GPU Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Arc A580 compare to the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT in raw compute performance?

A: The Intel Arc A580 delivers 12.29 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT delivers 5.398 TFLOPS. That puts the Arc A580 at roughly 2.3x the FP32 throughput, and the benchmark data confirms it: the Arc A580 scores 91,657 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 41,772 for the Radeon Pro, a 119.4% advantage.

Q: Which card wins in Vulkan performance?

A: The Intel Arc A580 wins decisively. It scores 79,381 in Geekbench Vulkan compared to 39,601 for the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, a 100.5% lead. The Radeon Pro’s RDNA 1.0 architecture and older driver stack cannot close that gap.

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

A: The Intel Arc A580 has an average benchmark score of 57,756, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT averages 45,384, which lands in the 84th percentile. That difference of roughly 12,372 points is significant, though both sit in a similar percentile band.

Q: How do their memory subsystems differ?

A: Both have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, but the Intel Arc A580 uses a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT uses a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Arc A580’s bandwidth is more than double, which heavily impacts texture-heavy workloads and high-resolution rendering.

Q: What are the power and connectivity profiles of these two cards?

A: The Intel Arc A580 has a 175 W TDP, requires a 450 W suggested PSU, and uses dual 8-pin power connectors. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has a 125 W TDP, a 300 W suggested PSU, and no power connectors, as it is designed as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) for Mac systems with no display outputs.

Q: Which GPU has better ray tracing support?

A: The Intel Arc A580 includes 24 dedicated ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has no ray tracing cores listed and only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). This makes the Arc A580 the only one of the two capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the Intel Arc A580 is the superior performer across every recorded benchmark. It wins both head-to-head tests, with a 119.4% lead in OpenCL and a 100.5% lead in Vulkan. For anyone prioritizing raw compute, gaming-capable features, or modern API support, the Arc A580 is the clear choice.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, however, occupies a different niche. It is an end-of-life product designed for Mac Pro systems, with no display outputs and an IGP form factor. Its 125 W TDP and lack of power connectors make it suitable for tightly integrated systems where the Intel card’s 175 W TDP and dual 8-pin connectors would be impractical. If the workload is Mac-specific and the system cannot accommodate a discrete card, the Radeon Pro 5500 XT remains the only option here.

In short: pick the Intel Arc A580 for performance and future-proofing. Pick the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT only if the platform demands an IGP with no external power and no display outputs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data consists of two tests, and the Intel Arc A580 dominates both.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the Arc A580 scores 91,657 against the Radeon Pro 5500 XT’s 41,772. That is a delta of 119.4%, meaning the Intel card more than doubles the AMD card’s compute output. This aligns with the specification gap: 3,072 shading units versus 1,536, and 12.29 TFLOPS versus 5.398 TFLOPS. The Arc A580’s 192 texture mapping units and 96 render output units further widen the gap in fill-rate-heavy tasks.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the Arc A580 scores 79,381 versus 39,601, a 100.5% advantage. Vulkan performance often reflects driver maturity and architectural efficiency. The Arc A580, built on Xe-HPG architecture and released in October 2023, benefits from a newer design and active production status. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT, based on RDNA 1.0 and released in August 2020, is end-of-life, and its driver support has likely plateaued.

Notably, the Arc A580’s average benchmark score of 57,756 is 27.3% higher than the Radeon Pro’s 45,384. While the head-to-head tests show a larger gap, the average score includes other workload types, slightly narrowing the margin. Still, the conclusion holds: the Arc A580 is the faster GPU in every measured category.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification except memory capacity.

| Specification | Intel Arc A580 | AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT |

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

| Process node | 6 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 21,700 million | 6,400 million |

| Die size | 406 mm² | 158 mm² |

| Base clock | 1700 MHz | 1187 MHz |

| Boost clock | 2000 MHz | 1757 MHz |

| Memory clock | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) |

| Memory bus width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 3072 | 1536 |

| TMUs | 192 | 96 |

| ROPs | 96 | 32 |

| Ray tracing cores | 24 | None |

| Pixel rate | 192.0 GPixel/s | 56.22 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 384.0 GTexel/s | 168.7 GTexel/s |

| FP32 performance | 12.29 TFLOPS | 5.398 TFLOPS |

| FP16 performance | 24.58 TFLOPS (2:1) | 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 175 W | 125 W |

| Power connectors | 2x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | 300 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 2.0 | No outputs |

| DirectX support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Production status | Active | End-of-life |

The Arc A580 also has a higher transistor density at 53.4M per mm² versus 40.5M per mm² for the Radeon Pro, despite the Intel chip being much larger overall. The slot width also differs: the Arc A580 is dual-slot, while the Radeon Pro is an IGP.

Architecture Differences

The Intel Arc A580 is built on the Xe-HPG architecture, part of the Alchemist generation (Arc 5 series). It uses the DG2-512 chip fabricated on TSMC’s 6 nm process. The architecture includes 24 dedicated ray tracing cores, which the AMD card lacks entirely. It also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), enabling features like hardware ray tracing and variable rate shading. The FP16 performance is rated at 24.58 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), exactly double its FP32 rate, indicating a strong compute pipeline for mixed-precision workloads.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT uses the RDNA 1.0 architecture, specifically the Navi 14 chip on TSMC’s 7 nm process. It is part of the Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) generation, designed for Apple Mac systems. RDNA 1.0 does not include ray tracing cores, and its DirectX support tops out at 12 (12_1), which lacks the full ray tracing feature set of 12_2. Its FP16 performance of 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1) is exactly double its FP32 rate, but the absolute numbers are far lower than the Intel part.

The transistor counts tell a story of design philosophy. The Arc A580 packs 21,700 million transistors across a 406 mm² die, while the Radeon Pro uses 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die. The Intel chip is 2.6x larger in die area and has 3.4x more transistors, which explains its substantial compute advantage but also its higher power draw (175 W versus 125 W).

The memory architectures are also fundamentally different. The Arc A580 uses a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the Radeon Pro uses a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s. This 2.3x bandwidth advantage is critical for memory-bound tasks, such as large texture loads or compute kernels that stream data.

Finally, the form factor and connectivity differ drastically. The Arc A580 is a dual-slot discrete card with full display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 2.0) and a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT is an IGP with no display outputs, a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, and no power connectors. This makes the AMD part a specialized component for Mac systems, not a general-purpose graphics card.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A580 wins in every performance category recorded in the database. It is the clear pick for:

• Compute-heavy workloads: With 12.29 TFLOPS FP32 versus 5.398 TFLOPS, the Arc A580 is the obvious choice for OpenCL-based tasks, as shown by its 119.4% lead.
• Vulkan applications: The 100.5% margin in Vulkan performance means the Arc A580 handles modern cross-platform graphics APIs far better.
• Ray tracing: The 24 dedicated RT cores give it a hardware feature the Radeon Pro simply does not have.
• Memory bandwidth: The 512.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 224.0 GB/s makes the Arc A580 superior for high-resolution textures and data-intensive shaders.
• Future-proofing: As an active product with DirectX 12 Ultimate support, the Arc A580 is positioned for upcoming titles and APIs, while the Radeon Pro is end-of-life.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT wins in these specific scenarios:

• Mac integration: It is built for Radeon Pro Mac systems, with an IGP form factor and no display outputs. The Arc A580 cannot be used in such a platform.
• Power efficiency: At 125 W TDP versus 175 W, the Radeon Pro draws less power and requires a smaller PSU (300 W versus 450 W). For systems with tight power budgets, this matters.
• Physical footprint: With no power connectors and an IGP design, it fits into compact, integrated systems where the dual-slot Arc A580 with dual 8-pin connectors would not.

The verdict is simple: if you need performance, the Arc A580 wins outright. If you need a Mac-compatible, low-power, no-output IGP, the Radeon Pro 5500 XT is the only viable option in this comparison.