Intel just announced new graphics cards starting at $219, and I'm rooting for these budget Battlemages
Dec. 3, 2024The Intel Arc B580 with 12GB VRAM for under $250 is also a sight to behold.
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Intel just officially announced two new Battlemage graphics cards, and entry-level PC enthusiasts are in for a treat. Not only is there a Arc B580 GPU with 12GB VRAM for $249, there’s a 10GB Arc B570 for just $229. That’s already a chunk cheaper thanNvidiaandAMD’s current budget offerings, so it’s safe to say the blue team is up for a pricing war when they arrive on December 13 and January 16.
Armed with Intel’s Xe2 Battlemage GPU, the upcomingbest graphics cardcontenders will use the same architecture as the company’s Lunar Lake CPUs. The difference is that these cards will boast double the graphics cores and the aforementioned 10GB and 12GB memory configurations. Naturally, these new options aren’t remotely designed to take on theNvidia GeForce RTX 4090or even its mid-range underlings.
What cards like the Arc 580 can potentially do is bring the fight to theNvidia Geforce RTX 4060. At least, that’s what Intel’s in-house benchmarks suggest, with the company claiming 10% faster speeds compared to Nvidia’s cheapest 40-series contender. I did admittedly raise an eyebrow at the tests being based on 1440p gameplay when the 4060 was marketed as a 1080p card, but that doesn’t matter when you’re potentially getting a card that can hit 60fps with QHD settings enabled.
The Arc 580 specifically beats the RTX 4060 in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Returnal - two of my personal benchmark choices that I view as intensive. However, there are wins to be found even on the Nvidia side of things, but the Lovelace card really just beats Intel’s newcomer where frame rates are already exceptionally high. Put it this way, I’m not going to grumble about the Battlemage GPU only hitting 188fps in DOTA 2 versus 210fps, especially for $250.
I’m not exactly sure why, but the company’s in-house benchmarks lack comparisons to theIntel Arc A770. Instead, we’ve got a chart demonstrating the A580’s abilities against the cheaper Arc A750. For those curious about that contest, the new-gen card is seemingly 24% faster, which may help convince you it’s worth buying over the Alchemist option with a $180 MSRP (good luck finding one for that price.)
Where things really get exciting is when it comes to ray tracing. I normally just write off fancy lighting effects with cheaper cards, but Forza Motorsports benchmarks suggest it’ll run at 64fps with “High RT” settings enabled versus 57fps on RTX 4060. Weirdly, that figure does the opposite from what you’d expect when you switch ray tracing off, with Nvidia’s card hitting 86fps compared to 77fps. Hmm.
As for model options, Intel is set to release a “limited edition” stock version with a dual fan setup, while plenty of custom vendors are set to whip up their own takes.Acer, ASRock, Gunnir, Maxsun, Onix, and Sparkle are all getting involved, so it’ll be interesting to see what the custom treatment does to pricing.
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I’m excited to see Intel have another go at taking on the big GPU dogs. It’s safe to say the future of team blue graphics cards could hinge on the success of these entry-level darlings, especially since the company’s CEO Pat Geisinger just retired effectively immediately off the back of a stock price drop.
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I’ve been messing around with PCs, video game consoles, and tech since before I could speak. Don’t get me wrong, I kickstarted my relationship with technology by jamming a Hot Wheels double-decker bus into my parent’s VCR, but we all have to start somewhere. I even somehow managed to become a walking, talking buyer’s guide at my teenage supermarket job, which helped me accept my career fate. So, rather than try to realise my musician dreams, or see out my University degree, I started running my own retro pop culture site and writing about video games and tech for the likes of TechRadar, The Daily Star, and the BBC before eventually ending up with a job covering graphics card shenanigans at PCGamesN. Now, I’m your friendly neighbourhood Hardware Editor at GamesRadar, and it’s my job to make sure you can kick butt in all your favourite games using the best gaming hardware, whether you’re a sucker for handhelds like the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch or a hardcore gaming PC enthusiast.
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