Intel Arc A580 vs Intel Arc A730M vs Intel Arc B580

The Intel Arc A580 is an affordable mid-range desktop GPU and is manufactured using the 6 nm process at TSMC. The Intel Arc A580 is also equipped with the DG2-512 graphics chip for the graphics processor, although this only has 3,072 shader units. The VRAM is based on 8 GB GDDR6 with a 256-bit interface (16 Gbps, 512 GB/s). This makes the Intel Arc A580 the third fastest graphics card model from Intel.

Features

Based on the Alchemist architecture, the Intel Arc A580 can rely on the same features as an Intel Arc A750 or an Intel Arc A770. Intel is extremely well positioned in the price range up to 200 euros with the Arc A580. AMD and Nvidia hardly have any suitable models in their portfolios in this price range. Features such as ray tracing are also supported and upscaling technologies such as XeSS can compete with DLSS and FSR. The latter can also be used on Intel graphics cards due to the open standard. With support for AV1, the graphics card is also interesting for content creators. Only the significantly more expensive Ada Lovelace models from Nvidia and the RDNA3 GPUs from AMD are currently capable of hardware-side encoding and decoding with the new codec.

Performance

The performance of the Intel Arc A580 is comparable to an AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT. The Intel Arc A580 can also keep up relatively well with an Intel Arc A750 in the internal duel. Newer games are somewhat more suited to the Intel Arc graphics cards. Nevertheless, many games can now be played well on Intel graphics cards and can be adapted well thanks to the constant driver improvements.

Power consumption

The power consumption of the Intel Arc A580 is estimated by the manufacturer at 175 watts (TGP). In terms of efficiency, however, the Intel Arc A580 is not convincing. Intel is at a disadvantage here compared to AMD and Nvidia. Whether this will change with the successor aka "Battlemage" remains to be seen.

The Intel Arc B580 Limited Edition is Intel's latest contribution to the GPU market and is aimed at gamers and content creators who value modern features and an attractive price-performance ratio. With the Battlemage architecture, the card offers numerous current technologies and improved performance with lower power consumption. In addition, the graphics card is a good choice for the price-conscious buyer due to its attractive price.

Features

Based on the Battlemage architecture, Intel has further improved the previous features and now delivers more performance than before. This means there is support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing with 20 RT cores for realistic lighting and shadows. XeSS (Xe Super Sampling) is also included and is the counterpart to AMD's FSR or Nvidia's DLSS technology. XeSS is Intel's AI-supported upscaling technology and improves performance without compromising image quality. However, implementation is the responsibility of the game manufacturers. There is also hardware support for the AV1 codec, which is ideal for efficient video streaming. On the connection side, HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.0 are comparatively well positioned.

Performance

The Intel Arc B580 is specially optimized for 1,080p and 1,440p gaming. It delivers smooth frame rates on high graphics settings for current AAA games. With 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 192-bit memory interface, it offers sufficient performance for demanding applications such as video editing and 3D rendering.

In comparison, the Intel Arc B580 can compete with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 and the AMD Radeon RX 7600. It can show a significant increase in performance, especially in games that support XeSS. The ray tracing performance is better than that of direct competitors in the same price range.

Power consumption

With a TDP of 190 watts, the Intel Arc B580 is not quite as economical as an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 or the AMD Radeon RX 7600. However, compared to an Intel Arc A580, the Intel Arc B580 performs significantly better and shows that Intel is steering development in the right direction.