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Intel launched the Arc A770 to take on the RTX 3060 and RX 6600 from Nvidia and AMD, respectively. With the Arc A770 16 GB, whose MSRP at launch was $349, Intel looked set to take on AMD RX 6600 and Nvidia RTX 3060. To no one’s surprise, the Arc GPU is available cheaper than the competition while offering more performance.
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The Arc A770 is an excellent card for money and is in direct contention with Nvidia’s RTX 3060. Modern-day games run north of 8 GB VRAM in memory utilization. This is why we are comparing the 16 GB VRAM model of Arc A770 and the 12 GB VRAM model of RTX 3060.
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links to the products mentioned and the opinions expressed are of the writer.
On paper, the Arc A770 is superior when compared to the RTX 3060 at the cost of more power draw
This is a no-brainer simply because the A770 is a more recent card, and Intel had more time to prepare its cards to take on the RTX 3060, which is now more than two years old. Right off the bat, the A770 boasts 2100 MHz core clock speed, which is significantly higher than the 1780 MHz of the RTX 3060.
This does give the Arc GPU more brute power in terms of sheer graphical capabilities. Moreover, the bus width of the Arc A770 is 256 bit while that of the RTX 3060 is 192 bit on the 12 GB variant. This advantage means that the Arc GPU can transfer more data simultaneously as it has access to a higher number of proverbial lanes on the highway.
The Arc A770 also has a higher memory bandwidth and speed of 560 GBps and 17.5 GBps than Nvidia’s 360 GBps and 15 GBps, respectively. To put it simply, this translates to faster and higher data hauling from the Intel GPU, which is seen noticeably in several AAA titles.
Regarding power draw, the RTX 3060 beats the Arc A770 with a respectable 170 W. With a higher clock frequency and more memory bandwidth, the Arc GPU is not too hungry and stays within 225 W of power draw. Even so, a 500 W power supply would be sufficient for either of the two cards.
This on-paper advantage of A770 translates well into real world performance in majority of titles
Even at 1440p resolution, the Arc A770 outperforms the RTX 3060 by at least 10-15 percent. Sometimes this advantage increases to even 20 percent in titles like Forza Horizon 5. This is because the graphical settings are set to the absolute maximum.
In titles like Spider-Man, the A770 maintains a good 10-15 percent advantage in fps again. The Intel card does run significantly hotter than the Nvidia’s in Forza for some reason or another. We generally think this might be an anomaly. The Arc runs a few degrees cooler through several intense titles.
Furthermore, in titles like CS:GO and Horizon Zero Dawn, it is the optimization of Nvidia’s drivers that the RTX 3060 shines through to beat the Intel A770. Again, this advantage of highly optimized Nvidia drivers is limited to a minority of games, as Intel offers consistently higher performance across the board.
The question of price-to-performance vs driver optimization
It is easy to decipher whether the A770 is superior to what Nvidia offers for the 1080p to 1440p bracket. This translates well into real-world performances as well. The fact that Intel's offering is cheaper than what Nvidia charges the consumer makes this equation easy to solve. However, we are not quite there yet.
It should be noted that Intel GPUs are good performers in games that utilize modern APIs like Direct X 12 but fall behind the AMDs and Nvidias in older games that use DX9 and DX11 API. Admittedly, Intel has officially mentioned that they don’t have the time or resources to make older games and their APIs compatible with newer GPUs like the Arc.
This is precisely where gamers will see themselves getting divided into two groups. Those who prefer and want to enjoy older titles at good performance should consider the Nvidia RTX 3060, with some trade-offs in performance and price.
Gamers who would rather see themselves well-prepared for newer titles employing newer APIs, and want to pay less for similar or higher performance, should not doubt opt for the Arc A770.
Buy Arc A770 here and RTX 3060 here from Amazon.
