Intel Arc Pro B70 Big Battlemage GPU With 32GB VRAM May Debut With Arrow Lake Refresh

When we first confirmed the existence of intel's BMG-G31 GPU, the so-called "Big Battlemage", we heard about four different SKUs, only one of which was an 'Arc' GPU for gamers. The other three were Arc Pro models intended for the professional workstation market, and so it's no surprise that it seems as if the first BMG-G31-based GPU we'll see is apparently the Arc Pro B70.


That's the story as stated by known hardware enthusiast and occasional leaker Bionic Squash. He was replying to a post from the familiar Gray, who asked, "When will BMG-G31 drop lmao," by saying that "[Arc] Pro B70 is this quarter, probably alongside the ARL-R announcement." In other words, when Intel reveals its Arrow Lake Refresh processors, it will release the first BMG-G31 GPU as the Arc Pro B70.

It's an interesting time to be launching a GPU. Memory shortages mean that the 32GB Arc Pro B70 card will likely either be expensive or a significantly low-margin product for Intel. Neither is particularly attractive, but Pro GPUs are usually higher-margin products compared to gaming GPUs, so it's possible Intel could still make money on the big chip.


If you feel like that's painting a grim picture for the future of the gaming-oriented Arc B770, you're probably right. Responding to a question from X user cosminmcm, Bionic Squash referred to B770 as "not financially viable" and said that he doesn't think it will launch anytime soon, "if at all."

Frequent Intel leaker Jaykihn once claimed that BMG-G31 was already canceled; that's clearly not exactly accurate, but with this new information, it's possible that what he heard was really that Arc B770 was canceled. That's a shame if true; the B570 and B580 are great GPUs for the money, and we'd love a similarly disruptive GPU in a higher performance segment. Unfortunately, it looks like that might not happen, at least this time around.