Intel is making the leap into the graphics card industry, but it seems as though the company will have to do a bit of catching up. With Nvidia possibly launching Ada Lovelace this September, and AMD following closely behind with its RDNA 3 technology, team blue is still lagging behind, having seemingly delayed the launch of its Arc desktop cards. However, for those in China, the wait seems to be over, as one of the models is now available.
That's according to a recent report from Videocardz, which says that Intel has released the A380 graphics card, but only to the Chinese market for now. While there's no mention of when it will be launching in other countries, it does represent the start for the tech giant, which seems to have been putting off getting its Arc GPUs onto shelves. The A380 is also a cheaper card, for anyone looking for a more entry-level piece of hardware. The report goes on to say that it's currently priced at 1030 Yuan, which is around $153 US. It features 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus, and has a TDP of just 75W.
Despite its limited release, it does sound like a decent budget card for anyone not wanting to spend a lot. It's just unfortunate that it's only available in one country at the moment. The latest rumors suggest that Intel could be releasing Arc desktop GPUs in Q4 of this year. While the mobile variants are basically out, in some laptop models at least, the pushback for desktop products feels like an unusual move, especially when the next generation is fast approaching. Hopefully, the launch of the A380 will get the ball rolling for releases in other parts of the world.
The fact that an Intel Arc graphics card was spotting recently at a pro gaming tournament, sponsored by the company no less, sort of suggests that the tech firm is all but ready to put them on shelves across the globe. Speculations say that the actual hardware is finished, and it's just the drivers that need more work before the products start to properly roll out.
As mentioned above, it could be a bad sign that Intel is dragging its feet on releasing Arc. With graphics card prices continuing to fall, with some models being below their MSRPs, now seems like a good time to get hardware out. With any luck, team blue will make further announcements soon.
Source: Videocardz