table of contents
Table of Contents Specs and Pricing Game Performance Ray Tracing Performance DLSS and XeSS Values
Intel has released the Arc B570, one of the best graphics cards you can buy. As you’ll read in my Intel Arc B570 review, it offers solid gaming performance at 1080p at a price we haven’t seen in years. However, it faces stiff competition from Nvidia in the form of the RTX 4060.
We put two budget GPUs on our test bench to see how they hold up in a variety of games. We will explain the collected results in turn. Both cards are great options under $300, but there’s no arguing that Intel’s new Arc B570 is much cheaper than its Nvidia competitor.
Specs and price
When comparing the Arc B570 and RTX 4060, the battle is price. The Arc B570 costs just $220, while Nvidia’s RTX 4060 costs $300. That’s a pretty significant price difference of $80, or a 36% price increase. This usually indicates a significant difference in performance. However, that is not the case here. The RTX 4060 and Arc B570 are surprisingly even when it comes to real-world performance.
Check out our weekly analysis of the technology behind PC gaming
There are only three specs that matter: power, process, and VRAM. Damn, alliteration. For processing, both GPUs use TSMC, but Nvidia uses slightly smaller nodes. You can see that the efficiency is improved and the effect is realized at the rated power consumption. The RTX 4060 consumes 115W, while the Arc B570 goes up to 150W. However, both cards use a single 8-pin power connector.
Arc B580 RTX 4060 Architecture Battlemage Ada Lovelace Process Node TSMC N5 TSMC N4 Ray Tracing Cores 20 24 (3rd Gen) Tensor/XMX Cores 160 96 (4th Gen) Boost Clock Speed 2.67 GHz 2.46 GHz VRAM 12GB GDDR6 8GB GDDR6 Bus Width 192 – Little 128-bit Total Graphics Power (TGP) 190W 115W Price $249 $299
VRAM shows a big change, but it’s not as significant as the specs suggest. The Arc B570 has a wider memory bus at 10 GB, while the RTX 4060 has a thinner bus at 8 GB. Inter’s winning streak, right? Not exactly. Although Arc B570 has higher capacity, it actually has lower effective bandwidth.
The RTX 4060 includes a small L3 cache pool to improve memory bandwidth. This is what AMD calls Infinity Cache. The Arc B570 doesn’t have such a cache, so Intel’s GPU has a higher capacity, but when it comes to the actual gaming experience, the RTX 4060 and Arc B570 are pretty similar. Both should be treated as 8GB graphics cards, and you’ll need to consider the implications of that capacity for demanding games like Indiana Jones and The Great Circle.
That’s where the Arc B570’s price becomes a great asset. Regardless of which GPU you choose between these two, you’ll have to make compromises for VRAM-heavy games, but you’ll be able to make more of those compromises with a $220 graphics card than with a $300 graphics card. Easy to justify.
game performance
Go to benchmark. Both the RTX 4060 and Arc B570 are focused on 1080p gaming performance. Some lightweight titles may have enough noise to scale up to 1440p, but if you want the ideal experience, go for a gaming monitor with 1080p and a high refresh rate. With either GPU, you can comfortably exceed 60 frames per second (fps) in most games, but more demanding titles like Black Myth: Wukong that require upscaling assistance That’s different.
However, there isn’t really a consistent trend in the games I’ve tested. Overall, the RTX 4060 slightly outperforms by an average of 6%, but note that it also costs 36% more. From a value perspective, Intel definitely wins the battle with the Arc B570.
However, nuance is important here. The Arc B570 inexplicably drops the ball in some games, as you can see from games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Black Myth: Wukong, and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. The RTX 4060 has some of these games, especially Red Dead Redemption 2 and Returnal, but the drop-off isn’t as extreme.
The important thing here is that both the RTX 4060 and Arc B570 reach playable, even impressive performance in these demanding games at 1080p and maximum settings. Beyond that standard, value becomes more important. For many of these games, spending money on an RTX 4060 won’t give you a noticeably better experience. However, there is one exception to this. It’s the black myth, Goku.
This is a great example of a cutting-edge PC experience where Nvidia is far superior to Intel. Given the Arc B570’s slightly lower performance, I suspect new games will demand more demanding performance and force compromises sooner than the RTX 4060. The question is whether that compromise is worth the additional $80? Well, I’ll leave that to you.
Ray tracing performance
Both the RTX 4060 and Arc B570 can play games with ray tracing at 1080p, especially with upscaling assistance. Nvidia usually gets away with ray tracing performance, but that’s not really the case here. The Arc B570 and RTX 4060 had nearly identical results except for Returnal, with the Arc B570 actually coming out ahead.
Ray tracing is fully considered on both GPUs, and the Arc B570 holds up very well. However, more games are starting to feature full path tracing, such as Black Myth: Wukong and Alan Wake 2, and Nvidia still has the upper hand in these titles. To be fair, I don’t think either of these GPUs are suitable for full path tracing, but there’s a good chance they’ll improve on all the visual bells and whistles of Nvidia’s GPUs.
DLSS and XeSS
This class of GPU requires occasional use of performance-enhancing features. For Intel, it’s XeSS. It’s an AI-driven upscaling utility available for a wide range of games, and Intel has announced the XeSS 2 update, which adds frame generation to the mix. XeSS 2 works very well, but there is one major problem. At the time of writing, this is only available in one game.
Nvidia offers DLSS 3 for the RTX 4060, which also provides AI-assisted upscaling and frame generation. Nvidia doesn’t have an edge in quality or performance (XeSS and DLSS are pretty similar), but they do have a significant lead in support. DLSS is available in over 500 games, nearly 200 of which support DLSS 3 frame generation.
This is a huge benefit for the RTX 4060, especially for games like Alan Wake 2 where the RTX 4060 doesn’t quite meet the standards. XeSS 2 is a capable competitor, but Intel needs to expand support before it becomes a big selling point for the Arc B570.
value angle
Value is the name of the game at this price point, and Intel delivers on that with the Arc B570. This is a great option for PC gamers who are just dipping their toe in the water. Perhaps you’re looking to team up with a friend in Marvel Rivals. Or maybe you want to finally experience what an epic strategy game like Crusaders King 3 has to offer on PC. The Arc B570 can provide that experience at a price point that hasn’t been touched in years.
However, when it comes to a premium gaming experience like Black Myth: Wukong, you have to make some compromises. For these titles, the RTX 4060 not only performs well but also excels at DLSS 3. You’re spending the extra $80 to enable those experiences as they emerge, not to get better performance across the board in every game.
So for me, the Intel Arc B570 wins. This is great value and an easy recommendation for anyone who is strapped for money and looking for a modern GPU. The RTX 4060 makes sense for some, but it’s more of a stepping stone to Nvidia’s more expensive options than a flagship product like the Arc B570.
