Intel Arc A770 Launching Oct. 12, Starting at $329

Intel will launch its Arc A770 gaming-grade GPU on October 12, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced at the company's Intel Innovation conference. Pricing will start at $329, going head to head with Nvidia's RTX 3060 on theoretical pricing, and taking on the RX 6650 XT on street prices. Depending on performance, Intel's A770 might even have a shot at the best graphics cards.

Gelsinger claimed that the A770 will offer 65% better peak performance in ray tracing than the "competition," though specific cards weren't mentioned as rivals. (Previously, Intel has specifically mentioned the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060). In a tweet after the announcement, Intel also called out "up to 2x performance uplift" thanks to XeSS.

An RTX 3060 comparison is apt. The $329 starting price is the same as what Nvidia claims for that GPU, though that changes depending on what features are added by third party card vendors. GPU prices have been in tremendous flux right now as miners ditch their graphics cards following Ethereum's move away from proof of work.

However, Nvidia's lowest cost RTX 30-series cards remain overpriced, with the lowest priced RTX 3050 starting at $289, and the RTX 3060 starts at $369. AMD's RX 6650 XT starts at $339 online and beats the RTX 3060 in non-RT performance.

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The A770's release date had been something of a mystery in recent weeks, as rumors suggested it was canceled (clearly not the case) and Intel technically missed the "Summer 2022" window. Just over a week ago, Gelsinger posted a tweet saying they were coming to market soon (and that he had one), but provided few other details.

Gelsinger claims that cards are in the mail to reviewers. That aligns with recent rumors that unboxings may be allowed on Sept. 30 and reviews will be allowed on Oct. 5, though we'll have to see what of that comes true. Check back in a few days and we'll see if we have a card!

This very public announcement suggests some confidence in the card. Previously, the Arc A380 was launched exclusively in China. That launch was plagued by driver issues and it faced poor reviews when it reached reviewers' hands. 

We'll see soon, whenever reviewers are able to publish, just how well the Arc A770 performs. The company clearly isn't gunning for the top-end of the GPU hierarchy, but it's bringing more competition into the mid-level.