Intel Arc A750 Limited Edition review: Unexpectedly good value for money

Note: This review was first published on 27 March 2023.

The Intel Arc A750 Limited Edition is the company’s most affordable graphics card, with a competitive price of US$249 today. This budget-friendly GPU helps maintain reasonable graphics card prices in a market where costs have skyrocketed. The Arc A750 may prove even more significant than its higher-end counterpart, the Arc A770, due to its affordability.

The Arc A750 features a slightly scaled-down version of the Arc A770's G10 GPU, with 28 Xe-cores based on the Xe-HPG architecture, only four fewer than the 32 Xe-cores in the Arc A770. The A750 comes equipped with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM, which is more than adequate for the lower-end spectrum of the gaming market, who usually play games at 1080p. My benchmarks also show that the A750 often maintains a stable 60 fps at 1440p, making it suitable for use with FHD or QHD monitors.

It's important to note that Intel's Alchemist GPU architecture performs optimally in games using modern APIs, such as DX12 or Vulkan. Intel's driver package is designed to prioritise performance in the newest games, with ongoing efforts to optimise compatibility with older games using APIs like DX11 - but this will take time, Intel admits.

Your gaming experience with the A750 will depend on the games you play most often. Some popular competitive titles still utilise DX11, like DOTA and League of Legends, but most newer games have transitioned to DX12 and Vulkan. Although you may not need much graphics power for games like League of Legends or CS:GO, it's not ideal to have untapped performance potential in some titles.

Another factor to consider is the need for Resize BAR support on your CPU and motherboard to maximise the A750's performance. This isn't an issue with modern CPUs from Intel or AMD, including the 10th Gen and Ryzen 3000 series. However, if you have an older CPU, you won't be able to fully utilise this card. In my Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Marvel’s Guardian of the Galaxy benchmarks, performance of the A750 dipped drastically when Resize BAR was disabled. So, if your existing system is older than an Intel 10th Gen and AMD’s Ryzen 3000 series, avoid this card.

At the Arc A750's price point, it goes head-to-head with the budget-friendly NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 and AMD Radeon RX 6600. The GeForce RTX 3050 especially, with a launch price of US$249, poses the most significant challenge for the A750, especially when you include the well-supported DLSS super sampling feature that gives frame-rates a boost without sacrificing image quality.

Performance benchmarks

In all our graphics card evaluations, I subject the cards to a variety of synthetic and real-world gaming benchmarks to test their capabilities to the fullest. I previously noted that the Arc 750 is in direct competition with the GeForce RTX 3050 and Radeon RX 6600, both similarly priced. However, we didn't have the opportunity to review or benchmark a card based on the latter GPU.

Here's what our test rig looks like:

• Intel 12th Gen Core i9 12900K CPU
• ROG Maximus Z690 Hero
• Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD
• Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5
• Windows 11 Home 64-bit
• ASUS ROG Swift PG43UQ 4K Gaming Monitor

So, the RTX 3050 will serve as the primary comparison card for the Arc 750. Additionally, I have included a few higher-end GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD for reference purposes.

In most 1080p games, the Arc A750 typically achieves frame rates superior to those of the RTX 3050. However, there are exceptions: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which is highly for NVIDIA GeForce cards, performs better on the RTX 3050. Overall, the two cards demonstrate comparable performance in our 1080p benchmark tests. Nonetheless, this may not benefit Intel, considering the RTX 3050 is generally more affordable and has a wider selection of AIB partner cards for 1080p gamers on a budget.

It’s at 1440p that the Arc A750 sees a significant advantage at 1440p resolution. Even in Guardians of the Galaxy, it manages to slightly outperform the RTX 3050. Overall, the Arc A750 delivers a more impressive performance at 1440p, making it attractive for gamers with a tighter budget but has a monitor that supports this resolution. But the A750 has another advantage over the RTX 3050: ray-tracing.

Unexpectedly, the Arc A750 excels in ray tracing (see Port Royal in the 3D Mark chart). It trumps the RTX 3050 and is not that far behind the RTX 3060 Ti either. This achievement is impressive, given that this is Intel's debut Ray Tracing Unit, and the company has quickly closed the gap with NVIDIA’s more established and matured RT Core. However, it's worth noting that ray tracing remains a highly demanding graphics feature, and for entry-level cards like the A750 and RTX 3050, it’s best to have it disabled.

Conclusion

The Intel Arc A750 is undoubtedly the best value-for-money graphics card currently available for budget-conscious gamers. The real advantage of introducing the Arc A750 to the market, however, is that it forces AMD and Nvidia to reconsider their pricing strategies for other cards. Increased competition in the GPU market can only benefit consumers.

Nevertheless, the A750 does have a few drawbacks that gamers should keep in mind. For instance, not all games are optimised for the GPU, although Intel asserts that they are continually enhancing their drivers. Then there’s also the not-so-small matter of it running at a higher power requirement. Your confidence in the company will play a role in how you perceives this issue.

That said, it's hard not to feel a sense of excitement about the Arc series, particularly the forthcoming Battlemage GPU, rumored to rival NVIDIA and AMD's existing GPUs. While these claims are speculative at this point, it's refreshing to see the GPU market become more competitive beyond a duopoly.

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.