Intel has officially launched its Arc Pro B70 and Pro B65 workstation GPUs, featuring the Big Battlemage GPU. Like their predecessor, the Arc Pro B60, these new models are also aimed at machine learning workloads, but this time boasting higher Xe2 core counts and a larger memory pool.
The Arc Pro B70 and Pro B65 bring higher performance to Intel’s Pro lineup, which until now was capped at 20 Xe2 cores and 24GB of VRAM. Starting with the B70, it uses a 32 Xe2 core configuration clocked up to 2.8GHz, resulting in a theoretical 22.94 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance. The GPU is hooked to 32GB of 19Gb/s ECC GDDR6 memory via a 256-bit bus, which translates into 608GB/s of bandwidth.
For comparison, the best Arc B-series solution for gamers is the Arc B580, carrying 24 Xe cores alongside 12GB of VRAM. Compared to the predecessor Arc Pro B60, the B70 boasts 60% more Xe2 cores and 50% more memory. This allows it to deliver up to 69% higher performance in tasks such as SolidWorks. It’s unfortunate that gamers are missing out on such a configuration, but Intel is following the money.
The Arc Pro B65 cuts the GPU configuration down to 20 Xe2 cores – the same as the B60 – clocked at 2.4GHz, consequently reducing the FP32 performance to 12.28 TFLOPS. That said, the memory layout is kept identical to the B70, with 32GB of memory and 608GB/s of total bandwidth available to drive large inference workloads.
Both support multi-GPU setups when more performance is required, with Intel advertising scalable performance with Linux, support for faster AI processing using oneAPI, and robust validated workstation pro drivers.
Most notably, both are positioned to deliver strong price-performance characteristics, especially against Nvidia, with Intel claiming up to 2x tokens per dollar using the B70 compared to an RTX Pro 4000. Intel also indicates that the higher memory capacity on the B70 provides up to 2.2x larger context windows for AI workloads. Though note that performance may vary between models as partners are allowed to configure their designs from 160W up to 290W, with 230W the target for Intel-made cards.
The Arc Pro B70 will be available from Intel and its partners, including ASRock, Gunnir, Maxsun, and Sparkle, starting at $949. The Arc Pro B65 will become available in mid-April at an undisclosed price. This puts the B70 as the cheapest GPU with such specs, undercutting AMD’s $1,299 Radeon AI Pro R9700.
