What you need to know
- Intel has dropped the price of the Arc A750 Limited Edition GPU to $249.
- That graphics card competes with the NVIDIA RTX 3060, which retails for $329.
- A driver update dramatically improves the performance of DX9 games on the Arc A750.
Intel just dropped the price of its Arc A750 graphics card to $249. The move was made in an effort to "restore balance to the graphics market," according to the company. At $249, the Arc A750 now sits at a comfortably lower price than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 that it competes with ($329). Of course, finding certain graphics cards at or near their retail price can be difficult.
The pricing news came alongside details about a recent driver update for the Arc A770 and Arc A750. That update dramatically improves the performance of DirectX 9 games. Intel cites that on average, DX9 titles get 43% higher FPS than the launch driver for the GPUs. League of Legends is now 44% faster than at launch and CS:GO can now reach over 300 FPS.
Intel hopes to compete with the more established giants like NVIDIA and AMD by delivering more value per dollar. The company highlighted that its Arc A750 gets 52% better performance than the NVIDIA RTX 3060.
Our Managing Editor Richard Devine discussed how "graphics card prices are ridiculous" and that he's backing Intel. He explained that Intel's pricing strategy is a big reason why he's hoping the company stays committed to the Arc lineup.
DirectX11 and DirectX12 also saw slight improvements with the driver update. Intel promises "a modest improvement of a few percent with better stability being the focus."
Intel has released eight drivers since the launch of the Arc A750 and A770.
Future Arc bundles will include Nightingale and The Settlers. Those deals will be available with the Arc A750 and all other discrete Arc GPUs.
