ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend Review - A Mainstream PC Gaming Powerhouse

TweakTown's Rating: 90%

The Bottom Line

Intel's second-generation Battlemage GPU delivers superior 1080p and 1440p gaming performance, including ray tracing. The well-built ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend OC Edition model offers excellent thermal performance and overclocking capabilities, with a stylish RGB-lit white design.

Pros

• Second generation Xe2 architecture
• Impressive ray tracing performance
• 12GB of VRAM makes it great for 1440p gaming
• Mature drivers, overclocking, and software support
• XeSS 2 Frame Generation shows promise

Cons

• 1080p performance isn't that much better than the GeForce RTX 4060
• More power-hungry than its competitors
• Two 8-pin connectors versus one in the reference design
• DLSS is still the gold standard for Super Resolution and Frame Generation

Should you buy it?

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Introduction

The Intel Arc B580, the first desktop GPU to utilize Team Blue's second generation Xe2 'Battlemage' architecture, has been a pleasant surprise in that it features none of the issues that plagued the first Intel Arc launch with more consistent across-the-board performance and solid drivers to boot. Yes, the Intel Arc B580 is a much-needed win for Intel, especially in light of all the company's issues and controversies over the past year. Kudos to the Arc Graphics team for sticking with it and delivering a competitive product that could shake up the mainstream GPU market.

A quick look at the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend

With an MSRP of $249.99, it delivers 1080p and 1440p gaming performance that, on average, outperforms the more expensive GeForce RTX 4060 - even in games with heavy ray tracing. Of course, the journey from the launch of the Intel Arc A750 back in 2022 to today has been a long road, one that has seen Intel's Arc Graphics improve over time thanks to a steady stream of driver and software updates. However, the impressive performance of the new B580 seemingly exposes fundamental flaws with the original Xe architecture and design because everything feels better now.

With 12GB of VRAM, the Arc B580 may be a lower-tier model than the Arc A750, but that doesn't mean it's any less impressive. The B580 is the successor to the budget A580 from late 2023, a card whose direct competition was the GeForce RTX 3050. Yeah, having the Arc B580 outperform the GeForce RTX 4060 and the Radeon RX 7600 is impressive - with performance that even gets close to the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti.

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The additional VRAM helps, especially with 1440p gaming and ray tracing, so it's great to see Intel take the step to add more memory to what is very much a budget mainstream gaming GPU. In ASRock Steel Legend form, you've got a stylish white design that can turn into an RGB light show with a flick of a switch. This enthusiast-grade OC Edition model includes a second 8-pin power connector, which adds overclocking headroom that can be tinkered with using third-party software or the new Intel Graphics Software.

The ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend OC Edition's out-of-the-box performance matches Intel's reference design. It offers exceptional cooling and quiet performance, even when stressed.

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Intel Arc 2.0 - Battlemage Arrives

Below is a summary of Intel Arc B-Series 'Battlemage' technology in the Intel Arc B580, applicable to all models.

The Intel Arc B580 utilizes the company's second-generation Xe2 HPG or High-Performance Graphics architecture. Compared to NVIDIA's CUDA Cores and AMD's Compute Units, Intel's Xe and now Xe2 architecture breaks down its technology into 'Render Slices,' which contain Xe Cores, Ray Tracing Units, and dedicated Intel XMX AI hardware. These are the building blocks that make up graphics rendering in the modern era, where it's a mix of GPU hardware, AI hardware for boosting performance, and Ray Tracing hardware to process the complex calculations required to deliver genuinely stunning cinematic gaming.

As expected, Intel's B-Series moves to a more efficient and cutting-edge process in the form of TSMC 5N. However, this only plays a minor role in each next-gen Xe Core, delivering up to 70% more performance with a 50% improvement in power efficiency. Intel's first-generation Xe architecture and Arc graphics products were impressively engineered, but there was room for improvement. With enhanced compatibility with graphics engines and APIs like DirectX and Vulkan, improved workload distribution, more cache, expanded AI hardware, and more than double the overall ray tracing performance, Xe2 sees the Arc team return to the drawing board to bring measurable improvements to its second-generation Arc Graphics products.

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The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. The Intel Arc B580 features 20 Xe Cores compared to 28 Xe Cores in the first-gen Intel Arc A750, roughly a 28% reduction in overall GPU hardware. And yet, it still manages to deliver a sizeable 30% improvement in 1080p gaming performance. Arc 'Battlemage' and the Xe2 architecture have also been designed for integrated graphics, as seen in Intel's mobile Lunar Lake chips. So, it makes sense that an entry-level desktop GPU product would improve performance and efficiency.

Xe2 is also forward-thinking in featuring fixed-function engines within the GPU for rasterization, ray tracing, and DirectX 12 Ultimate technologies like Variable Rate Shading, Mesh Shading, and Sampler Feedback. In developing Xe2, Intel's engineers and architects analyzed various workloads, covering all engines and rendering APIs to improve latency, performance, and efficiency. The team also focused on software and hardware interactions, with some executions improving a massive 66X compared to the first-generation Xe architecture.

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The Intel Arc B580 also sees the arrival of Intel XeSS 2 for all Arc devices, which combines the AI-powered XeSS Super Resolution upscaling with the brand-new XeSS-FG Frame Generation and XeSS-LL Low Latency technologies. Essentially, XeSS 2 is Intel's answer to NVIDIA's DLSS 3, which combines NVIDIA's Super Resolution technology with Frame Generation and Reflex. With AI-based super-resolution and frame interpolation, Intel's tech is closer to NVIDIA than AMD's. Currently only available in a single title, F1 24, XeSS 2 is a welcome addition to the Arc lineup, offering its version of what has become a GeForce RTX selling point.

Finally, for creators, the updated Arc B-Series Media Engine features a new dual-MFX design for encoding and decoding workloads - and can handle up to 8K 10-bit HDR 120 FPS video. With support for a wide range of codecs, including AV1, H265, and HEVC 4:2:2 10-bit encoding and decoding, the Intel Arc B580 is built for media production, streaming, and content creation. The Arc B-Series Display Engine, as seen in the Intel Arc B580, supports up to four monitors at 4K120 HDR with DisplayPort 2.1 and HDMI 2.1a.

Specs and Test System

Specifications

The Intel Arc B580 is the first second-gen Arc desktop graphics card to launch with the new Xe2 'Battlemage' architecture. As the model name suggests, this is a direct successor to the Intel Arc A580, a cut-down entry-level Arc GPU that debuted several months after the Intel Arc A750. Intel plans to launch a cut-down Intel Arc B570 in January 2025, featuring fewer Xe Cores and 10GB of VRAM. Performance-wise, the Intel Arc B580 is a notable improvement over the Intel Arc A750, making it a viable mainstream alternative to GeForce RTX.

One reason Intel has opted for the B580 rather than a B750 is price. Also, NVIDIA and AMD are set to launch a new lineup of GPUs in early 2025, including midrange models that will replace the existing GeForce RTX 4070 and Radeon RX 7800 XT cards. Delivering an RTX 4060-class GPU right now makes sense.

Interestingly, the B580 features fewer Xe Cores than the Arc A750 and Arc B580 and lower memory bandwidth. But, as we're talking about Xe2 Cores that offer a massive improvement over the first-gen Xe Cores, the Arc B580 can accomplish more with less. Still, with more memory and higher clock speeds, the power rating is closer to the Arc A750, suggesting that the efficiency gains have been capitalized into more performance.

As an OC model, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend's default clock speed is set to 2800 MHz, a notable increase over the 2670 MHz of the reference design. That said, without overclocking, the peak clock frequency hits the same 2850 MHz, leading to nearly identical performance. However, by increasing power and clock speeds, pushing the draw to over 200W, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend can easily outperform the reference design of Intel's Limited Edition model.

As one of the only sub-$300 or mainstream cards to feature 12GB of VRAM outside of the GeForce RTX 3060, this extra capacity does more than help differentiate the Intel Arc B580 from the pack. It allows the Arc B580 to handle VRAM-intensive titles at both 1080p and 1440p, like Horizon Forbidden West, to deliver exceptional performance when stacked up against 8GB GPUs like the GeForce RTX 4060, the RTX 4060 Ti, and the Radeon RX 7600.

Kosta's Test System

Physical Design and Cooling

If you're a fan of RGB lighting on a GPU, then firing up the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend is akin to waking up on Christmas morning and walking over to a fully lit tree. The good news is that it's entirely optional, with the Steel Legend design including a physical RGB switch to turn off all lighting. This leaves you with the impressive white look and feel that incorporates camo and what looks like a riff on the Superman logo. The striped ring fans blend into the outer shell, leaving you with a design that perfectly fits into a white PC build.

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With ARGB headers and ASRock's Polychrome Sync lighting, the look can be customized, too, leading to a great-looking GPU. However, looks are just one part of the story here, as the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend is also all about providing excellent thermal performance. All three of the Striped Ring Fans are optimized for improved airflow and will only kick in when GPU and memory temperatures exceed 60 degrees - so you've got silent performance during light workloads.

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The ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend GPU is also sturdy. It has a stylish metal backplate with visible venting showcasing enhanced v-shaped fins. The heat pipes and nickel-plated contact area are also optimized for thermal performance, reducing temperatures by up to 5 degrees, leading to better cooling than Intel's reference design. Throw in high-quality thermal paste, premium thermal pads, high-quality components, and a Dr.MOS power stage solution, and the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend is ready to tackle the latest PC games.

Benchmarks - Game Averages

The Games and Tests

PC gaming not only covers a wide range of genres and styles, from indie games with simple 2D graphics to massive 3D worlds lit by cutting-edge real-time ray tracing technology. With that, the needs and requirements of each gamer vary. High refresh rates and latency reduction become more important than flashy visuals or playing at the highest resolution possible for those who live and breathe fast-paced competitive games. For those who want to live in a cinematic world and become a key player in an expansive narrative, high-fidelity visuals are a stepping stone toward immersion.

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Our chosen benchmarks cover various games, engines, APIs, and technologies. For the Intel Arc B580, all tests are run at 1080p and 1440p and include results for performance-boosting Super Resolution technologies like NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS. These technologies are becoming increasingly important, with every major release launching with one or more supported Super Resolution technologies.

In many ways, DLSS numbers are more important in 2024 than native rendering - a title with ray tracing isn't meant to be played without Super Resolution. However, our benchmark results are still sorted using the 'raw performance' native rendering metric as DLSS, FSR, and XeSS are three different implementations of the same thing.

Here's the breakdown of games, graphics settings, and what's being tested.

Average Gaming Performance - 1080p Results

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With ray tracing becoming more common in PC games, from racing titles to the still gorgeous Cyberpunk 2077, the Intel Arc B580 outperforms the GeForce RTX 4060 in titles like F1 24, Forza Horizon 5, and Dying Light 2. Although it falters in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and trails the RTX 4060 slightly in Counter-Strike 2, two competitive titles without ray tracing, on average, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend is 7.1% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 for 1080p gaming and 16.9% faster than the Radeon RX 7600. That result showcases how far behind AMD and RDNA 3 are regarding ray tracing, as the mainstream 7600 is purely a rasterized card.

What is clear, though, is that, like GeForce RTX, 'Battlemage' consistently performs impressively across a wide range of games. Non-RT performance in Cyberpunk 2077 is faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti by around 10%. Turn on the game's 'Ultra' ray tracing mode, and performance sits between the RTX 4060 and RTX 4060 Ti, while in Dying Light 2, it matches the RTX 4060 Ti.

However, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend draws more power than both GeForce RTX cards, significantly more than the GeForce RTX 4060, which is still the most efficient 1080p gaming performer on the market. The average performance chart above includes Super Resolution numbers because technology like DLSS is one of those things most gamers will enable at all resolutions for an extra performance boost. On that note, NVIDIA DLSS still delivers the best image quality using the 'Quality' preset at 1080p, with XeSS coming in second and FSR a somewhat distant third place. NVIDIA's DLSS 3 Frame Generation is also available in more titles, which is another factor to consider.

Average Gaming Performance - 1440p Results

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Switching the resolution to 1440p, using 'Ultra' quality settings, the Intel Arc B580 begins to pull away from the pack thanks partly to the increased VRAM capacity. At this resolution, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend is around 12% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 and 25% faster than the Radeon RX 7600. Again, the Radeon versus Arc blowout is mainly due to ray tracing performance. Take RT out of that equation, and the lead drops to around 10%, but it's still enough of an improvement to make the Radeon RX 7600 feel like a distant third when it comes to $300 or so mainstream GPU offerings.

One game where the 12GB of VRAM is useful is Horizon Forbidden West, one of the best-looking PC games in 2024. Here, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend is 24.5% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 and 12.9% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. However, even at 1440p, the B580 still trails the GeForce RTX 4060 in Black Myth: Wukong and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - and the RTX 4060 benefits from DLSS's excellent image quality and Frame Generation in these titles.

When Intel announced the B580, it positioned the GPU as a 1440p 'Ultra' gaming GPU, which is true - but only to an extent. Suppose you're happy with around 60 FPS and okay with lowering a few settings here and there to hit this average. In that case, it can deliver solid 1440p performance - but the mid-range market of the GeForce RTX 4070 and Radeon RX 7800 XT is still the go-to for this resolution, especially for visually demanding titles.

Benchmarks - 3DMark Synthetic Tests

3DMark offers a suite of synthetic benchmarks built to put GPUs to the test in various scenarios. 3DMark Time Spy is a DirectX 12 benchmark that has been around for a while, which tests rendering at 1440p and isn't too taxing on modern GPUs. 3DMark Steel Nomad is another DirectX 12 benchmark, but it features newer modern rendering techniques designed to push modern GPUs to their limit. The 'Light' version tests at 1440p, while the main Steel Nomad benchmark tests pure native 4K rendering. Finally, Port Royal is a benchmark focusing exclusively on real-time ray tracing for lighting effects like reflections, shadows, and more.

As we saw with the first generation of Intel Arc Graphics, the new B580 delivers exceptional synthetic benchmark results that don't translate 1:1 to in-game performance. Looking at the Time Spy benchmark, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend delivers a score that is 32% higher than the GeForce RTX 4060, 30% higher than the Radeon RX 7600, and 8% higher than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, again, not precisely what we see when it comes to real-world PC gaming workloads.

The Steel Nomad Light benchmark shows the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend delivering a score 2.5% higher than the GeForce RTX 4060 and on par with the Radeon RX 7600. In the 4K Steel Nomad benchmark, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend outperforms the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti by 3%, which could be due to the additional VRAM capacity.

With the Port Royal benchmark covering ray tracing performance, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend delivers another impressive score. Even though it's 27.9% higher than the GeForce RTX 4060, it's still not exactly what we see in real-world gaming workloads.

Benchmarks - 1080p Gaming

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Benchmarks - 1440p Gaming

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Benchmarks Summary, Ray-Tracing Performance, and XeSS

Compared to the Intel Arc A750, the first Arc desktop GPU to be released, the Intel Arc B580 is a clear win for Intel. The results highlight that the second-generation Xe2 architecture is vastly superior. For 1080p gaming, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend is 32.2% faster than the A750, with that figure holding firm at 30% when bumping up the resolution to 1440p. In a way, it makes the prospect of an Intel Arc B750 launching in the coming months an exciting proposition, as it could deliver a compelling alternative to the GeForce RTX 4070 in the same way Intel has brought the fight and competition to the mainstream GPU market.

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When looking at the results, it's clear that the new architecture and 12GB of VRAM help position the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend as a 1080p and 1440p option for $249.99 - an MSRP that is notably $50 cheaper than the GeForce RTX 4060 and $20 more affordable than the Radeon RX 7600. However, compared to NVIDIA's mainstream GPU, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend delivers its performance gains using up to 40% or more power. Also, as mentioned, DLSS image quality and the widespread support of DLSS 3 Frame Generation can be a factor when you look beyond raw performance.

The good news is that Intel's XeSS is a viable option for 1080p and 1440p gaming. The technology is available in over 150 titles and almost all games in our benchmark suite feature XeSS support. And with the arrival of 'Battlemage,' we've got XeSS 2 and Intel's take on AI-powered frame generation, currently available in a single title - F1 24. As a racing game with hardware-intensive ray tracing, XeSS 2, with frame generation and low latency technology, increases performance by 2.3X at 1080p and 2.5X at 1440p. However, we did notice some image artifacts when benchmarking XeSS 2. Hence, the overall image quality isn't on par with DLSS 3 - which has matured into a definite selling point for the GeForce RTX 40 Series.

Temperature and Power Efficiency

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With its exceptional cooling and thermal performance, the out-of-the-box ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend remains remarkably cool even when stressed. This leaves definite room for overclocking, which we were able to test using Intel's new software. With two 8-pin power connectors delivering more power to the GPU and control over frequencies, power, and voltage, the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend can be overclocked to provide even more performance than what you see in the individual game results above. Testing the OC performance of the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend in F1 24, we were able to boost performance by around 3-5% - which makes it a compelling alternative to Intel's reference design.

Final Thoughts

Throughout our testing, we were consistently impressed by the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend's performance because the new Xe2 'Battlemage' architecture doesn't feature the same drawbacks and inconsistent performance of the first generation of Intel Arc desktop GPUs. Throw in great 1440p performance, the $250 MSRP, and 12GB of VRAM, and the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend is a mainstream GPU equipped to handle modern titles with ray tracing and using Ultra-equivalent settings.

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The new Intel Graphics Software is also a welcome evolution for Arc, as it offers expanded display controls, overclocking tools, performance metrics, and the ability to customize performance profiles and settings. It's not perfect, and the app did crash a couple of times during our testing, alongside a game or two, but in a random, non-repeatable way. Overclocking also seems to have been a focus this time, making models like this something to consider. Either way, the out-of-the-box performance and cooling are superior to the reference design, and you've got the sleek all-white design suitable for modern builds.

The ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend is priced right and outperforms the GeForce RTX 4060. Thanks to excellent entry-level ray tracing, it also leaves the Radeon RX 7600 in its wake. Intel Arc 2.0 is impressive and puts the pressure on NVIDIA and AMD to deliver with the eventual GeForce RTX 5060 and Radeon RX 8600.