Intel is marketing the Arc B580. That’s a full-fledged GPU for desktops that would surpass the Nvidia RTX 4060. Only: is anyone waiting for an Intel GPU in the entry-level segment?
Intel is launching the Arc B580 GPU. That graphics card made for desktops gets a suggested retail price of $249 in the U.S. and is said to outperform the popular Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060. That’s good news on the one hand: Intel is showing that it can make a GPU for the masses at a competitive price tag. On the other hand, it’s not exactly a spectacular accomplishment: the Nvidia GeForce 40 series is now more than two years old.
Intel has been unloading occasional entry-level GPUs since 2023, such as the Arc Pro series for workstations and the regular Arc A cards for the general public. All GPUs are built on the proprietary Xe architecture. That Intel developed to compete with Nvidia and AMD in the lucrative professional GPU and data center market.
Moderate
Only Intel’s discrete GPUs don’t really hit the ground running, and the Arc B580 does little to change that. The card has 18 Xe cores, 12 GB of memory and a TDP of 190 watts. We can do something with that, but Intel does not at all illustrate that it wants or can be a great challenger to Nvidia by launching an acceptable mid-range GPU. Challenging Nvidia is done at the top end of the lineup. There is already competition around the GeForce RTX 4060, particularly from AMD.
In addition, Nvidia is brooding on an RTX 50 lineup. That would still appear in the first half of next year. Once Jensen Huang unloads those cards, the Intel Arc B580 will be dated. That Intel has taken so long to bring this card to the general public doesn’t inspire much confidence that way.
Thus, at the moment, it remains a bit unclear exactly what Intel is coming to look for in the GPU market. Next year, we are basically still looking forward to the professional Falcon Shores chip, which will combine GPU and CPU. However, Falcon Shores has also been delayed quite a bit. With CEO Pat Gelsinger unexpectedly stepping down, Intel’s future plans seem more uncertain than ever. The Arc B580 does little to signal a clear direction or ambition for the company.