Intel Arc A580 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Arc A580 compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti in the database's average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Arc A580 records an average benchmark score of 57,756, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti records 41,187. This places the Arc A580 ahead by approximately 40% in aggregate scoring, despite the RTX 3080 Ti winning every individual head-to-head test listed.

Q: What is the most significant performance gap in the head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The largest delta is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 3080 Ti scores 192,697 versus the Arc A580's 79,381, a difference of 58.8%. The smallest gap is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 3080 Ti leads by 46.1% (170,037 versus 91,657).

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs in the database?

A: The Intel Arc A580 sits at the 87th percentile, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti sits at the 83rd percentile. The Arc A580's higher percentile reflects its stronger average score across all recorded benchmarks, not its raw peak performance.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card according to the database?

A: For the Arc A580, the closest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM (average score 58,085, 0.6% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (57,367, 0.7% ahead), the Intel Arc A570M (58,239, 0.8% behind), and the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (58,392, 1.1% behind). For the RTX 3080 Ti, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40,870, 0.8% ahead), the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB (41,707, 1.2% behind), the NVIDIA Tesla M40 (41,897, 1.7% behind), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 (40,377, 2% ahead).

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: The Intel Arc A580 uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti uses 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the production status and release date for each product?

A: The Intel Arc A580 is listed as Active production, released on 2023-10-09. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is listed as End-of-life production, released on 2021-05-30.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear split between two very different product philosophies. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the decisive winner in every single head-to-head benchmark recorded, with margins ranging from 46.1% to 58.8%. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,077 versus 2,229 for the Arc A580 represents a 56.1% lead, and its Geekbench Vulkan score of 192,697 versus 79,381 is nearly two and a half times higher.

However, the aggregate database picture tells a different story. The Arc A580's average benchmark score of 57,756 beats the RTX 3080 Ti's 41,187 by a substantial margin, and it holds a higher percentile ranking (87 versus 83). This apparent contradiction stems from the fact that the Arc A580's nearest rivals are cards like the RX 6950 XT and RX 9070 GRE, while the RTX 3080 Ti's nearest rivals are older or lower-tier products like the Tesla M40 and Radeon Pro 5300. The RTX 3080 Ti's average is dragged down by its inclusion of Passmark legacy tests (DirectX 9 through 12, G2D, G3D, GPU compute), where it scores relatively modestly.

For users prioritizing raw modern gaming performance in DirectX 12 and Vulkan workloads, the RTX 3080 Ti is the unambiguous choice. Its 3DMark and Geekbench Vulkan scores are 56.1% and 58.8% higher respectively, which translates to a commanding real-world advantage in current titles. The RTX 3080 Ti also offers double the FP32 throughput (34.10 TFLOPS versus 12.29 TFLOPS) and nearly double the memory bandwidth.

For users looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the Arc A580's higher average score and better percentile suggest it performs more consistently across a wider range of tests. Its nearest rivals in the database are all high-end cards, whereas the RTX 3080 Ti sits alongside much older hardware. The Arc A580 also carries a significantly lower TDP of 175 W versus 350 W, making it the more efficient choice on paper.

The verdict depends on workload. For modern gaming and compute-heavy tasks, the RTX 3080 Ti wins decisively. For a more balanced profile across legacy and contemporary benchmarks, the Arc A580 holds the edge in aggregate. The RTX 3080 Ti is end-of-life, while the Arc A580 remains active, which may influence long-term driver support considerations.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records three direct comparisons between these two GPUs, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti wins all three. The results are consistent and unambiguous.

In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 3080 Ti scores 5,077 against the Arc A580's 2,229. This is a 56.1% advantage for NVIDIA. This test is particularly relevant for modern DirectX 12 gaming workloads, and the margin here suggests the RTX 3080 Ti delivers roughly double the performance in this specific scenario.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3080 Ti records 170,037 versus 91,657 for the Arc A580, a 46.1% lead. OpenCL performance is often indicative of general compute capability, and the RTX 3080 Ti's advantage here aligns with its much higher FP32 throughput of 34.10 TFLOPS versus 12.29 TFLOPS for the Intel card.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens further. The RTX 3080 Ti scores 192,697, while the Arc A580 manages 79,381, resulting in a 58.8% delta. Vulkan is increasingly important in modern game engines, and this result suggests the RTX 3080 Ti holds its largest advantage in this API.

The pattern across all three tests is that the RTX 3080 Ti leads by roughly 46% to 59%, with no test showing the Arc A580 competitive. The Arc A580's wins in the aggregate database score come from its performance relative to its own peer group, not from direct comparisons with the RTX 3080 Ti.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ substantially across nearly every major specification category. The most fundamental difference is in process technology: the Intel Arc A580 uses a 6 nm TSMC node, while the NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti uses an 8 nm Samsung node. This explains part of the transistor density difference, with the Arc A580 packing 53.4 million transistors per square millimeter versus 45.1 million for the RTX 3080 Ti.

The RTX 3080 Ti has a much larger physical die at 628 mm², housing 28,300 million transistors. The Arc A580's die is 406 mm² with 21,700 million transistors. Despite the smaller die, the Intel card achieves higher transistor density due to the more advanced process node.

Clock speeds also differ. The Arc A580 runs at a 1700 MHz base and 2000 MHz boost, while the RTX 3080 Ti runs at 1365 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost. The Intel card has higher clocks, but the NVIDIA card compensates with far more execution units.

Memory configurations are significantly different. The RTX 3080 Ti features 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 912.4 GB/s bandwidth. The Arc A580 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s. The RTX 3080 Ti also runs its memory at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) versus 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for the Intel card.

Compute resources favor NVIDIA heavily. The RTX 3080 Ti has 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 80 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores. The Arc A580 has 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 24 RT cores. This explains the FP32 performance gap: 34.10 TFLOPS for NVIDIA versus 12.29 TFLOPS for Intel.

Power requirements differ dramatically. The RTX 3080 Ti has a 350 W TDP and requires a 750 W suggested PSU, while the Arc A580 has a 175 W TDP and a 450 W suggested PSU. The RTX 3080 Ti uses a single 12-pin connector, while the Arc A580 uses dual 8-pin connectors.

Display outputs differ in DisplayPort version: the Arc A580 offers 3x DisplayPort 2.0, while the RTX 3080 Ti offers 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both have one HDMI 2.1 output. The RTX 3080 Ti has published dimensions of 285 mm length, 112 mm height, and 40 mm width, while the Arc A580's dimensions are not recorded in the database.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different architectural lineages. The Intel Arc A580 is built on Xe-HPG architecture, specifically the DG2-512 chip, and belongs to the Alchemist generation within the Arc 5 series. The NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti uses Ampere architecture on the GA102 chip, part of the GeForce 30 series.

The manufacturing approaches differ: Intel uses TSMC's 6 nm process, while NVIDIA uses Samsung's 8 nm node. This gives Intel a density advantage of 53.4M transistors per mm² versus 45.1M for NVIDIA. The Arc A580's predecessor is listed as Xe Graphics with Battlemage as its successor. The RTX 3080 Ti's predecessor is GeForce 20, with GeForce 40 as its successor.

Feature sets differ in notable ways. The RTX 3080 Ti includes 320 tensor cores, which the Arc A580 does not list at all. This suggests NVIDIA maintains a dedicated AI compute path that Intel's card lacks. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API coverage is identical.

The RTX 3080 Ti has significantly more RT cores (80 versus 24), which should affect ray tracing performance. Its FP16 output is 34.10 TFLOPS at 1:1 ratio, while the Arc A580 achieves 24.58 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, indicating different approaches to half-precision compute.

Texture and pixel rates reflect the resource disparity: the RTX 3080 Ti delivers 532.8 GTexel/s versus 384.0 GTexel/s for the Arc A580, and 186.5 GPixel/s versus 192.0 GPixel/s. The Intel card actually has a slight edge in pixel rate despite fewer ROPs, likely due to its higher clock speeds.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti wins in every scenario that demands raw performance. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 56.1% higher, making it the clear choice for modern DirectX 12 gaming. Its Geekbench Vulkan score is 58.8% higher, which suggests superior performance in Vulkan-based titles. Its OpenCL score is 46.1% higher, indicating better general compute throughput. The RTX 3080 Ti's 34.10 TFLOPS FP32 performance is nearly three times that of the Arc A580, and its 912.4 GB/s memory bandwidth is 78% higher. For users running the latest AAA games at high resolutions, the RTX 3080 Ti's 12 GB GDDR6X memory and 80 RT cores provide a substantial advantage.

The Intel Arc A580 wins in the aggregate benchmark profile. Its average score of 57,756 places it in the 87th percentile, above the RTX 3080 Ti's 83rd percentile. Its nearest rivals in the database are high-end cards like the RX 6950 XT and RX 9070 GRE, which indicates the Arc A580 performs consistently well across the full benchmark suite. The Arc A580 also wins on efficiency: its 175 W TDP is exactly half of the RTX 3080 Ti's 350 W, and its suggested PSU of 450 W versus 750 W makes it far easier to integrate into existing systems. Its higher clock speeds (2000 MHz boost versus 1665 MHz) and slightly better pixel rate (192.0 GPixel/s versus 186.5 GPixel/s) show it can compete in fill-rate-limited scenarios. The Arc A580 also offers DisplayPort 2.0 outputs, which the RTX 3080 Ti lacks.

The production status difference matters: the Arc A580 is active and newer (2023 release), while the RTX 3080 Ti is end-of-life (2021 release). For users who prioritize longevity and ongoing driver support, the Arc A580's active status is a meaningful advantage. For users who need maximum performance today, the RTX 3080 Ti's benchmark dominance is undeniable, despite its older architecture and higher power draw.