Intel to the rescue of mainstream PC gamers?
These GPUs are targeting mainstream, affordable price points.
Xe2 Battlemage architecture
The Arc B580 and B570 use Intel’s greatly overhauled Xe 2 architecture.
Intel is claiming a 70% performance improvement per Xe Core, along with a 50% performance-per-watt improvement.
Ultimately, Intel isclaiminga 70% performance improvement per Xe Core, along with a 50% performance-per-watt improvement.
There’s also 18MB of L2 cache and a 192-bit GDDR6 memory interface.
But these cores benefit from not only that architectural overhaul but also much faster clock speeds.
On the other hand, the memory subsystem isn’t as strong.
It’s certainly far superior to 8GB, which is quickly becoming insufficient even for mainstream gaming.
Clock speeds are also 6% lower than the B580, at 2,500 MHz.
Total bandwidth is 17% lower than the B580, at 380 GB/s.
Performance claims (Intel’s own testing)
Where does all of this leave performance?
That’s the big question going into any significant architectural overhaul.
The comparison Intel is making between Alchemist and Battlemage is the battle between the A750 and B580.
Most of the titles shown here are able to hit 60 FPS or more using 1440p Ultra parameters.
This correlates well withour testingfor the A750 and Intel’s claims relative to that part.
Another factor is the prospect of incoming next-generation Nvidia and AMD GPUs.
We suspect this could mean price cuts down the line.
The Arc B570 is also in a weird position.
It’s launching a month later for $220, which is 12% less than the B580.
That’s all the information we have about Battlemage hardware for now.
Fingers crossed it lives up to expectations when we get to testing it over the next week or so.
