The wait for the 2nd Gen ARC graphics card is finally over. Intel officially revealed their long-awaited Intel Battlemage B580 and B570 discrete graphics cards before Nvidia and AMD. The Limited Edition ARC Battlemage B580 will be available on December 13 for $249, and the slightly cheaper $219 ARC B570’s availability is set for January 16, 2025. However, Nvidia and AMD will showcase their next-generation GPU at Computex 2025. But, we probably won’t see a midrange GPU offering from Nvidia and AMD until 2Q 2025. The RXT 5090 will cost more than $2000, and the RTX 5080, 5070, and AMD’s flagship RX 8000 series are expected to hit the market in Q1 2025 in the $750-$1500 range.
This is a smart move from Intel, they target the lubricated mid-range market to gain market share and there is no competition until Q2 2025. Though profit margins are small in these mid-range cards, it will surely help Intel to survive in the discrete GPU market. Intel debuted its journey on the dedicated GPU market with ARC Alchemist cards two years ago. AMD also has followed this strategy for a long time, they stopped competing with Nvidia’s flagship cards for a while. But Intel’s offer is something unique, we haven’t seen any 12GB or 10GB graphics cards in the $200-$250 GPU market segment. The recent AAA titles require more than 8GB VRAM even at 1080P settings and Intel addressed this issue and paired up more VRAM in their midrange graphics cards.
The ARC B580 is configured with 12GB VRAM, 20 Xe cores, 20 RT cores, and a 192-bit memory interface, with a rated TDP of 190W. The clock speed is increased to 2670Mhz. Intel claims a 25% better performance over RTX 4060 in RT workloads. However, individual reviews will soon be available after the NDA lifts and we will know the facts of such claims.
The B570 is a slightly cut-down version of the B580, configured with 18 Xe + RT cores and 160bit 10GB memory, rated at 150W TDP. Both graphics cards have a single 8-pin connection, a massive improvement in power consumption over previous Arc Alchemist cards. Intel’s Limited edition cards feature 3 DP 2.1 ports with UHBR 13.5 specs and 1 HDMI 2.1 port.
We expected Intel to reveal their frame generation technique similar to Nvidia DLSS or AMD’s FSR 3, now integrated with Xess2 technology. Intel started working on their Frame generation tech in 2023 and finally released it with Battlemage. It will be interesting to see how Intel’s frame generation performs against Nvidia’s DLSS and AMD FSR 3. The previous ARC Alchemist has few drawbacks as a first-generation graphic architecture. With Battlemage Intel overhauled its Xe engine lowers down power consumption with higher performance. The clock speed increased to 57% compared to the ARC A 580, though the core configuration is reduced.
Intel claims a 10% better raster performance than RTX 4060, while the ray tracing performance is 25% better on their presentation slides. We can assume that is the best-case scenario, some Unreal Engine games run significantly faster on Nvidia’s tech. Thankfully, Intel Xe2 shifts ‘Execute Indirect’ features on the hardware level to improve UE games performance.
This time Intel partnered with two additional companies to make their AIB cards, MAXSUN and ONIX joined the club with existing ASROCK, GUNNIR, SPARKLE, and Acer. Intel also announced a new graphic suite for all Intel GPUs, unifying the graphics package in one suite. The ARC control center is soon to retire. The new suite features a low-latency mode and an FPS limiter at the driver level.
Rob is a passionate tech enthusiast, reviewer, and content creator at techpowernext. With over a decade of experience in the tech industry, he dives deep into the latest gadgets, software, and innovations. His mission is to demystify complex tech concepts and empower readers to make informed decisions.