AMD Radeon RX 6800 vs Intel Arc Pro A30M Comparison

Intel Arc Pro A30M and AMD Radeon RX 6800 are both end-of-life GPUs, but they occupy completely different corners of the market. The Arc Pro A30M is a 50 W mobile workstation part built on Intel’s Xe-HPG architecture, while the RX 6800 is a 250 W desktop enthusiast card based on RDNA 2.0. The benchmark data available here is limited to a single shared test, but that one result plus the specification sheet tells a clear story about which GPU serves which purpose.

Where Each One Wins

The data shows a stark divide: the Intel Arc Pro A30M wins the only head-to-head benchmark available, but the AMD Radeon RX 6800 dominates in every raw specification category that matters for gaming and rendering. The Arc Pro A30M scores 31,894 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 30.1% higher than the RX 6800’s 24,508 in the same test. That is a significant margin, and it suggests the Intel part has an optimized compute pipeline for OpenCL workloads, likely aimed at professional applications like CAD, simulation, and content creation rather than gaming.

However, the RX 6800 wins where it counts for mainstream users. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth, compared to the Arc Pro A30M’s 4 GB on a 64-bit bus at 128.0 GB/s. That is a 4x difference in memory capacity and bandwidth, which directly translates to higher resolution gaming, larger textures, and smoother performance in modern titles. The RX 6800 also has 3840 shading units versus 1024, 240 texture mapping units versus 64, and 96 ROPs versus 32. The RX 6800’s 16.17 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is roughly 4x the Arc Pro A30M’s 4.096 TFLOPS. For gaming, the RX 6800 is the clear choice; for OpenCL compute tasks, the Arc Pro A30M surprisingly leads.

The RX 6800 also has a higher percentile ranking at 75 versus the Arc Pro A30M’s 76, but that is essentially a tie, with the Intel part sitting one percentile point higher. The average benchmark score for the RX 6800 is 30,095, while the Arc Pro A30M’s average is 31,894, meaning the Intel card’s single OpenCL result is above the AMD card’s multi-test average. This indicates the Arc Pro A30M is not a weak performer; it is simply specialized.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher OpenCL score?

A: The Intel Arc Pro A30M leads with a Geekbench OpenCL score of 31,894, beating the AMD Radeon RX 6800’s 24,508 by 30.1%.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 6800 have more memory bandwidth?

A: Yes, the RX 6800 offers 512.0 GB/s over a 256-bit bus, while the Arc Pro A30M provides 128.0 GB/s over a 64-bit bus. The RX 6800 also has 16 GB of memory versus 4 GB.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient?

A: The Intel Arc Pro A30M has a 50 W TDP, while the AMD Radeon RX 6800 has a 250 W TDP. The Intel part does not require external power connectors, whereas the RX 6800 needs 2x 8-pin connectors and a 600 W power supply.

Q: Are both GPUs compatible with DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, according to the API listings.

Q: What is the release date difference?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800 was released on 2020-10-27, while the Intel Arc Pro A30M came later on 2022-08-07.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The Arc Pro A30M has an average benchmark score of 31,894, which is higher than the RX 6800’s average of 30,095. The RX 6800’s average is pulled down by lower scores in PassMark tests like DirectX 9 (257) and DirectX 10 (128).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a decisive win for the Intel Arc Pro A30M. The Intel card scores 31,894, while the AMD Radeon RX 6800 scores 24,508. That is a 30.1% delta in favor of Intel. This result is notable because the RX 6800 has roughly 4x the shading units, 4x the texture units, and 3x the ROPs, yet it loses badly in this compute test. The architecture difference explains this: Intel’s Xe-HPG design with 8 ray tracing cores and a 2:1 FP16 ratio appears to handle OpenCL workloads more efficiently than AMD’s RDNA 2.0 with 60 ray tracing cores.

The RX 6800’s other benchmark results show its strengths elsewhere. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 115,107, which is far above its OpenCL score, indicating strong gaming-focused driver optimization. In Geekbench Metal, it hits 153,635, though that is irrelevant for Windows users. Its PassMark scores are mixed: G3D is 22,067, GPU Compute is 10,864, and G2D is 990. The DirectX 9 score of 257 and DirectX 10 score of 128 are low, but DirectX 11 (214) and DirectX 12 (89) show the card is better suited for modern APIs. The Arc Pro A30M has no other benchmark entries, so we cannot compare it directly on these tests. The data implies the RX 6800 is a more versatile card, but the Arc Pro A30M wins the one test where they meet.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ fundamentally in memory configuration, compute resources, and power delivery. The Intel Arc Pro A30M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 128.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 512.0 GB/s. The RX 6800 has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, versus 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs on the Arc Pro A30M. The RX 6800’s FP32 compute is 16.17 TFLOPS, compared to 4.096 TFLOPS. The Intel card has 8 ray tracing cores, while the AMD card has 60.

Clock speeds also favor AMD: the RX 6800 has a base clock of 1700 MHz and a boost of 2105 MHz, with a game clock of 1815 MHz. The Arc Pro A30M runs at a base of 1500 MHz and boost of 2000 MHz. Memory speed is identical at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for both. Power is a major divider: the Intel card draws 50 W with no power connectors, while the AMD card draws 250 W with 2x 8-pin connectors and a recommended 600 W PSU. The RX 6800 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm long, 120 mm high, and 40 mm wide, while the Arc Pro A30M has no listed dimensions and is described as "Portable Device Dependent" for display outputs. The RX 6800 has 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C outputs.

Architecture Differences

The Intel Arc Pro A30M is built on TSMC’s 6 nm process using the DG2-128 chip, part of the Xe-HPG architecture from the Alchemist generation. It has 7,200 million transistors on a 157 mm² die, giving a density of 45.9M transistors per mm². The AMD Radeon RX 6800 uses TSMC’s 7 nm process with the Navi 21 chip, based on RDNA 2.0 from the Navi II generation. It packs 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, with a density of 51.5M transistors per mm². The AMD die is larger and denser, but Intel’s newer 6 nm node allows for a smaller die with lower power consumption.

The memory subsystem is a key architectural difference: the Arc Pro A30M uses a 64-bit bus, which is common for low-power mobile parts, while the RX 6800 uses a 256-bit bus for high bandwidth. The Xe-HPG architecture in Intel’s card includes 8 ray tracing cores and supports FP16 at 8.192 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while RDNA 2.0 in the RX 6800 has 60 ray tracing cores and FP16 at 32.33 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio). Both support the same API levels: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 6800’s predecessor is Navi, and its successor is Navi III; the Arc Pro A30M has no listed predecessor or successor.

The Verdict

The data points to two different buyers. If your workload is OpenCL compute, the Intel Arc Pro A30M is the better choice, as it beats the RX 6800 by 30.1% in that test while consuming 50 W versus 250 W. Its 4 GB memory and 64-bit bus are limiting for large datasets, but for single-precision compute tasks, it punches above its weight. The RX 6800’s nearest rivals include the RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 2080 Ti, with delta percentages of 0.5% and 1% respectively, meaning it sits in the same performance class as those cards. The Arc Pro A30M’s rivals are the TITAN RTX and Radeon Pro 570X, with deltas of 0.7% and -0.9%, placing it in a workstation-focused bracket.

For gaming, the RX 6800 is unequivocally superior. Its 16 GB memory, 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, and 16.17 TFLOPS FP32 compute are far beyond what the Arc Pro A30M offers. The RX 6800’s 75th percentile ranking among all GPUs is nearly identical to the Arc Pro A30M’s 76th percentile, but that ranking masks the fact that the AMD card excels in a wider range of tests. The Arc Pro A30M has a single benchmark entry, while the RX 6800 has 11, showing it is a more thoroughly tested and versatile product. The RX 6800 also has a launch MSRP of 579 USD, which you can treat as historical context, but the Intel card has no listed launch price.

In practical terms: choose the Intel Arc Pro A30M for a low-power mobile workstation that handles OpenCL compute tasks efficiently, provided you can live with 4 GB of memory. Choose the AMD Radeon RX 6800 for a desktop gaming or rendering rig where memory capacity, bandwidth, and raw rasterization power matter. The RX 6800 needs a 600 W PSU and dual-slot space, while the Arc Pro A30M runs without external power. The benchmark data is clear: the Intel part wins the one test they share, but the AMD part wins the overall workload war.