(Reuters) – Intel Corp. plans to take advantage of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to manufacture a discrete second-generation graphics chip for personal computers that it hopes will help combat the rise of Nvidia Corp., sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The chip, known as “DG2,” will be manufactured in a new chip-making process at TSMC that has not yet been formally named, but which is an improved version of its 7-nanometer process, the two said. who knew the matter.
Intel, a world leader in chip manufacturing technology, has lost its manufacturing edge in recent years and is now debating whether to outsource some of the chips from the CPU or CPU, which are slated for release in 2023.
Last month, activist investor Third Point LLC sent a letter to Intel’s board asking it to consider whether to keep the design and manufacture of chips under one roof.
Intel has long outsourced chips other than its flagship CPUs and is a major customer of TSMC, the world’s leading manufacturer of contract chips. Intel’s head of autonomous subsidiary Mobileye told Reuters last month that TSMC will continue to manufacture its next autonomous vehicle processor in its 7-nanometer process.
With its graphics chips, Intel seeks to take advantage of the booming PC gaming market. Its DG2 chip is expected to launch later this year or early 2022 and compete with Nvidia and AMD gaming chips that cost between $ 400 and $ 600, according to sources.
Chip manufacturing technology for the DG2 is expected to be more advanced than the 8-nanometer process from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. used in Nvidia’s latest round of graphics chips released in the fall, according to People. They added that it would also help Advanced Micro Devices graphics chips manufactured in TSMC’s 7-nanometer process.
Intel declined to comment and TSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Intel officials said last year that it would outsource the DG2 chip, but did not say which chip maker the company had won or which chip-making process it would use.
Reports from Stephen Nellis to San Francisco; Edited by Jonathan Weber and Jane Wardell