Intel Enables 5th Display Support For Arc Alchemist Workstation Series

As spotted by Phoronix, Intel has started enabling 5th display support for its DG2 GPUs, possibly for the Arc Alchemist workstation series.

Intel i915 graphics driver received a patch that brings 5th display support for the Intel DG2 GPU family. This is an internal codename for Arc Alchemist discrete GPU family that will be released this year for mobile and desktop platforms.

Intel DG2 5th Display Support

The Linux i915 kernel patch does not clarify how the DG2 GPU family supports 5 displays. The leaked pictures do not show any fifth display output either. Arc Alchemist cards could theoretically support 5th display through USB Type-C DP HUBs,  but samples in the pictures only had either HDMI or DisplayPort connectors.

All the desktop gaming cards by NVIDIA and AMD do not support more than four displays. Some gaming cards like the Gigabyte AORUS series made attempts to add more than 4 connectors. Even those cards are still restricted to 4 displays while the extra connectors are used for VR headsets.

AMD Radeon PRO W6800

The new innovation of the 5th display is much suitable for the workstation models, such as Radeon PRO W6800 with 6 mini DisplayPorts. According to recent rumors and reports , Intel Arc Alchemist is going to be a part of workstations; the 5th display might have been introduced for its professional series.

Via Phoronix, VideoCardz