Intel recently tapped its main competition — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) — to produce its ARC Alchemist GPUs.

In an interview with Japanese outlet ASCII, Intel Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics group Raja Koduri gave some insight into the American chipmaker’s decision to outsource production of its ARC GPUs to TSMC using the Taiwanese company’s 6nm process node.

“It is necessary to first determine the process that can be assumed at the start of design,” said Koduri, according to Tom’s Hardware. “Other features, such as how much operating frequency can be used are also important factors. Cost is also an issue. These three, that is, the cost-performance-capacity, is taken into consideration when deciding which process to use.”

In the end, Intel decided that its Alchemist lineup had the best balance with TSMC’s 6nm technology. Intel’s own delays in developing leading-edge process technologies most likely also influenced the decision.

At this point, it’s unclear if Intel’s next generation of graphics processing units — ARC Alchemist Battlemage — will be produced in-house or be outsourced to TSMC’s 5nm or 5nm-enhanced processes.

By: DocMemory
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