Arc B580 surprises in content creation review: Intel’s 12GB GPU is more than a match for the competition, but driver issues dampened my enthusiasm
- $250 GPU card is competitive with both the GeForce 4060 and RX 7600 on numerous benchmarks
- However, both will be replaced by new models launching at CES 2025
- Driver updates from Intel will hopefully improve the B580’s performance even further
More than two years after the first release of discrete GPUs, Intel has launched the Arc B580 “Battlemage,” marking its second generation of dedicated graphics cards.
The B580, which will be sold primarily through add-in-board (AIB) partners such as Maxon, Sparkle and ASRock, features Intel’s updated Xe2 architecture.
It offers efficiency improvements and second-generation Ray Tracing Units (RTUs) alongside improved XMX engines, Intel’s counterpart to Nvidia’s Tensor cores.
Unfortunate timing
Puget Systems recently put the $250 GPU card to the test and found that it competes effectively with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4060 and AMD’s Radeon RX 7600 in a series of benchmarks. With 12 GB of VRAM, the B580 certainly stands out in the budget category, surpassing the RTX 4060’s 8 GB at a lower price.
This extra memory gives it an edge in workflows that require higher VRAM capacity, such as GPU effects in Premiere Pro and Unreal Engine, but performance in creative applications yielded mixed and surprising results.
On graphics-heavy tasks like GPU effects for DaVinci Resolve, Adobe After Effects, and Unreal Engine, the B580 impressed, often outperforming or outpacing more expensive GPUs. Puget Systems noted that the B580 matched the RTX 4060 in terms of resolutions in Unreal Engine, while taking advantage of its superior VRAM capacity.
Unfortunately, inconsistencies in media acceleration have held this back in other areas. In Premiere Pro, for example, Intel’s hardware acceleration for HEVC codecs fell short of expectations Puget Systems observing slower results compared to software-based processing. These issues appear to be related to the drivers, something Intel will likely address in upcoming updates.
Shortly after launch in 2022, Puget Systems tested the Arc A750 (8GB and 16GB models) and came away disappointed. The B580 shows marked improvements over its predecessor, and Intel’s continued driver development will undoubtedly extend the B580’s performance even further. However, Intel’s release timing is unfortunate.
While the B580 is currently a strong competitor in the entry-level segment, Nvidia and AMD are expected to unveil replacements for the GeForce 4060 and the RX 7600 at CES 2025, and those new models will likely reduce its appeal and competitiveness. of Intel’s new GPU significantly.