Skip to main content

Intel may have just leaked its Arc Alchemist GPU lineup

Intel Arc Alchemist beta drivers have leaked, containing a list of many Intel GPUs, including a few that have not yet been announced.

The drivers, aside from the full range of Intel desktop and laptop GPUs, mention Intel Arc A-Pro — a GPU we haven’t heard of before. Seeing as these are the official drivers, did Intel just leak its entire Arc Alchemist lineup ahead of time?

Intel Arc Graphics Windows DCH Driver – BETA 30.0.101.1732https://t.co/KmEIz8EhFF
Intel Game On Driver support for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt, Evil Dead: The Game, and
Dolmen on Intel Arc A350M and A370M Graphics.

— 188号 (@momomo_us) May 15, 2022

The information comes from hardware leaker momomo_us on Twitter, who looked through the latest Intel beta graphics driver and found a lot of interesting mentions of Intel Arc. The v30.0.101.173 beta driver, aside from already existing integrated graphics cards as well as the mobile versions of Intel Arc, contains the elusive desktop range of the lineup, too.

So far, the beta driver supports the only two GPUs that are already out in some capacity — the mobile Arc A370M and ARC A350M. The support also stretches toward all integrated GPUs on the Intel Alder Lake processors. What’s also interesting is that there’s an entry for the Intel Raptor Lake-S mobile graphics controller, which won’t be released for a good few months yet. The expected launch of Intel’s 13th generation of processors is in the second half of the year, but the graphics drivers already made it into the official beta release.

The list reveals the full range of Intel’s mobile graphics cards, some of which are still unreleased as of yet. We’ve got laptop GPUs ranging from the budget A350M (already launched) all the way to the flagship A770M. The desktop lineup, still entirely off the market, looks much the same, but the drivers give us a sneak peek into the desktop GPUs we can expect to see later this year.

The lineup of Intel’s Arc DIY cards includes A310, A380, A580, A750, and lastly, the A770. There are also two mentions of “Pro” Arc graphics cards that we haven’t heard much about previously. These include an Intel Arc Pro A30M laptop graphics card and Arc Pro A40/A50 graphics cards. Seeing as previous leaks about the desktop Arc GPUs indicated that there would be a total of seven different variants, this seems to check out, adding up to five “standard” models and two “Pro” versions.

A lot of rumors have emerged about the specifications of Intel’s desktop GPUs. While everything remains a little up in the air until Intel confirms the specs of the entire lineup, it seems that the flagship Intel Arc A770 may, at best, be able to compete with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3070. So far, Intel seems to be targeting the entry-level and midrange sectors, leaving the high-end battles up to Nvidia and AMD.

Intel Arc official banner.

Where does the Arc Pro fit into that equation? Again, there is no telling. Assuming it’s an improvement over the previously leaked GPUs doesn’t seem like a stretch, but then again, there haven’t been many rumors about Intel potentially working on a more premium GPU. Even if the Arc Pro makes it to market, it might be a while before most users can actually try it out, regardless.

To call the desktop version of Intel Arc “elusive” is not much of an overstatement — the release date for the GPUs keeps moving up, and the latest Intel update told us that it’s planning a staggered release over the summer, starting with the Chinese market.

The budget-friendly Arc A3 line will launch first as part of pre-built desktops made by Intel’s partners, followed by the release of stand-alone GPUs, again from the A3 range. Next, Intel Arc A5 and A7 graphics cards will start appearing in pre-builts, and this could happen as late as near the end of the summer of 2022.

When will Intel Arc flagships become available for sale so that desktop users can actually install them inside their own PCs? Intel hasn’t specified yet. Considering that Nvidia and AMD are each set to release the next-gen graphics cards around the same time, this might be a tough act to follow for Intel.

Editors' Recommendations

Monica J. White
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
Arc GPU drivers are getting better, but Intel says it’s challenging
Intel head of Graphics Raja Koduri explains Arc driver troubles

Intel Arc A770 and A750 graphics cards will be available to order on October 12, but Intel admitted it’s still struggling with drivers for DirectX games. Raja Koduri, Intel’s head of Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group (AXG), discussed the challenges in a recent interview.

With reviews expected to start arriving today, the pressure is on Intel to either impress us with its recovery or rush to solve issues quickly. Intel has been creating graphics drivers for decades, but until this year, that has focused on integrated graphics built into the CPU, which come with much lower expectations. Koduri explained that the first generation of Arc GPUs was most difficult because programmers had to start with a completely new architecture. Pandemic challenges slowed development as well. Heading into the second generation it should be better.

Read more
Intel Arc Alchemist: specs, pricing, release date, performance
Two intel Arc graphics cards on a pink background.

Intel's first-generation Arc graphics cards are here -- codenamed Alchemist. It's a bid to shift the balance that Nvidia and AMD have maintained for decades, with modern furnishings like real-time ray tracing and AI-assisted supersampling. Arc Alchemist is gunning for the top of the best graphics card list, and it has some serious power to get there. If you want to see how much power, make sure to read our Arc A770 and A750 review.

To get you up to speed, we rounded up everything we know about Arc Alchemist's release date, price, specs, and performance.
Intel Arc Alchemist price and release date

Read more
Can I use an Intel Arc GPU with AMD Ryzen?
The Arc A770 graphics card running in a PC.

Yes, yes you can. It might seem like an incident of mass hysteria, team red and blue playing together like that, but gamers have been running Intel CPUs with AMD GPUs for years, so the fact that the reverse works just as well isn't too surprising. However, there are some caveats. Can you use an Intel Arc GPU with AMD Ryzen: yes, but you have to use the right CPU.
Which AMD CPUs can you use with Intel Arc GPUs?

In reality, any AMD CPU should work with Intel Arc GPUs, as there isn't some lock or fundamental compatibility issue that means only certain CPUs work with the new Intel cards. That said, Intel has made a big deal of how much Arc Alchemist cards benefit from Resizable BAR, a feature that is only available on Ryzen 3000 and newer CPUs.

Read more