Intel Arc B580 and B570: introduction and parameters
Yesterday, Intel officially unveiled two initial models of the new generation of Arc graphics cards. Their chips use an architecture codenamed Battlemage, and one of key advantages is expected to be a strong price-to-performance ratio in the lower mid-range segment. They offer significant improvements over the previous generation in nearly every aspect and introduce alternatives to most competing technologies Intel has lacked in previous lineup.
While in the last generation Intel introduced the cheapest A380 model first, followed by the most powerful models from the 700 series and finally added the A580, in the new generation it starts from the middle of the lineup with the 500 series.
The model designation follows a similar scheme to the previous generation. The numerical designation 580 remains on the higher model, but the A with the Alchemist codename is replaced by the letter B and the “Battlemage” designation. Along with the Arc B580, a cheaper Arc B570 is also introduced with a stripped down chip, memory bus and reduced memory capacity. In the previous generation, the A570 was only available in a mobile variant.
With these models, Intel is targeting gaming at the increasingly popular 1440p resolutions and is focusing on gaming using Ray Tracing acceleration while increasing frame rate using XᵉSS upscaling. The latter uses AI to achieve higher quality image reconstruction similar to Nvidia’s DLSS 2.x and more recent.
The graphics chips for Battlemage are manufactured using TSMC’s 5nm N5 process. The chip for the B580 and B570 is labeled BGM-G21. A look at the specs and their comparison to the last generation is a bit misleading, purely based on the specs it would seem that they are worse off than the last generation’s 700-series models due to the significantly lower number of compute units.
However, their efficiency has been significantly improved, the working clock speed of the chip has been increased and the performance of the compute units has also been improved. The new Xᵉ2 architecture graphics chips use the second generation of ray tracing compute units with a 26% performance increase. Intel Arc B-series is expected to offer up to 70% more performance on Xᵉ-Cores compared to the previous generation. According to Intel, the B580 is roughly 24% more powerful than the Arc A750 in 1440p resolution on average, and is expected to be up to 50% better in terms of performance/watt ratio.
Not only are the number of compute units lower, the overall memory bandwidth has also dropped due to the narrower memory bus. This is narrowed from the 256 bits of the A580 to 192 and 160 bits, respectively. This is a logical choice for 1440p resolution, as it allows 12 and 10 GB of memory to be fitted to the cards. With a wider 256b bus, you would have to choose between 8 and 16 GB. On cards with 8GB of memory, you already have to lower the detail settings in some new games at 1440p, and 16GB would have a negative impact on price for cards aimed at the lower mid-range. The lower bus width is partially offset by the higher memory clock speed and 18MB of L2 cache (the A580 had 8MB, the A750 and A770 16MB).
PCI Express bus has also been narrowed down to eight PCI Express 4.0 lanes from the sixteen of the A580 and A700 series. But that’s becoming standard in this price segment and it is unlikely to significantly impact the cards’ performance.
The table below shows the reference specs and a comparison of the published specs with last generation models:
Arc B570 | Arc B580 | Arc A580 | Arc A750 | Arc A770 8 GB | Arc A770 16 GB | |
Microarchitecture | Xe2 | Xe2 | Xe HPG | Xe HPG | Xe HPG | Xe HPG |
Codename | Battlemage | Battlemage | Alchemist | Alchemist | Alchemist | Alchemist |
Manufacturing Process | TSMC N5 | TSMC N5 | TSMC 6nm | TSMC 6nm | TSMC 6nm | TSMC 6nm |
GPU Codename | BGM-G21 | BGM-G21 | ACM-G10 | ACM-G10 | ACM-G10 | ACM-G10 |
Transistor Count | 19.6 bn | 19.6 bn | 21.7 bn | 21.7 bn | 21.7 bn | 21.7 bn |
Die Size | 272 mm² | 272 mm² | 406 mm² | 406 mm² | 406 mm² | 406 mm² |
Xᵉ-Cores | 18 | 20 | 24 | 28 | 32 | 32 |
XMX Engines | 144 | 160 | 384 | 448 | 512 | 512 |
Xᵉ Vector Engines | 144 | 160 | 384 | 448 | 512 | 512 |
GPU Shader Count | 2304(?) | 2560(?) | 3 072 | 3 584 | 4 096 | 4 096 |
Rasterization Units | 80(?) | 80(?) | 96 | 112 | 128 | 128 |
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) | 144(?) | 160(?) | 192 | 224 | 256 | 256 |
Ray Tracing Units | 18 | 20 | 24 | 28 | 32 | 32 |
Chip Clock Speed (Average) | 2500 MHz | 2670 MHz | 1700 MHz | 2050 MHz | 2100 MHz | 2100 MHz |
Memory | 10 GB GDDR6 | 12 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 16 GB GDDR6 |
Memory Interface | 160-bit | 192-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit |
Memory Speed | 19 Gbps | 19 Gbps | 16 Gbps | 16 Gbps | 16 Gbps | 17.5 Gbps |
Memory Bandwidth | 380 GB/s | 456 GB/s | 512 GB/s | 512 GB/s | 512 GB/s | 560 GB/s |
Total Card Power (Typical Load) | 150 W | 190 W | 185 W | 225 W | 225 W | 225 W |
Bus Interface | PCI Express 4.0 x8 | PCI Express 4.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 ×16 | PCIe 4.0 ×16 | PCIe 4.0 ×16 | PCIe 4.0 ×16 |
Graphics Output | 3× DP 2.1 up to UHBR 13.5, 1× HDMI 2.1 (VRR) | 3× DP 2.1 up to UHBR 13.5, 1× HDMI 2.1 (VRR) | eDP 1.4, DP 2.0 up to UHBR 10, HDMI 2.0b, HDMI 2.1 (optional, requires converter) | eDP 1.4, DP 2.0 up to UHBR 10, HDMI 2.0b, HDMI 2.1 (optional, requires converter) | eDP 1.4, DP 2.0 up to UHBR 10, HDMI 2.0b, HDMI 2.1 (optional, requires converter) | eDP 1.4, DP 2.0 up to UHBR 10, HDMI 2.0b, HDMI 2.1 (optional, requires converter) |
Compared to the previous generation, the new cards feature improved output connectivity. While the Arc cards with Alchemist architecture support DisplayPort 2.0 with UHBR10, they don’t have native support for HDMI 2.1. To enable HDMI 2.1 support at higher refresh rates, manufacturers need to add a DisplayPort converter to the card. However, cards equipped with such a converter can output to a maximum of three displays simultaneously. Battlemage already offers native HDMI 2.1 support including VRR (variable refresh rate) and also supports the slightly faster DisplayPort 2.0 UHBR13.5.
The GPU includes the Xᵉ Media engine with a pair of multi-format transcoders (MFX) that supports hardware decoding and encoding of codecs such as AV1, H.265 including 10-bit 4:2:2, H.264 and VP9.
Arc B580 Limited Edition
Similar to the last generation, Intel also introduced the B580 reference model. The card has a compact design similar to the last generation. However, unlike it, it uses a more convenient concept combining a short PCB and with a long cooler that has open fins at the back. This allows some of the heated air to pass directly above the card.
- Contents
- Intel Arc B580 and B570: introduction and parameters
- Performance preview
- AI for XeSS supersampling and image generation