Intel’s upcoming Battlemage GPU might be as powerful as our favorite graphics card

(Image credit: Intel)

Intel could have a serious hit on its hands

There’s been plenty of chatter on the tech grapevine involving Intel‘s next-gen Battlemage graphics card since back in 2021, but now we have even more information on the upcoming card thanks to several leaks.

According to the latest video from Tom of Moore’s Law is Dead, the Battlemage may only be a discrete graphics card with no mobile version for laptops. The report also asserts some leaked specs, including a TSMC’s 5nm process node and up to 512 Execution Units (EUs). The flagship will have that much EU and 16GB of VRAM (either GDDR6 or GDDR6X) on a 256-bit memory bus.

The second SKU might feature 448 EUs and the same 16GB of VRAM on a 256-bit memory bus, and there’s even a reference to a 384 EU variant, though Tom isn’t sure if it will launch publically. However, there might be lower-end versions that would be more budget-minded cards: a 320 EU model with 12GB of RAM and two 256 EU models – one with 10GB of VRAM and the other with 8GB of VRAM.

Finally, the leaks state allege that Battlemage should be 30% faster, twice as fast as the Arc Alchemist line. This also means that Battlemage would be roughly equal to Nvidia’s recently released RTX 4070 Super graphic card. It’s important to consider that most likely by the time Intel’s Battlemage releases, Nvidia will have its Blackwell graphics card out, and AMD will have the RDNA 4 cards.

Battlemage could be a real force

It’s interesting to see Intel develop its graphics card line and, judging from these reports and rumors, Intel could have another line of winners. Its Arc Alchemist series balances performance and affordability and this Battlemage series could take things even further depending on its pricing.

If the rumors are true, Battlemage is already matching Nvidia’s 4070 Super, a major achievement itself. And even if Team Green’s next graphics card line ends up being superior, Team Blue could easily undercut them by offering far more budget-priced offerings. As we’re already seeing in this current market, buyers overwhelmingly value cost efficiency over pure performance.

Of course, there was a previous rumor of Intel ditching the Battlemage but judging from this recent report as well as another that alleges the graphics cards are well into development, it doesn’t seem likely.

Now, if only Intel promotes and launches this line of graphics cards much better than it did the Arc Alchemist release, it might have a real hit on its hands.

By Allisa James