Intel Arc B580
December, 2024Type
Graphics CardPrice
$249Conclusion - The Best $250 Mainstream GPU
Intel has finally launched a second-generation Arc discrete graphics card, the Battlemage Arc B580. The graphics card is positioned strongly in the mainstream segment which has honestly been very lackluster with AMD's & NVIDIA's offerings in their current gen lineup. Intel took this opportunity & is now offering the B580 at $249 US which makes it a very strong product for gamers.
Looking at the performance figures, the Intel Arc B580 Limited Edition competes well against the products it is designed to tackle such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, and even outpaces the Arc A770 16 GB graphics card in some titles. These are due to the architectural optimizations and fixes enabled in the Battlemage Xe2 architecture. The graphics card is designed to be a 1080p gaming solution but also does well at 1440p thanks to its 12 GB VRAM.
In terms of design, the Intel Arc B580 Limited Edition is a fantastic graphics card, rocking the dual-slot and dual-fan design in a sleek black design with excellent cooling and it even rocks a traditional 8-pin connector so no 16-pin connector fuss with this card. The graphics card does come with a PCI Express 4.0 x8 interface which is enough for a product of this tier. Maybe we'll see Gen5 or x16 lane used on a higher-end variant in the future.
The biggest update that Battlemage brings with it is a stronger software suite and driver support. We encountered no major issues with the Arc B580 throughout our testing. The GPU software ran great and Intel should be applauded for its commitment to the software side for the Arc family. In addition to that, the Battlemage family brings with its XeSS2 support with technologies such as frame generation and low-latency modes which will soon be enabled in a range of AAA games. It's not only discrete GPUs but the integrated Xe2 family that will take advantage of these features & that's a big plus for PC gamers and handheld/mobility users.
Pricing-wise, the Intel Arc B580 at $249 US is competitive enough to become the next-budget king. No other card at this price point offers the same level of performance coupled with 12 GB of VRAM. It leads against the RTX 4060 by enough of a margin and at a lower price point, making it great value & while NVIDIA is on the verge of launching its RTX 50 "Blackwell" lineup, we shouldn't expect an RTX 4060 replacement anytime soon. This gives Intel Arc B580 enough time to gain ground and win some market share that Intel has so desperately longed for.
The things we loved about the Intel Arc B580 graphics card:
- Fantastic Value
- Great LE Cooler
- 12 GB VRAM
- Great Performance at 1080p, and even does well at 1440p
- XeSS2 support with frame-gen & low-latency mode
- HDMI 2.1 & DP 2.1 Support
- Driver & software support significantly improved
- 3 GHz+ OC & fan curve support is great
Things that we would have liked to see:
- Idle & average power could be lower
- More games with XeSS2 support
With the Intel Arc B580, Intel is now back in the discrete graphics segment with an even stronger offering which is a great buy for budget and mainstream audiences.
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