Intel introduced the program Balanced builds, through which the company plans to sell kits of its processors and graphics cards – aimed at gamers and PC builders who can choose the optimal configurations. One of the first kits included an Intel Core i5-12600K processor and an Intel Arc A750 graphics card, priced at $423.
Image source: game.intel.com
The graphics cards of the Intel Arc 7 series offer good value for money, but a combination with the flagship Intel Core i9 processors makes little sense: this processor simply will not realize its potential. To support this thesis, Intel compared the performance of systems with these graphics cards based on the Core i9-13900K with the behavior of several Core i5 and i7, 12th and 13th generation respectively, in more than 50 games. After more than 15,000 test runs, the manufacturer has collected enough data to select the optimal graphics card and processor configurations for gaming. It turned out that the Intel Arc A750 and A770 graphics cards usually reach their maximum performance in combination with Core i5 or Core i7 chips of the Alder Lake and Raptor Lake generation.
Scheme for choosing the optimal processor for a graphics card
Interestingly, the DirectX 12 API, which is closer to graphics resources than its predecessors, shows little sensitivity to processor performance when tested with the Intel Arc A750 graphics card. And even the relatively cheap Core i5-12400F shows results that are hardly inferior to older models. The best “partners” for the budget Intel Arc A380 are Core i3. The Intel Arc A750 mid-range graphics is optimally combined with the Core i5 and i7 models. And the flagship Intel Core i9 only comes into its own with powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080/4090 graphics cards or in non-gaming tasks where CPU performance is initially of higher importance.
The dependence of gaming performance on the processor model with different graphics cards
To help gamers find the best balance between price and performance, Intel has enlisted the support of numerous retail chains around the world. The Balanced Builds program offers both graphics card and processor kits (starting at $423) and complete PCs (starting at $899). It is worth noting that Intel has been supporting a similar program for laptop manufacturers for some time, but only now it is the turn of desktops. Apparently, it was the “teething troubles” of Intel Arc: the company decided first to debug the drivers, improve performance, and only then present marketing initiatives aimed at increasing sales of discrete graphics. Intel reminded that since the release of the Arc A750 and A770 graphics cards, many performance updates have been released – for example, the frame rate in CS:GO has increased by 43% and support for 42 new games has been added.
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