Intel graphics cards will arrive in early 2022, and little by little we are learning more details.
The market for high performance graphics cards desperately needs Intel to come into play.
Out of supply for a year due to cryptocurrencies, speculators, the high demand of the pandemic and the semiconductor crisis, it is impossible to buy an NVIDIA RTX or AMD Radeon cardUnless you are willing to pay double or triple what they are worth to speculators.
The situation could be alleviated as of February 1, which is the rumored date for Intel put its first graphics cards on sale in 20 years, Intel ARC with Xe-HPG architecture.
Filtered benchmarks indicate that will have a performance similar to the mid / high range RTXs.
Considering that Intel has its own foundries and manufactures its own chips, it could supply the market with powerful graphics cards that AMD and NVIDIA are unable to offer.
We already know more or less the performance they offer, but a crucial aspect was yet to be known: the price.
Intel itself has given us an important clue, thanks to the contest Xe HPG Scavenger Hunt, which has launched.
It is a mega challenge in which you have to overcome a series of tests through a clue. Depending on which you are able to win, you receive points to access the prizes, which are very important.
Intel offers a booty from $ 430,000, to distribute between 3,000 winners. And it has been precisely thanks to the list of awards, that we have been able to know the price of two of their gaming graphics cards.
One of these prizes includes an Intel ARC Premium graphics card, merchandise, and 6 months of Xbox GamePass. Intel values it at $ 900.
If we take away the $ 60 the GamePass is worth and value the merchandise at about $ 100, the card Intel ARC Premium, which would be equivalent to a RTX 3080, will have a price of about $ 750.
It is a competitive price in the US, and at the level that the RTX 3080 costs in Europe … if it were sold at its price. Right now an RTX 3080 on Amazon costs twice its value, between 1,700 and 1,900 euros.
In another of the prize packs Intel offers an Intel ARC Performance card, merchansiding, and 3 months of Game Pass. He values it at $ 700.
Again, if we subtract the $ 30 from the Game Pass, about $ 100 from the merchandise, the card Intel ARC focused on Performance, equivalent to a RTX 3070 Ti, it will cost around 550 dollars.
In Europe VAT would have to be added, but now an RTX 3070 Ti It costs 1,050 euros in PcComponentes, double your RRP. There is not even stock of speculators on Amazon.
If Intel achieves this performance flawlessly, and keeps prices at the RRP level, it can quickly gain ground in this new market for it.
The Intel gaming graphics cards will be fully unveiled in CES 2022, in January, and is expected to go on sale on February 1st.