Intel Launches Arc B580 12 GB & B570 10 GB “Battlemage” GPUs For $249 & $219, Faster RT Than RTX 4060 & 10% Faster On Average

Intel has finally unveiled its next-generation Arc B580 and B570 “Battlemage” GPUs, which are targeted at mainstream gamers under $250 US.

Intel Battlemage Debuts With Sub-$250 US Pricing, B580 12 GB For $249 & B570 10 GB For $219 US

It has been two years since Intel released its first discrete graphics card lineup, the Alchemist A-Series. Today, the company is unveiling its second-generation discrete graphics line based on the Xe2 architecture, the Battlemage B-Series. The Battlemage lineup debuts with the BMG-G21 SoC, which is targeted at mainstream gamers and eyes the 1440p/1080p segment. We have already laid out the technical aspects of the Xe2 architecture which was first utilized by the Lunar Lake SoC & now, the architecture gets its first performance outing.

Starting with the details of the Xe2-based BMG-G21 SoC, the chip features a maximum of five render slices which include four Xe2 cores each for a total of 20 Xe2 cores. Each Xe2 core has 8 512-bit vector engines, 8 2048-bit XMX engines, 64b atomic ops support, and an upgraded 256KB L1$/SLM cache. The Xe2 cores also include a dedicated RT (Ray Tracing) unit, and each render slice carries four Sampler, Geometry, Rasterizer, HiZ, and two Pixel Backend blocks.

The BMG-G21 SoC measures 272mm2 and features a total of 19.6 million transistors, making it 33% smaller than the Alchemist ACM-G10 die which featured 21.7 million transistors. The chip itself has been fabricated on the TSMC 5nm (N5) process node.

According to Intel, the Battlemage BMG-G21 discrete GPU offers an incredible 70% performance improvement per Xe core and a 50% performance per watt uplift versus the prior generation. The updated Xe2 IP leads to lower execution time versus the Alchemist architecture, allowing for better utilization of the silicon and faster performance than its predecessors. So, with the architecture bits out of the way, let’s start with the hardware.

Today, Intel is announcing two variants of its Battlemage B-Series lineup, the Arc B580 and the Arc B570. Both of these chips are based on the same BMG-G21 SoC with slightly different specs & price points.

Intel Arc B580 GPU Specifications – 20 Xe2 Cores & 12 GB VRAM

The Intel Arc B580 graphics card is the top offering for now, with up to 20 Xe2 cores packed in 5 render slices with 20 RT units, 160 XMX AI Engines, and a clock speed of up to 2670 MHz. The card includes 12 GB of GDDR6 memory running across a 192-bit interface and offers a bandwidth of up to 456 GB/s.

The card has a peak TBP of 190W and is powered by a single 8-pin connector and uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface. The GPU supports all the latest HW acceleration engines such as AV1, HEVC, AVC, VP9, and XAVC-H and comes with three DP2.1 (UHBR13.5) & one HDMI 2.1 output.

Intel Arc B570 GPU Specifications – 18 Xe2 Cores & 10 GB VRAM

The second card is the Intel Arc B570 which features 18 Xe2 cores with 5 render slices, 18 RT units, 144 XMX AI Engines, a clock speed of up to 2500 MHz, 10 GB of GDDR6 memory running across a 160-bit interface, and a peak bandwidth of 380 GB/s. The card comes with a 150W TBP and has the same connectivity specs as the B580.

Intel Arc B580 & B570 “Battlemage” GPU Performance

In terms of performance, the Intel Arc B580 is claimed to be 24% faster than the Arc A750 on average, which is a decent uplift considering the Arc A750 was priced at the same $249 price. Meanwhile, compared to the competition, the Intel Arc B580 is said to be 10% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, which sells for around $50 US more while featuring 8 GB VRAM.

Other comparative points made by Intel include a look at both raster and ray tracing performance versus the competition from NVIDIA (RTX 4060) and AMD (RX 7600). The Arc B580 offers up to 32% faster rasterization performance at a lower price point while delivering faster RT performance than the competition.

The extra VRAM does help Intel’s case of marketing this as a 1440p card. With 10+ GB VRAM, the Arc B580 and B570 graphics cards can enable faster performance when running at higher texture quality or RT quality. Intel offering higher VRAM to gamers at mainstream prices is a solid move to attract the gaming masses who have been waiting to upgrade to higher VRAM options in the sub $250 US segment.

Arc B580 For $249 & Arc B570 For $219

As for availability, the Intel Arc B580 will retail for $249 US on the 13th of December with various options to select from, including a Limited Edition flavor, while the Intel Arc B570 will be available starting 16th January 2025 for $219 US on a wide variety of custom models.

The Intel Arc B580 “Battlemage” Limited Edition graphics card features a brand new cooling and shroud design with a dual-slot and dual-fan form factor, offering solid performance outside the box, increased airflow, and whisper-quiet operation while offering overclocking capabilities beyond 3 GHz.

Intel Arc Battlemage GPU Lineup