Intel Arc A580 vs NVIDIA CMP 50HX Comparison

The Intel Arc A580 and NVIDIA CMP 50HX represent two very different philosophies in GPU design: one is a modern consumer graphics card with a full feature set, while the other is a specialized mining product stripped of display outputs. The benchmark data reveals a clear performance hierarchy, but the story is more nuanced when considering architecture, memory, and intended use case.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head comparison is decisively one-sided. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Intel Arc A580 scores 91,657, while the NVIDIA CMP 50HX manages only 56,135. That is a 63.3% advantage for Intel, a massive gap that suggests the Arc A580’s newer architecture and higher clock speeds translate directly into raw compute throughput. The Vulkan results tell an even more dramatic story: Intel scores 79,381 against NVIDIA’s 47,445, a 67.3% lead. This means the Arc A580 is not just faster in one API—it dominates across both major cross-platform compute interfaces.

What makes this interesting is that the CMP 50HX actually has more shading units (3,584 vs 3,072) and more RT cores (56 vs 24). Yet it loses badly. The data implies that raw shader count is not the determining factor here. The Arc A580’s boost clock of 2000 MHz versus the CMP’s 1545 MHz helps explain the gap, as does the massive difference in process node efficiency. The Intel card is built on a 6 nm process while NVIDIA uses 12 nm, and the transistor density figures—53.4 million per mm² for Intel versus 24.7 million for NVIDIA—show how much more tightly packed the newer design is.

The average benchmark scores reinforce this picture. The Arc A580 averages 57,756 across all tests, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. The CMP 50HX averages 51,790, sitting in the 86th percentile. While both are near the top of the database, the Arc is meaningfully ahead on raw numbers. The nearest rivals for Intel include the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, which trails by only 0.7%, and the RX 6950 XT, which is 1.1% behind. The CMP 50HX, meanwhile, sits slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT by 1.6% and the RX Vega 64 by 3.6%. This context shows that while both cards are competitive in their respective tiers, the Arc A580’s margin over its rivals is smaller than its margin over the CMP 50HX.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins in OpenCL performance?

A: The Intel Arc A580 wins decisively with a score of 91,657 versus 56,135 for the NVIDIA CMP 50HX, a 63.3% advantage.

Q: Is the NVIDIA CMP 50HX competitive in any benchmark?

A: No. The head-to-head results show the CMP 50HX loses both available tests, with its best showing being the OpenCL score of 56,135, which still trails by a wide margin.

Q: How do these cards compare in overall GPU rankings?

A: The Arc A580 sits in the 87th percentile of all GPUs with an average score of 57,756, while the CMP 50HX is in the 86th percentile with 51,790.

Q: What memory configuration does each card use?

A: The Arc A580 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the CMP 50HX has 10 GB on a 320-bit bus with 560.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Can the NVIDIA CMP 50HX be used for display output?

A: No. The CMP 50HX has no display outputs, making it unsuitable for standard desktop use, whereas the Arc A580 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0.

Q: Which card has a higher power draw?

A: The CMP 50HX requires 250 W with a suggested 600 W PSU, while the Arc A580 draws 175 W and suggests a 450 W PSU.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs could not be starker. Intel’s Arc A580 uses the DG2-512 chip built on the Xe-HPG architecture, a design from the Alchemist generation. It is fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC, with 21,700 million transistors packed into a 406 mm² die. That works out to 53.4 million transistors per square millimeter, a density that reflects the modern manufacturing techniques available to Intel.

NVIDIA’s CMP 50HX, by contrast, uses the TU102 chip based on the older Turing architecture. It is built on a 12 nm process, also at TSMC, with 18,600 million transistors on a much larger 754 mm² die. The transistor density drops to just 24.7 million per mm². This is a physically larger chip with fewer transistors, which explains why the CMP 50HX runs hotter and less efficiently despite having more shading units.

The memory subsystems differ as well. The Arc A580 runs its GDDR6 at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) yielding 512.0 GB/s, while the CMP 50HX runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) yielding 560.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has more total memory (10 GB vs 8 GB) and a wider bus (320-bit vs 256-bit), giving it a bandwidth advantage despite slower memory clocks.

Feature sets diverge significantly. The Arc A580 includes 24 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The CMP 50HX actually has more RT cores (56) and adds 448 tensor cores, but it is a mining product first—it has no display outputs at all. The bus interface also tells a story: the Arc A580 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the CMP 50HX is limited to PCIe 1.0 x4, a legacy interface that would bottleneck any modern workload.

The Verdict

Benchmark results indicate a clear winner for general compute tasks. The Intel Arc A580 outperforms the NVIDIA CMP 50HX by 63.3% in OpenCL and 67.3% in Vulkan, with a higher average benchmark score (57,756 vs 51,790) and a better percentile ranking (87th vs 86th). The Arc A580 also offers modern connectivity, display outputs, and a lower power draw of 175 W versus 250 W.

The CMP 50HX is an end-of-life product from the Mining GPUs generation, released in June 2021. Its only advantages are more VRAM (10 GB vs 8 GB), higher memory bandwidth (560.0 GB/s vs 512.0 GB/s), and more shading units. But these specifications do not translate into benchmark wins. The data suggests that architectural efficiency matters more than raw specs. The Arc A580’s 6 nm process and higher clock speeds overcome the CMP’s hardware advantages.

However, the CMP 50HX cannot be dismissed entirely. Its 10 GB frame buffer and higher bandwidth could theoretically benefit memory-bound workloads, but the lack of display outputs makes it impractical for most users. The Arc A580 is the better choice for anyone needing a functional GPU.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable category. The Arc A580 uses a 6 nm process, while the CMP 50HX uses 12 nm. Intel’s die is 406 mm² versus NVIDIA’s 754 mm², with transistor counts of 21,700 million and 18,600 million respectively. The Arc A580 has base/boost clocks of 1700/2000 MHz, while the CMP 50HX runs at 1350/1545 MHz.

Memory configurations differ: 8 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s for Intel, versus 10 GB GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus with 560.0 GB/s for NVIDIA. The Arc A580 has 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 24 RT cores. The CMP 50HX has 3,584 shading units, 192 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 56 RT cores, and 448 tensor cores.

Power and connectivity also diverge. The Arc A580 draws 175 W and suggests a 450 W PSU, while the CMP 50HX draws 250 W and suggests a 600 W PSU. The Arc A580 uses PCIe 4.0 x16 and offers display outputs; the CMP 50HX uses PCIe 1.0 x4 and has none. The CMP 50HX has physical dimensions of 267 mm length, 116 mm height, and 35 mm width, while the Arc A580’s dimensions are not provided. Both are dual-slot cards with 2x 8-pin power connectors.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A580 wins in every benchmark that was run head-to-head. It dominates in OpenCL and Vulkan compute, and its average score is 11.5% higher than the CMP 50HX. For users who need a functional graphics card with modern API support, display outputs, and lower power consumption, the Arc A580 is the obvious pick. Its 24 RT cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support make it suitable for gaming and ray-traced workloads, even if the data here only covers compute benchmarks.

The NVIDIA CMP 50HX has theoretical advantages that do not appear in the benchmark data. Its 10 GB of VRAM and higher bandwidth could help in specific memory-intensive scenarios, and its 448 tensor cores suggest AI compute potential. But with no display outputs, a legacy PCIe 1.0 x4 interface, and end-of-life status, these advantages are difficult to realize in practice. The data does not show a single benchmark where the CMP 50HX comes out ahead.

For users whose priority is raw compute performance per the available benchmarks, the Arc A580 is superior. For anyone considering the CMP 50HX, the lack of display outputs and the older architecture make it a niche product at best. The benchmark results are unambiguous: the Arc A580 is the stronger GPU, and the CMP 50HX appears to be a specialized tool that has been outpaced by newer designs.