also wants to hear from you, and so it's holding another Ask You Anything session on Reddit.
"We are flipping the concept of an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on its head, again. We will be asking YOU the questions. Our engineers enjoyed hearing the insights from our first AYA, so we are back to listen some more. It’s not just about helping Intel. Your direct input helps us build out the future of visual computing experiences for you and your friends," Intel explains.
There are two ways to view this. One is by rolling your eyes so far back into your head that you can see behind you (or the back of your skull), because are Intel's engineers really spending their time scribbling down notes from the community and then building GPUs around those ideas? Probably not. I hope not, anyway, because if 2020 is still the goal, Intel should already be well into development.
That's an overly cynical way of looking at this, though. The second way to look at this is, as I've pointed out before—Intel's outreach to the community is a good thing, and indicates that it wants to get this right. I'm not so naive to take all this at face value—this whole Odyssey thing is, in large part, a marketing effort—but in taking this approach, Intel is knowingly setting expectations high.
Beyond the obvious hype, we've seen some progress already, at least on the integrated side of the equation. Intel's retooled Command Center is a step in the right direction. So is its 'Gameplay' portal where users can look up recommended settings for specific games, based on their CPU with integrated graphics. Driver updates are coming at a steady clip nowadays too.
That said, I don't expect Intel to offer up very many specifics during its AYA session. Intel has been rather cagey with most of the details surrounding its discrete GPU development. This is more of a glorified survey anyway. Last time around, Intel asked questions like what content creators find is the biggest challenge in editing and managing personal photos and videos, and feedback on branding and model naming/numbering.
Still, it will be interesting to see what topics Intel brings up, as it will give us a glimpse of where it's mind is at. You can participate by following this link tomorrow—it starts on April 25 at 9 am PT and ends at 10 am PT.
