To Stand Out, Intel Arc GPUs Will Focus on Affordability

pcmag.com:

Intel’s first desktop gaming graphics cards are finally launching on Oct. 12. But the timing couldn’t be worse as Nvidia and AMD are preparing to release their own next-gen products. Meanwhile, GPU demand is in slump amid an economic downturn and a crypto-mining bust. 

However, Intel says its Arc graphics cards still have a shot at standing out in the market by hitting a “sweet spot” when it comes to offering the best price per performance, Intel graphics’ head Raja Koduri told PCMag on the sidelines of the Intel Innovation event in San Jose. 

The company’s strategy is already visible in the Arc A770, the most powerful GPU in the Arc line. Intel plans on selling it from Oct. 12 for only $329, a surprisingly low price, days after Nvidia announced that its own RTX 4000 series starts at $899 but goes as high as $1,599. 

However, the Arc A770 isn’t geared to compete against the most cutting-edge, premium gaming GPUs. The company’s own benchmarks for the Arc A770 suggest it’ll go head-to-head with Nvidia’s RTX 3060 and RTX 3060 Ti models, which start at $329 and $399, respectively.

This also means lntel will have nothing to rival Nvidia’s RTX 3070, 3080, 3090 or anything in the RTX 4000 series. But in response, Koduri says Intel’s strategy is to offer desktop graphics cards that can fulfill what gamers need. This includes offering ray-tracing and super-sampling features at an affordable price. 

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is also signaling the Arc series will try to stand out by focusing on affordability. “For a long time, we’ve been seeing the average price of GPUs is right in this $200 to $300 range. But what’s happened in the last few years? They’ve just gotten super expensive, and we don’t think they need to,” he said on