Not too long ago, the notion of Intel getting into the world of discrete graphics cards seemed ludicrous. Intel?! The same company that killed its last major GPU project in 2009 and spent the 2010s focusing on weak integrated graphics? The same one that turned to AMD when it needed a decent GPU to sit alongside its CPU for enthusiast laptops?
But after tempting Raja Koduri away from AMD, the engineer who spearheaded the powerful-yet-inexpensive Radeon RX480, it started to seem like Intel was finally getting serious about gaming GPUs. Since then, the company's new Xe graphics have beefed up its notebook CPUs and popped up in the DG1 card for developers.
Intel Arc A750
Pros
- Low launch price
- Solid mid-range performance
- Decent ray tracing for the price
Cons
- Only 8GB of VRAM
- Final pricing still uncertain
- Long term support is unclear
Intel Arc A770
Pros
- Affordable launch price
- excellent mid-range performance
- Solid ray tracing for the price
Cons
- Final pricing still uncertain
- Long term support is unclear
Gallery: Intel Arc A750 and A770 | 7 Photos
Gallery: Intel Arc A750 and A770 | 7 Photos
Now comes the real test: Can Koduri and the Intel crew actually make GPUs gamers will want? After spending some time with the Arc A750 and A770 , it's clear that the company has developed cards that can easily take on NVIDIA and AMD's alternatives. But most importantly, they're aiming to deliver that power a lower price. The A750 is launching at $289, while the A770 starts at $329 (with a Limited Edition card at $349).
Theoretically, that puts the A770 on par with the RTX 3060's original price. But thanks to the wild GPU market, NVIDIA's card currently goes for around $400. We've yet to see how retailers will price Intel's cards, but the company's representatives have claimed they're pushing stores to stick to their low launch pricing. If that's the case, Intel's Arc GPUs will end up being something truly rare in the video card world today: good deals.
I was impressed the moment I opened the Arc A750 and A770 boards sent for review. After testing Intel's recent NUC Extreme systems, I was expecting some fairly practical-yet-dull gamer chic. But these cards are genuinely sleek. They're well-built, have a finger print-free matte finish, and aside from the modest LEDs around the A770's fans, there's no annoying bling in sight. These certainly don't feel like Intel's first consumer graphics cards. They're more like stealth bombers built with the express purpose of obliterating NVIDIA and AMD's price-performance ratios.
Powering these beauties is the latest evolution of Intel's "Alchemist" Xe graphics architecture. The Arc A750 features 28 Xe cores, 28 ray tracing units, a 2,050 MHz clock speed and 8GB of GDDR6 RAM. The A770 doubles that memory and has more power across the board: 32 Xe cores and ray tracing units, as well as a 2.1 GHz speed. Both cards have a 225W TDP, which means they will end up drawing more power and heat than the 170W RTX 3060. (I typically saw them hit around 76C under heavy load, six degrees more than NVIDIA's card.)
Timespy Extreme | Hitman 3 | Luxmark Luxball HDR | |
|---|---|---|---|
Intel Arc A770 | 6,718 | 117 fps (144 with XeSS) | 52,055 |
Intel Arc A750 | 6,355 | 110 fps (135 with XeSS) | 49,854 |
NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti | 5,408 | 124 fps | 45,900 |
NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti | 6,842 | 155 fps | 53,114 |
AMD Radeon 6600XT | 3,973 | 94 fps | 22,567 |
I figured the beefier Arc A770 would outmatch the RTX 3060 Ti (I didn't have a chance to review the 3060 at launch), but I was genuinely surprised by how well both cards faired in our benchmarks. The A750 scored over 900 more points than the 3060 Ti in the 3DMark Time Spy Extreme benchmark, landing just above the the RTX 3070. I was also able to hit 74 fps while playing Halo Infinite in 1440p with all of the graphics settings maxed out. That's not at all what I expected from a GPU under $300.
