A flagship Intel Arc GPU is coming “very soon,” and the best graphics card contender will apparently take on the RTX 3060 rather than RTX 4000. The blue team desktop frontrunner, the A770, will launch alongside Arc A750 alternative, with both cards offering a ray tracing experience that’s similar to Nvidia Ampere.
In an interview with PCGH, Intel Arc GPU marketing director Ryan Shrout and Tom Petersen share various tidbits of Arc Alchemist graphics card information. Petersen confirms that the A770 sits somewhere between an RTX 3060 and RTX 3060 Ti in terms of performance, while apparently outpacing the AMD Radeon RX 6600XT.
As for specs, the Arc A770 and A750 GPUs will be available with either 8GB or 16GB VRAM. The so-called ‘limited edition’ A770 will stick with 16GB, meaning the 8GB variant will likely be a board partner decision.
The new info gives us an idea of what to expect from a high-end Intel Arc GPU, especially when it comes to comparative performance. It’s now clear that Alchemist won’t be brawling with either the upcoming Nvidia RTX 4000 lineup or AMD RDNA 3, as specs suggest the cards focus on the budget gaming PC space.
Intel is clearly taking a ‘bang for your buck’ approach with its Arc GPUs. By controlling the price of its range, the company hopes to offer a compelling perf per dollar alternative, but admits the market is a “tough nut to crack.” To succeed, Petersen says the tech giant will need to strengthen its relationship with board partners and provide consistent execution when it comes to GPU products.
The true meaning of Intel Arc ‘limited edition’
Hilariously, Intel also cleared up exactly what the A770’s ‘limited edition’ status means, and it turns out it’s just branding. Hopefully, that means it shouldn’t vanish overnight, but the company’s overall GPU supply could still be finite.
As for when the A770 and A750 Arc GPUs will actually arrive, Petersen suggests they’ll arrive imminently and will be available via the Intel website. To add reassurance to the release date claims, the Intel Fellow stresses that “it’s got to be soon,” so that the firm can meet its commitments. Naturally, that means it might arrive on the battlefield at the same time as the RTX 4090, but obviously won’t challenge it to a dual.