AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 vs Intel Arc A530M Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 and the Intel Arc A530M represent two distinct approaches to graphics processing, separated by nearly six years of technological evolution. Benchmark data indicates that the Vega 64 holds a decisive performance advantage in the tests available, while the Arc A530M operates in a dramatically lower power envelope. The following analysis breaks down where each GPU wins, how their architectures differ, and what the raw numbers mean for compute workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The data shows a clear split: the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 wins every benchmark recorded in the head-to-head comparison, while the Intel Arc A530M does not win a single test. That said, the context matters. The Vega 64 is a desktop flagship from 2017, built to draw 295 W and occupy a dual-slot cooler, while the Arc A530M is a 65 W mobile part intended for laptops. In terms of raw compute, the Vega 64 dominates: it wins 2 out of 2 head-to-head tests, with wins in both Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan.

However, the Arc A530M’s value proposition lies in efficiency and portability. With a 65 W TDP, it consumes roughly 22% of the power of the Vega 64, yet still delivers an average benchmark score of 46,614, which places it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs. The Vega 64, by contrast, sits at the 86th percentile with an average score of 50,001. For users prioritizing battery life and thin-and-light designs, the Arc A530M is the only viable choice here, despite its lower performance ceiling. For desktop users with adequate cooling and power delivery, the Vega 64 is unequivocally faster.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is substantial. The Vega 64 uses GCN 5.0 architecture on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the Arc A530M uses Intel’s Xe-HPG architecture on a 6 nm process from TSMC. The process node difference is stark: 14 nm versus 6 nm, which explains why the Arc A530M packs 11,500 million transistors into a 269 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 42.8M per mm². The Vega 64, with 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, manages only 25.3M per mm².

Memory configurations also diverge sharply. The Vega 64 uses 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 483.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The Arc A530M uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s. That is a 2.16x bandwidth advantage for AMD, which helps explain the Vega 64’s compute lead. The Vega 64 also has far more execution resources: 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, versus the Arc A530M’s 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Notably, the Arc A530M includes 12 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the Vega 64, which has none. The Vega 64 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the Arc A530M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), indicating newer feature support for Intel.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two head-to-head tests available are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 wins both by significant margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Vega 64 scores 62,552 against the Arc A530M’s 49,735, a delta of 25.8%. This translates to roughly a quarter more compute throughput in a general-purpose OpenCL workload, which aligns with the Vega 64’s higher FP32 rating of 12.66 TFLOPS versus the Arc A530M’s 3.994 TFLOPS.

The Vulkan gap is even larger. The Vega 64 scores 67,032, while the Arc A530M manages only 43,492, resulting in a 54.1% delta. That means the Vega 64 is more than half again as fast in this API, a massive difference that reflects both the raw compute advantage and the memory bandwidth differential. The Arc A530M’s 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is a severe bottleneck for fill-rate and shader-heavy tasks, and the numbers bear this out. Pixel rate for the Vega 64 is 98.94 GPixel/s versus 62.40 GPixel/s for the Arc A530M, and texture rate is 395.8 GTexel/s versus 124.8 GTexel/s.

It is notably the Vega 64’s average benchmark score of 50,001 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, which scores 49,957 (a 0.1% delta). The Arc A530M, with an average score of 46,614, is closest to the AMD Radeon RX 5600M, which scores 46,601 (a 0% delta). In the broader context, the Vega 64 is competitive with the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (50,951, -1.9% for Vega) and ahead of the RX 6800 XT (48,477, +3.1% for Vega). The Arc A530M trails the RX 6550M by 0.2% and leads the NVIDIA RTX A2000 by 1.2%.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64. It delivers 12.66 TFLOPS FP32, while the Intel Arc A530M delivers 3.994 TFLOPS. The Vega 64 also wins both head-to-head benchmarks, with a 25.8% lead in OpenCL and a 54.1% lead in Vulkan.

Q: Does the Intel Arc A530M support ray tracing?

A: Yes. The Arc A530M has 12 dedicated ray tracing cores, whereas the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 has none. This is a feature advantage for Intel, even though the Vega 64 is faster in traditional compute tests.

Q: How do their power requirements compare?

A: The Vega 64 has a 295 W TDP and requires a 600 W suggested PSU, while the Arc A530M has a 65 W TDP and no dedicated power connectors. The Arc A530M is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) form factor, making it suitable for laptops.

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64. It uses HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus for 483.8 GB/s, compared to the Arc A530M’s GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus for 224.0 GB/s. The Vega 64 has more than double the bandwidth.

Q: What is the release date difference?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 was released on August 6, 2017, and is now end-of-life. The Intel Arc A530M was released on July 31, 2023, and is still active in production.

Q: How do they rank among all GPUs?

A: The Vega 64 sits at the 86th percentile, with an average score of 50,001. The Arc A530M sits at the 85th percentile, with an average score of 46,614. Despite nearly identical percentiles, the Vega 64’s average score is 7.3% higher.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | Intel Arc A530M |

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

| Architecture | GCN 5.0 | Xe-HPG |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 6 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Die Size | 495 mm² | 269 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 25.3M / mm² | 42.8M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1247 MHz | 900 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1546 MHz | 1300 MHz |

| Memory Type | HBM2 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 2048 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 483.8 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Memory Clock | 945 MHz / 1890 Mbps effective | 1750 MHz / 14 Gbps effective |

| Shading Units | 4096 | 1536 |

| TMUs | 256 | 96 |

| ROPs | 64 | 48 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | None | 12 |

| Pixel Rate | 98.94 GPixel/s | 62.40 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 395.8 GTexel/s | 124.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 12.66 TFLOPS | 3.994 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 25.33 TFLOPS (2:1) | 7.987 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 295 W | 65 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

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

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | None |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | Portable Device Dependent |

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

| Vulkan Support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Transistors | 12,500 million | 11,500 million |

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

| Release Date | 2017-08-06 | 2023-07-31 |

| Launch MSRP | 499 USD | None |

The specification table confirms the fundamental positioning of each product. The Vega 64 is a large, power-hungry desktop part with massive memory bandwidth and compute throughput. The Arc A530M is a compact, efficient mobile part with modern features like ray tracing and newer API support, but it sacrifices raw performance to achieve its 65 W TDP. For compute-heavy workloads, the Vega 64 is the clear choice; for modern feature support and portability, the Arc A530M has its place.