All about the Intel Arc A380 GPU – Galaxy PC Components

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Intel is a long-time player in the CPU market, but when it comes to GPUs, they’ve been pretty lackluster. The company has made some efforts to breakthrough into the GPU market, but every effort they’ve made up to this point has been half-baked and unimpressive. This is all set to change with their latest attempt to breakthrough, the Intel Arc A380 GPU.

The Intel Arc A380 serves as Intel’s first foray into the discrete graphics card, and for now it’s only available under OEMs in China. This makes it the official entry of Intel’s Arc A-Series GPUs into the market, even if it’s a small launch. Intel’s Arc A-series GPUs hold a lot of promise and many gamers are looking forward to them, so the Intel Arc A380 has some big shoes to fill.

This article then is all about the Intel Arc A380 GPU. We’re looking to answer any and all questions you may have about Intel’s first discrete GPU, ranging from things like its design, all the way to performance details and availability. So, if you’re curious about the Intel Arc A380 GPU, this is your one-stop-shop for all the details about it!

Where does the Intel Arc A380 GPU fit in the GPU market?

Unlike what some may have expected, the Intel Arc A380 is actually an entry-level GPU, fitting more with budget builds. It compares directly to other similar budget GPUs, such as the AMD RX 6400 and newly released Nvidia GTX1630. Most of its specifications reflect this, and Intel themselves are framing it to fit this mold.

The pricing for the Intel Arc A380 GPU matches this, with its launch price in China being 1030 yuan. This comes up to about $150, which is where most entry-level GPUs are priced. Do keep in mind however that China adds VAT at 13%, so it’s fully possible for the official international price to be a bit lower than that.

On top of this, as of right now the GPU is only available via OEM. Gunnir branded Arc A380 images have been surfacing all over, though Intel has confirmed more OEM partners will be coming soon. Among these are other familiar and reputable partners such as Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte, as well as PC OEMs like Acer and HP.

With Intel’s limited launch in China, lower price tag and entry-level power, it’s pretty clear the Intel Arc A380 isn’t exactly the hero GPU many were expecting. Instead, it’s Intel’s way of testing the waters, as well figuring out their strategy for update rollouts and bug fixes. With that said, does the performance match up with the expectations it’s been handed?

How well does the Intel Arc A380 GPU perform?

The question on everyone’s minds when a new graphics card launches is how well does it perform, and that also applies to the Intel Arc A380 GPU. We’ve been hearing mixed responses from early adopters of the GPU so far, though generally it does seem to line-up with Intel’s expectations so far.

Synthetic benchmarks show that the Intel Arc A380 is quite powerful for its price tag, completely thrashing its competition in the AMD RX6400, Nvidia GTX1650 and GTX1630. This is mainly because the GPU is optimized for benchmarks, and it can work its full potential on them effortlessly. While it’s not exactly outclassing mid-range GPUs, in benchmarks it’s still the top of its class.

We do specify ‘in benchmarks’ however, as real world gaming performance so far hasn’t been as good. In most gaming tests, the Intel Arc A380 seems to lag behind a little compared to other GPUs. While it still outclasses the Nvidia GTX1630, the RX6400 and GTX1650 outperform the A380 by a fair margin. It’s a surprising result considering the benchmarks claim otherwise.

What’s really happening here is that Intel’s Arc A380 GPU’s potential hasn’t been fully maximized yet. Intel’s drivers are holding the GPU back, though to their credit they’ve been releasing many updates attempting to boost the Arc A380’s performance. While it’s a tad disappointing to see this happen, we’re also not too surprised about it.

As we said earlier, the Intel Arc A380 GPU isn’t a hero device. It’s a test for Intel to get used to the GPU market, and as with any first generation product, there are bound to be some problems with it on release. Intel is using this as an opportunity to gather data for now, and they’ll be using this data to make future launches for more impressive GPUs much more impressive than this.

For what it’s worth however, many updates are being pushed to the Intel Arc A380 GPU. It’s very likely that with some time, the GPU will outshine its contemporaries the same way it does in the benchmarks. It’s just that for now, if you buy into the Intel Arc A380, you’re essentially buying into a test product that’s meant to be slowly improved over time instead of a fully fledged GPU.

When will the Intel Arc A380 GPU launch internationally?

For now, it’s tough to say when or where the Intel Arc A380 GPU will launch next. The company has stated that they plan to have bigger rollout for their Arc A-series GPUs before the end of 2022, but whether those plans will come to fruition remains to be seen.

A safe estimate is that the Arc A380 GPUs will launch globally by the end of 2022. Considering how Intel are already partnering with many different OEMs, it’s clear they’ve got serious intentions to mass produce the thing soon. It’s also not too far off to say that we may see it launch globally alongside other Intel Arc A-series GPUs, though which ones remains to be seen.

Until that happens however, this is basically all there is to know about the Intel Arc A380 GPU. It’s not exactly the most impressive showing, but its launch heralds a big shift in the GPU market with a new competitor on the loose. We can’t wait to see how this shakes things up, as well as what else Intel has in the works for future launches.

You can also be interested in these:

Where does the Intel Arc A380 GPU fit in the GPU market?

How well does the Intel Arc A380 GPU perform?

When will the Intel Arc A380 GPU launch internationally?

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