In Intel’s own public database, called Intel Ark, a mysterious product named DG2MB, but it does not have a clear definition of what type of product it is. Everything points, however, to the fact that it could be a test motherboard of the brand, although the strange thing about this is that it is apparently equipped with a card Intel DG2-512 dedicated graphicswhich only serves to create even more uncertainty.
The source of this news is Igor Wallossek (linked at the end of the article), and he directly assumes that we are dealing with a motherboard testing to use as a reference with Intel dedicated graphics cards, although if this is the case it would be quite strange for Intel to add it to its Ark database.
Intel DG2MB, is it a motherboard? A graph?
Actually, the Intel Ark platform has two faces: the public part and to which everyone has unrestricted access, where we can find all its products launched on the market, which is the well-known part. However, it also has a hidden part, to which only “insiders” have access under a confidentiality agreement and that is where Intel lists all its products even if they do not see the light on the market later, and it is precisely in this section where this mysterious Intel DG2MB has appeared.
There are many curiosities in these few data, as well as some inconsistencies; for example, a 200 watt TDP as stated sounds like a lot for a processor, but then that 4GHz speed sounds like a lot for a GPU. On the contrary, 16 MB of cache is also specified, which in all probability refers to the GPU and not the CPU since it seems to correspond to L2 memory.
Putting a little emphasis on those 200W of TDP, and extrapolating to what we know about GPUs Intel DG2-512, which we know that many of them go beyond this TDP, it seems that this platform would be using a variant of this chip. According to the source it is, and claims that the GPU listed is a BGA2660 variant and that it uses the same package size with the DG2-512 SOC1 GPU. These are, of course, speculations that are not confirmed, although it is true that they do make a lot of sense.
In any case, there is also the possibility that we are simply looking at a soldered GPU motherboard designed for the first laptops with Alchemist GPUs (and looking at the TDP we would be looking at a top-of-the-line product), or even for the first desktops Brand OEM with own GPU. There’s a good chance this is it because Intel is expected to release its first GPU Alchemist for laptops at the end of this month, although it is true that contrary to what they say in the source these would be based on DG2-128 SOC2 chips.
The top-of-the-range configurations are expected to be announced soon with an expected launch for this second quarter of the year, where we will also see variants for desktop computers almost certainly, so it is very likely that in the coming weeks we will get out of doubt and discover what it is actually this Intel DG2MB product.