A conspicuous absence

Intel's long-rumored high-end gaming GPU has become a mystery. Despite months of leaks pointing to an Arc B770 discrete graphics card, Intel did not announce it at CES 2026, leaving enthusiasts who had hoped for a new challenger to NVIDIA and AMD empty-handed. The silence has raised real questions about whether the card is coming at all.

The leaks had been persistent, spanning code references, driver strings, and shipping-manifest sightings, which made the no-show all the more conspicuous.

What we think it is

The expected specifications, all unconfirmed and leak-based, painted a competitive mid-range card:

A Battlemage die on TSMC's 5nm process with 32 Xe2 cores.
At least 16GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus.
A TDP of up to around 300W, positioned against NVIDIA's RTX 5060-class and AMD's RX 9060-class cards.
Firmware for the chip was reportedly found bundled in driver files, suggesting the silicon exists even without a product launch.

Asked directly about the card, Intel representatives declined to confirm it, with one offering a pointed no comment while acknowledging the widespread curiosity.

What it means

Intel instead centered its CES keynote on Panther Lake mobile chips with integrated Arc graphics, not discrete gaming GPUs. That focus, combined with the B770's absence, has led commentators to speculate that if no announcement comes by Computex 2026, the discrete card may effectively be cancelled. That timeline is analyst speculation rather than an Intel statement, but it captures the growing pessimism.

The stakes matter for gamers beyond Intel fans. A credible third competitor in discrete graphics would pressure NVIDIA and AMD on pricing at a moment when the memory shortage is already pushing GPU costs up. Intel's Arc line, for all its early driver struggles, had become a genuine value option in the mid-range, and a high-end follow-up could have expanded that.

For now, the B770 sits in limbo, a card that appears to exist in silicon but not on shelves. Intel's willingness to invest further in discrete gaming GPUs will shape whether the graphics market gets more competitive or stays a two-horse race. Computex will be the next real test of its intentions.