Intel Arc A370M vs NVIDIA CMP 70HX Comparison

The NVIDIA CMP 70HX and Intel Arc A370M represent two very different approaches to GPU design, and the benchmark data reflects that divergence clearly. In the two head-to-head tests available, each card claims one victory, with the NVIDIA part dominating in Vulkan while the Intel part counters in OpenCL. The overall average benchmark scores are close, but the underlying architectural and specification differences explain why each card excels in different scenarios.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive result in this comparison comes from the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the NVIDIA CMP 70HX scores 35,817 against the Intel Arc A370M’s 28,673. That is a 24.9% advantage for the NVIDIA card, a substantial margin that shows a clear performance gap in this particular graphics API workload. The CMP 70HX’s Vulkan performance is not just ahead of the Intel part; it is also a significant outlier in its own right, given that its average benchmark score across all tests is 30,476. The Vulkan result is roughly 17.5% above that average, indicating that this NVIDIA card is particularly strong in Vulkan-accelerated tasks.

Conversely, the Geekbench OpenCL test tells the opposite story. Here, the Intel Arc A370M scores 29,676 against the NVIDIA CMP 70HX’s 25,135, giving Intel a 15.3% win. The Intel card’s OpenCL score is notably higher than its own Vulkan score of 28,673, suggesting that the Arc A370M is better optimized for OpenCL compute workloads. Interestingly, the Intel card’s OpenCL result is also higher than the NVIDIA card’s average benchmark score across both tests, which underscores that this is not a case of one card being universally faster; rather, each has a distinct performance profile.

Looking at the average benchmark scores, the NVIDIA CMP 70HX sits at 30,476, while the Intel Arc A370M is at 29,175. That is a difference of roughly 4.5%, which is modest compared to the individual test deltas. The NVIDIA card’s average is boosted significantly by its strong Vulkan showing, while the Intel card’s average is pulled up by its OpenCL result. The percentile rankings reinforce this closeness: the CMP 70HX is in the 75th percentile of all GPUs, and the A370M is in the 74th percentile. For context, the nearest rivals to the NVIDIA card include the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (0.1% ahead in average score) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (1.8% behind), while the Intel card’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH (0.1% behind). The data shows two cards that are broadly comparable in overall performance but with very different strengths.

Architecture Differences

The fundamental divergence between these two GPUs starts with their silicon. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX uses the GA104 chip built on Ampere architecture, manufactured on Samsung’s 8 nm process. The die is substantial, measuring 392 mm² with 17,400 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of 44.4 million per mm². In contrast, the Intel Arc A370M uses the DG2-128 chip based on Xe-HPG architecture, built on TSMC’s 6 nm process. Its die is much smaller at 157 mm², housing 7,200 million transistors, which works out to a slightly higher density of 45.9 million per mm². The process node difference—8 nm versus 6 nm—partially explains why Intel can pack nearly as many transistors per area despite the much smaller die.

Memory configuration is another major differentiator. The NVIDIA card comes with 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The Intel card has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, yielding just 112.0 GB/s. That is a fivefold difference in memory bandwidth, which has direct implications for high-resolution textures and compute workloads that are memory-bound. The NVIDIA card’s memory clock is listed at 19 Gbps effective, while the Intel card runs at 14 Gbps effective, further widening the gap.

Compute resources also differ sharply. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX has 3,840 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. It also includes 30 ray tracing cores and 120 tensor cores. The Intel Arc A370M, by contrast, has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with 8 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed. The raw FP32 throughput tells the story: the NVIDIA card delivers 10.71 TFLOPS, while the Intel card delivers 4.198 TFLOPS. However, the Intel card’s FP16 performance is 8.397 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, whereas the NVIDIA card’s FP16 is the same as its FP32 at 10.71 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio. This indicates that the Intel card is designed with different compute priorities, favoring FP16 workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A370M wins in OpenCL, and that is its primary strength in this comparison. The 15.3% margin in that test suggests that for compute tasks utilizing OpenCL—such as certain scientific simulations, image processing, or machine learning inference—the Intel card is the better choice despite its smaller memory footprint and lower raw FP32 throughput. The 4 GB memory capacity may be limiting for large datasets, but the architecture appears well-tuned for OpenCL execution.

The NVIDIA CMP 70HX wins decisively in Vulkan, with a 24.9% advantage. Vulkan is commonly used in gaming and real-time graphics applications, and the NVIDIA card’s superior memory bandwidth (608.3 GB/s vs. 112.0 GB/s) likely plays a significant role here. The higher pixel rate (89.28 GPixel/s vs. 65.60 GPixel/s) and texture rate (167.4 GTexel/s vs. 131.2 GTexel/s) also support the NVIDIA card’s advantage in graphics-heavy Vulkan workloads. The CMP 70HX also has a 75th percentile ranking versus the A370M’s 74th, so on average, it is slightly ahead across all GPUs.

For users prioritizing compute via OpenCL, the Intel card is the winner. For users prioritizing Vulkan-based graphics or compute, the NVIDIA card is clearly superior. The NVIDIA card also has a substantial advantage in memory bandwidth, which could matter for any workload that is bandwidth-limited, even if the benchmark data does not explicitly cover that scenario.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 70HX has an average benchmark score of 30,476, while the Intel Arc A370M has an average of 29,175. The NVIDIA card ranks in the 75th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the Intel card’s 74th percentile.

Q: How large is the margin in the Vulkan test?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 70HX scores 35,817 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 24.9% higher than the Intel Arc A370M’s 28,673.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 70HX has 608.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth from 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus. The Intel Arc A370M has 112.0 GB/s from 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus.

Q: Does the Intel Arc A370M have tensor cores?

A: No, the Intel Arc A370M does not list any tensor cores, while the NVIDIA CMP 70HX includes 120 tensor cores.

Q: What are the process node and foundry for each chip?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 70HX uses an 8 nm process from Samsung, while the Intel Arc A370M uses a 6 nm process from TSMC.

Q: Which card is better for FP16 compute?

A: The Intel Arc A370M has an FP16 performance of 8.397 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio relative to FP32. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX has FP16 performance of 10.71 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, meaning its FP16 throughput is higher overall.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the benchmark data, the NVIDIA CMP 70HX is the stronger overall GPU. Its average benchmark score is higher (30,476 vs. 29,175), it ranks in a higher percentile (75th vs. 74th), and its Vulkan performance is decisively better (24.9% ahead). The NVIDIA card also offers substantially more memory bandwidth (608.3 GB/s vs. 112.0 GB/s) and more than double the FP32 throughput (10.71 TFLOPS vs. 4.198 TFLOPS). For any user whose workload involves Vulkan graphics or memory-intensive tasks, the CMP 70HX is the clear pick.

However, the Intel Arc A370M is not without merit. Its OpenCL score is 15.3% higher than the NVIDIA card’s, and it achieves this with a much smaller die (157 mm² vs. 392 mm²) and a lower power draw (35 W TDP vs. no listed TDP for the NVIDIA card). The Intel card is also built on a more advanced 6 nm process, which contributes to its higher transistor density (45.9M / mm² vs. 44.4M / mm²). For users running OpenCL compute workloads where memory capacity is not a bottleneck, the Intel card is the better option.

The decision ultimately hinges on the intended use case. Data from the benchmarks shows that Vulkan users should choose the NVIDIA CMP 70HX without hesitation, given its 24.9% lead in that specific test. OpenCL users should lean toward the Intel Arc A370M, which demonstrates a 15.3% advantage in that test. The NVIDIA card’s larger memory pool and faster bandwidth make it more versatile for a broader range of tasks, but the Intel card’s efficiency and OpenCL strength cannot be ignored. The data does not support a universal winner; it supports a workload-specific choice.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA CMP 70HX | Intel Arc A370M |

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

| Architecture | Ampere | Xe-HPG |

| Process Node | 8 nm | 6 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | TSMC |

| Transistors | 17,400 million | 7,200 million |

| Die Size | 392 mm² | 157 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 44.4M / mm² | 45.9M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1365 MHz | 1550 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1395 MHz | 2050 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6X | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 608.3 GB/s | 112.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3840 | 1024 |

| TMUs | 120 | 64 |

| ROPs | 64 | 32 |

| RT Cores | 30 | 8 |

| Tensor Cores | 120 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 89.28 GPixel/s | 65.60 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 167.4 GTexel/s | 131.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 10.71 TFLOPS | 4.198 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 10.71 TFLOPS (1:1) | 8.397 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | Not listed | 35 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 1x 12-pin | None |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 1.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | Portable Device Dependent |