Intel Arc B-Series: A First Look at Battlemage
Intel has debuted the all-important second-generation of its Xe-based graphics cards, with the exciting codename of Battlemage, but officially known as the Arc B-Series. Can it deliver the critical hit Intel needs to cement itself as a third player in a competitive two-horse race? While we haven’t finished our internal testing of these cards just yet, we’re excited by their potential. Even based on initial impressions, these next-generation graphics cards look set to shake up the affordable GPU market in some truly exciting ways.
Bucking the idea that entry-level graphics cards would soon be readily replaced by more capable APUs and onboard graphics, Intel’s B580 and B570 graphics cards pack some serious gaming power in compact, efficient, and all-importantly affordable packages. They’re set to make 2025 a very exciting time to be a gamer looking to upgrade.
Battlemage conjures new power
Powered by second-generation Xe graphics cores, Intel’s new Battlemage GPUs come in two flavors so far: The Intel Arc B580 and Arc B570. Although their specifications appear modest, with fewer cores than their last-generation counterparts, there have been some major advances in key areas, pointing to some impressive potential in real world gaming.
Even with just 20 of its next-gen Xe cores versus the 24 in the A580, the B580’s Xe2 cores reportedly offer as much as a 70% performance improvement per core, with an increase of over 50% performance per watt. This comes from an overhaul in the design of the architecture itself, as well as a major uplift in clock speed. The B580 now reaches up to 2,670MHz when boosting, with the B570 close behind at 2,500MHz.
Just as important, though, is a boost to VRAM. With some games starting to demand greater than 8GB for even medium settings at 1080p and 1440p, it’s great to see both cards with higher VRAM quantities. The B570’s 10GB is as much as we saw on the high-end RTX 3080 just a generation ago, and the B580 has 12GB, which gives it all the future-proofing you need for the next few years of gaming and helps make 1440p gaming on this card a real possibility.
Intel has also delivered these gains while maintaining efficiency, demanding just 190W and 150W for the B580 and B570, respectively, which is roughly comparable to the last generation, despite the big uplift in specifications. That lets them use just a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, too.
Adding to the overall straightforward design of these cards are their modest PCIe 4 x8 connection. That’s comparable to a PCIe 3 x16 port, so just about any gaming PC made in the last half-decade should have more bandwidth than either of these cards need. These cards also give you DisplayPort 2.1 and HDMI 2.1 support for the latest connection technologies.
Photo: IntelDelivering magic for less
Intel is aggressively targeting the affordable end of the graphics card market with its new Battlemage cards, in both performance and pricing. With the B580, it claims a 32% improvement in raster performance and a 25% increase in ray tracing performance over competitor’s entry-level cards.
This is where that additional VRAM can help differentiate Intel’s new cards from the competition, too. While other entry-level cards are limited to 8GB of VRAM, the 10-12GB offered on Battlemage cards could give them a real leg up in the years to come as game demands change.
The B570 is going after the ultra-budget market, too, with a price of just $219 for some models. Third parties will no doubt offer some more expensive variants, but this could be the most affordable way to get 10GB of VRAM in 2025.
Enchanting optimizations
In its debut of Battlemage, Intel stressed the major improvements it had made to its drivers since the release of the first-generation Arc graphics cards.
Right from the get-go, though, new Battlemage GPU buyers can expect to enjoy enhanced support for a second-generation of Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) upscaling. That includes an enhanced pipeline that delivers greater performance from the algorithm in supporting games and a new Xe-driven frame generation for even greater FPS. Together Intel claims they can boost frame rates by more than 300%.
Joining these two enhancements is a great aide for competitive players: Xe Low Latency. XeLL will reduce the time it takes between your click and it being represented on screen, helping you to react faster and (maybe) win more often.
More magic to come
Whenever a new generation of any major component is released, we get a little excited here at Micro Center. With this release, Intel is looking set to become a dominant force for affordable gaming in 2025 and beyond. The B570 and B580 offer a budget-friendly upgrade path whether you’re looking to bump up the power of your current rig, or build a fresh one with current-gen gaming capabilities.
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