Intel BattleMage B580 12GB Review

Final Score: 88 out 100

The YouTube generation has seemingly forgotten the fact that Intel were the ones who invented the idea of a dedicated video card slot with its own dedicated, direct to the CPU lanes: the Accelerated Graphics Port (“AGP” back in 1997). They also overlook the fact that when AGP standard proved to not be able to keep up with growing demands, they checked their own egos and helped create its replacement: the PCIe standard… that is based upon their earlier invention: the PCI bus standard.

The TickTok generation equally suffer from amnesia and have ‘forgotten’ the fact that Intel invented the integrated GPU (circa 1999’s i810 albeit on Whitney’s NorthBridge… and then SandyBridge with it on the CPU itself). They ignore the fact that for every PC with a dedicated GPU there is at least one that is happily rocking out with “just” an Intel iGPU… and those multiple generations of Intel iGPUs are still being supported with active driver updates.

This breadth and depth of institutional knowledge has then been paired with a dedicated driver team that actively engages with the gaming and non-gaming communities (albeit via Discord). This pontent one-two combination is why Intel is able to do what no one else has been able to do this century: break the dGPU duopoly and offer a viable third option. A third option with models that offer their own unique strengths and weaknesses. This fact alone makes the Intel Arc worthy of being added to Intel’s long list of Industry advancing inventions. Possibly, and in time, even right up there with the iGPU.

With all that said… Billionaire Huang of NVIDIA was not exactly worrying over the increased competition; nor was his relative Billionaire Su of D.A.M.I.T. (AKA “AMD’s video card division formerly known as ATI Technologies of Canuckistan”) all that concerned over nuBlue entering the fray. With the second generation Arc “BattleMage” series… this will not change all that much. The fact of the matter is Intel is starting with a massive disadvantage when it comes to buyers even remotely considering a third option. The mindshare is so locked up that even AMD are having problems wooing buyers away from Leather Jacket Man.

This is such a huge disadvantage that it is going to take time to overcome. However, Intel is making massive strides on both the hardware and software fronts to reassure buyers that they are a serious option. Enough that their ARC can, and are, considered ‘mostly stable’ by those who have investigated and used A3/5/7-class Arc cards in the real world… and not just watched an influencer video on them. That may sound like a backhanded compliment but many, ourselves included, barely consider AMD and NVIDIA drivers “mostly stable” these days. Hell, let’s be honest there has to yet to be a year without one, the other, or both releasing a bomb of a driver package, and yet Intel gets the majority of hate over whiffing a driver.

When one combines cutting edge software with massive improvements in the actual hardware the end result is the Arc B-series is no “B-Side” meant to be nothing more than to take up space that would otherwise go to waste. Sure there are rough spots (especially in the minimum frame rate category) but the BattleMage is arguably the modern computing industry equivalent of La Bamba. One that, much La Bamba did for Ritchie Valens way back in the day, will launch Intel’s Arc series into the spotlight. This time in a good way.

It will do so because, for the first time in a long time, buyers can get an actually good 1080P and 1440P video card that does not cost a fortune and yet arguably offers better frame interpolation than AMD, (certainly) better Ray Tracing than AMD, more onboard RAM than either’s x60 class option, and yet sip power like NVIDIA (used to). It does all that and thanks to really sweet new technology can even whistle the tune more than acceptably at 4K. Potentially offering lower latency than what can be obtained on cards costing multiple times the B580’s asking price. If all that was not enough the B580 also loves to be used in more professional non-gaming scenarios where it is indeed a viable option to the Green Monster that rules the ‘pro’ market. That is one unique and refreshing blend of features to say the least.

Considering we are only basing our judgment of the Intel Arc B-series on the mid-range B580 and not a 7-class the Intel ARC BattleMage may just end up being not a La Bamba… but a groundbreaking option like the Beatle’s “Rain”. We include the latter in our judgement because Rain was famous for it was the first time ever a major label released a song featuring reversed lyrics. With the BattleMage series Intel is also reversing and flipping the script. For many generations dGPU buyers have been trained to expect a new generation to be bigger… as ‘bigger = better’. The B580’s core is smaller and features fewer render slices than its predecessor, and yet throughout testing we saw this 20Xe (2.0) based option trouncing a 28Xe (1.0) based card. In some cases it was so much better that instead of being like a NVIDIA RTX 3rd generation x60 class card, it is serious competition for the 4th generation RTX x60 class card. All in a single 8-pin package that is not as big as a house, as loud as a jet plane, nor cost a significant chunk of the build’s budget.

Yes, Intel is indeed doing more with less, and in turn this lets your budget do more for less. So much so buyers can once again ask a sane question: what does spending $100 or more extra actually get me? That is the kind of question which is going to result in many a Home Theatre PC (especially if it does double duty as both a Movie and Gaming) system rocking one of these bad boys. The same but even to a larger extent holds true for budget PC systems… and for video editors (who can’t afford the cost of a x80 class card) the choice is clear. Stick one of these bad boys in the rig as it’s a transcoding rocket.

It does all that and is just Intel’s ‘mainstream’ 5-class option. Taken as a whole the Arc Battlemage series is chock full of innovation, value, and even performance. So while the B580 may not be perfect it demands to be added to your short list for consideration as it is the new Value King. Furthermore it should make you excited to see what the BattleMage 7xx class version of them can do. We have a feeling it too is going to shake up the industry, and that too is a Good Thing™.