AMD Radeon Pro W5500X vs Intel Arc Pro A30M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows two professional workstation GPUs that measure performance through different benchmark suites. The Intel Arc Pro A30M posts a Geekbench OpenCL score of 31,894, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X achieves a Geekbench Metal score of 27,973. Because these tests target different compute APIs, direct cross-comparison requires context from their respective nearest rival fields.

In the OpenCL test, the Intel Arc Pro A30M lands at the 76th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its score sits 0.7% above the NVIDIA TITAN RTX, which averages 31,676. That is a razor-thin margin, effectively a statistical tie. More notably, the Intel card trails the AMD FirePro S10000 by 1.5% (that card scores 32,388) and the AMD Radeon Pro 570X by 0.9% (that card scores 32,176). The Intel part also edges out the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell by 1.1%, with that rival scoring 31,532. The picture is one of a mid-pack OpenCL performer, comfortably within 2% of four very different rivals.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X, tested under Metal, holds the 73rd percentile. Its score of 27,973 is remarkably close to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, which averages 28,020, a delta of only -0.2%. The AMD card sits 0.3% above the AMD Radeon RX 7800M (27,883) and 0.5% above the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27,839). The only rival it trails is the AMD FirePro S7150, which scores 28,117, putting the W5500X 0.5% behind. Again, every delta is under 1%, indicating a very tightly clustered set of Metal results.

What does this mean in practice? The Intel Arc Pro A30M, when measured through OpenCL, performs at a level comparable to a high-end NVIDIA workstation card from a previous generation. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X, under Metal, performs within a similar band. Neither card dominates its respective test. The raw score gap between the two (31,894 vs. 27,973) suggests the Intel part has a 14% higher raw number, but that gap is misleading because the tests differ. OpenCL and Metal stress different parts of the hardware stack, and the database does not provide a common benchmark for these two cards.

The wins are split by API. In OpenCL, the Intel Arc Pro A30M is the stronger part, sitting above several rivals. In Metal, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X holds its own, but its score is lower in absolute terms. The head-to-head benchmark array is empty, meaning no direct test pits these two cards against each other. Analysts must rely on the percentile rankings and rival comparisons. The Intel part ranks higher overall (76th vs. 73rd percentile), but the margin is small and the test environments differ.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The Intel Arc Pro A30M uses the DG2-128 chip built on the Xe-HPG architecture, part of the Alchemist generation aimed at professional mobile workstations. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X uses the Navi 14 chip with the RDNA 1.0 architecture, part of the Radeon Pro Mac series. Both are manufactured by TSMC, but on different nodes: Intel uses a 6 nm process, while AMD uses a 7 nm process.

The transistor counts are close. Intel packs 7,200 million transistors onto a 157 mm² die, yielding a density of 45.9 million transistors per square millimeter. AMD fits 6,400 million transistors onto a 158 mm² die, with a density of 40.5 million per square millimeter. The Intel die is slightly smaller in area but holds more transistors, reflecting the denser 6 nm node.

Core configurations diverge significantly. The Intel Arc Pro A30M has 1,024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, 32 raster operation units, and 8 ray tracing cores. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X has 1,536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, but no ray tracing cores at all. The AMD card has 50% more shading units and 50% more TMUs, which explains its higher theoretical texture rate of 168.7 GTexel/s versus Intel's 128.0 GTexel/s. However, the Intel card has a slightly higher pixel rate at 64.00 GPixel/s versus 56.22 GPixel/s, despite the AMD card having the same number of ROPs.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The Intel part runs at a 1,500 MHz base clock and boosts to 2,000 MHz. The AMD part has a 1,187 MHz base clock and a 1,757 MHz boost. The Intel card clocks substantially higher, which helps it close the gap in raw compute despite fewer cores. In FP32, the AMD card produces 5.398 TFLOPS versus Intel's 4.096 TFLOPS, a 32% advantage for AMD. In FP16, AMD produces 10.80 TFLOPS versus Intel's 8.192 TFLOPS, a 32% advantage again. Both use a 2:1 ratio for FP16.

Memory architecture differs sharply. The Intel Arc Pro A30M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 128.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD card has double the memory capacity and 75% more bandwidth. Memory clocks also differ: Intel runs at 2,000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), while AMD runs at 1,750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The AMD card compensates for its lower clock with a wider bus.

API support also separates the two. The Intel card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD card only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The Intel card's ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support give it a feature advantage for modern workloads, while the AMD card relies on raw shader throughput.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw FP32 compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X produces 5.398 TFLOPS in FP32, which is 32% higher than the Intel Arc Pro A30M's 4.096 TFLOPS. The AMD card also wins in FP16, delivering 10.80 TFLOPS versus Intel's 8.192 TFLOPS.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in memory capacity and bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Intel Arc Pro A30M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, providing 128.0 GB/s. AMD has double the capacity and 75% more bandwidth.

Q: Does the Intel Arc Pro A30M support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the Intel Arc Pro A30M includes 8 dedicated ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X has no ray tracing cores and only supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: What is the process node difference between the two?

A: The Intel Arc Pro A30M is built on TSMC's 6 nm process, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X uses TSMC's 7 nm process. Intel's die is 157 mm² and holds 7,200 million transistors. AMD's die is 158 mm² and holds 6,400 million transistors.

Q: How do their benchmark scores rank against all GPUs?

A: The Intel Arc Pro A30M ranks at the 76th percentile with its Geekbench OpenCL score of 31,894. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X ranks at the 73rd percentile with its Geekbench Metal score of 27,973. Note that these tests use different APIs, so direct comparison is not apples-to-apples.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Intel Arc Pro A30M has a TDP of 50 W and requires no power connectors. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X has a TDP of 125 W and lists a suggested power supply of 300 W. The Intel card is a mobile part, while the AMD card is a dual-slot desktop card.

Specification Differences

| Specification | Intel Arc Pro A30M | AMD Radeon Pro W5500X |

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

| Architecture | Xe-HPG | RDNA 1.0 |

| Process Node | 6 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 7,200 million | 6,400 million |

| Die Size | 157 mm² | 158 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 45.9M / mm² | 40.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1500 MHz | 1187 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2000 MHz | 1757 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 64 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 128.0 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1024 | 1536 |

| TMUs | 64 | 96 |

| ROPs | 32 | 32 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 8 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 64.00 GPixel/s | 56.22 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 128.0 GTexel/s | 168.7 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 4.096 TFLOPS | 5.398 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 8.192 TFLOPS (2:1) | 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 50 W | 125 W |

| Slot Width | Not specified | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | Not specified |

| Suggested PSU | Not specified | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | Apple MPX |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 2x HDMI 2.0b |

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

| Release Date | 2022-08-07 | 2019-12-10 |

| Launch MSRP | Not specified | 599 USD |

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc Pro A30M wins in scenarios demanding modern features and efficiency. Its 8 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support make it the better choice for applications that leverage ray-traced rendering or require the latest graphics API features. The 50 W TDP with no power connectors means it can fit into mobile or low-power professional workstations without additional power delivery. Its higher boost clock of 2,000 MHz and denser 6 nm process node also give it an edge in compute tasks that scale with clock speed. The 76th percentile ranking in OpenCL, sitting 0.7% above the NVIDIA TITAN RTX, indicates strong raw compute for its class. The 8.192 TFLOPS of FP16 performance, while lower than AMD's, still provides solid half-precision throughput for AI inference workloads on mobile platforms.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X wins in memory-intensive and shader-heavy workloads. Its 8 GB of VRAM and 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth are decisive advantages for large datasets, high-resolution textures, or multi-display outputs. The 1,536 shading units and 96 TMUs drive a 32% higher FP32 throughput (5.398 TFLOPS) and a 32% higher texture rate (168.7 GTexel/s). This card is better suited for traditional rasterization, video editing, or compute tasks that rely on parallel shader execution rather than ray tracing. The 10.80 TFLOPS of FP16 performance is also 32% higher than Intel's, which matters for workloads that can use half-precision math. The dual-slot design and 2x HDMI 2.0b outputs make it a fit for Mac Pro-style desktop workstations, where the Apple MPX bus interface is standard. Its 73rd percentile Metal ranking, within 0.5% of several rivals, shows consistent performance across the Metal ecosystem.

The Intel card's advantage lies in its feature set and power profile. The AMD card's advantage lies in raw throughput and memory capacity. For mobile professionals needing ray tracing and low power, the Intel Arc Pro A30M is the clear pick. For desktop users with shader-heavy, memory-hungry workloads, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X delivers more bandwidth and compute. The database shows no direct head-to-head benchmark, so the choice hinges on workload characteristics. The Intel card wins on API modernity and efficiency. The AMD card wins on memory bandwidth, VRAM capacity, and raw shader performance.