Intel has announced its plans to start selling graphics chips for video gamers next month. It aims to get a piece of a lucrative market dominated by competitors Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Intel dominates in semiconductors at the computational heart of personal computers, but it has long ceded the market for video gaming graphics chips to Nvidia and AMD. On Tuesday, Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger signaled the company would re-enter that field, releasing a graphics card for gamers that is slated to be available on October 12.
Intel’s new cards aim to be price-competitive and are not expected to challenge high-end cards on performance. Intel’s pitch would be to gamers tired of paying sky-high prices for the fastest, most advanced graphics chips.
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Intel’s cards will start at $329. Nvidia last week unveiled a new generation of graphics processors priced at up to $1,599. However, Intel’s are not expected to challenge those high-end cards on performance, instead aiming to be price-competitive with older-generation chips.
The graphics-chip market has grown rapidly in recent years due to a surge in video gaming during the pandemic and because those chips have demonstrated to be adept at artificial intelligence calculations that are gaining more widespread adoption.
Nvidia’s sales of video gaming chips were around $2 billion in its latest quarter, while AMD made $1.7 billion in its video gaming segment. The market has cooled amid economic headwinds and shakiness in consumer spending in recent months.
