AMD Radeon Pro 580X vs Intel Arc A550M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear and consistent performance advantage for the Intel Arc A550M across all shared benchmark tests. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Intel Arc A550M scored 49,894 points, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X scored 36,426 points. This represents a 37% advantage for the Intel part, which is a substantial margin in compute workloads that scale well with raw shading throughput and memory bandwidth efficiency.

In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the Intel Arc A550M again took the lead, scoring 49,580 points versus 40,115 points for the AMD Radeon Pro 580X. The delta here is 23.6%, a narrower but still decisive gap. Vulkan performance tends to favor architectures with more modern command processor and descriptor management, and the data reflects that the Intel part holds a comfortable edge in this API as well.

It is worth remembering the AMD Radeon Pro 580X has an additional benchmark result in the database, a Geekbench Metal score of 39,577. The Intel Arc A550M has no Metal result listed, so a direct comparison in that API is not possible from the available data. However, the OpenCL and Vulkan results are sufficient to establish the overall performance relationship between the two products.

When placed in the broader context of the database’s nearest rival comparisons, the Intel Arc A550M’s average benchmark score of 49,737 sits within a tight cluster of high-end desktop parts. It is 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (average score 49,957), 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50,001), and 2.4% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (50,951). Conversely, it is 2.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (48,477). This places the Arc A550M in a performance tier that rivals some of the fastest discrete desktop GPUs from the previous generation, despite its mobile-oriented design and 60 W TDP.

The AMD Radeon Pro 580X, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 38,706, which places it in a much lower performance bracket. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (38,691, 0% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (38,349, 0.9% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 (38,299, 1.1% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro 575X (39,116, 1% delta). This cluster of scores indicates that the Pro 580X is competitive with entry-level and mid-range mobile GPUs, but it is not in the same league as the Arc A550M in raw compute throughput.

The percentile rankings reinforce this divide. The Intel Arc A550M sits at the 86th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X sits at the 82nd percentile. Although the percentile gap is only four points, the underlying score difference is substantial, reflecting the fact that the Pro 580X’s percentile is buoyed by the large number of older and lower-end parts it outperforms.

In terms of raw compute specifications, the Intel Arc A550M delivers 8.397 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X delivers 5.530 TFLOPS. That is a 51.8% advantage in theoretical peak FP32 throughput for the Intel part. The Arc A550M also offers 16.79 TFLOPS of FP16 performance via a 2:1 ratio, whereas the Pro 580X provides only 5.530 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 1:1 ratio. This means the Intel part has a 203.6% advantage in FP16 throughput, a metric that is increasingly relevant for AI inference and certain content creation workloads.

Pixel fill rates tell a similar story. The Intel Arc A550M achieves 131.2 GPixel/s, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X achieves 38.40 GPixel/s, a 241.7% advantage for the Intel part. Texture fill rates are also higher on the Intel side: 262.4 GTexel/s versus 172.8 GTexel/s, a 51.9% advantage. Memory bandwidth is closer, with the Arc A550M delivering 224.0 GB/s and the Pro 580X delivering 218.9 GB/s, a modest 2.3% difference. The Intel part achieves its bandwidth on a 128-bit bus with GDDR6 memory at 14 Gbps effective, while the AMD part uses a 256-bit bus with GDDR5 at 6.8 Gbps effective. The narrower but faster memory interface of the Intel part nearly closes the bandwidth gap, which is a notable architectural achievement.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the Intel Arc A550M is the faster GPU in every shared benchmark test. Its 37% lead in OpenCL and 23.6% lead in Vulkan are not marginal differences; they represent a full performance tier of separation. For any workload that relies on compute throughput, rasterization, or modern API efficiency, the Arc A550M is the clear choice.

The AMD Radeon Pro 580X, however, should not be dismissed outright. Its 82nd percentile ranking and average score of 38,706 place it in a competitive position against other mid-range mobile and entry-level desktop parts. It offers 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, which provides respectable bandwidth for its class. Its 2304 shading units and 144 texture mapping units are higher counts than the Intel part’s 2048 shading units and 128 TMUs, but the AMD part’s lower clocks (1100 MHz base, 1200 MHz boost) versus the Intel part’s 900 MHz base and 2050 MHz boost result in a significant throughput disadvantage.

For a user who must choose between these two based strictly on benchmark data, the Intel Arc A550M is the only rational pick for performance-sensitive tasks. It wins the OpenCL and Vulkan tests by wide margins, delivers more than 50% higher FP32 throughput, more than triple the FP16 throughput, and nearly 3.4 times the pixel fill rate. The only area where the AMD part is not clearly behind is memory bandwidth, where it trails by just 2.3%.

That said, the AMD Radeon Pro 580X has its own context. It is part of the Radeon Pro Mac lineup, with a release date of March 17, 2019. Its display outputs are 2x HDMI 2.0b, and it uses an Apple MPX bus interface. These are platform-specific characteristics that may matter for compatibility in certain Mac systems. The Intel Arc A550M, by contrast, has a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface and display outputs described as “Portable Device Dependent,” indicating it is designed for mobile integration where the display path is determined by the laptop vendor.

The production status of both parts is end-of-life, so neither is a current-generation product. However, the architectural gap between them is wide: the Intel part is built on a 6 nm TSMC process with 21,700 million transistors on a 406 mm² die, while the AMD part uses a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die. The Intel part packs nearly four times the transistor count into a die that is 75% larger, achieving a transistor density of 53.4 million per mm² versus 24.6 million per mm² for the AMD part.

Architecture Differences

The Intel Arc A550M is built on the Xe-HPG architecture, which is the foundation of the Alchemist generation for mobile Arc 5 products. Its chip, DG2-512, is a large and complex die that reflects Intel’s push into the discrete GPU market. The architecture includes 16 dedicated ray tracing cores, a feature that the AMD Radeon Pro 580X completely lacks. The AMD part is based on GCN 4.0, a design that dates back to the Polaris era and does not include hardware ray tracing support.

The process technology gap is substantial. The Intel chip is fabricated on TSMC’s 6 nm node, while the AMD chip uses GlobalFoundries’ 14 nm process. This two-generation process difference helps explain the Intel part’s ability to achieve a 2050 MHz boost clock while drawing only 60 W, compared to the AMD part’s 1200 MHz boost clock at a 185 W TDP. The Intel part is significantly more power-efficient, delivering far higher performance at less than one-third of the TDP.

The API support also differs. The Intel Arc A550M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate with feature level 12_2, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X supports DirectX 12 with feature level 12_0. This means the Intel part can handle hardware ray tracing and other DirectX 12 Ultimate features, while the AMD part is limited to the baseline DirectX 12 feature set. Vulkan support is also newer on the Intel side: version 1.4 versus version 1.3 on the AMD side. OpenGL support is identical at 4.6 for both.

The memory architectures are fundamentally different. The Intel part uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with a memory clock of 1750 MHz, yielding 14 Gbps effective and 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD part uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with a memory clock of 1710 MHz, yielding 6.8 Gbps effective and 218.9 GB/s of bandwidth. The Intel part achieves comparable bandwidth with half the bus width, thanks to the higher data rate of GDDR6. This is a clear demonstration of the memory technology advantage that newer architectures enjoy.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every core specification. The Intel Arc A550M has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, but only 32 ROPs. The AMD part has more shading units and TMUs, but the Intel part has twice the ROP count, which directly contributes to its much higher pixel fill rate of 131.2 GPixel/s versus 38.40 GPixel/s.

The Intel part includes 16 ray tracing cores, while the AMD part has none. The Intel part’s FP32 throughput is 8.397 TFLOPS versus 5.530 TFLOPS for the AMD part. In FP16, the Intel part delivers 16.79 TFLOPS via a 2:1 ratio, while the AMD part delivers 5.530 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio. The Intel part’s TDP is 60 W, while the AMD part is rated at 185 W, a 125 W difference that makes the Intel part far more suitable for thin-and-light mobile designs.

The process nodes differ: 6 nm TSMC for Intel versus 14 nm GlobalFoundries for AMD. Transistor counts are 21,700 million versus 5,700 million, and die sizes are 406 mm² versus 232 mm². Transistor density is 53.4 million per mm² versus 24.6 million per mm². The bus interface differs as well: PCIe 4.0 x16 for Intel versus Apple MPX for AMD. Display outputs are “Portable Device Dependent” for Intel and 2x HDMI 2.0b for AMD. The AMD part has a release date of March 17, 2019, while the Intel part has no recorded release date.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL?

A: The Intel Arc A550M scored 49,894 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X scored 36,426. This gives the Intel part a 37% advantage.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Pro 580X have ray tracing support?

A: No. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X has no ray tracing cores listed in the database. The Intel Arc A550M includes 16 ray tracing cores.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The Intel Arc A550M has a TDP of 60 W, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X has a TDP of 185 W.

Q: Which GPU has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The Intel Arc A550M has a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X has 218.9 GB/s. The Intel part is 2.3% higher.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The Intel Arc A550M has an average benchmark score of 49,737, placing it at the 86th percentile. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X has an average score of 38,706, placing it at the 82nd percentile.

Q: Which GPU supports a newer DirectX version?

A: The Intel Arc A550M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X supports DirectX 12 (12_0).