Intel Arc A370M vs NVIDIA T550 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear, consistent victory for the NVIDIA T550 Mobile across both benchmark tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the T550 Mobile scores 35,521 against the Intel Arc A370M's 29,676, a margin of 19.7%. That is a substantial gap for two mobile GPUs that otherwise share identical core counts, memory size, and bus width. The Vulkan result is closer but still favors NVIDIA: 30,801 versus 28,673, a 7.4% lead.

The OpenCL delta is the headline number here. A 19.7% advantage in raw compute workloads suggests the T550 Mobile extracts significantly more throughput from its hardware configuration. The Arc A370M does close some ground in Vulkan, where the gap shrinks to 7.4%, indicating that Intel's architecture handles the lower-level graphics API comparatively better than it does OpenCL. Still, the T550 Mobile wins both tests outright, and the aggregated data reflects that: the T550 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 33,161 versus 29,175 for the Arc A370M.

Percentile placement reinforces the same story. The T550 Mobile sits at the 77th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the Arc A370M lands at the 74th. That three-point percentile difference might not sound dramatic, but it represents a meaningful tier separation. The T550 Mobile's nearest rivals include the GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile at 33,170 (0% delta) and the Radeon Pro 570 at 33,207 (-0.1%), placing it in solid mid-range company. The Arc A370M, by contrast, is clustered with the Radeon RX Vega M GH at 29,197 (-0.1%) and the FirePro W8000 at 29,211 (-0.1%), which are older or lower-tier parts.

One notable observation: the T550 Mobile achieves its wins despite a lower boost clock (1665 MHz versus 2050 MHz) and lower memory bandwidth (96.00 GB/s versus 112.0 GB/s). That is an efficiency signal, not a raw power signal. The NVIDIA part is doing more with less, while the Intel part needs higher clocks and more bandwidth to produce lower scores.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA T550 Mobile wins both benchmark categories, so the use-case split is straightforward: it is the better choice for compute-heavy tasks that rely on OpenCL and for graphics workloads that use Vulkan. The 19.7% OpenCL lead is particularly relevant for professional applications, rendering pipelines, and any workflow that offloads parallel computation to the GPU. The 7.4% Vulkan lead matters for gaming and real-time graphics, where the T550 Mobile maintains a comfortable but less dominant edge.

The Intel Arc A370M does not win any benchmark in this comparison. However, the data does not indicate where it might be competitive outside these two tests. Its higher base clock (1550 MHz) and boost clock (2050 MHz) suggest it can sustain high-frequency operation, and its larger memory bandwidth (112.0 GB/s) could benefit bandwidth-sensitive workloads that are not captured here. But within the recorded measurements, there is no category where Intel takes the lead.

For a practical builder, this means the T550 Mobile is the safer pick for general-purpose GPU acceleration. The Arc A370M's only hope would be a workload that specifically favors its architectural features, such as ray tracing, but the benchmark data does not include such tests, and the T550 Mobile's wins in both available categories leave no room for a counterargument based on measured performance.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The NVIDIA T550 Mobile uses the TU117 chip, built on the Turing architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 12 nm process. It packs 4,700 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 23.5 million per square millimeter. The Intel Arc A370M uses the DG2-128 chip, built on the Xe-HPG architecture (Alchemist generation), also fabricated by TSMC but on a 6 nm process. It contains 7,200 million transistors in a smaller 157 mm² die, achieving a much higher density of 45.9 million per square millimeter.

The process node difference is significant. The 6 nm node gives Intel a density advantage of roughly 2x over NVIDIA's 12 nm node, which explains how Intel fits 53% more transistors into a 21.5% smaller die. However, density alone does not determine performance, as the benchmark results demonstrate. The T550 Mobile's older, less dense design still outperforms the newer Intel part.

Both GPUs share identical core counts: 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The difference lies in what surrounds those cores. The Intel Arc A370M includes 8 ray tracing cores, which the T550 Mobile lacks entirely. This gives Intel a hardware feature that NVIDIA does not offer on this part, though no ray tracing benchmark is present in the data to quantify its impact.

Memory configurations are similar but not identical. Both use 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus. The Arc A370M runs its memory at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for 112.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the T550 Mobile runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for 96.00 GB/s. The Intel part has 16.7% more bandwidth, yet it still loses in both compute tests.

The bus interface differs as well: the T550 Mobile uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Arc A370M uses PCIe 4.0 x8. In theory, PCIe 4.0 x8 offers similar bandwidth to PCIe 3.0 x16, so this is not a major differentiator for most workloads. Power consumption favors NVIDIA: 23 W TDP versus 35 W TDP. The T550 Mobile delivers higher performance while drawing 34% less power, a substantial efficiency gap.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA T550 Mobile, with an average score of 33,161, versus 29,175 for the Intel Arc A370M.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two in any benchmark?

A: The Geekbench OpenCL test, where the T550 Mobile leads by 19.7% (35,521 versus 29,676).

Q: Does the Intel Arc A370M have any hardware feature that the T550 Mobile lacks?

A: Yes, the Arc A370M includes 8 ray tracing cores, while the T550 Mobile has none. The T550 Mobile also lacks tensor cores, as does the Arc A370M.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The Arc A370M has 112.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the T550 Mobile has 96.00 GB/s. Both use 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus.

Q: What are their power requirements?

A: The T550 Mobile has a 23 W TDP, and the Arc A370M has a 35 W TDP. The T550 Mobile consumes less power while scoring higher.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The T550 Mobile ranks at the 77th percentile, while the Arc A370M sits at the 74th percentile.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in the following recorded specifications:

• Process node: T550 Mobile uses 12 nm, Arc A370M uses 6 nm
• Transistor count: T550 Mobile has 4,700 million, Arc A370M has 7,200 million
• Die size: T550 Mobile is 200 mm², Arc A370M is 157 mm²
• Transistor density: T550 Mobile is 23.5M/mm², Arc A370M is 45.9M/mm²
• Base clock: T550 Mobile is 1065 MHz, Arc A370M is 1550 MHz
• Boost clock: T550 Mobile is 1665 MHz, Arc A370M is 2050 MHz
• Memory clock: T550 Mobile is 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), Arc A370M is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective)
• Memory bandwidth: T550 Mobile is 96.00 GB/s, Arc A370M is 112.0 GB/s
• Ray tracing cores: T550 Mobile has none, Arc A370M has 8
• Pixel rate: T550 Mobile is 53.28 GPixel/s, Arc A370M is 65.60 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: T550 Mobile is 106.6 GTexel/s, Arc A370M is 131.2 GTexel/s
• FP32 performance: T550 Mobile is 3.410 TFLOPS, Arc A370M is 4.198 TFLOPS
• FP16 performance: T550 Mobile is 6.820 TFLOPS, Arc A370M is 8.397 TFLOPS
• TDP: T550 Mobile is 23 W, Arc A370M is 35 W
• Bus interface: T550 Mobile is PCIe 3.0 x16, Arc A370M is PCIe 4.0 x8
• DirectX support: T550 Mobile is 12 (12_1), Arc A370M is 12 Ultimate (12_2)
• Release date: Arc A370M was released on 2022-03-29, T550 Mobile has no recorded release date

Identical specifications include: 4 GB memory, GDDR6 type, 64-bit bus width, 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, 32 ROPs, IGP slot width, portable device dependent display outputs, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4, and end-of-life production status.

The Verdict

The data points to one conclusion: the NVIDIA T550 Mobile is the superior GPU in this comparison. It wins both benchmarks, holds a higher average score (33,161 versus 29,175), ranks higher in the percentile distribution (77th versus 74th), and does so while consuming 12 W less power. For a mobile workstation or a compact system where thermals and battery life matter, that efficiency advantage compounds the performance lead.

The Intel Arc A370M is not without merit. It has a newer process node, higher clock speeds, more memory bandwidth, and dedicated ray tracing hardware. Its theoretical peak compute is higher on paper: 4.198 TFLOPS FP32 versus 3.410 TFLOPS, and its pixel and texture rates are both faster. But the recorded benchmarks do not reflect those theoretical advantages. In real-world OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, the T550 Mobile beats it by 19.7% and 7.4%, respectively.

Who should pick the T550 Mobile? Anyone who needs reliable compute performance for professional or general-purpose GPU tasks. The OpenCL lead is substantial, and the lower TDP makes it an easier fit for thin-and-light laptops or systems with tight thermal budgets. The 77th percentile ranking places it among capable mid-range mobile GPUs.

Who should pick the Arc A370M? A user who specifically needs ray tracing support, since the T550 Mobile lacks RT cores entirely. The Arc A370M also has more raw bandwidth and higher clock speeds, which could matter in workloads not covered by these two benchmarks. But based on the recorded data, there is no measured scenario where the Arc A370M wins. The 74th percentile ranking and the 29,175 average score place it clearly behind its NVIDIA competitor.

The verdict is straightforward: choose the T550 Mobile for better measured performance and efficiency, choose the Arc A370M only if ray tracing hardware is a non-negotiable requirement. The benchmark data does not support choosing Intel on performance grounds.