Intel Contest Hints at Pricing for Arc Graphics Cards

An Intel contest to promote the company’s Arc graphics cards also hints at pricing for two of the desktop GPU models. 

The company plans on giving away 300 Arc graphics cards through the “Xe HPG scavenger hunt,” which kicks off on Oct 27. Interestingly, the rules for the contest also mention the total retail value of the prizes, as noticed by a user on Reddit.

The top prize, valued at $900, includes a “Premium Intel Arc graphics card,” some company merchandise, and six months of Xbox Game Pass for the PC. Meanwhile, the second prize offers up a “Performance Intel Arc graphics card,” company swag, and a three-month membership to Xbox Game Pass for the PC for a total value of $700. 

It’s not clear what merchandise Intel will offer up. But we do know an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership costs $44.99 for three months and $89.99 for a six-month subscription, according to the Microsoft Store. 

So if you assume the Intel swag is a T-shirt and a water bottle worth around $50, then it’s not hard to estimate the price for each GPU model. The Premium Intel Arc model should come in at around $760 while the Performance model likely has price close to $600. 

Those costs would put the cards at the higher-end of the spectrum. In contrast, AMD’s 6800 XT card starts at $649 while Nvidia’s RTX 3080 can go for $699 and up, although the chip shortage, rising logistics costs, and Trump-era tariffs have caused GPU prices to inflate over the past year. 

However, if Intel gives more company swag than expected, then the pricing for the cards will drop down even further, putting them closer in line to Nvidia's RTX 3070 card and AMD's 6700 XT, which have a $499 and $479 starting price, respectively.

Recommended by Our Editors

Micro Center Seems to Leak Pricing for Intel's Top-End Alder Lake Chips

Intel's Arc Graphics Cards to Support Overclocking Capabilities

Nvidia Brings GeForce RTX 3080 Power to GeForce Now Game Streaming

The other curious part of the contest is how it runs until April 29, 2022. Intel has said it plans to launch the Arc graphics card during next year’s Q1. But the scope of the launch—will it include both desktop graphics cards and laptop GPUs?—is unknown.

In the meantime, the company plans on giving 100 consumers the grand prize and 200 other participants the second prize. The scavenger hunt involves answering 10 questions during the ensuing weeks to earn points; those with the most points get the top prizes. To answer the questions, the chip maker plans on posting clues on Twitter from Intel executives. 

“Obtaining a registered Twitter account is not required, all Tweets will be made on accounts visible without signing into Twitter,” the contest rules say. If you’re the first one to answer a question, you can earn a max of 5,000 points. Intel is opening up the contest to consumers based in the US and parts of Europe and Asia.