The Intel Arc GPU deployment was a a convoluted and checkered process, surrounded on all sides by delays and leaks. But the Arc A380 discrete desktop card is finally coming to the US market starting at $129, and some new information suggests that it might not be Intel’s most budget-friendly desktop GPU.
Alexey Nikolaychuk, the developer responsible for MSI Afterburner, has released an image of the as-yet-unannounced Intel Arc A3 GPU, which will use a single I/O slot and be powered directly from the motherboard’s PCIe slot, meaning it doesn’t need additional power cables. This seems to put it in competition with AMD Radeon RX 6400 video cardwhich retails for $159.
The as-yet-unnamed Arc GPU (which will most likely be an A320 or A310) is currently priced at around $300, and we don’t yet know what it will look like – the version photographed by Nikolaychuk has a secondary 3D- attached to it printed cooler – but we can assume that it will be a “low-profile” GPU that will easily fit into compact PC cases.
Analysis: Will Intel be able to conquer the budget GPU market?
We don’t know if this GPU will make it to the wider consumer market; it may end up being available only to OEMs for compact off-the-shelf PCs. Still, even that could bode well for Intel, especially after all the difficulties it had with the Arc launch.
Lovelace GPUs from Nvidia it looks like they will absolutely dominate the high-end gaming graphics card market, so Intel might make a smart move to counter AMD’s budget GPUs. While we have no idea what the performance of this Arc A3 GPU will look like, it is believed to be powered by the Intel ACM-G11 GPU, which has better multimedia processing and display output capabilities compared to the Navi architecture 24 running on AMD RX 6400.
Obviously, it won’t be for next-gen gaming, but this new GPU could be a boon for compact media center systems (like home theater PCs) and similar low-powered computers. It can also serve as a viable upgrade for OEM PCs without a discrete graphics card as it does not require an additional PCIe power cable.
If it’s significantly cheaper than the RX 6400, Intel could swoop in and secure the super budget space very quickly. Now, Nvidia has no real horse in this race; in the ill-fated GTX 1630 was dead on arrival and it doesn’t look like the RTX 4000 series will be a serious budget offering, so if Intel’s Arc A3 range proves to be good value for money, Intel could push AMD out of the low end – a significant blow to its main rival .
https://www.techradar.com/news/could-intel-scare-amd-with-this-arc-gpu-for-less-than-dollar100/
