AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 vs Intel Arc A550M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear, consistent lead for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 across the two shared benchmark tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD part scores 53,757 against the Intel Arc A550M's 49,894, a victory margin of 7.7%. The gap widens considerably in Geekbench Vulkan, where AMD posts 57,653 versus Intel's 49,580, translating to a 16.3% advantage.

These are not marginal differences. A 16.3% swing in Vulkan performance is substantial for two mobile-class GPUs. The AMD card's Vulkan result is particularly impressive because it sits above its own OpenCL score, suggesting strong driver optimization for that API. The Intel part, by contrast, shows only a slight dip from OpenCL to Vulkan, indicating that its performance ceiling is relatively flat across these two compute workloads.

Looking at average benchmark scores across all recorded tests, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 averages 60,140, while the Intel Arc A550M averages 49,737. That is a 20.9% overall gap in the database's composite metric. The AMD card also ranks in the 88th percentile against all GPUs, versus the 86th percentile for Intel. Both are high rankings, but the AMD part sits closer to the top of the distribution.

Context from the nearest-rival data reinforces the picture. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48's average score of 60,140 places it within 0.3% of the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (60,347). It is 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58,657) and 2.8% ahead of the NVIDIA P102-100 (58,528). The Intel Arc A550M, at 49,737, sits 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49,957) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50,001). It is 2.4% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (50,951) but 2.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (48,477). In short, the AMD part competes with high-end desktop-class hardware, while the Intel part trades blows with upper-midrange desktop GPUs.

The head-to-head win tally is 2 for AMD, 0 for Intel. There is no benchmark in the database where the Intel Arc A550M takes the lead. The magnitude of the Vulkan loss is the more telling statistic, as it suggests the Intel GPU's compute architecture does not translate as effectively into that API's performance model.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 uses the Vega 10 chip built on GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The Intel Arc A550M uses the DG2-512 chip with Xe-HPG architecture, produced on TSMC's 6 nm node. The process node difference is stark: 14 nm versus 6 nm, which explains why Intel packs far more transistors into a smaller area.

Transistor counts illustrate the density disparity. AMD's Vega 10 integrates 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, yielding a density of 25.3 million transistors per square millimeter. Intel's DG2-512 integrates 21,700 million transistors on a 406 mm² die, achieving 53.4 million per square millimeter. Intel fits 73.6% more transistors on a die that is 18% smaller. This is the clearest architectural generational leap in the comparison.

Compute resource allocation differs significantly. The AMD part fields 3,072 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The Intel part has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. AMD holds a 50% advantage in shader count and a 50% advantage in TMU count, while ROPs are equal at 64. Despite fewer shading units, Intel still manages higher raw throughput in some metrics. The Intel part's pixel rate is 131.2 GPixel/s versus 76.80 GPixel/s for AMD, a 70.8% advantage. Texture rate is 262.4 GTexel/s versus 230.4 GTexel/s, a 13.9% edge for Intel. FP32 compute is 8.397 TFLOPS versus 7.373 TFLOPS, meaning Intel is 13.9% ahead in raw floating-point throughput.

Clock behavior explains part of this. The Intel Arc A550M has a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost clock of 2050 MHz. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 has no recorded base or boost clock in the database, only a memory clock of 786 MHz with 1572 Mbps effective. Without those clock figures, direct frequency comparison is impossible, but the Intel part's boost behavior clearly drives its higher throughput metrics.

Memory architecture is another major divergence. Both cards have 8 GB of VRAM, but that is where the similarity ends. AMD uses HBM2 with a 2048-bit bus and 402.4 GB/s bandwidth. Intel uses GDDR6 with a 128-bit bus and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. AMD's memory bandwidth is 79.6% higher. The 2048-bit bus is a hallmark of HBM designs, trading physical footprint for massive parallel access. Intel's 128-bit bus is typical for GDDR6 implementations, relying on higher clock speeds to compensate for narrower width.

Feature support also differs. AMD supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. Intel supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Intel's DirectX 12 Ultimate designation includes features like hardware ray tracing, and the Arc A550M comes with 16 dedicated ray tracing cores. AMD's Vega 10 has no ray tracing cores listed. Intel's Vulkan 1.4 support is a newer API revision than AMD's Vulkan 1.3.

Power characteristics are only partially recorded. The Intel Arc A550M has a TDP of 60 W. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 has no TDP recorded in the database. Both are classified as IGP (integrated graphics processor) with "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs, meaning they are designed for mobile or integrated implementations rather than discrete add-in boards.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 wins in every recorded compute benchmark. Its average score advantage of 20.9% makes it the stronger choice for general GPU compute workloads, particularly those that rely on OpenCL or Vulkan. The 16.3% Vulkan lead is especially relevant for applications that offload rendering or simulation tasks to the GPU through that API. The AMD card also has significantly higher memory bandwidth at 402.4 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s, which benefits memory-bound workloads such as large dataset processing or high-resolution texture streaming.

The Intel Arc A550M wins on raw throughput metrics despite losing the compute benchmarks. Its FP32 rate of 8.397 TFLOPS exceeds AMD's 7.373 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate of 131.2 GPixel/s is far above AMD's 76.80 GPixel/s. This suggests Intel's architecture is better suited for tasks that stress raw fill rates or shader throughput rather than memory bandwidth. Games that are not bandwidth-limited could see relatively stronger performance from the Intel part, even though the database's compute tests favor AMD.

The Intel part also holds a process technology advantage. The 6 nm TSMC node versus 14 nm GlobalFoundries means Intel achieves higher transistor density (53.4M versus 25.3M per mm²) and likely better power efficiency per transistor. The 60 W TDP for Intel, even without a direct AMD comparison, indicates a designed-for-mobile power envelope. AMD's lack of a recorded TDP makes direct efficiency comparison impossible, but the architectural generational gap is clear.

For ray tracing workloads, the Intel Arc A550M has a structural advantage with 16 dedicated RT cores. AMD's Vega 10 has no such hardware. Any application that uses DirectX 12 Ultimate features or hardware-accelerated ray tracing will favor Intel, even if the database's compute benchmarks do not test that scenario. Similarly, Intel's Vulkan 1.4 support is ahead of AMD's Vulkan 1.3, which could matter for future applications targeting the newer API revision.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 averages 60,140 across all recorded tests, versus 49,737 for the Intel Arc A550M. That is a 20.9% difference in AMD's favor.

Q: How large is the Vulkan performance gap?

A: In Geekbench Vulkan, AMD scores 57,653 and Intel scores 49,580. AMD leads by 16.3%.

Q: Does the Intel Arc A550M have any performance advantage?

A: Yes, in raw throughput metrics. Intel has 8.397 TFLOPS FP32 versus 7.373 TFLOPS for AMD, and a pixel rate of 131.2 GPixel/s versus 76.80 GPixel/s. However, these advantages do not translate into wins on the recorded compute benchmarks.

Q: What are the memory configuration differences?

A: Both have 8 GB of VRAM, but AMD uses HBM2 with a 2048-bit bus and 402.4 GB/s bandwidth. Intel uses GDDR6 with a 128-bit bus and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. AMD has 79.6% more memory bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing?

A: Only the Intel Arc A550M has dedicated ray tracing hardware, with 16 RT cores. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 has no RT cores listed.

Q: How do these GPUs compare to their nearest rivals in the database?

A: AMD's average score sits within 0.3% of the Intel Arc Pro A60 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Intel's average score is 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and 2.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 | Intel Arc A550M |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | GCN 5.0 | Xe-HPG |

| Process node | 14 nm | 6 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 12,500 million | 21,700 million |

| Die size | 495 mm² | 406 mm² |

| Transistor density | 25.3M / mm² | 53.4M / mm² |

| Boost clock | Not recorded | 2050 MHz |

| Memory type | HBM2 | GDDR6 |

| Memory bus width | 2048 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 402.4 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 3072 | 2048 |

| TMUs | 192 | 128 |

| RT cores | None | 16 |

| Pixel rate | 76.80 GPixel/s | 131.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 230.4 GTexel/s | 262.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 7.373 TFLOPS | 8.397 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 14.75 TFLOPS (2:1) | 16.79 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | Not recorded | 60 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| DirectX support | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Release date | 2019-03-18 | Not recorded |

| Production status | End-of-life | End-of-life |