Unlock the Power of Arc B580 GPU: Can a New PC Revive Old Hardware?
Intel’s Arc B580: A GPU Revisited
When Intel’s Arc B580 graphics card was first released, it was touted as a massive hit among mainstream PC gamers, offering excellent value at $250. We even dubbed it the best value GPU in our day-one review. However, as reports began to surface indicating that the graphics card’s impressive performance was limited to newer CPUs, we knew it was time for a retest.
The Problem
Our testing revealed that the Arc B580 performed significantly worse than the RTX 4060 in games like Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 when paired with either a Ryzen 7 9800X3D or a Ryzen 5 2600. With the latter, average frame rates dropped to just 31 FPS, while 1% lows dipped to 25 FPS – making the game nearly unplayable.
But Is the Problem Limited to CPU-Demanding Games?
While the Arc B580’s performance was impacted by slower CPUs, our testing also revealed that it handled well in other, less CPU-demanding games like Alan Wake 2, Doom Eternal, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 when paired with an older Core i5-9600K chip.
What Does This Mean for the Arc B580?
For most users, the value proposition of the B580 isn’t as strong as it initially seemed. Additional factors must now be considered, such as the need for a relatively modern and reasonably powerful CPU. If your system has an older or weaker CPU, the recommendation shifts to a Radeon or GeForce GPU instead.
Shopping Shortcuts
- Intel Arc B580 on Amazon
- AMD Radeon RX 7600 on Amazon
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 on Amazon (soon)
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti on Amazon (soon)
- AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on Amazon
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT on Amazon
Test System Specs
Here are the specs of our test systems:
| AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D AMD Ryzen 5 5600 |
|
| Motherboard | Gigabyte X670E Master (BIOS F33f – ReBAR enabled) MSI MPG X570S Carbon MAX WiFi (BIOS 7D52v1B1 – ReBAR enabled) |
| Memory | G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6000 [CL30-38-38-96] G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB DDR4-3600 [CL14-15-15-35] |
| ATX Case | Antec Flux Pro |
| Power Supply | Kolink Regulator Gold ATX 3.0 1200W |
| Storage | TeamGroup T-Force A440 M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD 4TB |
| Operating System | Windows 11 24H2 |
| Display Driver | Nvidia GeForce Game Ready 566.14 WHQL AMD Radeon Adrenalin 24.12.1 Intel Arc 32.0.101.6449_101.6256 WHQL Certified |
The Verdict
The Arc B580 needs to be paired with a CPU like the Ryzen 5 7600, Core i5-13600K, or better to maintain its value. Using the B580 with slower CPUs significantly diminishes its value and may render it unusable, depending on the games you play. Intel is aware of these findings and is actively investigating the issue.
