Intel Launches Arc A380 Desktop Graphics Card in China
Launch partners include Acer, ASUS, Gigabyte, HP, and MSI.
Today Intel launched its first discrete desktop graphics card based on the Intel Xe High Performance Graphics (Xe HPG) microarchitecture. The launch starts by introducing the Intel Arc A380 graphics card, which Intel says addresses the needs of "mainstream gamers and content creators." It must be mentioned that this product will roll out in China first (this month) with availability rolling out globally during the summer. Intel's MSRP in China is 1,030 yuan including VAT (~$150). Since China adds VAT at 13% we might infer a US listing price of $134.
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Arc A380 Specifications |
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GPU config |
Xe HPG architecture, 8 Xe Cores, 8 RT units, 128 XMX Engines |
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GPU base clock |
2.0 GHz |
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Memory |
6GB GDDR6 at 16 Gbps |
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Memory bus |
96-bit |
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Memory bandwidth |
192 GB/s |
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Support |
Ray Tracing, VRS, DX12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.3, Adaptive Sync, up to 4x displays, H.264 and H.265 and AV1 hardware encode/decode, VP9 Bitstream & Decoding, Intel Deep Link technologies |
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Ports |
eDP 1.4, DP 2.0 up to UHBR 10, HDMI 2.1, HDMI 2.0b |
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TDP |
75W |
Intel provides some interesting performance comparisons, which could help sell these cards. In the small print of the press release you can see that it did some comparative benchmarking in 11 popular games. Intel took a Windows 11 system with an Intel Core i5-12600K, MSI Pro Z690-A WIFI, 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 @ 3200MHz, MP600 Pro XT 4TB SSD and switched between its new Arc A380 desktop graphics card, and AMD's Radeon RX 6400. The RX 6400 retails for approximately 15% more than the Arc A380 in China.
At 1080p and medium settings, the following performance advantages for Intel's A380 were observed: Naraka Bladepoint (27%), JX Remake (27%), F1 2021 (26%), Rust (24%), Total Saga: Troy (22%), The Witcher 3 (22%), Arcadegeddon (21%), Metro Exodus (18%), NiZhan (16%), Wolfenstein: Youngblood (15%), Destiny 2 (14%).
Taking together all these results, and the Chinese retail prices, Intel surmises that its A380 "delivers up to 25% better performance per yuan."
With the kind of performance touted, and better pricing, it would be hard to ignore Intel's performance advantages and fully featured support for modern gaming and media technologies. However, it is still an upstart in this arena, and we all know the importance of solid, optimized, and regularly updated drivers to deliver on hardware promises.
To prepare for the Arc A380 launch, the Intel Graphics Driver 30.0.101.1736 has been released. This driver is good for anyone using 12th Gen Intel Core processor iGPUs, Arc graphics, and is specifically flagged as the "Launch driver for Intel Arc A380 Graphics (Codename Alchemist)." So, if you are lucky enough to snag one of these cards soon, you should head over and download and install this.
As well as supporting the new graphics cards Intel has implemented "Game On driver support," for Redout 2, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard on Arc GPUs.
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A few hours ago we reported on a Gunnir branded Arc A380 graphics card surfacing in China. However, there will be several more familiar partners launching their take on the A380 design. Intel says we will see cards from familiar partners such as Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte, as well as PC OEMs like Acer and HP.
The Arc A380 is expected to be joined by the A310 in the lower-echelon A300 series but enthusiasts and more demanding gamers will be looking with greater interest at the Arc A500 and A700 series graphics cards with significantly beefier GPUs and more, faster memory.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
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-Fran- Hm... $140 is really close to the RX6400, but looks like this may be a better price/performance assuming the drivers are good enough. Plus, it has slightly more VRAM, so that's always a plus, I guess? As always, wait for proper benchies, but maybe there's a new "low end budget king". Let's hope Intel delivers.Reply
Regards. -
lightofhonor Reply
It's also a double slot card and runs at 75W vs 53W single slot. Will be interesting to see a wider range of tests.-Fran- said:Hm... $140 is really close to the RX6400, but looks like this may be a better price/performance assuming the drivers are good enough. Plus, it has slightly more VRAM, so that's always a plus, I guess? As always, wait for proper benchies, but maybe there's a new "low end budget king". Let's hope Intel delivers.
Regards. -
BillyBuerger Hopefully that price holds when released in the US. Maybe that will help push down the price of other GPUs. The RX6500 should really be priced about the same as this which might make a good match up between them.Reply -
JarredWaltonGPU Reply
I'm guessing this will be closer to the RX 6400 in gaming performance, but we'll see how it goes. I'm definitely interested in testing one and am trying to get ahold of a card. It speaks volumes that Intel isn't launching this in the US first, though!BillyBuerger said:Hopefully that price holds when released in the US. Maybe that will help push down the price of other GPUs. The RX6500 should really be priced about the same as this which might make a good match up between them. -
artk2219 ReplyJarredWaltonGPU said:I'm guessing this will be closer to the RX 6400 in gaming performance, but we'll see how it goes. I'm definitely interested in testing one and am trying to get ahold of a card. It speaks volumes that Intel isn't launching this in the US first, though!
I agree, that was also my first thought, then again, gaming cafe's are a MUCH bigger thing there, and this fits solidly in with the PC's they're likely to have at those cafe's, so maybe they're just launching it where its likely to do better as an upgrade card for machines coming from like a GTX 1050 or RX 550? -
TheOtherOne Reply
Don't worry, scalpers got all your concerns about pricing already covered! :devilish:BillyBuerger said:Hopefully that price holds when released in the US. Maybe that will help push down the price of other GPUs. The RX6500 should really be priced about the same as this which might make a good match up between them. -
escksu ReplyAdmin said:Pre-VAT price in China is approximately 900 yuan or $134. Intel claims up to 25% better 1080p performance than the Radeon RX 6400, while undercutting the price of AMD's entry-level RDNA 2 graphics card by ~15%.
Intel Launches Arc A380 Desktop Graphics Card in China : Read more
If this is really the case, its a good deal!! -
escksu Replybolweval said:hope they make a SFF version...
Yes I also hope they have a 1/2 height SFF version. Can put int slim cases. I can use it for light gaming in a small case. -
escksu Replylightofhonor said:It's also a double slot card and runs at 75W vs 53W single slot. Will be interesting to see a wider range of tests.
IMHO, 20W extra is still ok since this is intended as a low cost, low end desktop card. Coupled with 65W CPUs, a 300W PSU Will power the PC nicely.
Of course, it won't cut it for demanding games but those like CS, DOTA etc should not be a problem.