AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT vs Intel Arc A550M Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and the Intel Arc A550M occupy very different positions in the hardware landscape, yet benchmark aggregation places them surprisingly close in overall average score. The RX 6900 XT holds an average benchmark score of 50951, while the Arc A550M trails slightly at 49737, a difference of just 2.4%. This narrow gap in aggregate performance, however, masks a stark divide in how each GPU delivers its results, as the head-to-head data reveals a lopsided contest in the benchmarks where both were measured.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The direct comparison between these two GPUs is limited to two compute-oriented tests, and in both, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT wins decisively. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RX 6900 XT scores 187673, while the Intel Arc A550M manages 49894. This translates to a massive 276.1% advantage for the AMD card, meaning it delivers nearly four times the raw compute throughput in this particular workload. The margin is so large that the Arc A550M would need to more than triple its score just to match the RX 6900 XT’s output.

The second shared test, Geekbench Vulkan, shows a similar pattern, though with a slightly narrower gap. Here, the RX 6900 XT posts 148525, against the Arc A550M’s 49580, giving AMD a 199.6% lead. While the absolute difference in points is smaller than in OpenCL, the relative margin remains overwhelming; the RX 6900 XT is three times faster in this API-specific workload. Across the two head-to-head benchmarks, the AMD card wins 2-0, with no single test where the Intel part manages to close the gap to a competitive margin.

Looking at the broader context from the nearestRivals data, the RX 6900 XT’s average score of 50951 places it slightly above the Arc A550M, which sits at 49737. The deltaPct values confirm this ordering: the RX 6900 XT is 2.4% ahead of the Arc A550M, while the Arc A550M is 2.4% behind the RX 6900 XT. Interestingly, the Intel card is actually closer to the AMD card than it is to some other rivals; the Arc A550M is only 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49957) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50001). This suggests that in aggregate, the Arc A550M competes with a cluster of GPUs in the 49737–50001 range, while the RX 6900 XT sits just above that pack.

Where Each One Wins

The data shows that the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is the clear winner in every scenario where both GPUs were tested. In compute-heavy applications that leverage OpenCL, the RX 6900 XT’s 276.1% lead makes it the only viable choice for workloads that scale with raw shader throughput. Similarly, for Vulkan-based rendering or compute tasks, the 199.6% advantage means the AMD card will deliver frame rates or processing times that are roughly three times better than the Intel part. There is no benchmark in the shared set where the Arc A550M takes a win, so from a pure performance standpoint, the RX 6900 XT dominates every measurable category.

That said, the Arc A550M’s profile suggests a different use case that the head-to-head numbers do not capture. As a mobile part with a 60 W TDP, the Intel GPU is designed for portable devices, where the RX 6900 XT’s 300 W TDP and triple-slot cooler are physically impractical. The Arc A550M is labeled as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) in slot width, meaning it is intended for laptops or compact systems where power draw and thermal output are primary constraints. In that context, the Arc A550M offers a baseline of compute capability—its Geekbench scores of 49894 (OpenCL) and 49580 (Vulkan) are not trivial—but it is not a competitor for desktop-grade performance. The RX 6900 XT, with its 5120 shading units and 23.04 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, is built for high-end desktop gaming and professional workloads, and the benchmark data reflects that positioning.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is substantial. The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, using the Navi 21 chip fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 51.5 million per mm². In contrast, the Intel Arc A550M uses the Xe-HPG architecture with the DG2-512 chip, manufactured on a 6 nm process, also at TSMC. Intel’s chip contains 21,700 million transistors on a smaller 406 mm² die, resulting in a slightly higher transistor density of 53.4 million per mm². The smaller process node and denser packing mean Intel achieves more transistors per area, but AMD’s larger die gives it a raw resource advantage.

Core counts reinforce this disparity. The RX 6900 XT has 5120 shading units, 320 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 128 render output units (ROPs), along with 80 ray tracing cores. The Arc A550M is configured with 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, plus only 16 ray tracing cores. This means the AMD card has 2.5 times the shader count, 2.5 times the TMUs, and twice the ROPs, with five times the ray tracing cores. Memory configuration follows the same pattern: the RX 6900 XT uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the Arc A550M has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s. Clock speeds also differ, with the AMD card boosting to 2250 MHz versus Intel’s 2050 MHz boost, though the Arc’s base clock of 900 MHz is far lower than the RX 6900 XT’s 1825 MHz base.

Both GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API-level features are identical on paper. However, the execution resources behind those APIs are vastly different. The RX 6900 XT’s pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 720.0 GTexel/s dwarf the Arc A550M’s 131.2 GPixel/s and 262.4 GTexel/s, respectively. FP32 compute is similarly lopsided: 23.04 TFLOPS for AMD versus 8.397 TFLOPS for Intel, with FP16 rates of 46.08 TFLOPS and 16.79 TFLOPS respectively (both at 2:1 ratio).

The Verdict

Based strictly on the benchmark data, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is the superior performer in every measured category. It wins both head-to-head tests by margins of 276.1% and 199.6%, and its average benchmark score of 50951 is 2.4% higher than the Arc A550M’s 49737. For anyone prioritizing raw compute or rendering performance, the RX 6900 XT is the clear choice, provided the system can accommodate its 300 W TDP, triple-slot design, and 2x 8-pin power connectors. The data shows no scenario where the Intel part outperforms AMD in a shared workload.

However, the Arc A550M is not without a rationale. Its 60 W TDP and IGP form factor make it suitable for portable devices where the RX 6900 XT cannot physically fit. If the requirement is a GPU that can be integrated into a laptop or compact system, the Arc A550M provides a baseline level of compute—its Geekbench scores of 49894 (OpenCL) and 49580 (Vulkan) are respectable for a mobile part, and its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs matches the RX 6900 XT’s own percentile rank. The Arc A550M also has a higher transistor density (53.4M / mm²) than the RX 6900 XT (51.5M / mm²), indicating a more efficient use of silicon area, though this does not translate to performance advantages in the tested benchmarks.

The verdict is straightforward: choose the RX 6900 XT for desktop performance where power and space are not constraints. Choose the Arc A550M only if the form factor demands a low-power mobile solution, and accept that it will deliver roughly one-third to one-quarter of the RX 6900 XT’s compute throughput in OpenCL and Vulkan workloads.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT has an average benchmark score of 50951, which is 2.4% higher than the Intel Arc A550M’s average of 49737.

Q: By how much does the RX 6900 XT beat the Arc A550M in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RX 6900 XT scores 187673 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the Arc A550M scores 49894, giving AMD a 276.1% advantage.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth between the two GPUs?

A: The RX 6900 XT has a memory bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s from its 16 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, while the Arc A550M has 224.0 GB/s from 8 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same graphics APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two cards?

A: The RX 6900 XT has a TDP of 300 W, while the Arc A550M has a TDP of 60 W.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in ray tracing core count?

A: The RX 6900 XT has 80 ray tracing cores, while the Arc A550M has 16 ray tracing cores, a fivefold difference.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT | Intel Arc A550M |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | Xe-HPG |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 6 nm |

| Transistors | 26,800 million | 21,700 million |

| Die Size | 520 mm² | 406 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 51.5M / mm² | 53.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1825 MHz | 900 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2250 MHz | 2050 MHz |

| Memory Size | 16 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 5120 | 2048 |

| TMUs | 320 | 128 |

| ROPs | 128 | 64 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 80 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 288.0 GPixel/s | 131.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 720.0 GTexel/s | 262.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 23.04 TFLOPS | 8.397 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 46.08 TFLOPS (2:1) | 16.79 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 300 W | 60 W |

| Slot Width | Triple-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 2x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 700 W | Not specified |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C | Portable Device Dependent |

| Release Date | 2020-10-27 | Not specified |

| Launch MSRP | 999 USD | Not specified |