In context: Though we all know that Intel is working on its own discrete GPU by this point, details regarding its specs and unique features are still remarkably scarce. Without official details from Intel, we've been left to rely on rumors, speculation, and various other minor hints or clues.
Yesterday, one such clue may have been spotted by Phoronix. The site noticed some intriguing code in the latest Linux graphics drivers from Intel. The code in question points toward the possibility of multi-GPU processing with Intel's upcoming discrete "Xe" cards.
However, unlike AMD's CrossFire or Nvidia's SLI technology, Intel's driver code pairs a discrete video card with a processor-integrated internal GPU. To be more specific, Phoronix's latest findings contain a "perf PMU (Processor Monitoring Unit) bit of code" for handling discrete and internal GPU use cases.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Phoronix has found references to multi-GPU support in Intel's Linux driver code. The website made a similar discovery back in August, when it found code that essentially confirmed the functionality's existence, and today's news simply reinforces this idea.
Of course, Intel may toss the entire concept out in the future. Still, the company has certainly had plenty of opportunities to do so up to this point – the fact that it has instead doubled down on the technology seems telling.
Regardless, Intel's discrete Xe GPUs are still a long way from release, so we wouldn't advise our readers to take any of this for granted until launch day arrives.