Chalk this one up as a micro-rumour but potentially significant all the same. A reliable source on X has indicated that Intel’s long-awaited Big Battlemage GPU, codenamed G31, is finally going to be released. Hurrah! But only as a professional graphics card with a hefty 32 GB of VRAM. Haroo.
That 32 GB bit is the nightmare detail when it comes to PC gaming. Given the current RAMpocolypse, there’s absolutely zero chance that a graphics card with 32 GB will be anything other than megabucks.
But first, let’s cover what was actually said and by whom. X user Jaykihn, who has a strong record for accurate Intel leaks, posted, simply, “B70 Pro soon.” In the discussion that followed, Jaykihn confirmed with a clear “yes” when queried respectively whether the B70 Pro would be G31-based and have 32 GB of VRAM.
So, there we have it. Intel’s G31 Big Battlemage is coming soon and as a 32 GB Pro graphics card and not as the Intel Arc B770 gaming card we’re all dying to see. That’s according to this single, if usually reliable, source. Personally, I can believe it.
Whether it’s shipping manifests or driver references, there’s just too much noise around the G31 GPU for it not to be a thing. On the other hand, if G31 is coming soon, it’s odd that Intel didn’t even hint at it during CES 2026.
At least, it would be were G31 coming soon as a gaming graphics card. A professional product is a little different and arguably less contingent on big PR splashes, branding and hype.
If G31 turns out to be cost-effective, say, as a GPU for local AI workflows, Intel will be able to sell as many as it makes with little more than a simple press release. People will be queuing up to buy them.
Any Intel gaming GPU, even a really good one, would be a much harder sell than you’d expect Intel to market vigorously. So, G31 launching as the B70 Pro “soon” certainly adds up.
Actually, there was one further detail in the X trail. Jaykihn also confirmed that G31 is Xe2-based and therefore a bigger version of the G21 GPU in the Intel Arc B580 graphics card.
This isn’t exactly news, but it’s worth noting, what with the confusion around Intel’s Xe2 versus Xe3, and Battlemage versus Celestial architectures, and indeed how Xe3 relates to Battlemage versus Celestial, which all became very hard to follow around the end of last year.
With all that in mind, G31 is a pure Xe2 GPU, a bigger version of the G21 chip in the Arc B580. Simples. And actually fairly promising given how much the B580’s drivers have improved since it launched. But sadly not something that seems likely to be hitting gaming PCs in the very near future.
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