AMD Radeon VII vs Intel Arc A580 Comparison

# The Verdict

The data presents a clear but narrow victory for the AMD Radeon VII. Across three head-to-head benchmarks, the Radeon VII wins all three, with its largest margin coming in Geekbench Vulkan where it scores 91,788 against the Intel Arc A580's 79,381—a 15.6% advantage. The Radeon VII also leads in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 with 2,304 versus 2,229 (a 3.4% edge) and in Geekbench OpenCL with 91,947 versus 91,657 (a slim 0.3% margin).

However, the Arc A580 is not without its own merits. The Intel card is active in production, while the Radeon VII is end-of-life. The Arc A580 also carries a significantly lower TDP of 175 W compared to the Radeon VII's 295 W, and its suggested PSU is 450 W versus 600 W. The Intel card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD card is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3.

For users prioritizing raw compute performance in legacy and compute-heavy workloads, the Radeon VII's benchmark wins make it the data-backed choice. For those building a new system with an eye on modern API support, lower power draw, and active production status, the Arc A580 is the more sensible pick. The data shows a 90th percentile ranking for the Radeon VII versus 87th for the Arc A580, but the average benchmark score gap (66,004 vs 57,756) is larger than the head-to-head deltas suggest, indicating the Radeon VII benefits from a broader benchmark suite.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent fundamentally different design philosophies and eras. The AMD Radeon VII uses the Vega 20 chip built on GCN 5.1 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. It packs 13,230 million transistors into a 331 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 40.0M per mm². The Intel Arc A580 uses the DG2-512 chip on Xe-HPG architecture, built on TSMC's 6 nm node. It contains 21,700 million transistors across a 406 mm² die, achieving a higher density of 53.4M per mm².

Memory configurations diverge sharply. The Radeon VII offers 16 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, delivering 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth. The Arc A580 counters with 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s. That is exactly half the bandwidth, which explains why the AMD card excels in memory-throughput-sensitive tasks.

Compute resources tell a nuanced story. The Radeon VII has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The Arc A580 has fewer shading units (3,072) and TMUs (192) but more ROPs (96). The Intel card also includes 24 ray tracing cores, a feature the Radeon VII lacks entirely. Pixel throughput favors Intel at 192.0 GPixel/s versus 112.0 GPixel/s, while texture throughput favors AMD at 420.0 GTexel/s versus 384.0 GTexel/s.

Clock speeds differ notably. The Arc A580 runs at a 1700 MHz base and 2000 MHz boost, while the Radeon VII operates at 1400 MHz base and 1750 MHz boost. Despite lower clocks, the Radeon VII achieves higher FP32 performance at 13.44 TFLOPS versus 12.29 TFLOPS, thanks to its wider SIMD configuration. FP16 figures follow the same pattern: 26.88 TFLOPS for AMD versus 24.58 TFLOPS for Intel, both at a 2:1 ratio.

Interface and display capabilities also differ. The Radeon VII uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Arc A580 uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs favor Intel with 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0, versus AMD's 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive result comes from Geekbench Vulkan. The Radeon VII scores 91,788 against the Arc A580's 79,381, a 15.6% advantage. This substantial gap likely reflects the AMD card's superior memory bandwidth (1.02 TB/s vs 512.0 GB/s) and higher shading unit count, which matter greatly in Vulkan's low-overhead compute and draw call paths.

In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the Radeon VII wins 2,304 to 2,229, a 3.4% margin. This is a closer contest, suggesting that while the AMD card holds the edge, the Arc A580's architectural efficiency (higher clocks, more ROPs, and modern DirectX 12 Ultimate support) helps it close the gap in a pure DX12 gaming workload.

Geekbench OpenCL is nearly a tie. The Radeon VII scores 91,947, and the Arc A580 scores 91,657—a 0.3% difference. This near-parity indicates that in raw OpenCL compute, both cards deliver essentially equivalent performance, despite their very different hardware designs. The Intel card achieves this with fewer shading units and lower FP32 peak, suggesting better utilization of its compute resources.

Notably, the Arc A580 has no Geekbench Metal result in the data, while the Radeon VII scores 77,975 in that test. This matters for macOS or Metal-specific workflows, though neither card is positioned as a primary Apple ecosystem GPU.

Overall, the Radeon VII wins all three head-to-head benchmarks, with an average lead of approximately 6.4% across the suite. The Arc A580's closest result is in OpenCL, where the 0.3% delta places the two cards within statistical noise.

FAQ

Q: Which card has better ray tracing performance?

A: The Intel Arc A580 is the only one of the two with dedicated ray tracing hardware, featuring 24 RT cores. The AMD Radeon VII has no RT cores listed in its specifications.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The Radeon VII offers 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth via 16 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus. The Arc A580 provides 512.0 GB/s using 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. The AMD card has exactly double the bandwidth.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Radeon VII has a TDP of 295 W and requires a 600 W suggested PSU. The Arc A580 has a TDP of 175 W and a 450 W suggested PSU. Both use dual-slot cooling and require 2x 8-pin power connectors.

Q: Which card supports newer graphics APIs?

A: The Intel Arc A580 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD Radeon VII supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: How does the average benchmark score compare?

A: The Radeon VII has an average benchmark score of 66,004, placing it in the 90th percentile of all GPUs. The Arc A580 averages 57,756, putting it in the 87th percentile. The Radeon VII's closest rivals are the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (-1.1%) and Tesla P40 (+1.4%), while the Arc A580 sits near the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM (-0.6%) and RX 9070 GRE (+0.7%).

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. The AMD Radeon VII is end-of-life, having been released in February 2019. The Intel Arc A580 is active in production, with an October 2023 release date.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Radeon VII wins in raw compute and memory-heavy workloads. The 15.6% Vulkan lead and 3.4% DX12 advantage demonstrate that its 1.02 TB/s bandwidth and 3,840 shading units deliver measurable gains in API-level performance. The 16 GB HBM2 frame buffer is also double the Arc A580's 8 GB GDDR6, making the Radeon VII better suited for large datasets and high-resolution texture workloads. Its 13.44 TFLOPS FP32 output tops the Arc A580's 12.29 TFLOPS, reinforcing its compute-oriented design.

Intel Arc A580 wins in efficiency and modern feature support. The 175 W TDP versus 295 W means substantially lower power draw, and the 450 W suggested PSU requirement makes it easier to integrate into existing systems. The 24 RT cores introduce hardware ray tracing that the Radeon VII simply cannot offer. DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 support provide forward-looking API compatibility that the Radeon VII's DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3 cannot match. The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface also doubles the bus bandwidth available to the Radeon VII's PCIe 3.0 x16 connection.

The data suggests a generational trade-off. The Radeon VII, despite being end-of-life and from an older architecture, still edges out the newer Arc A580 in every head-to-head test. However, the Arc A580's active production status, lower power envelope, and modern feature set make it the more practical choice for new builds where ray tracing and API longevity matter. The Radeon VII's 90th percentile ranking versus 87th for the Arc A580 shows it remains a competitive performer, but its 699 USD launch MSRP and 295 W TDP position it as a high-end card from a different era. The Arc A580, with no launch MSRP listed and a more modest power profile, targets a different segment of the market entirely.

For users who prioritize benchmark scores above all else, the Radeon VII's three wins and higher percentile ranking make it the data-backed pick. For users who value efficiency, modern API support, and a card that is still being manufactured, the Arc A580 is the logical choice. The 0.3% OpenCL margin shows these cards are nearly identical in that workload, suggesting that real-world differences will vary heavily by application and driver maturity.