Intel Arc A550M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains only two shared benchmark tests between the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and the Intel Arc A550M, both of which are compute-oriented workloads. These are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and the results show a decisive margin in favor of the desktop flagship.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4090 scores 255,416 points, while the Arc A550M records 49,894 points. This translates to a delta of 411.9% in the NVIDIA card's favor. The Vulkan test shows an even wider gap: the RTX 4090 reaches 271,631 points against the Arc A550M's 49,580 points, a delta of 447.9%. In both cases, the winner is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, and the database records two wins for the RTX 4090 and zero wins for the Intel part.

Examining the average benchmark scores provides additional context. The RTX 4090 holds an average benchmark score of 60,347 across all its recorded tests, while the Arc A550M averages 49,737. The RTX 4090 sits at the 88th percentile among all GPUs in the database, whereas the Arc A550M sits at the 86th percentile. Although the percentile gap appears modest, the raw score difference is substantial, driven largely by the RTX 4090's heavy compute throughput in Geekbench tests.

The RTX 4090's nearest rivals in the database, by average score, are the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60,326 (0% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at 60,140 (0.3% ahead of the RTX 4090), the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 61,896 (2.5% ahead), and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 at 58,657 (2.9% behind). This clustering shows that the RTX 4090's average score places it among professional workstation-class parts, despite its consumer gaming positioning.

The Arc A550M's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti at 49,957 (0.4% ahead of the Arc), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 at 50,001 (0.5% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT at 50,951 (2.4% ahead), and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT at 48,477 (2.6% behind). These deltas are all within a narrow band, indicating that the Arc A550M's average score places it in the same performance neighborhood as several well-known consumer and previous-generation discrete GPUs.

Where Each One Wins

Looking strictly at the head-to-head benchmark results, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 wins every shared test. There is no recorded test in which the Intel Arc A550M comes out ahead. The two Geekbench tests are both compute-heavy, and the RTX 4090's advantage there is overwhelming.

The RTX 4090 also has a much higher average benchmark score of 60,347 compared to the Arc A550M's 49,737, a difference of roughly 10,610 points, which reflects a broad advantage across the full suite of tests recorded for each card. The RTX 4090 has ten recorded benchmarks covering 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, multiple Geekbench tests, and several Passmark tests. The Arc A550M has only two recorded benchmarks, both Geekbench. This asymmetry in test coverage means the average score comparison is not apples-to-apples, but the head-to-head data still shows a clear winner in the shared workloads.

The Arc A550M's closest rival comparisons suggest it is competitive with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (0.4% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (0.5% ahead), and the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (2.4% ahead), while trailing the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT by 2.6%. Those are the data points that define its standing. The RTX 4090, by contrast, is clustered with professional workstation GPUs like the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M and the Intel Arc Pro A60, indicating a much higher overall performance tier.

For users prioritizing compute performance in OpenCL or Vulkan, the choice is unambiguous from the data: the RTX 4090 leads by 411.9% and 447.9% respectively. There is no use case in the recorded benchmarks where the Arc A550M takes the lead.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is one of the largest in the database. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the AD102 chip, using the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 76,300 million transistors onto a 609 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 125.3 million per square millimeter. The Intel Arc A550M uses the DG2-512 chip with the Xe-HPG architecture, specifically the Alchemist generation for Arc 5 Mobile, built on a 6 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 21,700 million transistors on a 406 mm² die, for a transistor density of 53.4 million per square millimeter.

The RTX 4090 ships with 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, 176 ROPs, 128 ray tracing cores, and 512 tensor cores. The Arc A550M has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 16 ray tracing cores, with no tensor core count recorded. These differences translate directly into throughput figures: the RTX 4090 achieves 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 and 82.58 TFLOPS FP16 (at a 1:1 ratio), while the Arc A550M delivers 8.397 TFLOPS FP32 and 16.79 TFLOPS FP16 (at a 2:1 ratio). The RTX 4090's pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 1,290.2 GTexel/s, versus 131.2 GPixel/s and 262.4 GTexel/s for the Arc A550M.

Memory configurations also diverge sharply. The RTX 4090 uses 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, with 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth and memory clocking at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The Arc A550M uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, with 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth and memory clocking at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). Clock speeds show the RTX 4090 with a 2235 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost, while the Arc A550M has a 900 MHz base and 2050 MHz boost.

Power and physical design are also fundamentally different. The RTX 4090 has a TDP of 450 W, is a triple-slot card, requires a single 16-pin power connector and an 850 W suggested power supply, and measures 304 mm in length, 137 mm in height, and 61 mm in width. The Arc A550M is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with a 60 W TDP, no recorded power connector or suggested PSU, and no recorded dimensions, since it is designed for portable devices with display outputs described as portable device dependent.

Both cards share the same API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 4090 has a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface and display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The Arc A550M also uses PCIe 4.0 x16 but its display outputs are portable device dependent.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 outperforms the Intel Arc A550M in every shared benchmark, with deltas of 411.9% in OpenCL and 447.9% in Vulkan. The RTX 4090 also holds the higher average benchmark score at 60,347 versus 49,737, and the higher percentile rank at 88 versus 86.

The RTX 4090 is the choice for anyone who needs maximum compute throughput in OpenCL or Vulkan workloads, or who wants a GPU that sits in the same average-score bracket as professional workstation parts like the Intel Arc Pro A60 and AMD Radeon Pro W6600M. Its 24 GB GDDR6X memory, 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, and 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are all recorded advantages over the Arc A550M's 8 GB GDDR6, 224.0 GB/s, and 8.397 TFLOPS.

The Intel Arc A550M, by contrast, is a mobile-oriented IGP with a 60 W TDP, and its recorded average score places it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (0.4% behind), AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (0.5% behind), and AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (2.4% behind). It wins no recorded head-to-head tests against the RTX 4090. For users constrained to a low-power mobile platform, the Arc A550M is the only one of the two that is even physically appropriate, given its IGP form factor and portable device dependent outputs. But for raw performance, the RTX 4090 dominates every recorded metric.

The production status of both parts is end-of-life. The RTX 4090 has a recorded launch MSRP of 1,599 USD, a 2022 release date, a predecessor in the GeForce 30 series, and a successor in the GeForce 50 series. The Arc A550M has no recorded release date, predecessor, successor, or launch MSRP.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 wins with a score of 255,416 versus the Intel Arc A550M's 49,894, a delta of 411.9%.

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 wins with a score of 271,631 versus the Intel Arc A550M's 49,580, a delta of 447.9%.

Q: What are the average benchmark scores for each GPU?

A: The RTX 4090 averages 60,347 across all its recorded benchmarks, while the Arc A550M averages 49,737.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The RTX 4090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth. The Arc A550M has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The RTX 4090 has a TDP of 450 W and is a triple-slot card with a 16-pin connector and an 850 W suggested PSU. The Arc A550M has a TDP of 60 W and is an IGP with no recorded power connector or suggested PSU.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each GPU by average score?

A: The RTX 4090's nearest rivals are the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% ahead), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61,896, 2.5% ahead), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58,657, 2.9% behind). The Arc A550M's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49,957, 0.4% ahead), AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50,001, 0.5% ahead), AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (50,951, 2.4% ahead), and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (48,477, 2.6% behind).

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | Intel Arc A550M |

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

| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Xe-HPG |

| Generation | GeForce 40 | Alchemist (Arc 5 Mobile) |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 6 nm |

| Transistors | 76,300 million | 21,700 million |

| Die Size | 609 mm² | 406 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 125.3M / mm² | 53.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 2235 MHz | 900 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2520 MHz | 2050 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 24 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6X | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 384 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 1.01 TB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 16384 | 2048 |

| TMUs | 512 | 128 |

| ROPs | 176 | 64 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 128 | 16 |

| Tensor Cores | 512 | null |

| Pixel Rate | 443.5 GPixel/s | 131.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 1,290.2 GTexel/s | 262.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 82.58 TFLOPS | 8.397 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 82.58 TFLOPS (1:1) | 16.79 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 450 W | 60 W |

| Slot Width | Triple-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 1x 16-pin | null |

| Suggested PSU | 850 W | null |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | Portable Device Dependent |

| Dimensions | 304 mm x 137 mm x 61 mm | null |

| Release Date | 2022-09-19 | null |

| Launch MSRP | 1,599 USD | null |

| Predecessor | GeForce 30 | null |

| Successor | GeForce 50 | null |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.4 |