- Rumors hint at Intel’s Arc B770 unveiling at Computex this May
- Nvidia is expected to launch its RTX 5060 GPU on May 19 close to Computex
- The Arc B770 is rumored to feature 16GB of VRAM, compared to the RTX 5060’s 8GB
While there’s been no official confirmation from Nvidia, all signs point towards a May 19 launch for its new RTX 5060 GPU. However, it may not be a smooth sailing launch for Team Green, as both AMD and, more importantly, Intel have strong competition on the horizon.
According to Japanese media outlet Gazlog, Intel’s Arc B770 GPU is expected to be unveiled at Computex, around Nvidia’s RTX 5060 rumored launch date. It’s anticipated to be a more powerful middle-range tier GPU compared to the Arc B570 and B580 counterparts, featuring 16GB of VRAM and a 256-bit memory bus.
This comes alongside AMD’s Radeon RX 9060 XT, which is at least rumored to be unveiled around Computex and its fierce rivals’ RTX 5060 launch. Team Green has much more to worry about now, particularly with the controversy surrounding the new GPU’s 8GB VRAM configuration.
With both AMD’s RX 9060 XT and Intel’s purported Arc B770 launching with 16GB of VRAM (note that AMD’s GPU will also have an 8GB variant), it may just leave Nvidia’s RTX 5060 in a tougher spot than before.
There’s no clarification on whether the B770 will feature 16GB GDDR6 or GDDR7 VRAM, but a previous rumor reported by Wccftech suggests Team Blue may be working to use GDDR7 memory chips for next-gen GPUs – and this may be the ‘Celestial’ lineup, but there’s also a chance the Arc B770 could be first to see this change.
If this is legitimate, Intel deserves praise for abandoning 8GB GPUs entirely
It’s already clear that Intel is aware of 8GB GPUs and the negative consensus surrounding them; its A770 GPU featured both 16GB and 8GB variants, and it’s safe to say the latter doesn’t cut it for triple-A gaming today (unless you enjoy constantly adjusting graphics settings).
Fortunately, its more recent Arc B570 and B580 have 10GB and 12GB VRAM configurations, respectively – and it looks like Team Blue is doing away with 8GB with the rumored B770 for 16GB instead (unsurprisingly so, if it’s indeed a more powerful GPU).
Besides the ray tracing capabilities, DLSS 4, Multi-Frame Generation, and GDDR7 VRAM, I’d argue that the Arc B770 (based on the rumors) looks like the more appealing graphics card over the RTX 5060. Intel is gradually expanding its XeSS upscaling method, including frame generation, so it will be great to see the rumored GPU sell well.
I’m hoping that Team Blue’s efforts with this 16GB GPU are received well by consumers, because it could be a way for both Nvidia and AMD to finally abandon 8GB VRAM capacities for future GPUs.
