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Intel Arc Pro B50 GPU Launched at $349 for Compact Workstations

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Re: Intel Arc Pro B50 GPU Launched at $349 for Compact Workstations

#181

Post by jlei523 »

IshKebab wrote: post #174
jlei523 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new CEO of Intel has said that Intel is giving up competing with Nvidia. No, he said they're giving up competing against Nvidia in training. Instead, he said Intel will focus on inference. That's the correct call in my opinion. Training is far more complex and will span multi data centers soon. Intel is too far behind. Inference is much simpler and likely a bigger market going forward.

I disagree - training enormous LLMs is super complex and requires a data centre... But most research is not done at that scale. If you want researchers to use your hardware at scale you also have to make it so they can spend a few grand and do small scale research with one GPU on their desktop. That's how you get things like good software support in AI frameworks.

I disagree with you. You don't need researchers to use your client hardware in order to make inference chips. All big tech are making inference chips in house. AMD and Apple are making local inference do-able on client.

Inference is vastly simpler than training or scientific compute.

Re: Intel Arc Pro B50 GPU Launched at $349 for Compact Workstations

#182

Post by swiftcoder »

tester756 wrote: post #17

https://www.phoronix.com/review/intel-arc-pro-b50-linux >Overall the Intel Arc Pro B50 was at 1.47x the performance of the NVIDIA RTX A1000 with that mix of OpenGL, Vulkan, and OpenCL/Vulkan compute workloads both synthetic and real-world tests. That is just under Intel's own reported Windows figures of the Arc Pro B50 delivering 1.6x the performance of the RTX A1000 for graphics and 1.7x the performance of the A1000…

IIRC, the RTX A1000 is an RTX 3050 8GB with ~10% of the shader cores disabled, retailing for double the price of a 3050?

I guess it's a boon for Intel that NVidia repeatedly shoots their own workstation GPUs in the foot...

Re: Intel Arc Pro B50 GPU Launched at $349 for Compact Workstations

#183

Post by Workaccount2 »

betimsl wrote: post #170
blkhawk wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because the cards already sell at very very good prices with 16GB and optimizations in generative AI is bringing down memory requirements. Optimizing profits means yyou sell with the least amount of VRAM possible not only to save the direct cost of the RAM but also to guard future profit and your other market segments. the cost of the ram itself is almost nothing compared to that. any intel competitor can more easily…

Right, but Intel is in no position to do that. So, they could play and put 32GB VRAM and also, why not produce one with 64GB just for kicks?

If intel was serious about staging a comeback, they would release a 64GB card.

But intel is still lost in it's hubris, and still thinks it's a serious player and "one of the boys", so it doesn't seem like they want to break the line.

Re: Intel Arc Pro B50 GPU Launched at $349 for Compact Workstations

#184

Post by fnord77 »

fredoralive wrote: post #105
mythz wrote: post #73

Really confused why the Intel and AMD both continue to struggle and yet still refuse to offer what Nvidia wont, i.e. high ram consumer GPUs. I'd much prefer paying 3x cost for 3x VRAM (48GB/$1047), 6x cost for 6x VRAM (96GB/$2094), 12x cost for 12x VRAM (192GB/$4188), etc. They'd sell like hotcakes and software support would quickly improve. At 16GB I'd still prefer to pay a premium for NVidia GPUs given its superior…

Because the market of people who want huge RAM GPUs for home AI tinkering is basically about 3 Hacker News posters. Who probably won’t buy one because it doesn’t support CUDA. PS5 has something like 16GB unified RAM, and no game is going to really push much beyond that in VRAM use, we don’t really get Crysis style system crushers anymore.

Marketing is misreading the room. I believe there's a bunch of people buying no video cards right now that would if there were high vram options available

Re: Intel Arc Pro B50 GPU Launched at $349 for Compact Workstations

#186

Post by altcognito »

solardev wrote: post #185

Will Intel even be around in a few years to support this thing, especially in software? They seem to be in their death spasms...

Intel is doing poorly, but I believe Apple was in much, much worse shape than this in the early 2000's. AMD was also in much, much worse shape that this.

Intel has many, many solid customers at the government, enterprise and consumer levels.

They will be around.

Re: Intel Arc Pro B50 GPU Launched at $349 for Compact Workstations

#187

Post by fwipsy »

snowram wrote: post #131
bsder wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Put 32GB on that card and everybody would ignore performance issues. With 16GB everybody will just call it another in the long list of Intel failures.

I wonder why everyone keep saying "just put more VRAM" yet no cards seem to do that. If it is that easy to compete with Nvidia, why don't we already have those cards?

Maybe because only AI enthusiasts want that much VRAM, and most of them will pony up for a higher-end GPU anyways? Everyone is suggesting it here because that's what they want, but I don't know if this crowd is really representative of broader market sentiment.

Re: Intel Arc Pro B50 GPU Launched at $349 for Compact Workstations

#188

Post by colechristensen »

tinco wrote: post #153
colechristensen wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#3 player just released something that compares well with price/performace ratio compared to #1 player's release from a year and a half ago... yep

No. The A1000 was well over $500 last year. This is the #3 player coming out with a card that's a better deal than what the #1 player currently has to offer. I don't get why there's people trying to twist this story or come up with strawmen like the A2000 or even the RTX5000 series. Intel's coming into this market competitively, which as far as I know is a first, and it's also impressive. Coming into the gaming GPU m…

NVIDIA is looking for profit, Intel is looking for market share, the pricing reflects this. Of course your product looks favorable to something released April 2024 when you're cutting pricing to get more attention.

Re: Intel Arc Pro B50 GPU Launched at $349 for Compact Workstations

#189

Post by PunchyHamster »

snowram wrote: post #131
bsder wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Put 32GB on that card and everybody would ignore performance issues. With 16GB everybody will just call it another in the long list of Intel failures.

I wonder why everyone keep saying "just put more VRAM" yet no cards seem to do that. If it is that easy to compete with Nvidia, why don't we already have those cards?

Because if they do their higher models will sell worse.

Re: Intel Arc Pro B50 GPU Launched at $349 for Compact Workstations

#190

Post by solardev »

altcognito wrote: post #186
solardev wrote: post #185

Will Intel even be around in a few years to support this thing, especially in software? They seem to be in their death spasms...

Intel is doing poorly, but I believe Apple was in much, much worse shape than this in the early 2000's. AMD was also in much, much worse shape that this. Intel has many, many solid customers at the government, enterprise and consumer levels. They will be around.

Wasn't that before the era of hyperscalers? Intel offers nothing of value anymore. What's to stop one for the giants from just swallowing them up like 3dfx or ATI?
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