Intel Making Moves: Acer Arc A770 BiFrost GPU Review, Thermals, & Tear-Down
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Date: 2023-03-01
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Comments and reviews: 15
xPLAYn
I definitely agree that this cooling solution really only makes sense in restrictive cooling situations, however unfortunately such circumstances are pretty dang common in this industry. Prebuilts, cheap budget builds, heck even sleeper builds deal with issues like this (In fact it's sleeper PCs where I can see this shine, particularly since it can both exhaust effectively out the expansion slot bracket with the blower fan and use flow-through cooling with the axial fan to push air above the GPU to where traditionally most older cases house their single exhaust fan for the system).
Also, since this card can be easily disassembled I can definitely see it's potential for custom paint work, and the cheap price will make it even easier to justify. Overall I think this card has a lot of potential, but much like the 1070 Katana it's a lot of potential in very niche circumstances. Still a neat card though. Might pick one up :D
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I definitely agree that this cooling solution really only makes sense in restrictive cooling situations, however unfortunately such circumstances are pretty dang common in this industry. Prebuilts, cheap budget builds, heck even sleeper builds deal with issues like this (In fact it's sleeper PCs where I can see this shine, particularly since it can both exhaust effectively out the expansion slot bracket with the blower fan and use flow-through cooling with the axial fan to push air above the GPU to where traditionally most older cases house their single exhaust fan for the system).
Also, since this card can be easily disassembled I can definitely see it's potential for custom paint work, and the cheap price will make it even easier to justify. Overall I think this card has a lot of potential, but much like the 1070 Katana it's a lot of potential in very niche circumstances. Still a neat card though. Might pick one up :D
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Blahorga
When they were first released the BiFrost was about 50 - 70 dollars cheaper than the Intel founder cards in Sweden. I haven't looked at current pricing though. Back then we were still waiting for benchmarks and could only speculate if these would turn out to be worth the money. The A770 from intel was introduced at a price of just over 600 and the A770 BiFrost at about 550, which made them look more interesting even with the weird fan arrangement. But when benchmarks were available they were not really interesting at anything approaching that price.
If the prices look really horrible then know that they include VAT of 20%. So the prices excluding VAT was about 480 for the Intel cards and 440 for the Acer BiFrost. Having a quick look all versions are in stock at various stores, but prices are still way to high to make them interesting.
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When they were first released the BiFrost was about 50 - 70 dollars cheaper than the Intel founder cards in Sweden. I haven't looked at current pricing though. Back then we were still waiting for benchmarks and could only speculate if these would turn out to be worth the money. The A770 from intel was introduced at a price of just over 600 and the A770 BiFrost at about 550, which made them look more interesting even with the weird fan arrangement. But when benchmarks were available they were not really interesting at anything approaching that price.
If the prices look really horrible then know that they include VAT of 20%. So the prices excluding VAT was about 480 for the Intel cards and 440 for the Acer BiFrost. Having a quick look all versions are in stock at various stores, but prices are still way to high to make them interesting.
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MrC pyrighted
I disagree with Steve's comment about overclocking, on the surface the statement is true that both GPU's can be overclocked but you are playing the silicon lottery, out of the box the bifrost is guaranteed at factory settings i.e. the settings Acer set to be clocked higher, however it is equally possible to buy a Intel Arc A770 LE that has a golden chip that just crushes most Bifrost chips, it is also as equally possible you could buy the Bifrost GPU thinking it would have better silicon to only find out it cannot be pushed further.
Either way I think a 50 difference in prices is too much to hope to get a extra 1% through OC'ing, if it was 10 sure but 50? that inflates the price by nearly 15% for 3-4%.tops.
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I disagree with Steve's comment about overclocking, on the surface the statement is true that both GPU's can be overclocked but you are playing the silicon lottery, out of the box the bifrost is guaranteed at factory settings i.e. the settings Acer set to be clocked higher, however it is equally possible to buy a Intel Arc A770 LE that has a golden chip that just crushes most Bifrost chips, it is also as equally possible you could buy the Bifrost GPU thinking it would have better silicon to only find out it cannot be pushed further.
Either way I think a 50 difference in prices is too much to hope to get a extra 1% through OC'ing, if it was 10 sure but 50? that inflates the price by nearly 15% for 3-4%.tops.
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GrumpyKitten
20:55 I think the foam's function is that of a gasket. That way they ensure that the radial center fan blows through the high impedance thinstack instead of leaking around it.
Blower fans don't rattle more than axial fans, not sure where you picked that up.
They really aren't inherently bad. They just get a bad rep because they are used in extremly cost conscious designs since one fan is obviously less complex than multiple axial fans.
I think a card with a bigger blower (similar to what you see in a PS5) and a beefy thinstack would be quieter than most axial solutions available today. They also don't pump hot air into your case which is a big plus imo.
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20:55 I think the foam's function is that of a gasket. That way they ensure that the radial center fan blows through the high impedance thinstack instead of leaking around it.
Blower fans don't rattle more than axial fans, not sure where you picked that up.
They really aren't inherently bad. They just get a bad rep because they are used in extremly cost conscious designs since one fan is obviously less complex than multiple axial fans.
I think a card with a bigger blower (similar to what you see in a PS5) and a beefy thinstack would be quieter than most axial solutions available today. They also don't pump hot air into your case which is a big plus imo.
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branvy
I bought this card about a month ago because I thought it was visually one of the most unique cards I had ever seen, and put it into my system. It definitely looks great in a case, but man the intel drivers were so bad I took it out and replaced it with a 6750xt within 2 weeks. Visual errors in M&B Bannerlord, and Halo Infinite shaders were so bugged my entire screen was rainbow textures when the screen wasn t completely white. Great looking card though XD
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I bought this card about a month ago because I thought it was visually one of the most unique cards I had ever seen, and put it into my system. It definitely looks great in a case, but man the intel drivers were so bad I took it out and replaced it with a 6750xt within 2 weeks. Visual errors in M&B Bannerlord, and Halo Infinite shaders were so bugged my entire screen was rainbow textures when the screen wasn t completely white. Great looking card though XD
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Richard
A blower taking most of the heat out of the box (vs the standard 2 or three flat fans) makes a HUGE difference in internal box temps. My son's box went from hovering around 60 internal down to less than 40 when we swapped out a 2060 super for a 3080 blower. The difference is absolutely amazing and is the reason they charge a fortune for blowers. Don't know the blower. That BiFrost is a lovely card for a small limited-airflow case.
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A blower taking most of the heat out of the box (vs the standard 2 or three flat fans) makes a HUGE difference in internal box temps. My son's box went from hovering around 60 internal down to less than 40 when we swapped out a 2060 super for a 3080 blower. The difference is absolutely amazing and is the reason they charge a fortune for blowers. Don't know the blower. That BiFrost is a lovely card for a small limited-airflow case.
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Ahri
As weird as it is, I'm glad that they decided to throw something out there. Glad to see more AIBs pushing Intel GPUs, I'm certainly open to seeing how Intel's GPUs develop for the future!
Weird design aside, I think it's unique! Kinda reminds me of the Cute Pet RX 570, or the Yeston RX6000 / RTX 3000 series GPU coolers. More unique designs, even if they're not my taste, may help to promote more innovation, which is good c:
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As weird as it is, I'm glad that they decided to throw something out there. Glad to see more AIBs pushing Intel GPUs, I'm certainly open to seeing how Intel's GPUs develop for the future!
Weird design aside, I think it's unique! Kinda reminds me of the Cute Pet RX 570, or the Yeston RX6000 / RTX 3000 series GPU coolers. More unique designs, even if they're not my taste, may help to promote more innovation, which is good c:
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Rich1285
You mentioned that this fan setup might have an impact on a hot box OEM build - I'd be interested to see that. If you still have one of the super hot pre-builts, maybe test a reference against the Bifrost for thermals and performance on both the CPU and GPU. I wouldn't expect it to be huge or anything, but it'd be interesting to see if that's a problem that this card can actually address.
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You mentioned that this fan setup might have an impact on a hot box OEM build - I'd be interested to see that. If you still have one of the super hot pre-builts, maybe test a reference against the Bifrost for thermals and performance on both the CPU and GPU. I wouldn't expect it to be huge or anything, but it'd be interesting to see if that's a problem that this card can actually address.
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Duncan
I hope Intel keeps this going! Comparing thier approache to the things nvidia and amd have been pulling recently I'm steadily being pushed towards them for my future upgrade they have already surpassed the 50% mark, if they release something that is worth upgrading from my 2070super it will slingshot them to way over 80%
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I hope Intel keeps this going! Comparing thier approache to the things nvidia and amd have been pulling recently I'm steadily being pushed towards them for my future upgrade they have already surpassed the 50% mark, if they release something that is worth upgrading from my 2070super it will slingshot them to way over 80%
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_qwe_FK_1
From an airflow standpoint I kinda like the idea. Normally air kinda gets pushed out to the sides but with this design the air gets pushed away, avoiding recirculating?
This could be good for some itx builds? Like Nr200p style cases? Considering the higher noise levels, I think no OC would have been better?
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From an airflow standpoint I kinda like the idea. Normally air kinda gets pushed out to the sides but with this design the air gets pushed away, avoiding recirculating?
This could be good for some itx builds? Like Nr200p style cases? Considering the higher noise levels, I think no OC would have been better?
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TechnoFuzzy
As some one who remembers GPU advertisements from the 90s and 00s, Im glad Acer went above and beyond for their advert on newegg, definitely alot more than the competition is doing and its a fun and interesting way to advertise a GPU. Acer did indeed go above and beyond for this one. Thanks Steve.
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As some one who remembers GPU advertisements from the 90s and 00s, Im glad Acer went above and beyond for their advert on newegg, definitely alot more than the competition is doing and its a fun and interesting way to advertise a GPU. Acer did indeed go above and beyond for this one. Thanks Steve.
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Terminusaquo
Nice to see Intel getting support for ARC from well known companies, they need a company like EVGA who has experience in the GPU market to start creating ARC GPUs though. Kingpin A770 GPU maybe
I'm watching Intel ARC with interest as a third player is needed
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Nice to see Intel getting support for ARC from well known companies, they need a company like EVGA who has experience in the GPU market to start creating ARC GPUs though. Kingpin A770 GPU maybe
I'm watching Intel ARC with interest as a third player is needed
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Salad
Damn, that thing is ugly, IMHO. Dear Acer and others, please, just do two 120mm fans on the card. They will be pushing a lot of air, spin slow, make less noise. And make these fans replaceable for customization needs, or if anyone will get an idea to put Noctua here.
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Damn, that thing is ugly, IMHO. Dear Acer and others, please, just do two 120mm fans on the card. They will be pushing a lot of air, spin slow, make less noise. And make these fans replaceable for customization needs, or if anyone will get an idea to put Noctua here.
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Plasmaburndeath
A Vaper Chamber, you are holding an actual real life vaper chamber powered product? Holy!!! .... That's like the revelations on Aerial Balloon Technology that U.S. Announced we can now track!, might even be as advanced as Airplane SEAT BELTS!
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A Vaper Chamber, you are holding an actual real life vaper chamber powered product? Holy!!! .... That's like the revelations on Aerial Balloon Technology that U.S. Announced we can now track!, might even be as advanced as Airplane SEAT BELTS!
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Weaponized
I like it. They're making a solid product, nothing too out there, but good fundamentals. Strange fan setup, but I've been considering a small form factor computer for a minute, and this would kinda do it?
Still, thanks for the review.
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I like it. They're making a solid product, nothing too out there, but good fundamentals. Strange fan setup, but I've been considering a small form factor computer for a minute, and this would kinda do it?
Still, thanks for the review.
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