Intel Arc Alchemist, also known as Intel’s first serious venture into discrete graphics for gamers, is finally here. While the GPUs can’t hope to compete with some of AMD’s and Nvidia’s best graphics cards, they can stand their own ground in the midrange market, and they’re priced very competitively to make up for the fact that they won’t replace your new RTX 4090 or even your old RTX 3080.
Contents
- How much does the Intel Arc A770 cost?
- How much does the Intel Arc A750 cost?
- How much does the Intel Arc A580 cost?
- How much does the Intel Arc A380 cost?
- Which Intel Arc Alchemist GPU should you buy?
Intel’s lineup right now includes the flagship Arc A770, which is supposed to be available with either 8GB or 16GB memory. Then, there’s the Arc A750 and the entry-level Arc A380. Below, we’ll explore their pricing, availability, and, most importantly, which one is worth spending your money on.
How much does the Intel Arc A770 cost?
When Intel Arc was still in its development phase, many had big hopes for the GPUs. Time altered these expectations, and we now know that the flagship Arc A770 can compete against Nvidia’s RTX 3060, and at times, it lands close to the RTX 3060 Ti; any mentions of trading blows with the RTX 3070 Ti were nothing but a pipe dream. Intel knew that this would be the case, and for that reason, it devised a plan on how to wiggle its way into the two-horse race that is the GPU market: setting competitive prices.
In our own testing of the GPU, we found that Intel’s pricing strategy is working, and the Arc A770 can certainly hold its ground against the RTX 3060 while remaining cheaper to buy.
Let’s take a look at the specs of the Intel flagship.
Intel Arc A770 16GB
Intel Arc A770 8GB
Cores
32 Xe-Cores
32 Xe-Cores
RT cores
32
32
Bandwidth
512Gbps
512Gbps
Boost clock
2.1GHz
2.1GHz
Memory bus
256-bit
256-bit
Memory
16GB GDDR6
8GB GDDR6
TBP
225W
225W
The official MSRP of the Intel Arc A770 16GB is just $349. The GPU is now up for grabs at some online retailers, including . There’s the Intel Arc A770 16GB Limited Edition, which is Intel’s own version of the GPU, but there are also a couple of custom models made by Intel’s board partners.
Acer released the Predator BiFrost Intel Arc A770 OC 16G, with a considerably higher boost clock of up to 2.4GHz. However, the price should be enough to send you running back in Nvidia’s direction because the GPU costs more than $700 at the time of writing.
Intel itself doesn’t make 8GB versions of the Arc A770, but ASRock has a Phantom Gaming Arc A770 8GB up for grabs, priced at $329.
Ultimately, Intel’s own version is going to be the way to go here, but there might be new custom versions of the Arc A770 coming out in the future. It all depends on which one you might be able to find in stock at the time; expect these GPUs to be sold out every now and then until the demand for them normalizes.
How much does the Intel Arc A750 cost?
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Intel Arc A750 is Intel’s second-best (or third, if you count the 8GB Arc A770) graphics card. It comes with worse specs than the flagship, but not so much that it would have much worse performance. In fact, in our tests, the GPU outperformed the RTX 3060 by a small margin — not in every benchmark, mind you, but on average.
Intel Arc A750
Cores
28 Xe-Cores
RT cores
28
Boost clock
2.1GHz
Memory bus
256-bit
Memory
16GB GDDR6
TBP
225W
Intel made sure to give this GPU a reasonable price, too. Its list price was set to $290, and this applies to Intel’s own version of the card. Considering that the Arc A770 costs $60 more, if you’ve got the budget to spare, you’re better off just getting that one — but for budget-friendly builds, the Arc A750 will do fine, too.
Once again, Newegg has the Arc A750 up for sale. The Intel Limited Edition Arc A750 costs $290, which is the exact same price as the custom ASRock Challenger Arc A750.
Much like for the Arc A770, these GPUs may frequently be out of stock, but things should settle down over time.
How much does the Intel Arc A580 cost?
Intel
We’re breaking into the mystery territory here with the Intel Arc A580 because, unfortunately, no one knows yet how much this GPU is going to cost. Intel announced its specifications, but it didn’t launch alongside the flagship Arc A770 and the Arc A750. We expect it to appear soon enough, but we don’t know many details about Intel’s plans for this card.
Intel Arc A580
Cores
24 Xe-Cores
RT cores
24
Boost clock
1.7GHz
Memory bus
256-bit
Memory
8GB GDDR6
TBP
175W
Intel Arc A580 is likely to compete with Nvidia’s RTX 3050 and will be a budget graphics card. We expect it to be priced in the $180 to $250 range, but this is just speculation right now.
How much does the Intel Arc A380 cost?
Shenmedounengce
When it comes to the Intel Arc A380, things are even stranger. This entry-level card was the first desktop GPU from the lineup to be launched, but Intel initially only released it in China in what felt like very small quantities. Now, the GPU is here, kind of, in theory. Newegg sells two versions of the Arc A380, one of which is much too expensive to be worth the money.
We don’t know when Intel will release the card in any greater capacity, and it is yet to share an official global list price for the Arc A380.
Intel Arc A380
Cores
8 Xe-Cores
RT cores
8
Boost clock
2GHz
Memory bus
96-bit
Memory
6GB GDDR6
TBP
75W
If you want to grab this card, you can find the Gunnir Intel Arc A380 priced at $228 and the ASRock Challenger Arc A380 at a much more reasonable $140; the latter appears to be sold out.
Which Intel Arc Alchemist GPU should you buy?
Intel’s staggered launch strategy makes this question a fairly easy one to answer. While the Arc A380 is available to some (small) extent, the Arc A580 is not around yet at all. This means that you effectively have three GPUs to decide between: the Arc A770 16GB, Arc A770 8GB, and Arc A750.
Between the Arc A770 16GB and 8GB versions, there’s not much of a contest. The 16GB version will undoubtedly be a better pick as long as the extra $20 is not a problem. Doubling the memory size for just $20 makes the 16GB A770 a much better deal.
Comparing the Arc A770 to the A750 is a little bit more difficult. The A770 is certainly a better GPU, but the A750 still manages to impress us as a reasonable, budget-friendly offer. As such, it all comes down to the price you’re willing to spend on your new graphics card.
If you want to keep things budget-conscious but don’t mind spending more to gain better value, we recommend trying to pick up the Arc A770 when it’s in stock. However, if you’re building a cheaper computer and want to make some savings, you won’t see a massive step down if you go ahead and get the Arc A750. They’re both solid GPUs, and while they have their flaws, they certainly are priced in a way that makes them good value.