Hands On With Intel’s Arc A770 Limited Edition: A New Card Player Enters the Arena

We tested Intel’s Arc A380 a few weeks back (via a card from board maker Asrock), and it was an interesting entry in the graphics card market. It wasn’t particularly powerful, but it was one of the lowest-cost new-issue graphics cards we’ve seen launched in several years. (We paid $129.99 for ours.) More important: It was the first major-maker graphics card we’ve seen for general consumers in decades that didn’t have an AMD or Nvidia GPU at its heart. It’s built on Intel’s Arc’s GPU and the company’s first-generation “Alchemist” graphics architecture.

That A380 card, however, was something of a teaser. Intel’s real effort to break into the graphics card market is focused around its Intel Arc A770 and Intel Arc A750. And now, we’ve been able to get our first look at the Arc A770, which is due to launch in October.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

Intel’s been releasing details about its graphics card product line, in a steady trickle, over the last several weeks, and most of the basic details around these cards are already known. But we hadn’t actually seen one of these cards in person prior to today. The card we have in hand is Intel’s Arc A770 Limited Edition, which is an interesting specimen, as Intel itself is the primary brand on the card, not an OEM partner.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

This is a similar situation to how Nvidia creates its Founders Edition graphics cards. But what’s unusual about this card’s launch is that we may see the majority of Intel graphics cards that hit the market being made entirely by Intel at launch. We’ve not heard, for certain, about any OEMs signing on to make a version of the Arc A770 or A750 at this time.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

Touching on Arc

As for this exact model, it has quite the premium feel for a graphics card that’s set to retail for $349.99. The cooler is somewhat blocky-looking, but it has rounded corners and a few accent marks that give it a modern, somewhat industrial feel. Nothing about this card feels retro. The components on the board are actively cooled by two 90mm fans that reside over two fairly large black heatsinks, which are connected via a series of heatpipes.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

Like the tank-quality GeForce Founders Editions, the A770 Limited Edition card feels solid and doesn’t flex in the slightest when squeezed, which is something I’ve seen happen to some other graphics card coolers. The back panel on the card is a bit less solid, though, as it sounds hollow when tapped. It is likely there a bit more for aesthetics than cooling.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

When the card is powered up, the slightly industrial look vanishes and is replaced by a more gamer-friendly appearance: The RGB LEDs that run around the card spring to life. By default, these lights cycle through an eye-catching RGB light pattern, but they can be controlled via software if you connect the card to a USB 2.0 header via an included cable.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

As for power and video outputs, the card is powered by two PCI Express power connectors, one eight-pin and one six-pin. In total, the card is rated for 225 watts, but far more power is available to it for overclocking if you want to push the card to run faster. Port placement is fairly typical for a modern graphics card, with three DisplayPort connections and a single HDMI output. We shot it straight out of the box; here you can see it with the protective port caps in place.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

These graphics cards are due to go on sale on October 12, with this exact model being available for $349.99. Intel notes that despite the Limited Edition name, this and its companion A750 Limited Edition will be produced in significant numbers. Unlike the Founders Edition cards, which tend to sell through soon after they launch, these Intel-branded models should be around for a while.

Stay tuned as we get the A770 Limited Edition (and the A750) driver-equipped, fired up, and pushing benchmark-test frame rates. Expect a full review soon.