New Intel driver update tips 3 new Arc Battlemage GPUs: B580 Pro and B770 on the cards

Intel's Arc B580 and Arc B570 GPUs made quite a splash when they landed earlier this year, offering gamers lucky enough to get their hands on the graphics cards a very affordable entry into mid-range and 1080p gaming (with the B570 coming in at just $234.99 on Amazon). Intel did leave gamers wondering where the high-end gaming GPUs were, though, and we might soon have an answer to that, if updates to the Intel drivers on Linux are anything to go by. 

According to a screenshot posted to X by Tomasz Gawroński, Intel has added three new Battlemage GPUs (referred to as BMG in the changelog) to its Linux driver. Unfortunately, there is no indication of what these new GPUs may be, but speculation suggests that Intel may be gearing up to launch more than just a new GPU at a higher price point. The obvious candidate for a new Arc GPU is the Arc B770 or B780 (or perhaps both), which were supposedly delayed late last year, but that would not explain the additional SKUs appearing in the new Linux driver. 

Speculation by Gawroński and his commenters suggest that Intel may be preparing to launch two new B570 and B580 SKUs, specifically variants with higher VRAM amounts. With the current consensus among gamers that less than 16 GB of VRAM simply isn't enough anymore, it it possible that Intel could be seeing the writing on the wall when it comes to the 10 GB and 12 GB Arc B570 and B580. The current B580 and B570 GPUs use 2 GB memory dies, so scaling memory quantities should be fairly simple, although previous leaks pointed to a 24 GB Arc B580 Pro GPU on the horizon. 

As of now, higher-VRAM versions of the Arc B580 graphics card seems likely, alongside a higher-end B770 and/or B780.