After months of leaks and rumours, Intel is finally listing the curtain on its second generation graphics cards. The new Intel Arc Battlemage desktop GPUs use the new Xe 2 architecture, promising up to 70 percent more performance per Xe core and up to 50% greater efficiency. 

With its first-gen Arc A-series graphics cards, Intel had to spend a lot of time maturing the software side, so while launch day numbers for older DX11 titles weren't where we expected, driver updates brought massive improvements. Now armed with more mature drivers, we are expecting a smoother launch for the 2nd generation Intel graphics cards.

In a presentation (slides above), Intel laid the groundwork for what we should expect from Xe 2. On average in games, the new Arc B580 graphics card is up to 24 percent faster than the Arc A750 graphics card. However, there are more features that can extend that performance lead, including XeSS 2, which includes Frame Generation technology for the first time. Intel is also implementing a driver-level low-latency mode so you can ensure your controls are as responsive as possible while gaming.

On top of that, Intel is claiming some big wins in terms of price to performance ratio. Intel claims best-in-class performance per dollar for the Arc B580, with 25% better ray-tracing performance for its price compared to the RTX 4060. The lead over the similarly priced RX 7600 is even larger. The gains on the rasterization side are also impressive.

If Intel can deliver, the Arc B580 could be the new go-to graphics card for an entry-level gaming rig, particularly if you are using a 1080p or 1440p monitor.

In the slide below you can see the spec sheet for the Arc B570 and B580 graphics cards:

The Intel Arc B570 and B580 graphics cards will be available soon. The B580 launches on December 13th for $249, while the B570 will be available in mid January for $219.

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KitGuru Says: What do you all think of Intel's second generation graphics cards? We'll have a review later this month so stay tuned for our own testing and performance impressions. 

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