Intel's Arc B580 is the GPU we've begged for since the pandemic

Powered by the new Xe2 Battlemage architecture and a new XeSS 2 frame generation feature, Intel's $249 Arc B580 is bringing 1440p gaming to the masses.

- BRAD CHACOS

Intel heard your screams of anguish, PC gamers. Budget graphics cards that are actually worth your money have all but disappeared this pandemic-, crypto-, and AI-crazed decade, with modern “budget” GPUs going for $300 or more, while simultaneously being nerfed by substandard memory configurations that limit your gaming to 1080p resolution unless you make some serious visual sacrifices.

Today, Intel announced the $249 Arc B580 graphics card (launching December 13) and $219 Arc B570 (January 16), built using the company’s next-gen Battlemage GPU architecture. The Arc B580 not only comes with enough firepower to best Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4060 in raw frame rates, it has a 12GB memory system target-built for 1440p gaming—something the 8GB RTX 4060 sorely lacks despite costing more.

As if that wasn’t an appealing enough combination (did I mention this thing is $249?), Intel is upping the ante with XeSS 2, a newer version of its AI super-resolution technology that adds Nvidia DLSS 3-like frame generation for even more performance, as well as Xe Low Latency (XeLL), a feature that can greatly reduce latency in supported games.

Add it all up and Intel’s Arc B580 seems poised to really, truly shake things up for PC gamers on a budget— something we haven’t seen in years and years. If you’re still rocking an OG GTX 1060, take a serious look at this upgrade. Let’s dig in.

MEET BATTLEMAGE AND THE ARC B580

Intel’s debut Alchemist Arc GPUs (fave. co/3g2HHuI) launched in late 2022, rife with all the bugs and issues you’d expect from the first generation of a product as complex as modern graphics cards. Intel diligently ironed those out over the subsequent months, delivering driver updates that supercharged performance (fave. co/3CYzR0N) and squashed bugs at a torrid pace.