Intel’s first gaming chip will be launched via a scavenger hunt
1 min read 20 Mar 2021, 05:00 PM ISTThe Xe HPG chip is the first PC gaming chip coming from Intel. The company has already tied up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to make these chips
PremiumNEW DELHI: Chipmaker Intel will apparently run a scavenger hunt for the launch of its first graphics card for PCs. The company’s new Xe HPG graphics card is expected to be launched later this year, and it has an event scheduled for 23 March where more details on the chips are expected. On Thursday, the company posted a teaser video about the chips, which leads users to a scavenger hunt.
The video looks like a regular launch video for the Xe HPG chip, but on a closer look, there’s a binary code that appears on the chip around the 20-second mark. This code, when translated to regular digits--which Wccftech did--turns out to be 35.160.237.208. Sounds like an IP address, right? If you copy paste that IP address onto your browser’s address bar, you’ll land on xehpg.intel.com, a website that announces the upcoming scavenger hunt.
The website says the scavenger hunt will begin on 26 March, when users will have to come back to the website and “enter a secret code". It’s not clear where users will get this secret code from, but there is speculation that the code will be given out on the 23 March event. All we know about the event is that Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s new chief executive officer (CEO), will discuss a new “business update".
Alternatively, an alphanumeric sequence — 79.0731W — also appears in the video right before we get to the IP address. So, it’s possible that that’s the secret code.
As mentioned before, the Xe HPG chip is the first PC gaming chip coming from Intel. The company has already tied up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to make these chips. While the graphics card will compete with market leaders Nvidia and AMD, it’s unlikely that Intel will cater to all the same markets. Both Nvidia and AMD have seen high demand for their chips over the past year or two, thanks to increased use cases not just via gaming, but also from the cryptocurrency and data center markets.
