Instead of comparing itself to the most powerful processors on the market, Intel compares itself to another segment
In early 2022, Intel first unveiled its first GPU for gamers. After years of insisting on built-in and weak graphics processing units, which allowed AMD and NVIDIA to dominate the market, Intel decided to go deeper into the gaming field and unveiled the Intel Arc A Series. After very long months of quiet in the sector, Intel is finally revealing preliminary information on the performance of the new processors – but not necessarily one that will please heavy gamers.
Compares itself to the cheap NVIDIA processor
In a new video uploaded by Intel, the company introduces for the first time the Arc A750, the most advanced version of its first series, which will come with 24/32 cores and processing units with 12/16 GB of GDDR6 memory. The graphics processor is connected to a computer with very nice hardware: a 12900K i9 processor, an Asus Maximus Z690 motherboard, 32GB of DDR5 memory and a CrossMair NVMe storage.
During this very short video, the marketing manager of Arc at Intel runs Cyberpunk 2077, a heavy game by all accounts. It switches the settings to High Quality and a resolution of 2560 × 1440, and immediately activates the game’s built-in benchmark option. The results are a little below 60 frames per second – which are not bad results at all, but probably far from the expectations of gamers who hoped for real news in the graphic field, one that will make them open their wallets and jump to a new and unfamiliar platform.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uctDN9uYcXI
Next, Intel directly compares the A750, which is one of the most powerful processors it is about to launch, to the GeForce RTX 3060, one of Nvidia’s intermediate processors. According to Intel, its debut processor achieves improved performance of up to about 20% compared to a competitor in games like F1 2021, Control, Borderlands 3 and Fortnite.
There is still potential for good news
Now that Intel itself has cooled the technical enthusiasm around the first generation of Intel Arc, the main advantage it has left is the price point. If it turns Arc into a relatively accessible graphics processor that will save gamers several thousand shekels, even without pushing the level of performance to new heights, it could still prove to be a very interesting alternative in the market.
However, it is hard to say that we are optimistic in this sector as well. First, because Intel has always emphasized its technological capabilities and has not played in the price segment. And second, over the weekend it was reported that Intel has informed its OEMs (the various manufacturers that are actually its customers in the field of laptops and PCs) about an expected price increase of its flagship processors, alongside other chips it manufactures. According to the report, the new prices have not yet been set but may climb up to 20%, in light of the increase in the prices of raw materials, shipping and more. At the same time, under the auspices of inflation, there are reports around the world of the return of dedicated graphics processors to stock at reasonable prices, so overall – everything is still open in terms of Arc pricing.
Meanwhile, the first laptops that come with the mobile version of Arc processors are receiving a rather chilly welcome by critics, who claim weaker performance than RTX 3050 models, bugs, glitches and other glitches. It all makes a lot of sense in first-generation products, especially as they are more ambitious, but Intel does not have too much leeway in this sector, and if it wants to capture the hearts of GPU gamers that it is so unidentified with, it needs to bring a mature, successful product. And at a price that will make the jump worthwhile.
A good old age
Born with a joystick in hand. He has far too many gadgets and far too little free time to play with them all. An unexplained hammer holder for calibrating device batteries. When he’s not busy writing about technology, he likes to talk about it, and a lot
