Intel started their Xe HPG Scavenger Hunt in early 2021, and 18 months later we have no Arc graphics cards in the wild… meaning no Intel Arc graphics cards to give away to Arc Scavenger Hunt winners.
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The company is now offering an alternative prize because there are simply no Intel Arc GPUs, so instead of an Intel Arc A7 series graphics card (Intel was giving Grand Prize winners an Intel Arc A770, while the first prize it was an Intel Arc A750). ) winners can now opt for an Intel Core i7-12700K and Core i5-12600K processor.
Intel sent an email to its winners, explaining to a winner of the Xe HPG Scavenger Hunt Top 300 prize that they would be provided with an alternative to the original hardware prize, in addition to the standard merchandise and prize swag. The company confirms that winners only have a few days until August 19th to decide if they want to trade their Arc GPU for an Intel 12th Gen Core “Alder Lake” CPU.
But now, here’s the kicker: If you do opt for the original GPU bounty again, Intel cautions that you should do so with the understanding that this bounty is tied to the release timeline of the Intel Arc Series GPUs A7. Since we don’t know when this happens, and neither does Intel, you could be waiting a while.
Intel notes that while they anticipate that the hardware should reach you before the availability of the Intel Arc A7 series GPU, Intel “cannot guarantee that this will be the case as Intel is very close to the release of the Intel Arc A7 Series GPU”. I guess what Intel means in this email is that they are “very close to the release of the Intel Arc A7 series GPU”. Errors everywhere, Intel.