Intel Coming For Nvidia And AMD, And That’s Good News For You

Intel chip giantINTCBrings heat to rivals NvidiaNVDA) and AMD (AMD) with the launch of the company’s Arc graphics chips. And it could turn the graphics chip industry on its head, not to mention help consumers like you and me.

Intel has been promoting Arc Graphics since 2021 as an alternative to Nvidia and AMD’s offerings for customers looking for powerful graphics capabilities for both gaming and content creation.

The company will eventually release a slate of Arc-branded chips and cards, with the Arc 3 serving as the first in Intel’s battle to steal market share in the massive PC gaming market from Nvidia and AMD. This could benefit consumers at a time when a global shortage of chips has driven graphics card prices higher than ever before.

It makes sense for Intel to dive into the gaming market. According to the NPD GroupPC sales in the US grew 25% to $5.74 billion in 2021. And games aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

According to NewZooglobal game sales will reach $218.8 billion by 2024. PC games accounted for about 20% of game sales in 2021, so it makes sense for Intel to fall into this category.

Do you need more proof? Look no further than Nvidia’s 2021 earnings report. For the full year, Nvidia’s gaming division raked in $12.5 billion out of its total revenue of $26.9 billion. That’s more than $10.6 billion in revenue generated by the Nvidia data center business.

In other words, while Nvidia’s stock price reflects investors’ hope for the future of the company’s data center business, it still makes the bulk of its cash on gaming hardware.

This is where the Intel discrete Arc chips come in. See, Intel currently offers what are known as Iris Integrated Graphics Accelerators. Built-in accelerators rely on your laptop’s CPU and RAM to power the on-screen graphics. And while that’s fine if you’re browsing the web or streaming movies, it’s best to leave the games to separate segments.

That’s because discrete graphics chips rely on their own GPUs and RAM, which means they can run games that would throttle a system with integrated graphics.

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That doesn’t mean an Intel Arc 3 chip will crush Nvidia chips out of the gate, out of the way. This is Intel’s entry chip, after all. So while you will be able to play the latest games, you will not be able to raise the graphics settings to their highest levels.

What’s more, we don’t even know how Intel’s Arc chip compares to entry-level discrete Nvidia or AMD chips. That’s because Intel just gave us a look at how its Arc 3 chip stacks up with the built-in Iris accelerator.

Of course, the Arc 3 does better than Iris by a large margin, but that doesn’t mean much. As a gamer, I’m more interested in how the Arc 3 compares to Nvidia’s RTX 3050 laptop chip or AMD’s Radeon RX 6500M. We’ll likely start to see those comparisons pouring in as the Arc 3 laptops enter the market.

Intel prepares for the future

Of course, the real fun will start when Intel showcases its Arc 5 and Arc 7 chipsets this summer. These chips, unlike the Arc 3, are specifically designed for what Intel calls “advanced gaming” and “high-performance gaming.” Basically, if you’re hoping to get really impressive graphics performance out of your games, you’ll need to invest your money in a machine with an Arc 5. And if you’re hoping to maximize the graphics of your games, you’ll want to go with the Arc 7.

However, Intel’s biggest test will come when it debuts desktop graphics cards this year. But don’t set your expectations too high just yet. The company has already informed that the first generation of desktop cards will not live up to the performance expectations set by Nvidia and AMD’s own cards.

This is likely to happen when Intel releases its third generation of chipsets and graphics cards. These codename slides and cards are designed for what the company calls super enthusiasts. Which, if I’m being honest, is someone like me.

If all goes according to Intel’s plan, then the company will have the kind of graphic know-how to stand out as a true third-party graphics option for consumers and creators alike. And with graphics cards already skyrocketing thanks to a global shortage of chips, and crypto-currencies snatched up once they hit the market, consumers are likely to welcome a third option with open arms. Especially if it makes purchasing the card easier and less expensive.

However, it will take time for Intel to win the game over. Both Nvidia and AMD have incredibly loyal user bases. And when it comes to the technology powering the gaming rig, gamers want something they know they’ll do.

But if Intel chips and cards can match what Nvidia and AMD offer, it could become a viable third-party graphics chip maker, perhaps supplanting those companies as the king of the graphics card.

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