AMD Radeon R9 M275X vs Intel Arc A380 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear and consistent winner across the two shared benchmark tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Intel Arc A380 scores 38,224, while the AMD Radeon R9 M275X scores 11,200. This represents a delta of -70.7% from the perspective of the AMD part, meaning the Intel card is roughly 3.4 times faster in this compute-oriented workload. The margin is substantial and not a close call.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the pattern repeats with an even larger gap. The Intel Arc A380 posts 36,736, while the AMD Radeon R9 M275X manages 9,964. The delta here is -72.9%, again from the AMD side. The Intel card delivers more than 3.6 times the score of the older AMD part in this API. Both tests favor Intel by a wide margin, and the head-to-head tally stands at 2 wins for Intel and 0 for AMD.

The magnitude of these deltas is worth emphasizing. A delta of -70% or more is not a marginal difference; it indicates a generational leap in raw throughput. The AMD part sits in the 49th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the Intel part sits in the 44th percentile. This is an interesting nuance: despite the Intel card winning both head-to-head tests decisively, its overall percentile is slightly lower. This suggests the AMD part holds up better against the broader field of historical GPUs, while the Intel card's average score is dragged down by other benchmarks in its record. The AMD Radeon R9 M275X has an average benchmark score of 10,582, while the Intel Arc A380 averages 8,558. The Intel card's wins in the two shared tests are massive, but its other recorded tests (Passmark series) bring its overall average down.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card clarifies the context. The AMD Radeon R9 M275X is bracketed by the AMD Radeon RX 6600S (average score 10,629, delta -0.4%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (10,690, delta -1%), the AMD Radeon RX 550X (10,481, delta +1%), and the NVIDIA Quadro K2200 (10,761, delta -1.7%). This places the AMD part in a tight cluster of older and mid-range GPUs, all within roughly 2% of each other. The Intel Arc A380, by contrast, is near the AMD FirePro W5170M (8,595, delta -0.4%), the AMD Radeon HD 8870M (8,462, delta +1.1%), the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458, delta +1.2%), and the AMD Radeon 880M (8,436, delta +1.4%). The Intel card's average is lower, but its peak scores in OpenCL and Vulkan are far higher than anything in its rival cluster.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different eras and fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon R9 M275X uses the Venus chip, built on the GCN 1.0 architecture, and belongs to the Gem System generation (R9 M200 series). It is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 1,500 million transistors on a die size of 123 mm². This yields a transistor density of 12.2 million per square millimeter. The Intel Arc A380 uses the DG2-128 chip, built on the Xe-HPG architecture, and belongs to the Alchemist generation (Arc 3). It is fabricated on a 6 nm process, also at TSMC, with 7,200 million transistors on a die size of 157 mm². The transistor density jumps to 45.9 million per square millimeter, roughly 3.8 times denser than the AMD part.

The compute resources differ sharply. The AMD card has 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The Intel card has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Intel part doubles the ROP count and increases TMUs by 60%. The Intel card also includes 8 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the older AMD part. Neither card has tensor cores listed in the database. The pixel rate for the AMD card is 14.80 GPixel/s, while the Intel card reaches 65.60 GPixel/s, more than 4.4 times higher. The texture rate follows suit: 37.00 GTexel/s for AMD versus 131.2 GTexel/s for Intel, a 3.5 times advantage. FP32 performance is 1,184.0 GFLOPS for the AMD card and 4.198 TFLOPS for the Intel card, a 3.5 times difference. The Intel card also lists FP16 performance at 8.397 TFLOPS (2:1 rate), while the AMD card has no FP16 data recorded.

Memory technology also separates the two. The AMD card uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, with memory clocked at 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 72.00 GB/s. The Intel card uses 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus, with memory clocked at 1937 MHz (15.5 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 186.0 GB/s. Although the Intel bus is narrower, the faster memory type and higher clock deliver 2.6 times the bandwidth. The AMD card's bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Intel card uses PCIe 4.0 x8, which offers comparable bandwidth on a newer standard.

API support also differs. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Intel card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Intel card's DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set includes hardware ray tracing support, which the AMD card cannot offer. The Intel card also has a higher Vulkan version, which may affect compatibility with newer titles.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the recorded benchmarks, the Intel Arc A380 wins decisively in compute-heavy and modern API workloads. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 38,224 is more than triple the AMD card's 11,200, indicating a strong advantage in general-purpose GPU compute, such as video encoding, physics simulations, and data-parallel tasks. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 36,736 versus 9,964 similarly shows a major lead in Vulkan-based gaming and applications. The presence of 8 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support gives the Intel card a clear edge in modern games that use ray tracing or require DX12_2 features.

The AMD Radeon R9 M275X, however, does not win any head-to-head test in the database. Its wins are more subtle: it sits in the 49th percentile of all GPUs, which is higher than the Intel card's 44th percentile. Its average benchmark score of 10,582 exceeds the Intel card's 8,558. This suggests that in the broader database, the AMD part is more consistently competitive against a wide range of GPUs, while the Intel card has a spikier profile: very high in some tests, very low in others. The AMD card's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600S and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti, both of which are within 1% of its average score. This places the AMD part in a solid mid-range historical tier.

For legacy workloads, the AMD card's GCN 1.0 architecture may have better driver maturity for older DirectX 11 and OpenGL titles, although the database does not record specific legacy benchmarks for this card. The Intel card's Passmark scores are notably low: DirectX 10 at 37, DirectX 11 at 38, DirectX 12 at 35, DirectX 9 at 73, and G2D at 610. These numbers are far below its OpenCL and Vulkan scores, indicating that the Intel card struggles in certain rasterization-heavy tests. The AMD card may be more predictable in such scenarios, but no direct data exists in the head-to-head section to confirm this.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every specification field. The process node is 28 nm for AMD versus 6 nm for Intel. Transistor count is 1,500 million versus 7,200 million. Die size is 123 mm² versus 157 mm². Transistor density is 12.2M per mm² versus 45.9M per mm². Base clock is 900 MHz versus 2000 MHz. Boost clock is 925 MHz versus 2050 MHz. Memory clock is 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) versus 1937 MHz (15.5 Gbps effective). Memory size is 2 GB versus 6 GB. Memory type is GDDR5 versus GDDR6. Bus width is 128 bit versus 96 bit. Bandwidth is 72.00 GB/s versus 186.0 GB/s.

Shading units are 640 versus 1,024. TMUs are 40 versus 64. ROPs are 16 versus 32. The Intel card has 8 RT cores, while the AMD card has none. Pixel rate is 14.80 GPixel/s versus 65.60 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 37.00 GTexel/s versus 131.2 GTexel/s. FP32 is 1,184.0 GFLOPS versus 4.198 TFLOPS. FP16 is not recorded for AMD, while Intel lists 8.397 TFLOPS. TDP is not recorded for AMD, but Intel lists 75 W. Slot width is not recorded for AMD, but Intel lists dual-slot. Power connectors are not recorded for AMD, but Intel lists 1x 8-pin. Suggested PSU is not recorded for AMD, but Intel lists 250 W. Bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs are not recorded for AMD, but Intel lists 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0. Dimensions are not recorded for AMD, but Intel lists 222 mm length, 114 mm height, and 42 mm width. Release dates are January 27, 2014 for AMD versus June 13, 2022 for Intel. Production status is end-of-life for both. The Intel card has a launch MSRP of 149 USD, stated once here.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The Intel Arc A380 scores 38,224 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon R9 M275X scores 11,200. The Intel card is faster by a delta of -70.7% from the AMD side.

Q: Does the AMD card win any benchmark in the head-to-head comparison?

A: No. The database records 0 wins for the AMD Radeon R9 M275X and 2 wins for the Intel Arc A380 across the two shared tests.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The AMD card has an average benchmark score of 10,582, which is higher than the Intel card's 8,558. This is despite the Intel card winning both head-to-head tests.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The AMD card has 72.00 GB/s bandwidth from 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. The Intel card has 186.0 GB/s bandwidth from 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus, a 2.6 times advantage.

Q: Does the Intel card support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the Intel Arc A380 includes 8 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The AMD Radeon R9 M275X has no ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 (11_1).

Q: What are the transistor counts and process nodes?

A: The AMD card uses 1,500 million transistors on a 28 nm process. The Intel card uses 7,200 million transistors on a 6 nm process, with a transistor density of 45.9M per mm² versus 12.2M per mm² for AMD.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion for users who prioritize modern compute performance. The Intel Arc A380 is the correct choice for anyone running Vulkan-based applications, OpenCL workloads, or games that leverage DirectX 12 Ultimate features such as ray tracing. Its scores of 38,224 in OpenCL and 36,736 in Vulkan are multiples of the AMD card's outputs. The 8 RT cores, 1,024 shading units, and 186.0 GB/s memory bandwidth make it a far more capable GPU for contemporary software.

The AMD Radeon R9 M275X, however, should not be dismissed for certain legacy scenarios. Its higher percentile rank (49th versus 44th) and higher average score (10,582 versus 8,558) indicate that it performs more consistently across a broad range of older benchmarks. For users running legacy DirectX 11 or OpenGL applications, the GCN 1.0 architecture may offer better stability, though the database does not provide direct head-to-head evidence for these workloads. The AMD card also has a smaller die size and lower transistor count, which historically correlates with lower power draw, though no TDP is recorded for this part.

The launch MSRP of 149 USD for the Intel card is notable, but pricing comparisons are not part of this analysis. The verdict is clear: for raw performance in modern APIs, the Intel Arc A380 wins decisively. For a user with older software that does not utilize Vulkan or DX12_2, the AMD card's consistency may be preferable. The database shows 2 wins for Intel and 0 for AMD in direct comparison, which is the strongest signal available. Choose the Intel card for performance, choose the AMD card for legacy compatibility and a more balanced profile across the full database.