Intel’s Arc Alchemist desktop GPUs may be delayed once again

Intel’s desktop range of Arc Alchemist graphics cards has apparently been delayed once again, according to a new report.

As reported by VideoCardz, technology insider Enthusiastic Citizen stated that Team Blue has decided to postpone the launch for the Arc Alchemist desktop GPU series until either the latter stages of the second quarter of 2022 or the start of the third quarter.

It was initially reported that Arc Alchemist desktop boards were on track to hit store shelves as early as May. Intel even showcased the first look at the upcoming video cards by releasing a teaser of a limited-edition version. That image highlighted a “summer 2022” launch period.

Intel officially launched its Arc Alchemist GPUs for laptops at the start of April. However, following concerns and confusion surrounding their availability, it was confirmed that systems equipped with mobile Arc graphics cards have gone on sale in South Korea, while a release in other regions is said to be scheduled for the “coming weeks.”

In any case, the GPU industry has been awaiting the arrival of the more powerful Arc desktop series. To this end, Enthusiastic Citizen (who has leaked sensitive Intel stories in the past that ultimately turned out to be true) said that Team Blue is developing a total of five desktop Arc models.

These include the Arc A770, A750, A580, and A380 variants. The A770 model in particular was singled out. The leaker stated that this specific GPU should match Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3060 Ti when it comes to overall performance.

However, while the Arc A770 has been reported to be the flagship model of the Arc desktop lineup due to its purported 16GB memory specification, the report adds that it may actually offer 8GB or 10GB of RAM instead. That said, this tidbit conflicts with Arc A770’s first benchmark, which all but confirms that it should theoretically feature 16GB of memory.

Elsewhere, Intel is reportedly also working on the Arc A750. VideoCardz highlights that, when factoring in previous leaks, this variant could come with 448 Xe Vector Engines (Execution Units). According to the report, both the Arc A750 and A580 GPUs will sport 8GB of GDDR6 memory. As for the A380, this board will apparently match or outperform AMD’s Radeon RX 6400.

The future of Arc Alchemist GPUs

If Enthusiastic Citizen’s track record pertaining to Intel rumors and the latter’s somewhat botched launch for its latest GPUs are taken into consideration, it seems likely that you may very well have to wait a few more months to install an Arc Alchemist board on your PC.

Today’s rumor is not the only delay associated with Intel’s Arc Alchemist graphics cards. We first heard of a possible Arc Alchemist launch setback in February. That report mentioned that Arc’s high-end desktop model could be released in June.

Sources also suggested that Intel will reintroduce its Arc Alchemist video cards during PAX East, which is a gaming convention that commences on April 21.

Intel has stated that it plans to roll out the Arc Alchemist GPUs for laptop systems before the desktop variants hit the market. However, the chip giant has evidently backed itself into a corner here: Nvidia and AMD are preparing to launch its highly anticipated next-gen cards during the third and fourth quarters of 2022.

As such, whenever Arc does become available, even the most powerful Arc desktop GPU will seemingly only be able to offer the same performance of certain current-gen Nvidia and AMD boards, rather than being able to outperform more powerful video cards such as the RTX 3090 Ti and AMD’s Radeon RX 6950XT. Even Intel’s top-spec A370M graphics card struggles against its competition.