Intel Arc "Battlemage" GPU Surfaces with 20 Xe2 Cores, 2.85 GHz Clock Speed, and 12 GB VRAM

[AleksandarK]

Intel's upcoming Arc "Battlemage" G21 GPU has made an appearance in Geekbench benchmarks, offering a glimpse into the future of the company's discrete graphics offerings. This next-generation GPU, part of Intel's Xe2 graphics architecture, shows promising performance that puts it almost on par with the current Arc A770 in initial tests. The benchmark results reveal a GPU with 20 Xe2 cores, translating to 160 CUs. Notably, the chip boasts a clock speed of 2,850 MHz. Equipped with 12 GB of memory, this particular model appears to be targeting the mid-range segment of the market.

Identified by the PCI ID "8086:E20B" and listed as "Intel Xe Graphics RI," the GPU scored 97,943 points in Geekbench 6's OpenCL test. This score places it near the Arc A770 and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4060, suggesting competitive performance in its class. The test system paired the Battlemage GPU with an Intel Core i5-13600K CPU and 32 GB of DDR5-4800 memory, providing a solid platform for evaluation. One interesting thing to note is that, while these early benchmarks show weak OpenCL performance, Intel didn't historically target this particular API, and the final performance will be higher in actual games that use DirectX 12 or Vulkan APIs, possibly worthy of competing with NVIDIA and AMD solutions.



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[Onasi]

Well, matching A770 while having 40-ish% less CUs is a pretty damn good result. If that actually translates to real cards we might have something decent in the mainstream segment.
Then again, it’s Geekbench. Extrapolating anything from its results is… challenging.

 

[Crazybc]

Go Intel. I don't even remotely expect Intel to go after the high end Sadly Nvidia owns that . Bur more competition in the mid to lower end I'm all for it,, Competition not only helps to keep prices in check but also breeds innovation.

 

[GoldenX]

Die size aside, the win of this architecture is being massively improved in hardware.

Archmage (and the other Gen 12 GPUs) were akin to a Terascale card forced to run D3D12 and Vulkan, driver hacks made it run. Battlemage is a proper GPU, the driver can actually do its work instead of covering for hardware flaws.

Kudos to the engineers. Hopefully this time the driver supports the whole stack.

 

[64K]

I hate to be the downer here but that result isn't going to cut it, assuming it's true. Performance on the level of a RTX 4060 which is really a xx50 class GPU in disguise is the entry level Ada stack from a generation fast approaching the end of it's lifecycle. The 5060 will most likely be out in much less than a year and if it really is an xx60 class GPU then it will run circles around this Intel offering. Even if the 5060 is another Nvidia deception a Blackwell xx50 will still beat this. I guess it all depends on when it gets released and at what price and whether it improves on RT or not.

 

[usiname]

3070-3070ti performance incoming
Edit: I mean the top configuration with 32XE cores, this one is in the 3060 territory

 

[Vayra86]

I hate to be the downer here but that result isn't going to cut it, assuming it's true. Performance on the level of a RTX 4060 which is really a xx50 class GPU in disguise is the entry level Ada stack from a generation fast approaching the end of it's lifecycle. The 5060 will most likely be out in much less than a year and if it really is an xx60 class GPU then it will run circles around this Intel offering. Even if the 5060 is another Nvidia deception a Blackwell xx50 will still beat this. I guess it all depends on when it gets released and at what price and whether it improves on RT or not.

Well another aspect here is the power budget this runs at. If this runs as efficiently as its targeted GPU from the competition, Intel is in the race proper.

 

[64K]

3070-3070ti performance incoming

Not even anywhere close.

I get it. Gamers not only want Intel to step up to the plate they need Intel to step up to the plate because of Nvidia abuses but this isn't going to do it. It's still very early to make any kind of meaningful judgement. I'm just going by the info in this article.

 

[usiname]

Not even anywhere close:


I get it. Gamers not only want Intel to step up to the plate they need Intel to step up to the plate because of Nvidia abuses but this isn't going to do it. It's still very early to make any kind of meaningful judgement. I'm just going by the info in this article.

I expressed myself wrongly, I mean the top configuration with 32Xe cores will be at 3070-3070ti level, the 20Xe version is not worth even to be mentioned

By the way, A770 is even lower now, from the last GPU review - https://www.techpowerup.com/review/xfx-radeon-rx-7900-xtx-magnetic-air/31.html

3070ti is 50% ahead of A770. If Battlemage with 20Xe is on the level of A770, then the full version with 60% more cores must scale linear to beat 3070ti, but it won't and I expect it to land between 3070 and 3070ti or even lower

 

[GoldenX]

I hate to be the downer here but that result isn't going to cut it, assuming it's true. Performance on the level of a RTX 4060 which is really a xx50 class GPU in disguise is the entry level Ada stack from a generation fast approaching the end of it's lifecycle. The 5060 will most likely be out in much less than a year and if it really is an xx60 class GPU then it will run circles around this Intel offering. Even if the 5060 is another Nvidia deception a Blackwell xx50 will still beat this. I guess it all depends on when it gets released and at what price and whether it improves on RT or not.

As sad as it is, Battlemage was never intended to go against the big boys.

 

[64K]

As sad as it is, Battlemage was never intended to go against the big boys.

imo Intel has used up playing their sympathy card 'new kid on the block' and it's time to take off the kid gloves. The last I heard from Tom Peddie Research is that Intel has a 1% share of the dGPU market while Nvidia holds 80% and AMD with 19%. If Intel wants to survive they will have to do one of two things. Start competing or reduce prices to the point that they are almost giving their GPUs away to AIBs. The former being what they should do and the latter is just prolonging the inevitable exit from the dGPU market. I don't want to see them throw in the towel. Probably almost no one does but we can't keep pretending that they are anything of consideration in the market until they step up to the plate and compete.

 

[uftfa]

PCWorld just ran an article yesterday that Battlemage discreet GPUs were not happening. They are usually quite credible, so with that news and this leak, I don't know what to expect any more.

 

[yfn_ratchet]

I wonder how this one would slot into the Battlemage lineup. A B550/B560, maybe? That could leave space for a B580 with 32 Xe cores and a B750/B770 with 48/56 Xe cores respectively.

It it is a midrange Battlemage card we're seeing here, I've got high hopes for the 700 lineup. It's not going to be a strong contender by any means even for current gen in terms of performance, but if the pricing is anywhere near the insanity of Alchemist it's going to make a lot of waves for lower-budget builds.

 

[RUSerious]

3070ti is 50% ahead of A770. If Battlemage with 20Xe is on the level of A770, then the full version with 60% more cores must scale linear to beat 3070ti, but it won't and I expect it to land between 3070 and 3070ti or even lower

Well, with a wider bus and higher speed memory than Alchemist, A 32 XE2 core Battleimage very well could hit that level. Sadly, that's not great in 2024. Too bad it's not 40 XE2 cores, Intel graphics fans would have a nice mid-range gaming card. I hope Intel sticks with it an can get Celestial out in a reasonable time frame, and a better top end part.

 

[Craptacular]

I hate to be the downer here but that result isn't going to cut it, assuming it's true. Performance on the level of a RTX 4060 which is really a xx50 class GPU in disguise is the entry level Ada stack from a generation fast approaching the end of it's lifecycle. The 5060 will most likely be out in much less than a year and if it really is an xx60 class GPU then it will run circles around this Intel offering. Even if the 5060 is another Nvidia deception a Blackwell xx50 will still beat this. I guess it all depends on when it gets released and at what price and whether it improves on RT or not.

You do realize that these are drivers that are not performance optimized.

PCWorld just ran an article yesterday that Battlemage discreet GPUs were not happening. They are usually quite credible, so with that news and this leak, I don't know what to expect any more.

You have a link to that story?

 

[Macro Device]

If that 20XE2 thing goes for 180ish bucks and actually kicks 3060's arse then why not. Pricing is deciding here.

 

[GoldenX]

If that 20XE2 thing goes for 180ish bucks and actually kicks 3060's arse then why not. Pricing is deciding here.

If AMD pulls out another RDNA3 pricing strategy for RDNA4, Intel will have the entire mid and low end market for themselves.

They better learn about long driver support meanwhile if they want a long standing recognition in the market. What they did to 12.1 was disgusting.

Notice how all of us just assume Blackwell will be overpriced as heck.

 

[64K]

You have a link to that story?

The following is probably the article he was referring too. The title is misleading. The article isn't saying Battlemage is cancelled. Just pointing out how irrelevant Intel's presence is in dGPU as it's fallen below 1% and the chart rounds it down to 0%. btw Google is your friend.

Report: Intel has been eliminated from PC graphics cards

According to a new report, sales of PC graphics cards have reached a surprising high, driven almost entirely by Nvidia and with zero contribution from Intel.

www.pcworld.com

 

[usiname]

Well, with a wider bus and higher speed memory than Alchemist, A 32 XE2 core Battleimage very well could hit that level. Sadly, that's not great in 2024. Too bad it's not 40 XE2 cores, Intel graphics fans would have a nice mid-range gaming card. I hope Intel sticks with it an can get Celestial out in a reasonable time frame, and a better top end part.

Where you saw wider bus and faster memory? The A770 with 16gb has 256 bit and 560GB/s the top battlemage is again 256bit with 610GB/s. Its exactly the oposite, significantly faster card with just 10% faster memory. Well at this performance level the bandwidth doesn't matter(source 3070 vs 3070ti), but still. Also this won't be middle class card, you can't call the 3070 performance released in 2020 middle clas in 2025 when it will be slower or on par with 5060, the rebranded 5050 as 5060

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Where you saw wider bus and faster memory? The A770 with 16gb has 256 bit and 560GB/s the top battlemage is again 256bit with 610GB/s. Its exactly the oposite, significantly faster card with just 10% faster memory. Well at this performance level the bandwidth doesn't matter(source 3070 vs 3070ti), but still. Also this won't be middle class card, you can't call the 3070 performance released in 2020 middle clas in 2025 when it will be slower or on par with 5060, the rebranded 5050 as 5060

Probably more a case of the former having more bandwidth than it could ever possibly need. Hopefully BM is right-sizing the specs. I mean, that’s more bandwidth than a 3070 and about as much as an 6800 XT, but it was not even close to performing like either because the GPU hardware was incomplete.

 

[Macro Device]

Notice how all of us just assume Blackwell will be overpriced as heck.

I also don't expect anything but greed but expectations is one thing and actual price to perf ratios is another thing.

Nothing we can do but speculate so I utilise my chance to do so.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

No reason to suspect otherwise. Until there’s a legit challenge to the premium tier, NVIDIA sets the price. The only thing that could save the day is an AI datacenter bust, which would free up production for the consumer GPU market. It’s far easier to sell to those markets where margins are even better and support is more concentrated. While the gaming industry is lucrative, it’s also high-maintenance and high-profile.

 

[Macro Device]

Until there’s a legit challenge to the premium tier, NVIDIA sets the price.

They don't set ANY price below 3 Franklin so... it's up to AMD and Intel to fight for this area. Not like they can do anything in the premium segment other than wet their blankets. Can't say 300 to 500 USD SKUs are way too challenging to beat, though.

 

[GoldenX]

They do... With a 96-bit wide 6GB 3050...

 

[lexluthermiester]

Then again, it’s Geekbench. Extrapolating anything from its results is… challenging.

Yeah, more testing is required. But this is in line with the performance numbers being rumored. Intel is likely to deliver what they claim on these.

I hate to be the downer here but that result isn't going to cut it, assuming it's true.

You might be missing some context. This is a prototype and is the replacement for the A750. It's performing a bit better than the A770. This is an improvement no matter how you look at it and will sell cards in our current market climate. The higher end cards have yet to be seen. My guess is that they will be a good step up.