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Intel adds $400 worth of goodies to Arc Alchemist, but there’s a catch

Monica J. White
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A new leak suggests that Intel may be readying some quite exciting gaming and app bundles to pair with its upcoming Arc Alchemist graphics cards.

The bundles include some of the latest games and a selection of useful apps, and when added up, the software might be worth around $400. There’s a catch, though — it’s not just an Arc Alchemist GPU that you’d have to buy. You will also need an Intel processor.

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Intel Software Advantage Program
Intel Arc 5/7 Systems Bundlehttps://t.co/jG5vIRMKAv pic.twitter.com/I0BiYXtwL5

— 188号 (@momomo_us) September 6, 2022

Well-known leaker momomo_us on Twitter managed to dig up an official Intel website that talks about these bundles in great detail. Bundling games with new graphics cards used to be more popular before the GPU shortage, but now, Intel seems to be preparing to bring that trend back — and the bundles certainly look pretty exciting.

Each bundle comes with a mix of four games and a choice of three apps (out of a total of five). Only certain Arc GPUs qualify, but to be fair, most of the lineup is covered here. The mentioned graphics cards include the Arc A770 and the Arc A770M, Arc A750, Arc A730M, Arc A580, and Arc A550M. This means that both laptop and desktop users may be able to benefit.

There’s a catch, though. Buying a GPU won’t be enough. You’ll also need to buy one of the higher-end Intel Alder Lake processors in order to qualify for what Intel has dubbed the “Intel Software Advantage Program.” Some of the CPUs in question include the Intel Core i5-12600K, Core i7-12700K, Core i9-12900K, and Core i9-12900KS. Mobile versions of the Alder Lake chips have also been listed, so laptop users won’t need to buy anything other than the laptop itself if the specifications will be good enough to qualify.

LEDs forming the Intel ARC logo.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

For those who buy an Arc GPU and Intel CPU bundle, the rewards are quite generous. Intel notes the full list, including the prices of the software and games, and adds up the total average retail value of the prizes to be at around $370 or higher. The games include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II ($70), Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed ($40), Gotham Knights ($60), and Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodhunt ($20). When it comes to software, you can pick three out of five between the following: PowerDirector 365 ($70), D5 Render (yearly subscription, $114), MAGIX Video Pro X14 (yearly subscription, $60), Topaz Gigapixel AI ($100), and XSplit Premium Suite (yearly subscription, $60).

The qualifying period for Intel’s alleged program started on August 25 and will run through December 31. Keep in mind that none of this is official yet — you should wait for Intel to break the news before you go on a shopping spree. The website is already up, but Intel hasn’t advertised the program at all, so this was most likely leaked well ahead of time.

The most interesting GPUs on the list of qualifying hardware are still not available on the market. When will the Arc A770 and the Arc A750 be available for sale? That remains to be seen, but at least we can pretty much guess that it will happen before the end of the year, with Intel recently hinting that the GPUs are coming “very soon.”

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Monica J. White
Monica J. White
Computing Writer
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
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