Is the Intel Arc A770 worth buying this Holiday Sale?

The Intel Arc A770 is the highest-end offering in the Arc Alchemist lineup of graphics cards. This GPU was launched in two variants: one with 8 GB of video memory and another with 16 GB of VRAM.

Intel targeted beating the RTX 3060 in terms of performance-per-dollar ratios with this GPU, and in many ways, it managed to deliver the same. These GPUs are cheaper, achieve almost 95% of the performance of the Nvidia equivalent, and come with every modern technology to consider them over the competition.

Blue Camp is focused on improving the performance and extracting 100% from the Arc Alchemist GPUs with driver updates post-launch. A recent update almost doubles the framerates in DirectX 9 games like CS: GO.

Thus, it is no surprise that many gamers are considering these video cards over Nvidia and AMD's offerings. However, there are a few more factors to consider before finalizing this graphics card.

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The Arc A770 is shaping up to be a decent competitor to the RTX 3060

On paper, the Arc A770 is a promising video card. It is based on teh DG2-512 graphics processor that packs 4,096 shading units, 256 Texture Mapping Units (TMUs), 128 Render Output Units (ROPs), 512 Execution Units, and 32 RT cores.

The graphics card comes in two variants, one with 8 GB of VRAM and another 16 GB of video memory. The Arc A770 comes with the GDDR6 memory that is based on a 256-bit bus.

The graphics card relies on high operating frequencies to deliver performance. It has a base clock of 2,100 MHz and a boost clock of 2,400 MHz. The memory is clocked at 2,000 MHz.

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Performance of the A770 and how it compares to the RTX 3060 and RX 6600 XT

When the A770 launched, Intel showcased solid performance-per-dollar numbers. The card gets quite close and even beats the RTX 3060 in a few scenarios. However, the performance was not consistent and the card would fall apart in games running on legacy APIs like DirectX 9, 10, and 11.

Intel GPUs rely on translation layers to run older titles. However, Intel promised that they would improve performance with continued support. Intel did deliver on this promise with recent drivers that nearly doubles the framerates in games like CS: GO. This puts the card further ahead of its Nvidia counterpart, the RTX 3060.

In addition, in Intel-optimized DirectX 12 titles, the Arc A770 takes a solid lead over the RTX 3060. For instance, in Dying Light 2, the Arc A770 is anywhere between 15 to 20% faster than the 3060 on average.

When pitched against the AMD competitor, the Radeon RX 6600 XT, the Arc A770 came out as the fastest card in the bunch in modern DirectX 12 games like A Plague Tale: Requiem and Forza Horizon 5.

However, in some other titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, the GPU turned out to be slower than the Nvidia and AMD counterparts. In Cyberpunk 2077, the A770 turned out to be much slower than the RTX 3060 and RX 6600 XT.

Thus, the Arc A770 is an impressive card. However, its biggest problem is that the card cannot consistently deliver solid performance. While the GPU might beat the Nvidia and AMD cards in some games, it can lose to them in others.

Thus, gamers who want solid and consistent performance should not opt for this card. However, those who are looking for something new and fresh can totally buy this GPU.