Intel Ends Support for Deep Link Technology on Intel-Based Systems
Intel has officially discontinued Deep Link, a feature designed to enhance performance across CPU and GPU tasks, which will no longer receive maintenance or future updates.
Internal Confirmation, No Official Announcement
Although Intel has not published a formal press release, confirmation about Deep Link’s discontinuation came through a GitHub thread, where an Intel employee disclosed the update.
- Zack-Intel, an Intel representative, responded to a user’s technical issue by stating that Deep Link would no longer be maintained.
- The issue was originally raised by SapphireDrew, who experienced activation problems with Deep Link while using OBS Studio.
OBS Studio Issue Uncovers Discontinued Feature
An employee from OBS clarified that the problem wasn’t due to their software, but rather stemmed from Intel’s drivers.
- After a delay of nearly a month, Zack-Intel responded and officially informed the user about the termination of Deep Link’s development.
- This has frustrated some users, particularly those who purchased Intel Arc Alchemist GPUs based on the promise of Deep Link’s performance advantages.
Zack-Intel’s Statement on GitHub
The announcement read:
“Deep Link is no longer actively maintained and will not be receiving future updates, meaning that there will be no changes to the features regardless of their current functionality status.”
- This implies that while Deep Link may still function, any bugs, incompatibilities, or performance issues will not be addressed.
Promised Benefits Now Left in Limbo
Intel Deep Link was marketed as a technology to optimize resource allocation between Intel CPUs and discrete GPUs.
- It included tools like Dynamic Power Share for prioritizing performance-critical applications.
- Hyper Encode allowed faster encoding by using both GPU and CPU in parallel.
- Additive AI aimed to enhance machine learning operations.
- Stream Assist was built for improved live-streaming performance.
Compatibility and Support Limitations
The technology exclusively supports Intel hardware and requires both Intel CPUs and GPUs for full functionality.
- It is not compatible with AMD or NVIDIA systems, making its abandonment particularly limiting for Intel-centric builds.
- Though Deep Link may still work for now, future software or driver updates could cause issues that Intel will not resolve.
