Intel Battlemage ‘Xe2’ GPU receives new device IDs on Linux ahead of potential late 2024 launch

Intel Battlemage based on the Xe2 GPU architecture has received widespread support on Linux as the company has added five different new device identifiers, showing that the rollout is on track.

Intel adds five different device IDs related to Battlemage “Xe2” GPU architecture, also introduces several optimizations, HWMON support, and enablement for Celestial Xe3

At the recent Computex keynote, Intel gave us a rundown of what we can expect from the Xe2 graphics architecture in terms of capabilities, but we never actually had a chance to learn about specific SKUs within the series. However, enabling this architecture on Linux can give us an idea of ​​how Intel plans to dress up the offering as the latest DRM-Xe-Next pull request; the company has decided to add new device identifiers related to the Xe2 architecture or Battlemage GPUs.

Phoronix reports that a total of five different identifiers have debuted in Linux. These include 0xE202, 0xE20B, 0xE20C, 0xE20D and 0xE212. It’s important to note that these IDs certainly don’t end the number of variants in the Battlemage lineup, as, as Phoronix themselves have said, some of them may represent early engineering samples or even unreleased SKUs that Intel has chosen not to pursue. As such, we should expect to see some similar device IDs in Linux as we get closer to the official release schedule.

We’ve dug into the new additions and changes to get a sense of the specific updates to Xe2 “Battlemage.” They’re listed below:

• Xe/Xe2 workarounds, fixes and additions
• Enable Overflow Mode Xe2+
• Enable intermediate ring state support for Xe2
• xe2hpg compression
• Make performance tuning changes for Xe2_HPG
• drm/xe/hwmon: Add HWMON support for BMG
• drm/xe/hwmon: Reveal BMG card’s power and energy attributes
• drm/xe/xe2: Resolve IP address of Xe2_HPG
• drm/xe/xe2: Resolve IP address of Xe2_HPM
• drm/xe/xe2: Define Xe2_LPG IP functions
• drm/xe/xe2: Define Xe2_LPM IP functions
• drm/xe/xe2: Programming GuC MOCSs on Xe2 and newer

As you can see, there are a lot of additions related to Xe2 and Battlemage Arc. HWMON support and various power/energy attributes will also be added to the software tool when these graphics cards reach retail, which is expected later this year.

We recently reported on how Intel’s “BMG-21” Battlemage chip debuted on Linux with the LLVM compiler and the inclusion of “Panel Replay Technology.” This shows that Intel is committed to providing first-class support for its future Xe2 architecture on this platform. Apart from this, the latest patches have introduced several improvements such as SR-IOV virtualization preparations, scheduler improvements, and other necessary updates.

As for the release date, Battlemage GPUs are expected to launch in the second half of this year, so you can expect an update or two at the next innovation event later this year.

News Source: Phoronix