Intel’s second-generation Xe2 Arc GPUs are real, and they may once again be an attractive option for gamers looking for a high-performance graphics card under $250. Confirming last week’s leaks, Intel today unveiled the $249 B580 Arc model and the slightly less powerful $219 B570, both of which are targeted at 1440fps gaming.
They feature new XeSS2 artificial intelligence capabilities (which will also appear on older Arc cards), including Super Resolution (as in the original XeSS), frame generation, and low-latency modes. The goal, according to Intel, is to provide more performance per dollar compared to NVIDIA’s $299 RTX 4060 and AMD’s Radeon 7600.
That’s a noble goal, but it’s also a repeat of what Intel tried to do with its previous Arc GPUs. We loved those cards, and the company was diligent in releasing driver updates, but that didn’t stop its overall GPU market share from falling to zero percent. I’m willing to bet that many gamers didn’t want to take a chance with Intel hardware and software when NVIDIA and AMD’s offerings were battle-tested and cost a bit more.
However, the increased power of the Xe2 cards could change the situation for Intel. The company claims that the B580 is 24% faster on average than its previous A750 Limited Edition GPU at 1440p with ultra graphics settings, and has a 10% advantage over NVIDIA’s RTX 4060. (Intel benchmarks show that the B580 is 43% faster than the RTX 4060 in Cyberpunk 2077, but at the same time it is almost 20% slower when playing RoboCop: Rogue City.)
