In case you haven't been paying close attention to the PC hardware scene lately, take note that Intel has been stepping up its game with respect to graphics. The first major waves made by Intel's newly formed Graphics and Visual Computing group came with the hiring of key executives from AMD, including Raja Koduri and Chris Hook , among a few others, in addition to overhauling the company's graphics driver software and strategy.

Intel has placed a heavy emphasis on making its driver software more user-friendly, while at the same time offering enthusiasts the tools and options needed to better tweak individual settings. In essence, Intel is laying the groundwork for its breakthrough integrated Gen11 graphics that will debut with upcoming10nm Ice Lake processors, and further into the future with its discrete graphics cards that will compete with offerings from AMD and NVIDIA.





The Intel Graphics Command Center

Going forward, thanks in part to feedback from enthusiasts, Intel has identified ways that it can further improve the user experience of the Intel Graphics Command Center in 2019 and beyond. Intel is ushering in a brand-new, modern UI design with customizable skins. It is also touting an improved one-click optimization feature that will take into account your CPU and GPU capabilities and automatically configure the best settings for your favorite games.

Intel is making its newly enhanced driver package available today, and you can download it direct from the Microsoft Store.

Intel's Futuristic Odyssey 2035 GPU Collection

However, Intel isn’t just working on the here and now. The company is also trying to envision the future as well. When you think of a modern graphics card design, what do you imagine? If I'm being honest, I typically think of a densely-packed PCB, an I/O bracket filled with HDMI and DisplayPort connections, a massive heatsink/shroud, two to three cooling fans, and customizable RGB lighting.

Intel Prometheus GPU Concept

But what do you think graphics cards will look like in the next decade? How about the next decade and a half? Intel wanted to know that as well, so it commissioned designer Cristiano Siquiera to give us a taste of what graphics cards might look like in the year 2035. Siquiera, the original talented designer that brought us the first set of Intel Odyssey GPU renders not long ago, focused primarily on the fan/shroud designs, and what innovations could be fostered there in the coming years.

According to Intel, it is not committing to bringing any of these designs to production, but it is hoping to incorporate some aspects based on feedback from the enthusiast community. According to Intel's Ari Rauch, Vice President for Graphics Technologies and Products, good design can't be done in an internal vacuum; it needs to be a collaborative effort with external input.

You can see all of the designs at the bottom of this post, but some of the ones that we'd like to point out in particular are the Gemini design (the first card pictured) which uses Ionic Cooling with no moving parts. There's also Oblivion, which features a Steampunk-style look, which just so happens to be Rauch's favorite.

Although all of these are simply design concepts at this time, it’s nice to see some outside-of-the-box thinking with regards to graphics cards. What does everyone think about these designs?