Is the Intel Arc A770 16 GB worth it in November 2022?

The Intel Arc A770 was launched by Intel as its flagship entry in the Arc Alchemist lineup of GPUs. The American company launched this particular GPU to compete with the Nvidia RTX 3060. It comes in two variants, one with 8 GB of VRAM and the other with 16 GB of VRAM.

With the 16 GB VRAM variant priced at $349, it is slightly cheaper than the RTX 3060, which starts from around $370 nowadays. Therefore, many gamers are faced with a dilemma while purchasing a graphics card in this price bracket.

Potential customers should also consider AMD Radeon graphics cards at this price point before making a final decision. After looking at these options, users can make a final decision about whether to opt for the Arc A770 or choose something else.

This article reflects the personal views of the author.

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The Intel Arc A770 16 GB is too good for a first-gen product, but there's a catch

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announces the Arc A770 GPU (Image via Intel)

The Arc A770 is a rather interesting graphics card. On paper, the card comes with 32 Xe cores, 8 render slices, 32 ray tracing units, 512 Intel Xe Matrix Extensions (XMX) engines, 512 Xe Vector Engines, and is rated for a power draw of 225 W. The graphics card utilizes PCIe Gen 4 connectivity and is clocked at 2100 MHz.

The 16 GB variant of the card packs GDDR6 memory, which is based on a 256-bit bus. However, the Arc A770 16 GB is unreliable in certain aspects. It beats the RTX 3060 by a huge margin in certain newer titles like Forza Horizon 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2. But, with some older games, like The Witcher 3 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the Intel card performs poorly.

Although the Arc A770 packs significantly more power than the RTX 3060, it can only achieve its maximum performance while running DirectX 12 games. This is because Intel graphics cards cannot run DirectX 11, 10, or 9 games natively. It essentially has to emulate the game, which results in lower performance.

A similar story continues when it's compared to the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT. Team Red launched the 6600 XT for 1080p gaming with zero compromises and is far more powerful than the RTX 3060. Currently, it can be picked up for as low as $229 on Newegg.

We can see that the Arc A770 beats the RX 6600 XT in video games that rely on pure rasterization performance. The list includes Red Dead Redemption 2, Dying Light 2, and Forza Horizon 5. However, in older games like CS: GO, Team Blue's GPU falls significantly behind.

Furthermore, games that have heavy ray tracing implementation such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider will see the RX 6600 XT taking the lead with its sheer power.

In addition to the significantly better performance of the 6600 XT, it consistently outperforms the RTX 3060 across both new and old games, unlike the A770. Intel GPUs are often plagued with driver issues as they are not polished or refined yet. With time, Team Blue is expected to resolve these issues. However, the A770 may not be worth it now as some may find it risky to buy a product based on future promises.

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Conclusion

Overall, the RX 6600 XT is the best option for gamers looking to buy a 1080p gaming video card. It is the most powerful amongst the RTX 3060 and the A770.

AMD has upped the value proposition of their GPUs following the recent price reductions. This makes the Team Red GPUs a solid option over their Nvidia and Intel counterparts. The new Radeon RX 7000 series GPUs also follow a similar trend and are priced competitively.