AMD Radeon Pro W5700X vs Intel Arc A530M Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X and Intel Arc A530M occupy very different corners of the GPU market, and the benchmark data reflects that split. The AMD card is an end-of-life, quad-slot Apple MPX workstation part with a 205 W TDP, while the Intel chip is an active, 65 W mobile IGP. Their head-to-head results are split exactly one win each: the Intel Arc A530M takes the Geekbench OpenCL test by a decisive 11.9% margin, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X counters with a 4% victory in Geekbench Vulkan. Overall average benchmark scores tell a similar story, with the AMD card averaging 54,828 points across three tests versus Intel’s 46,614 across two, a gap of roughly 17.6% in favor of the Radeon Pro.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single most striking result in the head-to-head comparison is the Geekbench OpenCL score. The Intel Arc A530M posts 49,735 points, compared to the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X’s 43,810 points. That is an 11.9% lead for Intel, which is substantial in a benchmark that often favors raw compute throughput. The Intel chip’s advantage likely stems from its newer Xe-HPG architecture and its 11,500 million transistors, which outnumber AMD’s 10,300 million. It is importantly the Intel part achieves this with a much lower 65 W TDP and a 6 nm process node, whereas the AMD card uses a 7 nm node and consumes 205 W. In absolute terms, the Intel Arc A530M’s OpenCL result also sits comfortably above its own average benchmark score of 46,614, suggesting this is a strong workload for the chip.

The Vulkan test flips the script. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 45,246 points, edging out the Intel Arc A530M’s 43,492 points by exactly 4%. While the margin is smaller than Intel’s OpenCL win, it is still a meaningful result for a card that is several years older. The AMD part’s higher boost clock of 2040 MHz, versus Intel’s 1300 MHz, likely contributes to this Vulkan advantage. Interestingly, the AMD card’s Vulkan score is actually higher than its OpenCL score, while the Intel chip shows the opposite pattern, with Vulkan trailing OpenCL by over 12%. This suggests the two architectures have different optimization profiles across API families.

Looking at the broader context, the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X’s average benchmark score of 54,828 places it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, while the Intel Arc A530M’s 46,614 average lands in the 85th percentile. The AMD card’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 at 54,247 (a 1.1% delta) and the RTX 4080 SUPER at 54,209 (also 1.1%), putting it in rarefied company. The Intel chip’s rivals are far less prestigious: it is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon RX 5600M at 46,601 (0% delta) and trails the RX 6550M by just 0.2%. This positions the Intel Arc A530M as a mid-range mobile solution, whereas the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is competing with desktop flagship-class cards from NVIDIA.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A530M wins decisively in OpenCL compute workloads. Its 49,735 OpenCL score is not only ahead of the AMD card but also exceeds its own Vulkan result by a wide margin. This makes the Intel chip the better choice for applications that rely heavily on OpenCL acceleration, particularly in mobile or portable device contexts where its 65 W TDP and IGP form factor are advantages. The Intel part’s 12 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support also give it a feature-set edge for modern graphics workloads, even if the raw benchmark numbers do not always reflect that.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X wins in Vulkan, with a 4% margin over Intel. This is significant for gaming and compute applications that leverage Vulkan’s low-overhead API. The AMD card also has a massive memory advantage: 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus yields 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, versus Intel’s 8 GB on a 128-bit bus at 224.0 GB/s. For large datasets or high-resolution textures, that bandwidth difference is likely to matter more than the raw compute scores suggest. The AMD part’s 10.44 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is also more than double Intel’s 3.994 TFLOPS, which should translate to advantages in FP32-heavy workloads even if synthetic benchmarks do not always capture it.

In terms of production status, the Intel Arc A530M is still active, making it a viable choice for new portable systems, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is end-of-life and targeted at Apple MPX environments. The AMD card’s 305 mm length and quad-slot design clearly restrict it to desktop workstation builds, whereas the Intel chip’s “Portable Device Dependent” display outputs and IGP slot width indicate a mobile-first design.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different architectural generations. AMD uses Navi 10 with RDNA 1.0, a 7 nm design from TSMC with 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die. Intel counters with DG2-256 using Xe-HPG, built on TSMC’s 6 nm process with 11,500 million transistors on a 269 mm² die. The transistor density is close — 41.0M per mm² for AMD versus 42.8M per mm² for Intel — but the Intel chip packs more transistors overall despite its smaller process advantage.

Core configurations differ sharply. The AMD card has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. Intel’s Arc A530M has 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. This translates to a large throughput gap: AMD’s pixel rate is 130.6 GPixel/s and texture rate is 326.4 GTexel/s, while Intel manages only 62.40 GPixel/s and 124.8 GTexel/s. FP32 compute shows a similar story, with AMD at 10.44 TFLOPS versus Intel’s 3.994 TFLOPS, and FP16 at 20.89 TFLOPS versus 7.987 TFLOPS, both using a 2:1 ratio.

Clock speeds are another major differentiator. AMD runs at 1243 MHz base and 2040 MHz boost, while Intel is much lower at 900 MHz base and 1300 MHz boost. This clock advantage helps explain AMD’s higher throughput despite having fewer architectural optimizations. Memory clocks are identical at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), but the bus width difference — 256-bit versus 128-bit — makes AMD’s 448.0 GB/s bandwidth exactly double Intel’s 224.0 GB/s.

Feature-wise, Intel brings 12 dedicated ray tracing cores, which AMD’s RDNA 1.0 chip lacks entirely. Intel also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while AMD only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The bus interfaces reflect their target markets: AMD uses Apple MPX, a proprietary connector for Mac Pro systems, while Intel uses PCIe 4.0 x8, a standard mobile interface.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X has an average benchmark score of 54,828, which is significantly higher than the Intel Arc A530M’s 46,614. This places the AMD card in the 87th percentile of all GPUs versus the Intel chip’s 85th percentile.

Q: How do the two compare in OpenCL performance?

A: The Intel Arc A530M wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 49,735, beating the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X’s 43,810 by 11.9%. This is Intel’s strongest result in the head-to-head comparison.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Intel Arc A530M has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. AMD’s memory bandwidth is exactly double Intel’s.

Q: Does the Intel Arc A530M support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the Intel Arc A530M includes 12 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X has no ray tracing cores and only supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X boosts to 2040 MHz, while the Intel Arc A530M boosts to only 1300 MHz. This contributes to AMD’s higher pixel rate of 130.6 GPixel/s versus Intel’s 62.40 GPixel/s.

Q: What are the power consumption and form factor differences?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X has a 205 W TDP and uses a quad-slot form factor with an Apple MPX interface. The Intel Arc A530M has a 65 W TDP and uses an IGP slot width with a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, making it suitable for portable devices.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro W5700X | Intel Arc A530M |

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

| Chip | Navi 10 | DG2-256 |

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | Xe-HPG |

| Generation | Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) | Alchemist (Arc 5 Mobile) |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 6 nm |

| Transistors | 10,300 million | 11,500 million |

| Die Size | 251 mm² | 269 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 41.0M / mm² | 42.8M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1243 MHz | 900 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2040 MHz | 1300 MHz |

| Memory Size | 16 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 448.0 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2560 | 1536 |

| TMUs | 160 | 96 |

| ROPs | 64 | 48 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | None | 12 |

| Pixel Rate | 130.6 GPixel/s | 62.40 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 326.4 GTexel/s | 124.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 10.44 TFLOPS | 3.994 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 20.89 TFLOPS (2:1) | 7.987 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 205 W | 65 W |

| Slot Width | Quad-slot | IGP |

| Bus Interface | Apple MPX | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 4x Thunderbolt | Portable Device Dependent |

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

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2019-12-10 | 2023-07-31 |

| Length | 305 mm (12 inches) | Not specified |

| Launch MSRP | 999 USD | Not specified |

The data presents a clear picture: the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is a high-power, high-bandwidth workstation GPU with superior raw throughput, while the Intel Arc A530M is a power-efficient mobile chip with modern features like ray tracing and a newer API level. Their single benchmark split reflects this duality, with Intel winning OpenCL and AMD winning Vulkan. For users prioritizing compute performance and memory capacity, the AMD card is the obvious choice; for those needing a compact, active, low-power solution with ray tracing support, the Intel part has clear appeal.