Intel to Explore Optimization of Arc GPUs When Paired with Older Generation CPUs

[T0@st]

VideoCardz has put a spotlight on a compelling Intel Community announcement—ten days ago, a site moderator (RonaldM_Intel) disclosed that company engineers are currently engaged in the investigation of a major Arc graphics card-related issue. At the beginning of 2025, Hardware Unboxed uploaded a video article (see below) that delved into the Arc Xe2 B580 graphics card design's "big problem." Going back several months, review outlets observed B580 sample cards leveraging lower than expected performance when paired with older generation processors. As summarized by VideoCardz's recent report; significant performance drops were tracked when test units were linked up with AMD Ryzen 5 2600 or 5600 CPUs—relative to a more modern rig; powered by Team Red's Ryzen 7 9800X3D. Additionally, evaluators observed worrying signs when B580 cards were tested on platforms based on Intel's 9th Gen Core i5-9600K processor.

Budget-conscious buyers have embraced Team Blue's new generation cards, with many participants upgrading older builds with Intel Arc B580 12 GB and B570 10 GB graphics cards (original launch MSRPs: $250 and $220, respectively). Given that many owners will be sticking with prior-gen processors, industry watchdogs have leveled criticism at Team Blue—the company has disappointed many, with an apparent lack of action. Months after the fact—likely after a healthy intake of community feedback—Intel has officially acknowledged these issues. As disclosed by RonaldM_Intel's announcement: "thank you for your patience. We are aware of reports of performance sensitivity in some games when paired with older generation processors. We have increased our platform coverage to include more configurations in our validation process, and we are continuing to investigate optimizations."




Here is Hardware Unboxed's "Intel Arc B580 Overhead Issue! Upgraders Beware" video:

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[eidairaman1]

Took them long enough...

 

[fec32a4de]

I mean the box does say min 10th gen CPU or Series 3000 or higher.

Still interesting as to why this is happening

 

[Macro Device]

why this is happening

There's no secret. Driver had been originally written long ago when single threaded performance was the main limiting factor and Intel GPUs weren't exactly supposed to play video games. This means now, in current day and age, the plumbing gets clogged because it's too much calculations for a single CPU thread. Which makes CPUs from yesteryears bottleneck these GPUs by just having the first thread too slow to work with the driver.
AMD and NV don't have this issue because they optimized their drivers for multi-core solutions at some point. Intel haven't done it just yet.

 

[Readlight]

Just put in videocard new processor.

 

[LabRat 891]

Kinda surprised by this.
A770 performs 'just fine' in my housemate's Devil's Canyon build w/ 8GB rebar modded into the Z97 board.

I'd assumed that resizable BAR was the biggest barrier for Intel's cards on older platforms.
-Or, is this an issue more-specific to Battlemage? I've only plugged in an tested a B570, haven't really 'played with' battlemage.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

about time... I do hope they can solve the reBAR and overhead issue, making the B580 even more valuable and as a decent alternative to Nvidia and AMD's offering.

 

[R-T-B]

Took them long enough...

I mean AMDs DX11 and OpenGL similar overhead issue took nearly two decades to fix, so... this really is part of entering the market you can't get around. Overhead can and will bite you.