Intel Arc A380E vs NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a dramatic performance gulf between these two workstation graphics cards, with the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation occupying a different performance tier entirely. The Intel Arc A380E ships with no benchmark entries in the database, while the RTX 4500 Ada Generation delivers an average benchmark score of 166,094 across its two recorded tests. This places the NVIDIA card in the 97th percentile of all GPUs tracked by the database, a position that puts it among the fastest workstation accelerators available.

The RTX 4500 Ada Generation scores 160,786 in Geekbench OpenCL and 171,401 in Geekbench Vulkan, showing a spread of roughly 6.6% between the two compute APIs. The Vulkan score leads the OpenCL result, which is a common pattern for NVIDIA workstation cards where the driver stack for Vulkan compute has matured substantially. The Intel Arc A380E has no comparable entries in the database, meaning direct head-to-head comparisons must be drawn from architectural specifications rather than measured workloads.

The nearest rivals for the RTX 4500 Ada Generation provide context for its positioning. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 averages 165,217, which is 0.5% behind the RTX 4500 Ada Generation. The AMD Radeon PRO W7800 sits 0.7% behind with an average score of 164,894. The AMD Radeon Pro W6900X leads the RTX 4500 Ada Generation by 1.5% with a score of 168,574. The NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB trails by 2.2% at 162,504. These margins are small, indicating that the RTX 4500 Ada Generation is tightly grouped with the previous generation of high-end workstation cards despite being a smaller, lower-power part.

The compute throughput numbers reinforce the separation between the two cards. The RTX 4500 Ada Generation delivers 39.63 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the Intel Arc A380E delivers 4.096 TFLOPS. That is a 9.68x advantage for the NVIDIA card in single-precision floating-point throughput. The FP16 comparison is even more lopsided: the RTX 4500 Ada Generation provides 39.63 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, while the Intel card provides 8.192 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, effectively half-rate FP16. The NVIDIA card's FP16 throughput is 4.84x higher than the Intel card's peak FP16 figure.

Texture and pixel throughput follow the same pattern. The RTX 4500 Ada Generation reaches 619.2 GTexel/s and 206.4 GPixel/s, compared to 128.0 GTexel/s and 64.00 GPixel/s for the Intel Arc A380E. The NVIDIA card is 4.84x faster in texture fill and 3.23x faster in pixel fill. These figures align with the card's higher shading unit count of 7,680 versus 1,024, and its 240 texture mapping units versus 64, and 80 render output units versus 32.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4500 Ada Generation wins in every measurable compute category in the database. Its FP32 figure of 39.63 TFLOPS places it in a class that can handle demanding simulation, rendering, and AI inference workloads. Its 24 GB of GDDR6 memory with 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth provides substantial headroom for large datasets, high-resolution textures, and multi-application workflows. The 192-bit memory bus and 18 Gbps effective memory speed support this bandwidth figure.

The card's 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores give it dedicated hardware for ray tracing and tensor operations, which the Intel Arc A380E also offers in more limited form: 8 RT cores and no tensor core entry in the database. The NVIDIA card's 39.63 TFLOPS FP16 throughput at a 1:1 ratio means it does not sacrifice half-precision performance, a characteristic relevant for machine learning inference and training workloads where FP16 is common.

The Intel Arc A380E, by contrast, is a low-power entry in the Arc 3 generation. Its 75 W TDP and 4 GB less memory per output configuration make it suitable for basic display output and light compute tasks. The database shows no benchmark scores for this card, so its practical performance in compute workloads cannot be quantified from recorded measurements. Its 6 GB GDDR6 memory with 186.0 GB/s bandwidth is a fraction of the NVIDIA card's capacity and bandwidth, limiting its usefulness for large working sets.

The RTX 4500 Ada Generation also wins on API support breadth, though both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA card's DisplayPort 1.4a outputs are older than the Intel card's DisplayPort 2.0 outputs, which is one area where the Intel card holds a technical specification advantage. The Intel card's 4x DisplayPort 2.0 outputs support higher display bandwidth per port, which matters for multi-display configurations with high resolutions and refresh rates.

The Verdict

The benchmark data indicates that the RTX 4500 Ada Generation is the appropriate choice for compute-intensive workstation workloads. Its 97th percentile ranking, 39.63 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, and 24 GB memory capacity place it in a different performance class than the Intel Arc A380E. The card's nearest rivals, all within 2.2% of its average score, confirm that it competes with the previous generation's top workstation accelerators despite its smaller physical footprint and 210 W TDP.

The Intel Arc A380E serves a different purpose. Its 75 W TDP, single-slot design, and lack of power connectors make it a low-profile option for systems where power draw and physical space are constraints. The database shows no measured benchmark scores, so its compute performance cannot be compared directly. Its 50th percentile ranking among all GPUs, based on the database's internal metrics, places it at the median of all tracked graphics cards.

For users whose primary need is raw compute performance, the RTX 4500 Ada Generation is the clear pick from the data. Its Vulkan score of 171,401 and OpenCL score of 160,786 demonstrate strong cross-API performance. The Intel Arc A380E would only be suitable for scenarios where its low power draw, single-slot footprint, and DisplayPort 2.0 outputs are the dominant requirements, and where compute performance is secondary.

FAQ

Q: How does the RTX 4500 Ada Generation compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4500 Ada Generation averages 166,094 in benchmark scores. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 is 0.5% behind, the AMD Radeon PRO W7800 is 0.7% behind, the AMD Radeon Pro W6900X is 1.5% ahead, and the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB is 2.2% behind.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The Intel Arc A380E has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 96-bit bus with 186.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The RTX 4500 Ada Generation delivers 39.63 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The Intel Arc A380E delivers 4.096 TFLOPS, which is roughly one-ninth of the NVIDIA card's figure.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Intel Arc A380E has a 75 W TDP and requires a 250 W suggested power supply. The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation has a 210 W TDP and requires a 550 W suggested power supply. Neither card uses external power connectors.

Q: Do both cards support the same graphics APIs?

A: Yes, both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 4500 Ada Generation supports these APIs with its Ada Lovelace architecture, while the Intel Arc A380E uses the Xe-HPG architecture.

Q: What is the physical size difference between the two cards?

A: The Intel Arc A380E measures 254 mm in length, 127 mm in height, and 20 mm in width, and uses a single-slot design. The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation measures 245 mm in length and 112 mm in height, and uses a dual-slot design.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The Intel Arc A380E uses the DG2-128 chip built on TSMC's 6 nm process, featuring 7,200 million transistors on a 157 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 45.9 million transistors per square millimeter. The architecture is Xe-HPG, part of the Alchemist generation, and the card is now marked as end-of-life in the database.

The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation uses the AD103 chip built on TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 121.1 million transistors per square millimeter. The architecture is Ada Lovelace, and the card is still marked as active in the database. The transistor density difference is notable: the 5 nm process packs 2.64x more transistors per square millimeter than the 6 nm process.

The compute unit counts differ by an order of magnitude. The Intel card has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and 8 RT cores, with no tensor cores listed. The NVIDIA card has 7,680 shading units, 240 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 60 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. The NVIDIA card's shading unit count is 7.5x higher, its TMU count is 3.75x higher, and its ROP count is 2.5x higher.

Clock speeds tell a partial story. The Intel card runs at a fixed 2000 MHz for both base and boost, which is unusual for a modern GPU. The NVIDIA card has a 2070 MHz base clock and a 2580 MHz boost clock, giving it a 29% boost headroom over base. The memory clocks differ as well: the Intel card runs its GDDR6 at 1937 MHz with 15.5 Gbps effective, while the NVIDIA card runs at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective.

The bus interfaces differ, with the Intel card using PCIe 4.0 x8 and the NVIDIA card using PCIe 4.0 x16. This gives the NVIDIA card twice the host interface bandwidth, which matters for data transfer to and from system memory. The display outputs also differ: the Intel card provides 4x DisplayPort 2.0, while the NVIDIA card provides 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. The Intel card's DisplayPort 2.0 support is a forward-looking feature, though the NVIDIA card's older standard remains widely compatible with existing monitors.

The memory subsystems reflect the cards' different positioning. The Intel card's 6 GB GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus yields 186.0 GB/s, while the NVIDIA card's 24 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus yields 432.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has 4x the memory capacity and 2.32x the bandwidth. The FP16 throughput ratios also differ: the Intel card runs FP16 at a 2:1 ratio relative to FP32, meaning it processes half-precision at half rate, while the NVIDIA card runs FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, matching its FP32 throughput exactly.

The cards' release dates and lifecycles differ as well. The Intel Arc A380E entered the database in March 2024, while the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation was released in August 2023. The Intel card's predecessor is listed as Xe Graphics and its successor as Battlemage. The NVIDIA card's predecessor is Workstation Ampere and its successor is Blackwell PRO W.