Intel Battlemage “Xe2” GPUs For Lunar Lake Getting Preliminary Driver Support In Linux

Intel is gearing up for the development of drivers for its future Lunar Lake CPUs which will feature the next-gen Xe2 GPU architecture codenamed Battlemage.

The Xe2 graphics architecture is intended for Intel's upcoming Battlemage lineup of Arc discrete & integrated GPUs, scheduled to launch first in 2024. For a quick recap, the Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake CPU lineup features Intel's Xe-LPG integrated graphics, while the future Xe2-LPG architecture will power the Lunar Lake CPU family.

Intel's developers have started "drafting" support for Lunar Lake's "Xe2-LPG' iGPU in the Intel MESA driver, and the patch verifies that "Xe2" will indeed be an upgrade. Since the Lunar Lake CPUs are expected to drop by 2025, one should anticipate several patches and updates in the open-source driver prior to release.

If you are unaware of the "Xe2" architecture of Battlemage iGPUs, we recently discussed a leak where we got a glimpse of the integrated graphics family. The Intel Lunar Lake CPUs will feature an iGPU core with 64 Xe2 EUs within 8 Xe Cores. The Battlemage GPU architecture featured on Intel's Lunar Lake CPUs should provide a good boost in performance over Alchemist thanks to its more expansive SIMD units.

Lunar Lake CPUs, as previously revealed, will also feature a next-gen VPU (Versatile Processing Unit) as disclosed by Phoronix. This will come in handy for AI workloads and further enhance the lineup's computing capabilities which will make its first debut on Meteor Lake CPUs this year.

With the newly emerged patch, we should appreciate Intel's commitment to providing super-early support for its architectures to ensure extensive support on launch, and it only provides us bits of information that lead to an interest in the particular lineup. Expect more information on Lunar Lake CPUs and Battlemage GPUs in the coming year.

News Source: Phoronix