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Windows Central

Technology

Sean Endicott

Intel just announced its Battlemage GPUs, and I can't decide if I'm more excited about the performance or prices

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What you need to know

Intel Arc B-Series graphics cards, also known as Battlemage, have been announced.
The Intel Arc B580 and B570 aim to deliver 1440p gaming at prices that are more affordable than competing cards from NVIDIA and AMD.
The Intel Arc B580 will start shipping on December 13, 2024, with a starting price of $249, and the Intel Arc B570 will become available on January 16, 2024, with prices starting at $219.

Intel just unveiled its Arc B580 and Arc B570 GPUs. The new graphics cards, which are codenamed Battlemage, are built on Intel's Xe2 graphics architecture. Both GPUs are built for gamers who want 1440p performance without having to spend a ton of money. The Intel Arc B580 starts at $249 and will be available on December 13, 2024, and the Intel Arc B570 launches a bit later on January 16, 2024, with a starting price of $219.

As the names suggest, the Arc B580 is a bit more powerful than its sibling. The Arc B580 has 20 Xe-cores, 20 ray tracing units, and 12GB of DDR6 memory. The Arc B570 has 18 Xe-cores, 18 ray tracing units, and 10GB of GDDR6 memory. Notably, even the more affordable Arc B570 has more memory bandwidth than the NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT. Those graphics cards from NVIDIA and AMD also target 1440p gaming.

"The new Intel Arc B-Series GPUs are the perfect upgrades for gamers," said Intel Vice President and General Manager of Client Graphics Vivian Lien. "They deliver leading performance-per-dollar and great 1440p gaming experiences with XeSS 2, second-generation ray tracing engines and XMX AI engines. We’re delighted to be joined by more partners than ever so that gamers have more choice in finding their perfect design."

Intel Battlemage performance and features

Both of Intel's new graphics cards are built on the Intel Xe2 graphics architecture, which promises improved efficiency and higher performance per core than the previous generation. Those Xe2 cores also have XMX AI engines, are better at ray tracing, and perform mesh shading better than their predecessors.

XeSS, which is Intel's answer to NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR, has received upgrades as well.

XeSS 2 has three technologies to improve the gaming experience: XeSS Super Resolution, XeSS Frame Generation, and Xe Low Latency. XeSS Super Resolution, which was also available with the first generation of XeSS, uses AI to upscale games. The feature supports over 150 titles at the moment.

XeSS Frame Generation adds interpolated frames to make games more fluid, while Xe Low Latency results in faster responses to gamer inputs. When you use all three of the technologies that are part of XeSS 2, you should see up to 3.9x better performance in the best PC games.

Intel claims that its Arc B-Series GPUs offer 70% better performance per core and 50% more performance per watt than the previous generation of graphics cards. Specifically, the B580 is 24% faster on average at 1440p gaming than the Intel Arc A750. The company notes that the B580 is up to 78% faster than the Arc A750 in some games, though most titles won't see that level of performance increase.

1440p gaming at ultra settings should be more affordable, assuming Intel's new GPUs deliver in real-world usage.

The announcement of the new Battlemage graphics cards comes at a tumultuous time for Intel. The company's CEO just retired abruptly, though reports suggest he was forced out.