Intel might have found its saving grace with the release of its second-generation Intel Arc discrete graphics processors. The company specifically launched the Intel Arc B580 and Intel Arc B570 on 3 December 2024. Note that the first-generation GPUs like the Intel Arc A770 and Intel Arc A750 had good price-to-performance ratios but still had performance limitations and heating concerns. Intel seems to have found a workaround. The B580 is a very respectable discrete GPU that can compete with counterparts from AMD and Nvidia in terms of both price and performance.
The Long-Awaited GPU Win From Intel: A Definitive Review of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Intel Arc B580
The Good: Advantages of Intel Arc B580 and Notable Features
Intel began challenging the dominance of Nvidia and AMD with the introduction of the Intel Arc line of discrete graphics processors in 2023. The higher-tier A770 and A750 models had mixed reviews. These were affordable and capable GPUs but still suffered limitations and bugs that made counterparts from competitors more appealing. Nevertheless, with the release of the second-gen Intel Arc GPUs under the codename Battlemage, the same high hopes have been reignited. The following are the advantages of Intel Arc B580:
1. Competitive Sub-300 Discrete GPU with Excellent Price-to-Performance Ratio
One of the biggest selling points of the Intel Arc B580 is that it is a sub-300 GPU. It was launched with a retail price of USD 249.00. This makes it more affordable than mid-range offerings from both AMD and Nvidia. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is about 4 percent more expensive at USD 260.00 while the Nvidia RTX 4060 is at least 15 percent more expensive at USD 260.00.
However, despite its price point, it can compete against its counterparts in terms of average fps. This is especially true for 1080p gaming and several cases of 2K or 1440p gaming. The Intel Arc B580 bests the RTX 4060 and RX 7600 by more than 15 percent in Cyberpunk 2077 at ultra-preset gaming settings. The same is true for Red Dead Redemption 2 at higher settings.
Note that this discrete GPU is also neck-in-neck with the higher-tier, better-equipped, and more expensive Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti and the older but still better-equipped Radeon RX 6700 in Returnal while trailing a little behind in Atomic Heart. It also overtakes the RX 6700 XT and its direct counterparts in 1440p based on Geomean Native Rasterization benchmark testing.
The Xe Media Engine of the B580 also supports more media codecs than AMD and Nvidia. It lags a bit behind the RX 7600 and RTX 4060 in average AV1 encoding speed at 1080p but takes a lead in average H.264 encoding speed at 1080p using Handbrake 1.8.1. It also outperforms these two in AI image generation and lags a bit in computer vision based on UL Procyon results.
2. Improved Graphics Processor Microarchitecture and Hardware Specifications
The aforementioned performance advantages of Intel Arc B580 come from its respectable hardware specifications. Intel did not corners with its sub-300 discrete GPU offering. It has 20 Xe cores clocked at 2.67 GHz and 12GB video RAM based on GDDR6. This GPU also supports 192 bits of memory interface and has a memory bandwidth of 456 GB/s.
It is also packed with modern GPU technologies. These include co-processors like the 160 Intel Xe Matrix Extension or XMX Engines for native artificial intelligence acceleration and 160 Xe Vector Engines for aiding with graphics rendering calculations, game physics simulation, and added artificial intelligence acceleration of tasks related to machine learning algorithms.
Furthermore, with more game titles requiring ray tracing as their minimum requirements, Intel Arc B580 also comes with 20 ray tracing units for hardware-based ray tracing. This enables realistic graphics to elevate the visual quality of games and other applications There are also 5 render slices to divide the rendering workload into smaller and more manageable chunks.
The entire Battlemage line explicitly uses the newer Xe2-HPG and BMG-G21 architectures. This is an upgrade from the previous first-generation Xe-HPG architecture used in the first-generation Intel Arc Alchemist GPUs. The specific architecture is based on the same system-on-a-chip design but uses a new process node to pack more advanced hardware components.
The Bad: Disadvantages of Intel Arc B580 and Notable Issues
Note that the Intel Arc B580 is still a mid-range discrete graphics processor based on its price point and performance. Remember that its direct competitors are the Nvidia RTX 4060 and AMD Radeon RX 7600. Hence, when compared to top-tier Nvidia and AMD processors from the current and even previous generations, especially the Nvidia RTX 4080 and 4090 Super and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, it is still not as capable.
1. Specific Struggles With 4K and 8K Resolution Gaming and Video Encoding
Playing games titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2 at 4K resolution will cause noticeable drops in frame rates. These titles are still playable but the overall experience is less ideal. It is also possible to play other game titles, especially older ones with less requirements in 4K. However, when it comes to 8K resolution, the B580 is not built for this option.
Note that competitors like the Nvidia RTX 4060 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 are not also ideal for running PC games in 4K resolution and are definitely not designed for 8K games. These discrete GPUs will utilize their upscaling technologies to achieve decent frame rates. Intel Arc B580 also has the proprietary Xe Super Sampling to upscale games rendered in lower resolution.
This GPU can still encode videos in 4K and 8K resolutions. Remember that it has wider support for media codecs compared to its counterparts from AMD and Nvidia. It is still more suitable for encoding videos in 1080p and 1440p resolution. This means that encoding videos in either 4K or 8K is still possible but encoding time will be longer than 1080p or 1440p encoding.
Several tests on photo and video editing prove that the Intel Arc B580 can breeze through these tasks without a hiccup. However, considering its capabilities, it is not the absolute best in class. It tends to struggle a little bit in long periods of editing images in Adobe Photoshop with complex layer manipulation. The same is true in editing high-resolution videos in Adobe Premier.
2. Higher Thermal Power Rating, Overall Power Draw, and Some Heating Issues
Intel has made significant improvements in the entire Battlemage line in terms of power efficiency. It has an official power rating of 190 watts. Note that the previous Intel Arc A770 has a power rating of 225 watts while the A750 has 175 watts. Both are known for having higher idle power consumption and lower power efficiency. The specific B580 shows notable improvements.
The Intel Arc B580 also often consumes lower power than its rating. Some tests show that it can draw around 142 watts and 163 watts under different gaming loads. It is still not as efficient as the AMD Radeon RX 7600 and Nvidia RTX 4060. The former has a maximum total power draw of 165 watts while the latter is at 115 watts. Both also have lower idle power consumption.
Possible heating issue is a possible disadvantage of Intel Arc B580 in certain conditions. As an example, while playing Red Dead Redemption 2 at maximum settings and 1080p resolution, its temperature reached between 85 to 88 degrees Celsius. The higher thermal power board of 190 watts means that actual power consumption can lead to significant heat generation.
Hence, due to its higher thermal output, it necessitates efficient cooling solutions. This might mean that users need to ensure they have good case airflow, consider aftermarket cooling solutions, or opt for models with enhanced cooling systems if available to avoid thermal throttling and possible overheating. Custom cooling solutions like liquid cooling can address this issue.
Takeaway and Conclusion: Why the Intel Arc B580 is the Better Value-For-Money Discrete GPU Than AMD and Nvidia Counterparts
What sets Intel Arc B580 apart from its direct competitors like the AMD Radeon RX 7600 and Nvidia RTX 4060 is that it provides a higher price-to-performance ratio. Running several game titles shows that it can outperform its counterparts by at least 10 percent. This performance advantage comes from having a larger VRAM at 12GB. The alternatives from AMD and Nvidia only have 8GB. It also provides about 30 percent more performance per dollar compared to the RTX 4060 and also outcompetes the Radeon RX 7600 in terms of real-time ray tracing. It is still worth noting that the offerings from AMD and Nvidia have a better performance-per-watt ratio overall.