Intel’s new Arc Balanced Builds bundle addresses the most fundamental question in PC building: How do you get the most performance out of your PC without overpaying?
Intel at least knows where its processors and Arc GPUs are. And, based on the results of its own (massive) internal testing, the company is working with retailers and system builders to discount its CPU and GPU bundles to match your sweet spot.
PCs are rarely “balanced”: some components are simply faster than others, so the flow of data from an SSD or hard drive through the motherboard chipset to the CPU, and back and forth to memory and GPU is inevitably limited by one component. Upgrading that component just moves the bottleneck elsewhere in the system. What enthusiast and consumer sites like PCWorld try to do when testing CPUs is to use the most powerful GPU possible, hoping that the CPU will be the bottleneck. When testing GPUs, the same logic applies: we use the fastest CPU we can get.
In the real world, this is a poor strategy. There’s no reason to pair a budget GPU with the fastest Core i9, because the GPU just can’t keep up. Ideally, then, you’d be trying to build a PC where these two components can scale hand in hand.
What Intel does internally is compare its Core microprocessors to its own Arc GPUs, testing them repeatedly in various CPU and GPU configurations and in various games to try and answer the question of which CPU-GPU combo provides the most value.sacrifice performance or money.
Answer? The Arc A750/A770 work best with a Core i5 and Core i7, while the A380 works best with a Core i3 and possibly a Core i5. While you’re free to pair the A380 (or any Arc GPU) with any Intel Core CPU, unless you upgrade your GPU, going beyond Intel’s recommendation will give you diminishing returns.
Intel
Of course, that’s a task enthusiast sites can take on, but Intel certainly has an advantage: it naturally has access to every CPU and GPU it makes.
Intel also works with system builders and retailers to provide the best builds.For example, on Newegg you can buy ASRock Phantom Gaming Arc 770 graphics card $329, but specific Balance build pages Also available in bundles Core i5-12600K with A770 $369.98—Save $20.There are other transactions, including Core i5-12600K with A770 graphics card Just $519.98, or $20 off. Intel also teamed up with Micro Center for a better deal (a Core i7-12700K, Gigabyte Z690 card, and a pair of 8GB DDR4-3200 DRAM) for $349.99, or $216 off. However, Micro Center transactions are all in-store.
Intel
Intel also works with Optimizing for Amazon on PCand with best buy pc maker and Costco,etc.
If you’re really interested in the finer details, Intel has shown it in action: at the bottom of it blog post In describing its achievement, Intel also added a Excel file containing test results. Otherwise, this is great information for your next PC build whenever possible.