Tests of the Arc B580, the most powerful of Intel's two new graphics cards, are starting to appear everywhere on specialized sites. Has the blue team succeeded in its bet? Here's what the most trusted reviewers in the hardware ecosystem have to say about it.
At first glance, there was reason to be skeptical about the potential of these new GPUs built on the Battlemage architecture. Unlike AMD and especially Nvidia, which dominates this market head and shoulders, the blue team is not really known for its prowess in this segment.
And the least we can say is that its latest attempt to enter this market was not convincing at all. The Alchemist GPUs were in fact undermined by very problematic drivers which generated countless compatibility issues, not to mention generally disappointing performance.
The RTX 4060 and RX 7600 clearly beaten
But against all expectations, Intel seems to have learned the necessary lessons after the failure of its first generation of dedicated consumer graphics cards. Overall, almost all of the top reviewers seem very impressed with these new components indeed! From Level1Techs to GamersNexus via Paul's Hardware or der8auer to name a few, almost all of the players known for their expertise and rigor seem unanimous: these Battlemage cards are surprisingly good at almost every levelboth in terms of raw performance and the maturity of the drivers.
In-game, almost all of these benchmarks place it above Nvidia's RTX 4060 and AMD's Radeon RX 7600, two cards which serve as a benchmark in the entry/mid-range segment. Despite some small issues on certain titles like PUBG, where performance seems significantly lower, and energy consumption a little higher than expected, the results are overall very positive.
Whether in 1080p or 1440p, the B580 systematically outperforms its direct rivals on common benchmarks like 3DMark Time Spy, but also in a myriad of rather demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2, Warhammer 40 000 : Space Marine 2or even Baldur’s Gate 3. Most often, it even ends neck and neck with the RTX 4060 Tia card that is supposed to be positioned one step higher! In other words, this B580 is more than helpful, and its pilots who caused some concern already seem relatively mature.
The return of real competition?
At first glance, this isn't particularly impressive, considering that Nvidia and AMD both offer significantly more capable cards. But it is still quite a feat, knowing that Intel's product is significantly less expensive than its competitors. On Amazon, you can find several models around (and sometimes even below) €250while the average for RTX 4060 and Radeon RX 7600 is more around €300, or even €350.
In summary, almost all reviewers see it as a graphics card with extremely attractive performance/price ratio. Intel seems to have put a real kick in the anthill by offering a completely honest card in terms of performance at a very aggressive price – the kind of spoilsport that the GPU ecosystem particularly needed, in a context where Nvidia has made a habit of skyrocketing prices every time. generation in the absence of real competition.
Not an insignificant release timing
However, it should be kept in mind that it is no coincidence that Intel decided to present its new cards very earlywell before Nvidia and AMD who will undoubtedly unveil their new ranges at CES next January. Because if the Arc B580 is very well positioned for the moment, it cannot be ruled out that the green and orange teams will also respond to this offensive by making a pricing effort on the entry/mid-range, in order not to leave Intel takes the lead in this segment without putting up the slightest resistance. The most reasonable thing will therefore undoubtedly be to wait until at least the next time.
Still, it has to be admitted that the Arc B580 has it all. If you've been waiting a long time for a cheap, high-performance card to replace your good old GTX 1080, for example, this is indeed a very attractive proposition; no one could blame you for taking the plunge. And this is already a real victory both for consumers, who will inevitably benefit from this new competition in the medium term, but also for Intel, which really needed success in this more than complicated period.
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