Gigabyte has quietly started shipping Intel Arc graphics cards. Initially, GIgabyte will offer custom-designed Arc A310 and Arc A380 models for entry-level systems, but the manufacturer may eventually produce more advanced Arc A700 series products. The Intel Arc A380 and A770 16GB are currently ranked among the best graphics cards based primarily on price/performance ratio and video capabilities. You can also see how they stack up in the GPU benchmark hierarchy. For now, Gigabyte’s Arc graphics cards appear to be only available in Russia and Kazakhstan.
Gigabyte currently has three graphics boards in its Intel Arc fleet. The Arc A310 WindForce 4GB has a dual-fan cooling system that fits in a compact PC, and the Arc A380 WindForce 6GB has the same dual-fan cooler and is a factory overclocked Arc. The A380 Gaming OC 6GB is clocked up to 2.45 GHz and features a huge triple-fan cooler similar to those used in high-end graphics cards. Both Arc A380 boards have an additional 6-pin auxiliary PCIe power connector, potentially allowing overclocking beyond the original clock.
Gigabyte’s Arc graphics cards range in price from $141 to $193 before sales tax, depending on the model, about the same price as Intel’s graphics cards. American Ark A380 (opens in new tab).
These three boards are not listed on Gigabyte’s official website yet, but they are available at stores such as: city link, DNS, Reno, and many others in Russia and Kazakhstan. It’s pretty surprising that Gigabyte only sells its Intel Arc graphics boards in Russia and Kazakhstan. Although these markets are relatively small, they are highly competitive.
Perhaps the company is waiting to launch the Arc A750 and Arc A770 before catering to more demanding markets. If Gigabyte is really serious about using Intel’s Arc GPUs, it should start selling the Arc A750 and Arc A770 in the US. Currently such boards are only available from Intel, ASRock and Acer, so another supplier may have an advantage.
It’s also possible that Gigabyte is unwilling to reverse its current relationship with AMD and Nvidia to ensure sufficient GPU quota. There are also questions about the demand for Intel’s Arc products and the profit margins on those cards.
In any case, now that Gigabyte has shipped the Intel Arc add-in board, Gigabyte is officially the only company to offer solutions from all three major GPU companies. This is a big problem for both Gigabyte and Intel Arc.
