Intel has recently launched its second Arc Battlemage graphics card, the B570. This new GPU is positioned as a more affordable alternative to the B580, with a lower price point of $219. The B570 features some reduced specifications compared to its higher-end sibling, including fewer Xe cores, ray-tracing units, and XMX AI engines.
The graphics clock has also been reduced to 2.5GHz from 2.67GHz, and the card comes with 10GB of video memory on a 160-bit interface, as opposed to the 12GB 192-bit memory found on the B580. These reductions allow the B570 to operate at a lower 150-watt board power, compared to the 190 watts required by the B580. Despite these cuts, the Intel Arc B570 still offers decent performance for a budget 1080p graphics card.
However, it may struggle at higher resolutions where the extra VRAM capacity and bandwidth of the B580 come into play. In terms of competition, the B570 will primarily face off against existing GPUs from AMD and Nvidia in the sub-$250 price range.
Intel Arc B570 specifications and performance
Nvidia’s RTX 3050 6GB card, which sells for around $170, falls short in ray tracing and rasterization performance compared to AMD’s RX 6600, which is readily available at prices starting from $190. For Linux users, the Intel Arc B570 offers the added benefit of a fully open-source driver stack. The card uses the same BMG-G21 GPU as the Arc B580, ensuring good support from the open-source Linux GPU driver environment.
Users should be running Linux kernel 6.12 or newer for the best experience, with further improvements expected in the upcoming Linux 6.13 release. On the software side, Mesa 24.3 and newer versions provide Battlemage support for the Intel Iris Gallium3D (OpenGL) and ANV (Vulkan) drivers. The latest optimizations, particularly for Vulkan, will be available in the forthcoming Mesa 25.0 release.
Overall, the Intel Arc B570 represents a decent budget option for those prioritizing cost savings at 1080p resolution. However, potential buyers should be aware of its limitations, especially concerning VRAM capacity at higher resolutions. If the budget allows, the Arc B580 or other competitors may offer better overall value.
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