Intel Arc “Battlemage” Cards Are Here

Graphics cards are one of the many important components that make up your computer and are necessary to run your essential programs and favorite games. They can be expensive at times, testing the threshold of price to performance. Luckily, Intel has come back into the space with their Arc B580 series cards. Branding the product nomenclature of “Battlemage,” Intel comes out swinging with impressive results across the board.

Raw Specs

When the Intel A (Alchemist) series released, folks felt underwhelmed by their performance. Sure, they were able to perform and run games and applications at a fairly decent level of performance, but it didn’t come close to disrupting the status quo. One could say that Intel’s first venture into the world of graphics cards wasn’t strong or impactful, but it did offer some promise. Now, with the B580, Intel is doing well on that promise.

Taking a look at the Intel Arc B580 Limited Edition graphics card, the specs are unique. Intel threw in 20-Xe cores with 160 XMX AI Engines to boost performance up to the 2670 MHz clock speed on the 192-bit memory interface bus. Not only that, but it leverages Xe2 microarchitecture, 20 RT Units, and offers 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM, which places this card right in the mid-range area.

That’s not all either, the B580 uses Intel’s unique XeSS 2 technology which is a suite of processes designed to smooth out your gameplay. This includes XeSS Super Resolution, XeSS Frame Generation, and Xe Low Latency. XeSS Super Resolution and XeSS Frame Generation both use AI techniques to upscale your images while keeping frames smooth and balanced. Xe Low Latency provides faster response to various inputs to ensure that every action button you press counts.                   

Testing Phase

This all leads to increased performance with a focus on 1440p resolution, which is currently the sweet spot for enthusiasts looking to balance image quality with fidelity. In most cases, the B580 has outperformed the A750 in every game tested, making this incredibly promising.

According to Intel’s research and testing, an uplift is seen across the board. Demanding games like Dragon’s Dogma 2 comes in at 48 frames ser second (fps) with other demanding titles like The Last of Us Part 1 also hitting 48 fps. We start seeing games perform above 60 fps when we approach titles like Ghost of Tsushima using XeSS floating around 63 fps. Baldur’s Gate 3 hits 74 fps, Starfield hits 81 fps, Cyberpunk 2077 with XeSS hits a whopping 107 fps! This only improves when we have less demanding titles like Counter Strike 2 hitting 138 fps, Fortnite at 167 fps, and League of Legends averaging 564 fps. Across the entire lineup, we are seeing a performance gap between generations rising up to 24% on average. This is all tested with an Intel Core i9 14900K processor and 32GB of 5600 MHz DDR5 memory with XMP1 enabled.

When compared to the NVIDIA RTX 4060, another low-to-mid-range graphics card family, we are seeing fierce competition. In some cases, the RTX 4060 comes awfully close if not surpassing Intel’s offerings, but where Intel comes out strong is price-to-performance. Currently, the Intel Arc B580 Limited Edition GPU sits at a price point of $259.99, which is excellent when you measure the raw output of the card while the competition ranges to be over the $300 price mark in many cases. We can’t forget that you’re getting more VRAM, 12GB to be exact, which is going to help when it comes to more demanding games. In most cases, 8GB for 1440p gaming just isn’t enough especially if games are becoming more demanding as we have seen.               

Design & Partner Support

As covered before, Intel offers a Limited Edition of the B580 which incorporates a sleek black look with minimal colorization. Dual fans and thin heatsink keep the components nice and cool even under heavy stress. Additionally, the B580 runs quietly without impacting airflow, which is great for those who can be easily distracted by loud fans. Another nice touch is how the B580 uses a standard 8-pin connector to operate.

Naturally, the B580 Limited Edition card is not the only one on the market. Intel worked with several board partners to bring other variants to market. ASRock, Acer, and others are also developing their own variation of the B580, using the chipset as a baseline and developing some incredibly interesting housings. The ASRock B580 Challenger, for example, features a two-fan design while their B580 Steel Legend has an all-white design and triple-ARGB fans.

With more viable options hitting the market, gamers everywhere can rejoice knowing that they have additional, affordable choices when it comes to their next build. So, have you considered building your next system with an Intel graphics card? Or perhaps you’d like more details. If so, feel free to leave a comment or question below and we’ll do our best to answer!