AMD Radeon RX 6550M vs Intel Arc A570M Comparison

The benchmark data shows a decisive overall winner in the Intel Arc A570M, which posts an average benchmark score of 58,239 against the AMD Radeon RX 6550M's 46,702. This 24.7% gap in average scores places the Intel part in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD part sits in the 85th percentile. The results are not merely about raw speed; they reflect fundamentally different design priorities and market positioning, as the data reveals distinct strengths in specific workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head comparison in the database is limited to a single OpenCL test, and the Intel Arc A570M wins it outright. In the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, the Arc A570M scores 58,239 points, which is 36.9% higher than the RX 6550M's score of 42,536. This is a substantial margin that indicates the Intel GPU's compute architecture, with its larger execution footprint, is better suited for general-purpose GPU compute tasks that rely heavily on OpenCL.

The AMD Radeon RX 6550M does not win a single recorded benchmark in the head-to-head comparison (0 wins), but it does have a separate Vulkan score of 50,867, which is notably higher than its own OpenCL score. This suggests that while the AMD part is not competitive in raw OpenCL throughput, it may be more balanced across different API workloads. However, without a direct Vulkan comparison in the database, the Intel part cannot be declared the winner there. The data shows the AMD GPU's Vulkan score is 19.6% higher than its OpenCL score, indicating API-specific strengths that could matter in gaming scenarios, but the recorded head-to-head results favor Intel for compute.

For gaming and rasterization workloads, the AMD part has theoretical advantages that are not captured in the single benchmark. Its higher boost clock and pixel rate (90.88 GPixel/s versus 83.20 GPixel/s) suggest it could handle fill-rate-limited scenes better, but the database lacks direct gaming tests to confirm this. The verdict from the recorded data is clear: the Intel Arc A570M wins the only measured comparison, and the AMD part's strengths remain speculative without additional benchmark entries.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent divergent architectural philosophies. The Intel Arc A570M uses the DG2-256 chip with the Xe-HPG architecture, part of the Alchemist generation for Arc 5 Mobile. It is built on a 6 nm process at TSMC, packing 11,500 million transistors into a 269 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 42.8 million per mm². The AMD Radeon RX 6550M uses the Navi 24 chip with RDNA 2.0 architecture, part of the Navi Mobile generation for the RX 6000M series. It is also built on a 6 nm process at TSMC, but with only 5,400 million transistors on a 107 mm² die, achieving a higher density of 50.5 million per mm².

The Intel architecture scales with more execution resources: 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The AMD part has half of each: 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Both have 16 ray tracing cores, but the Intel GPU does not list dedicated tensor cores, and the AMD part also has none listed. The Intel GPU's larger die allows for more of everything, which directly explains its higher OpenCL score.

Memory configurations differ significantly. The Intel Arc A570M has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD RX 6550M has only 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 144.0 GB/s. This is a critical difference for modern workloads that demand large memory pools, as the Intel part can hold more data locally, reducing the need for slower system memory access.

Clock speeds tell the opposite story. The AMD GPU runs at a base clock of 2000 MHz, boosts to 2840 MHz, and has a game clock of 2560 MHz. The Intel GPU's base is 900 MHz with a boost of 1300 MHz. Despite this, the AMD part's higher clocks do not translate into a win in OpenCL, which confirms the Intel GPU's wider architecture. The AMD GPU's memory runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) versus the Intel's 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), but the Intel part's wider bus overcomes the lower speed.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison in the database is the Geekbench OpenCL test. The Intel Arc A570M scores 58,239, while the AMD Radeon RX 6550M scores 42,536. The Intel GPU wins by 36.9%, a massive margin that places it in a different performance class. To put this in context, the Intel GPU's nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (scoring 58,392, just 0.3% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM (scoring 58,085, 0.3% lower). The Intel Arc A570M is effectively tied with these much higher-tier desktop parts in OpenCL compute.

The AMD Radeon RX 6550M's nearest rivals are the Intel Arc A530M (scoring 46,614, just 0.2% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (scoring 46,601, 0.2% lower), and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 (scoring 46,043, 1.4% lower). This places the AMD part in a mid-range mobile segment, whereas the Intel part competes with high-end desktop GPUs in compute. The 36.9% delta between the two is larger than any delta between the Intel part and its rivals, emphasizing how far apart these two GPUs are in raw compute.

The AMD GPU's own Vulkan score of 50,867 is worth noting, as it is 19.6% higher than its OpenCL score. This suggests the AMD architecture responds well to the Vulkan API, but there is no equivalent Vulkan score for the Intel part in the database. Without that comparison, the overall picture remains that the Intel GPU holds a significant compute advantage, while the AMD GPU's Vulkan proficiency remains an untested variable against the Intel part.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Arc A570M has an average benchmark score of 58,239, while the AMD Radeon RX 6550M has an average of 46,702. The Intel part is 24.7% higher on average.

Q: How much faster is the Intel Arc A570M in OpenCL?

A: The Intel Arc A570M scores 58,239 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 36.9% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6550M's score of 42,536.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 6550M have any benchmark wins?

A: In the recorded head-to-head benchmarks, the AMD part has 0 wins. It only has an OpenCL score and a Vulkan score, and the Vulkan score is not compared directly against the Intel part.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The Intel Arc A570M has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the AMD Radeon RX 6550M has 4 GB. The Intel part also has a wider 128-bit bus versus the AMD part's 64-bit bus.

Q: Which GPU has higher clock speeds?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6550M has a boost clock of 2840 MHz and a game clock of 2560 MHz, while the Intel Arc A570M has a boost clock of 1300 MHz. The AMD part's clocks are more than double the Intel part's.

Q: How do their transistor counts compare?

A: The Intel Arc A570M has 11,500 million transistors on a 269 mm² die, while the AMD Radeon RX 6550M has 5,400 million on a 107 mm² die. The Intel chip is larger and more complex.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every core specification. The Intel Arc A570M has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, while the AMD Radeon RX 6550M has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Both have 16 ray tracing cores, but the Intel part's shading resources are double.

Memory is another major split. The Intel GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD GPU has 4 GB on a 64-bit bus with 144.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Intel part's memory capacity and bandwidth are both higher.

Clocks are the area where AMD dominates. The RX 6550M has a base clock of 2000 MHz, a boost of 2840 MHz, and a game clock of 2560 MHz. The Arc A570M has a base of 900 MHz and a boost of 1300 MHz, with no game clock listed. The AMD part's memory runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) versus the Intel's 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

The compute throughput numbers reflect the trade-off. The Intel GPU has a pixel rate of 83.20 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 166.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 5.325 TFLOPS. The AMD GPU has a pixel rate of 90.88 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 181.8 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 5.816 TFLOPS. The AMD part is faster in each of these rate-based metrics, yet it loses in the actual OpenCL benchmark, indicating the Intel architecture's efficiency under load.

The chips themselves are different sizes. The Intel DG2-256 has 11,500 million transistors on a 269 mm² die. The AMD Navi 24 has 5,400 million on a 107 mm² die. The Intel part's transistor density is 42.8M per mm², while the AMD part achieves 50.5M per mm². The bus interface also differs: the Intel part uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the AMD part uses PCIe 4.0 x4.

Both GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and both have a TDP in the 75-80 W range. The Intel part is rated at 75 W, and the AMD part at 80 W. Both are listed as IGP slot width with portable device dependent display outputs.

The Verdict

The data points to the Intel Arc A570M as the clear choice for compute-heavy workloads. Its OpenCL score of 58,239 is 36.9% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6550M's score of 42,536, and it sits in the 88th percentile of all GPUs versus the AMD part's 85th percentile. The Intel GPU's 8 GB memory capacity and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth give it a substantial advantage for large datasets, and its 2,048 shading units provide the parallel throughput needed for demanding calculations.

The AMD Radeon RX 6550M should be selected for scenarios where its higher clocks and fill rates matter. Its boost clock of 2840 MHz and pixel rate of 90.88 GPixel/s are superior to the Intel part's 1300 MHz and 83.20 GPixel/s. Its FP32 throughput of 5.816 TFLOPS is also higher than the Intel's 5.325 TFLOPS. For users who prioritize raw pixel pushing or who work in APIs where the AMD part's Vulkan score of 50,867 indicates strength, the RX 6550M may hold an edge, but the database does not confirm this against the Intel part directly.

The verdict from the recorded measurements is unambiguous: the Intel Arc A570M is the faster GPU in the only comparison available. It also offers double the memory, which future-proofs it for larger textures and datasets. The AMD part's advantages are theoretical and clock-based, not proven in the benchmark results. For a buyer facing these two options, the Intel part delivers a 36.9% compute win and a 24.7% average score win, making it the defensible choice based on the data.