INTEL’S $329 ALCHEMIST
GPUs to shake up the mid-range
WE’VE BEEN WAITING for Intel to ship some useful graphics cards for a while, but now the new Arc Alchemist A750 and A770 (see review, page 78) are here. The 8GB A770 costs $329 and Intel will build a ‘limited edition’ version with 16GB RAM ($349). The A770 has a 2.1Ghz GPU with 32 Xe-cores. Below this is the A750 ($289), which has 28 Xe-cores running at 2.05GHz. Intel’s versions look similar; two slots, two fans, and a TDP of 225W. Performance from all three won’t be too different, given the similar specs. Just how good they are will depend on the drivers, and work appears to have been done here. Benchmarks show the newer cards are 20 percent faster than the first samples. The A770 pretty much matches the RTX 3060 and is cheaper too. These cards won’t trouble Nvidia’s or AMD’s finest, but they could shake up the mid-range market.–CL