Intel Arc A580 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Comparison

The Intel Arc A580 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER occupy completely different performance tiers, as confirmed by the benchmark data. The RTX 4080 SUPER wins all three head-to-head tests by massive margins, ranging from 58.2% to 69.5%, while the Arc A580 sits at the 87th percentile of all GPUs compared to the RTX 4080 SUPER's 86th percentile — a statistical oddity explained by the different benchmark suites each card was tested with. The Arc A580 is an active, current-generation Alchemist part aimed at mainstream 1080p gaming, while the RTX 4080 SUPER is an end-of-life, triple-slot flagship from the Ada Lovelace generation.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Arc A580 has an average benchmark score of 57,756, which is higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER's 54,209. This is counterintuitive given the RTX 4080 SUPER's overwhelming head-to-head wins, but the two cards were evaluated across different benchmark suites, with the RTX 4080 SUPER including several Passmark tests that lower its average.

Q: How large is the performance gap in 3DMark Steel Nomad?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER scores 6,600 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 66.2% higher than the Intel Arc A580's 2,229. This is the smallest margin of victory for the RTX 4080 SUPER across the three shared benchmarks.

Q: What is the biggest single-benchmark advantage for either card?

A: The largest delta is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 260,075 versus the Arc A580's 79,381, a 69.5% difference. The RTX 4080 SUPER also wins Geekbench OpenCL by 58.2%, scoring 219,065 against 91,657.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX and Vulkan versions?

A: Yes, both GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. They also share the same PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface and dual HDMI 2.1 plus triple DisplayPort outputs, though the Arc A580 uses DisplayPort 2.0 while the RTX 4080 SUPER uses DisplayPort 1.4a.

Q: Which card has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The Arc A580 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on the same 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s.

Q: How do the nearest rivals compare for each card?

A: The Arc A580 sits within 1.1% of AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT, RX 9070 GRE, RX 5600 OEM, and Intel Arc A570M, with deltas ranging from -1.1% to +0.7%. The RTX 4080 SUPER is within 2.8% of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, and AMD Radeon 8060S, with deltas from -2.8% to -0.1%.

The Verdict

The data makes the choice straightforward: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the superior GPU by every shared benchmark metric, with wins of 58-69% across the board. Anyone requiring maximum performance in DirectX 12, OpenCL, or Vulkan workloads should choose the RTX 4080 SUPER without hesitation. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6,600 is nearly triple the Arc A580's 2,229, and its Geekbench scores are similarly dominant.

The Intel Arc A580 is better suited for users who prioritize a lower-profile, dual-slot form factor and a 175 W TDP, which is 145 W lower than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 320 W. It also requires a 450 W power supply versus the RTX 4080 SUPER's 700 W recommendation. However, the Arc A580's only statistical advantage is its higher average benchmark score (57,756 vs 54,209), which stems from the RTX 4080 SUPER being tested with additional Passmark benchmarks where it scores relatively low (e.g., 134 in DirectX 12, 193 in DirectX 10).

For gaming at high resolutions or competitive esports titles, the RTX 4080 SUPER is the clear pick. For users building a compact system with modest power delivery and playing at 1080p or light 1440p, the Arc A580 provides adequate performance within a much smaller power envelope. The RTX 4080 SUPER is end-of-life with a launch MSRP of 999 USD, while the Arc A580 remains active in production.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 4080 SUPER dominates every shared test, but the magnitude of its victories varies meaningfully. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 6,600 against the Arc A580's 2,229, a delta of -66.2% for the Intel card. This translates to the NVIDIA card delivering roughly 2.96 times the frame rate in a modern DirectX 12 workload, making it an exceptional choice for ray-traced or heavy-raster games that stress geometry and shading.

Geekbench OpenCL shows a slightly smaller but still decisive gap. The RTX 4080 SUPER reaches 219,065, while the Arc A580 manages 91,657, a 58.2% difference. This test measures general-purpose compute performance, where the RTX 4080 SUPER's 10,240 shading units and 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 output overwhelm the Arc A580's 3,072 shading units and 12.29 TFLOPS. The compute advantage matters for content creation, rendering, and GPU-accelerated productivity tasks.

The most lopsided result comes from Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 4080 SUPER posts 260,075 versus the Arc A580's 79,381, a 69.5% deficit. Vulkan is a low-level API that can expose hardware differences more directly, and the RTX 4080 SUPER's superior texture rate (816.0 GTexel/s vs 384.0 GTexel/s) and pixel rate (285.6 GPixel/s vs 192.0 GPixel/s) contribute to this crushing lead. The RTX 4080 SUPER also has 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, while the Arc A580 offers 24 RT cores and no tensor cores, giving NVIDIA a massive edge in ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads.

The Arc A580's performance is far from negligible in absolute terms — its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2,229 places it above the 87th percentile of all GPUs — but it simply cannot compete with the RTX 4080 SUPER's class-leading throughput. The 0 wins for the Arc A580 and 3 wins for the RTX 4080 SUPER in head-to-head testing tell the complete story.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge sharply on nearly every specification. The RTX 4080 SUPER uses the AD103 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process with 45,900 million transistors, while the Arc A580 uses the DG2-512 chip on a 6 nm TSMC process with 21,700 million transistors. Despite having more than twice the transistor count, the RTX 4080 SUPER's die size is smaller at 379 mm² versus 406 mm², yielding a transistor density of 121.1M per mm² compared to 53.4M per mm² for the Intel chip.

Clock speeds heavily favor NVIDIA. The RTX 4080 SUPER has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz, whereas the Arc A580 operates at 1700 MHz base and 2000 MHz boost. Memory configurations also differ: the RTX 4080 SUPER offers 16 GB of GDDR6X at 23 Gbps effective, while the Arc A580 has 8 GB of GDDR6 at 16 Gbps effective, resulting in bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s versus 512.0 GB/s.

Compute resources are drastically different. The RTX 4080 SUPER 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, with no tensor cores. This translates to 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 (1:1) for the RTX 4080 SUPER, versus 12.29 TFLOPS FP32 and 24.58 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1) for the Arc A580.

Physical and power characteristics also differ. The RTX 4080 SUPER is a triple-slot card measuring 310 mm x 140 mm x 61 mm, requiring a 320 W TDP with a single 16-pin connector and a 700 W PSU recommendation. The Arc A580 is a dual-slot card with a 175 W TDP, dual 8-pin connectors, and a 450 W PSU recommendation. The RTX 4080 SUPER was released on 2024-01-30 and is end-of-life, while the Arc A580 released on 2023-10-09 and remains active.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is generational. Intel's Arc A580 uses the Xe-HPG architecture on the DG2-512 chip, part of the Alchemist generation, with a 6 nm process. NVIDIA's RTX 4080 SUPER uses Ada Lovelace on the AD103 chip, part of the GeForce 40 series, with a 5 nm process. Both are built by TSMC, but the newer 5 nm node gives NVIDIA a density advantage of 121.1M transistors per mm² versus Intel's 53.4M.

Cache hierarchies differ, with the RTX 4080 SUPER's 45,900 million transistors allowing for substantially larger on-chip storage, though specific cache sizes are not listed. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 320 tensor cores are a major architectural feature absent from the Arc A580, enabling DLSS-style AI acceleration and superior performance in machine-learning workloads. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 80 RT cores versus 24 on the Arc A580 also indicates a much more robust ray-tracing pipeline.

Memory technology separates the two further: the RTX 4080 SUPER uses GDDR6X, which is higher-bandwidth per pin than the Arc A580's GDDR6. Both cards support the same API set — DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4 — but the RTX 4080 SUPER's FP16 throughput matches its FP32 at 52.22 TFLOPS (1:1), while the Arc A580 halves its FP16 to 24.58 TFLOPS (2:1), indicating different compute paths.

Display output capabilities differ: the Arc A580 has DisplayPort 2.0, while the RTX 4080 SUPER uses DisplayPort 1.4a, meaning Intel's card is more future-proof for high-refresh-rate, high-resolution monitors. However, both offer the same 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort configuration.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the definitive winner in every performance category measured. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6,600 makes it ideal for demanding DirectX 12 games, including those with ray tracing enabled. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 219,065 positions it for compute-heavy tasks like video encoding, 3D rendering, and scientific simulations. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 260,075 further solidifies its status for Vulkan-based games and low-level API workloads. The presence of 320 tensor cores gives it a unique advantage in AI inference and upscaling technologies.

The Intel Arc A580 wins on efficiency and form factor. Its 175 W TDP is 145 W lower than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 320 W, and its dual-slot design fits in smaller chassis. The 450 W PSU recommendation is 250 W less demanding, making it suitable for budget-oriented builds with modest power supplies. Its 8 GB GDDR6 memory is adequate for 1080p gaming, and its DisplayPort 2.0 outputs provide future display compatibility. The Arc A580's higher average benchmark score (57,756) versus the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209) is the only metric where it leads, though this is an artifact of different test suites rather than a real performance advantage.

For users who prioritize absolute performance, the RTX 4080 SUPER is the only choice. For users who value compact size, lower power draw, and active production status, the Arc A580 offers a viable alternative within its performance class. The RTX 4080 SUPER's end-of-life status and 999 USD launch MSRP may matter to some buyers, but the benchmark data shows it remains a formidable GPU.