Intel’s second effort at breaking into the graphics card duopoly seems to be promising, however the firm took its time getting right here.
The PC graphics card market has for years been a lopsided duopoly, with Nvidia the undisputed king and Advanced Micro Devices caught in second place. Intel (INTC 2.41%) jumped within the ring in late 2022 with its Arc Alchemist graphics playing cards, bringing much-needed alternate options for customers.
Unfortunately, Intel stumbled out of the gate. While the corporate’s A750 and A770 graphics playing cards have been succesful items of {hardware}, the software program drivers have been a multitude. Some older video games did not work in any respect or suffered from uneven efficiency, and a bevy of bugs made the product a no-go for a lot of PC players purchasing for a brand new graphics card. Intel failed to realize any significant market share or disrupt the market in any means.
Trying once more with Battlemage
Intel has vastly improved its software program over the previous few years with a gradual stream of updates, placing its graphics card enterprise on far more secure floor. While some could have anticipated Intel to surrender on the graphics card market, particularly after a troublesome 12 months that ended with the departure of the CEO, the corporate is again for spherical two with Battlemage, the code identify for its B-series Arc graphics playing cards.
Intel introduced two new graphics playing cards earlier this month, with each squarely aimed on the high-volume midrange portion of the market. The B570 shall be obtainable in January and shall be priced at simply $219, whereas the extra highly effective B580 is on sale now for $249. Intel has made some main architectural modifications that promise to deliver substantial enhancements in efficiency and effectivity.
The first opinions of the B580 graphics card are promising. Notably, Tom’s Hardware referred to as it “the brand new $249 GPU champion” in its evaluate of the higher-end card. The B580 typically beats Nvidia’s RTX 4060 and AMD’s 7600 XT in each rasterization and ray tracing, and it prices lower than each choices.
There have been some lingering software program points right here and there all through Tom’s Hardware‘s testing, however the reviewers did word that the software program state of affairs had improved and that there have been no game-crashing bugs this time round. “The excellent news is that Battlemage seems to be extra promising than its predecessor,” concludes the principally optimistic evaluate.
Becoming a significant participant within the gaming GPU market wouldn’t solely create a brand new income stream for Intel, nevertheless it might additionally assist the corporate promote extra CPUs because it battles AMD. With Intel struggling towards a number of headwinds, the corporate might use a win.
A bit late to the get together
While Intel’s new graphics playing cards seem like stable merchandise which have a better likelihood of profitable significant market share, the timing is problematic. It took Intel greater than two years to launch a follow-up, and whereas the B580 seems to be nice in comparison with Nvidia and AMD graphics playing cards in the marketplace right this moment, these graphics playing cards have been round for some time. Both Nvidia and AMD are anticipated to launch next-generation merchandise within the coming months that would erode Intel’s worth proposition.
Nvidia is rumored to be asserting its RTX 5000 sequence graphics playing cards quickly, whereas AMD is more likely to reveal its RX 8000 sequence early subsequent 12 months as nicely. Intel might catch a break if each firms concentrate on high-end graphics playing cards first and go away midrange updates for later, or if they don’t seem to be all that aggressive on worth. But both means, the B570 and B580 will doubtless be getting some new competitors someday subsequent 12 months.
Intel’s second effort at breaking into the graphics card market seems to be promising, however the firm might want to persuade customers that it will not abandon the market and that software program points will not be a nightmare this time round. We’ll see if the corporate can pull it off.
Timothy Green has positions in Intel. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the next choices: quick February 2025 $27 calls on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure coverage.
