There is no such thing as a bad product. If that adage is true, then Intel's Arc graphics could be a good one, thanks to ASRock's significant price cut.

As TechPowerUp (open in new tab) found, an 8GB version of ASRock's top Intel Arc A770 chipset is available from Newegg (open in new tab) for just $270. Intel's 16GB reference A770 remains at $349 (opens in new tab).

Next, the ASRock Arc A750 8GB has been reduced from $290 to $240 (open in new tab), the same as Intel's own reference A750 has been reduced from $289 to $249 (open in new tab). Additionally, the ASRock Arc A380 has been reduced from $150 to just $120 (opens in new tab).

While the A770 flagship GPU for only $270 seems like a bargain, the reality is that it offers relatively modest performance. The Intel Arc A770 (open in new tab) will most likely be slightly faster for normal raster rendering than the Nvidia RTX 3060, which sells for over $300.

If this is a favorable comparison for Intel, it is a tough match for the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (opens in new tab). You can get it for about the same price as the newly reduced ASRock A770.

The A770 is probably best suited for 1080p gaming, and 8GB should be enough; if 1440p is your target resolution, 16GB is preferable, but it is questionable whether the A770 is a true 1440p-class gaming GPU for the latest and most demanding titles.

Overall, this is a difficult choice. For some games, the A770 is much faster than the 6600 XT or indeed the 6650 XT. For other games, the Radeon board is a bit faster. One must also consider that Intel's driver quality is improving rapidly, but is still somewhat substandard.

One could argue that the A770, with its 256-bit memory bus, is fundamentally more powerful hardware. Thus, in the long run, the A770 should prove to be the longer-lived GPU if Intel maintains its driver optimizations.

But that is not a certainty. What is certain is that at $270, the A770 is cheap enough to be seriously considered today; the A770 is not an obvious, low-risk option; and the A770 is not a good choice for a small, low-risk, and low-cost GPU. It is the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT.

However, ASRock's A770 8GB product is absolutely available now and a real contender. And this is probably the first time we can genuinely say that about an Intel Arc GPU. Hooray.