Intel Arc A550M vs Intel Arc A570M Comparison

The Intel Arc A570M and Intel Arc A550M are both mobile GPUs from Intel’s Alchemist generation, built on the Xe-HPG architecture and fabricated on TSMC’s 6 nm process. The A570M is the newer part, released in late July 2023, while the A550M has no listed release date and is marked as end-of-life. Despite sharing the same architectural family, the two cards are built on different silicon dies and show a clear performance gap in the available benchmark data. The A570M achieves a Geekbench OpenCL score of 58,239, while the A550M scores 49,894 in the same test. The A570M also holds a Vulkan score of 49,580, though the A550M does not have a Vulkan result listed. This performance difference is significant and is reflected in their respective percentile rankings, with the A570M sitting at the 88th percentile of all GPUs and the A550M at the 86th.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The direct head-to-head comparison in the data is limited to a single test: Geekbench OpenCL. In this benchmark, the Intel Arc A570M delivers a score of 58,239 against the Intel Arc A550M’s 49,894. This represents a 16.7% advantage for the A570M, a substantial margin that places the two cards in different performance tiers. The A570M’s score is nearly 8,400 points higher, which is a meaningful gap in raw compute workloads.

Context from the nearest rivals reinforces this positioning. The A570M’s average benchmark score of 58,239 places it within 0.3% of the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (58,392) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM (58,085). It also trails the NVIDIA P102-100 by 0.5% and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 by 0.7%. This clustering suggests the A570M is performing at a level comparable to high-end desktop parts from the previous generation, despite being a mobile IGP.

The A550M, with an average score of 49,737, sits in a lower bracket. It is 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49,957) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50,001). It trails the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT by 2.4%, but it is 2.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (48,477). The A550M’s performance is therefore competitive with mid-range to high-end desktop GPUs, but it is clearly a step below the A570M in raw OpenCL throughput.

Looking at the Vulkan result, the A550M scores 49,580, which is nearly identical to its OpenCL score. This indicates consistent performance across different compute APIs for the A550M. The A570M does not have a Vulkan score listed, so a direct comparison in that API is not possible. However, the OpenCL delta of 16.7% is the only head-to-head metric available, and it clearly favors the A570M.

Architecture Differences

The most fundamental difference between the two GPUs is the silicon die. The Intel Arc A570M is built on the DG2-256 chip, while the Intel Arc A550M uses the larger DG2-512 die. This size difference is substantial: the DG2-512 die measures 406 mm² and contains 21,700 million transistors, whereas the DG2-256 is 269 mm² with 11,500 million transistors. The larger die gives the A550M a higher transistor density of 53.4M per mm² compared to the A570M’s 42.8M per mm².

Despite the larger silicon, the A550M does not translate that into more execution resources. Both GPUs feature 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units (TMUs), 64 raster operation units (ROPs), and 16 ray tracing cores. The compute configuration is identical on paper. This means the architectural advantage of the larger die is not in raw shader count but potentially in other aspects, such as clock speeds or power delivery.

The clock speeds tell a different story. The A570M has a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost clock of 1,300 MHz. The A550M also has a 900 MHz base clock, but its boost clock is significantly higher at 2,050 MHz. This higher boost clock should give the A550M a theoretical throughput advantage, yet the benchmark data shows the A570M winning decisively. The A550M’s higher boost clock does not compensate for other factors, likely related to power limits or thermal constraints in the mobile form factor.

Memory configurations are identical: both cards use 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a memory clock of 1,750 MHz and an effective data rate of 14 Gbps. This yields the same 224.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth for both. The bus interface differs, with the A570M using PCIe 4.0 x8 and the A550M using PCIe 4.0 x16, though this is unlikely to impact compute performance in the tested workloads.

The power envelope is another key differentiator. The A570M has a TDP of 75 W, while the A550M is rated at 60 W. This lower power budget for the A550M may explain why its higher boost clock does not result in higher real-world performance; it may not be able to sustain those clocks under load. Both cards are listed as IGP (integrated graphics processor) form factors, with portable device dependent display outputs. The A570M is marked as Active production status, while the A550M is End-of-life.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the available data, the Intel Arc A570M wins the only direct comparison: the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark. Its score of 58,239 is 16.7% higher than the A550M’s 49,894. This makes the A570M the clear choice for any workload that relies on OpenCL compute, such as general-purpose GPU computing, certain rendering tasks, or data-parallel applications. Its percentile ranking of 88th versus the A550M’s 86th also indicates a higher overall standing in the broader GPU landscape.

The A550M does not win any of the head-to-head benchmarks, as the data records one win for the A570M and zero for the A550M. However, the A550M does have a Vulkan score of 49,580, which is a separate data point. The A570M lacks a Vulkan score, so it is impossible to say which GPU is better in Vulkan workloads. If a user’s primary applications use Vulkan, the A550M at least has a verified performance level, though it is not directly comparable.

For tasks that depend on raw compute throughput, the A570M’s 5.325 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 10.65 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1) performance are lower than the A550M’s 8.397 TFLOPS FP32 and 16.79 TFLOPS FP16. The A550M also has higher pixel rate (131.2 GPixel/s vs. 83.20 GPixel/s) and texture rate (262.4 GTexel/s vs. 166.4 GTexel/s). These theoretical specifications suggest the A550M should be faster in graphics-intensive tasks, but the OpenCL benchmark tells a different story. The A550M’s lower TDP of 60 W may limit its ability to reach and sustain its 2,050 MHz boost clock in practice, negating its theoretical advantages.

In practical terms, the A570M wins in OpenCL compute, which is the only measurable head-to-head metric. The A550M may have an edge in peak theoretical throughput, but that edge does not materialize in the benchmark data. For users who prioritize OpenCL performance, the A570M is the superior choice. For those who might rely on Vulkan, the A550M has a verified score, but without a comparable A570M result, no definitive winner can be declared.

The Verdict

From the data, the Intel Arc A570M is the stronger GPU in the only benchmark where both are compared. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 58,239 is 16.7% higher than the A550M’s 49,894, and it ranks higher in the overall percentile distribution (88th vs. 86th). The A570M also has the advantage of being a newer, still-active product, whereas the A550M is end-of-life. For anyone choosing between these two based on compute performance, the A570M is the clear pick.

The A550M’s higher boost clock and larger die do not translate to a win in the head-to-head test. Its 2,050 MHz boost clock versus the A570M’s 1,300 MHz is a large nominal difference, but the 60 W TDP likely prevents the A550M from sustaining that clock under load. The A570M, with its 75 W TDP, achieves better real-world performance despite lower peak clocks. This suggests that power delivery and thermal management are more critical than raw clock speeds in these mobile parts.

For users who need Vulkan performance, the A550M has a listed score of 49,580, but the A570M has no Vulkan result. This is a gap in the data, not a win for the A550M. Without a direct comparison, no conclusion can be drawn about Vulkan workloads. The A550M’s theoretical compute advantages in FP32 and FP16 are also not supported by the OpenCL results, indicating that those specifications are not realized in practice.

The verdict is straightforward: the Intel Arc A570M is the better GPU based on the benchmark data. It wins the only head-to-head test, has a higher percentile ranking, and is a current product. The A550M is a viable alternative only if Vulkan performance is a specific requirement and the user accepts its lower OpenCL score and end-of-life status. From a pure performance standpoint, the A570M leads.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The Intel Arc A570M scores 58,239, while the Intel Arc A550M scores 49,894. The A570M is 16.7% higher.

Q: What is the performance difference between the two GPUs?

A: The A570M beats the A550M by a delta of 16.7% in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark. The A570M’s average benchmark score is 58,239, and the A550M’s average is 49,737.

Q: Do both GPUs have the same memory configuration?

A: Yes, both use 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s and an effective memory speed of 14 Gbps.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The Intel Arc A550M has a higher boost clock of 2,050 MHz, while the Intel Arc A570M has a boost clock of 1,300 MHz. Both have a 900 MHz base clock.

Q: What are the TDP ratings for these GPUs?

A: The Intel Arc A570M has a TDP of 75 W, and the Intel Arc A550M has a TDP of 60 W.

Q: Is there a Vulkan benchmark score for the Intel Arc A570M?

A: No, the data lists a Geekbench Vulkan score of 49,580 only for the Intel Arc A550M. The A570M has no Vulkan score listed.