Apparently, Intel intends to start selling its high-quality Arc Alchemist graphics cards for desktops sometime in the third quarter, but wants to officially introduce some members of the Alchemist family a little earlier. At least that’s true, if the new rumor from Taiwan is correct. Intel reportedly decided that the broad media coverage of Computex was a promotional resource too good to miss, so it is claimed that the mid-range and high-performance Arc Alchemist GPUs will be unveiled in late May or early in June.
Attracting attention
According to a report by WccfTech citing sources in Taiwan, Intel plans to introduce its discrete graphics cards Arc Alchemist A750, A580 and A380 for desktops in late May or early June. The Arc Alchemist A750 and A580 are expected to be available during their official launch. In contrast, Intel’s initial A380 could be announced at a later date and released in July if the information turns out to be accurate. Meanwhile, the flagship Arc Alchemist A780 will be available even later, so expect it sometime in the third quarter, which ends on September 31st.
The release of new Arc Alchemist GPUs and cards in or around the Computex timeframe means that they will receive very wide media coverage. Add-on board manufacturers (AIBs) will present them at their booths, talk about their competitive advantages, and demonstrate various Intel-approved demonstrations and / or performance metrics. All this will inevitably draw the attention of the crowd to the new graphics cards with a blue badge on them.
Drawing attention to primary, mid-range and entry-level motherboards is important to Intel due to the late arrival of its flagship Arc Alchemist A780 GPU. However, without the halo effect created by the highest GPU, it is vital to properly position the cheaper offerings and show them in a good light compared to their direct rivals.
Priced between $ 150 and $ 350
It is assumed that Intel has already announced recommended prices and comparable graphics processors to its AIB partners, again provided that the report is correct. He also assured motherboard manufacturers that his drivers are improving, which may suggest that GPU performance is gradually increasing as the number of errors and problems decreases. These are all important things, and AMD and Nvidia have an advantage over Intel’s GPUs because they’ve been doing it for decades. This is only in the last few years most games can even try to run on Intel’s integrated graphics solutions and have no serious problems.
| Intel graphics processor | Comparable Nvidia graphics processor | IFRS | Startup window |
|---|---|---|---|
| A780 | GeForce RTX? | ? | Q3 2022 |
| A750 | GeForce RTX 3060 | $ 350 | Late May – early June |
| A580 | GeForce RTX 3050 | $ 280 | Late May – early June |
| A380 | GeForce GTX 1650 | $ 150 | July |
The Arc Alchemist A380 is set to carry a suggested retail price of $ 150 to compete with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1650. Since this part is probably based on the smaller ACM-G11 graphics processor, comparing it to Nvidia’s entry-level graphics processor, which doesn’t support features like beam tracking, makes sense. Meanwhile, GeForce GTX 1650 cards currently cost from $ 200~$ 220 in the US, so Intel is obviously trying to offer a better price here if the $ 150 MSRP is correct. Of course, the GTX 1650 launched three years ago at a price of $ 160, so providing similar performance at basically the same price today is not exactly an incredible success.
Next up is the Arc Alchemist A580, which is expected to cost around $ 280 and fight Nvidia’s RTX 3050 series products. The card is said to be powered by a reduced version of the larger Intel ACM-G10 graphics processor, although it is not yet clear how deep these cuts are. However, its positioning in relation to the offer of the base RTX model of Nvidia is a bit strange. In any case, RTX 3050 boards currently start from $ 300 ~ $ 340so if Intel’s A580 can offer a similar level of performance in a wide range of games, it may be worth a try – provided prices don’t fall further before the card is released.
Finally, the core performance of the Intel Arc Alchemist A750 part is expected to be priced at around $ 350 and compete with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3060. This graphics card is based on a slightly reduced ACM-G10 graphics processor, so it probably needs to have enough power to fight Nvidia’s offer, at least in games that don’t use strong beam tracking. Again, Intel seems to be planning to undercut Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3060 with a significant margin, as RTX 3060 boards start at $ 410 ~ $ 440 retail (assuming Intel’s pricing information is correct).
If Intel manages to ensure that Arib Alchemist graphics cards from AIB manufacturers are retailed at the above prices, these boards could be great competitors for Nvidia’s entry-level and mid-range GeForce products. However, it remains to be seen whether Intel’s partners will want to sell Arc Alchemist products at bargain prices if these cards offer competitive performance compared to direct competitors. There is also the issue of AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 series, which currently tends to offer a much better price for performance values based on our GPU benchmarks and look at current GPU prices.
Uncertainty with the flagship
This still leaves the question of Intel’s flagship Arc Alchemist product, the Arc Alchemist A780, based on the full-fledged ACM-G10 with all piping and processor cores activated and running at higher hours.
Rumor has it that Intel wants to position its flagship Arc Alchemist A780 against GeForce RTX 3070 or even Nvidia’s RTX 3070 Ti graphics cards, which are sold at retail for $ 700 ~ $ 780. If Intel’s Alchemist A780 manages to reach the performance levels of the RTX 3070 / RTX 3070 Ti, which seems a bit difficult (especially in games that use beam tracking, as Nvidia Ampere GPUs just have a lot more RT cores), Intel will not want to sell cards too cheap.
Even if Intel’s Arc Alchemist A780 finishes at $ 550, the difference between the A750 ($ 350) and the A780 will be too great. This means that Intel may have a product that will sit between the A750 and A780 and will compete with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, such as the A770. And of course, GPU prices continue to fall, and eventually we could see the RTX 3070 at $ 500 and the RTX 3060 Ti at $ 400, their official MSRPs, while the A780 spins.
But while the pricing of Intel’s flagship offerings is one factor that will determine its success in the market, another is the launch date. The launch of the Arc Alchemist A780 just ahead of AMD and Nvidia’s next-generation offerings doesn’t make much sense, as gamers will wait for the upcoming green and red team GPUs to show off their performance and features, and only then consider getting a blue card. pills. Until then, providing performance roughly equal to the GeForce RTX 3070/3070 Ti may no longer be as attractive to gamers, unless the price is also significantly reduced.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-arc-archemist-computex
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