AMD Radeon Pro 580X vs Intel Arc A730M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive advantage for the Intel Arc A730M across the shared benchmark suite. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Intel part scores 70,352, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X manages 36,426. That is a 93.1% delta in favor of the Intel GPU, nearly doubling the AMD card's compute output in this particular workload. The gap narrows somewhat in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the Intel Arc A730M posts 64,693 against 40,115 for the Radeon Pro 580X, a 61.3% advantage. Both benchmarks are wins for Intel, giving the Arc A730M a clean 2-0 record in the head-to-head comparison.

The average benchmark scores reinforce this pattern. The Intel Arc A730M carries an average score of 45,592 across all recorded tests, placing it at the 84th percentile among all GPUs in the database. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X averages 38,706, sitting at the 82nd percentile. The percentile gap is modest, only two points, but the raw score difference of roughly 6,886 points suggests the Intel part operates in a higher performance tier despite the close percentile ranking.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card adds context. For the Intel Arc A730M, the closest competitors by average score include the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT at 45,384 (a 0.5% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile at 45,152 (a 1% delta), and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 at 46,043 (a -1% delta). The Intel card slots into a group where performance differences are within a single percentage point, meaning it trades blows with some of NVIDIA's and AMD's established mid-range and professional parts. For the AMD Radeon Pro 580X, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A at 38,691 (a 0% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile at 38,349 (a 0.9% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro 575X at 39,116 (a -1% delta). The Radeon Pro 580X sits among lower-tier mobile and older professional GPUs, a different competitive neighborhood entirely.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A730M wins every benchmark it shares with the AMD Radeon Pro 580X. In compute-oriented OpenCL workloads, the 93.1% lead is substantial. This suggests the Intel card is better suited for tasks that leverage general-purpose GPU compute, such as rendering, simulation, or data processing that uses OpenCL acceleration. The Vulkan result, while still a clear win for Intel, shows a smaller but still commanding 61.3% edge. For applications that rely on Vulkan for graphics or compute, the Intel Arc A730M maintains a strong advantage.

The AMD Radeon Pro 580X does have one notable benchmark in its corner: the Geekbench Metal test, where it scores 39,577. This test does not appear in the Intel Arc A730M's benchmark list, so no direct head-to-head comparison exists. However, the AMD card's Metal score is higher than its own OpenCL and Vulkan results, indicating that Apple's Metal API is a relative strength for this GPU. The Radeon Pro 580X was designed for Mac systems, as its generation name "Radeon Pro Mac (500X Series)" and bus interface "Apple MPX" suggest, so Metal optimization is expected. For users working exclusively in a macOS environment with Metal-accelerated applications, the AMD card remains a functional option, even if its raw scores lag behind the Intel part in cross-platform APIs.

The data also reveals a clear split in memory characteristics. The Intel Arc A730M offers 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X provides 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, with 218.9 GB/s of bandwidth. The Intel card has 53.5% more memory capacity and 53.5% more bandwidth, which could matter for large datasets or high-resolution textures. The AMD card's wider 256-bit bus does not compensate for the slower GDDR5 memory speed.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and manufacturing approaches. The Intel Arc A730M uses the DG2-512 chip built on the Xe-HPG architecture, part of the Alchemist generation for Arc 7 Mobile. It is fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC, with 21,700 million transistors packed into a 406 mm² die. The transistor density works out to 53.4 million per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X uses the Ellesmere chip based on GCN 4.0, part of the Radeon Pro Mac 500X series. It is built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, giving a density of 24.6 million per square millimeter. The Intel chip has nearly four times the transistor count and a substantially denser design.

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The Intel Arc A730M runs at a base clock of 1100 MHz and boosts to 2050 MHz. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X also has a base clock of 1100 MHz but boosts only to 1200 MHz. The Intel part's boost clock is 70.8% higher, which contributes directly to its compute throughput. The memory clocks differ as well: the Intel card uses 1750 MHz memory with 14 Gbps effective data rate, while the AMD card uses 1710 MHz memory with 6.8 Gbps effective. The Intel GDDR6 memory operates at more than twice the effective speed.

The compute resources diverge sharply. The Intel Arc A730M has 3,072 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. It also includes 24 ray tracing cores. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing cores listed. The Intel card has 33.3% more shading units, 33.3% more TMUs, and three times the ROP count. The pixel rate for Intel is 196.8 GPixel/s versus 38.40 GPixel/s for AMD, a difference driven by the higher ROP count and clock speed. Texture rate is 393.6 GTexel/s for Intel against 172.8 GTexel/s for AMD.

Raw compute figures follow the same pattern. The Intel Arc A730M delivers 12.60 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 25.19 TFLOPS of FP16 with a 2:1 ratio. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X manages 5.530 TFLOPS of FP32 and the same 5.530 TFLOPS of FP16 with a 1:1 ratio. The Intel card offers 128% more FP32 throughput and more than four times the FP16 throughput. The AMD part's FP16 capability matches its FP32, which is typical of older GCN designs that did not prioritize half-precision acceleration.

Power consumption differs significantly. The Intel Arc A730M has a TDP of 80 W, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X draws 185 W. The Intel card delivers its higher performance at less than half the power envelope. Both cards are listed as integrated-style IGP form factors, but the AMD card uses an Apple MPX bus interface, while the Intel card uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The AMD card's display outputs are two HDMI 2.0b ports, whereas the Intel card's display outputs are dependent on the portable device it is installed in.

API support also reflects the architectural gap. The Intel Arc A730M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The Intel card's DirectX 12 Ultimate feature level and newer Vulkan version indicate support for more recent rendering features, including ray tracing, which the AMD card lacks at the hardware level.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Arc A730M has an average benchmark score of 45,592, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X averages 38,706. The Intel card also ranks at the 84th percentile among all GPUs, compared to the 82nd percentile for the AMD card.

Q: How large is the performance gap in OpenCL?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Intel Arc A730M scores 70,352 against the AMD Radeon Pro 580X's 36,426, a 93.1% advantage for Intel.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Pro 580X have any ray tracing capability?

A: No. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X has no ray tracing cores listed in the database, while the Intel Arc A730M includes 24 ray tracing cores.

Q: What are the memory configurations?

A: The Intel Arc A730M has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 218.9 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU consumes less power?

A: The Intel Arc A730M has a TDP of 80 W, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X has a TDP of 185 W. The Intel card draws less than half the power of the AMD card.

Q: What is the release date for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 580X has a recorded release date of March 17, 2019. No release date is recorded for the Intel Arc A730M. Both GPUs are listed as end-of-life production status.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification category. The Intel Arc A730M uses a 6 nm TSMC process with a DG2-512 chip and Xe-HPG architecture, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X uses a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process with an Ellesmere chip and GCN 4.0 architecture. Transistor counts are 21,700 million for Intel versus 5,700 million for AMD, with die sizes of 406 mm² and 232 mm² respectively. Transistor density is 53.4M per mm² for Intel and 24.6M per mm² for AMD.

Clock speeds show Intel's boost advantage: 1100 MHz base and 2050 MHz boost for Intel, versus 1100 MHz base and 1200 MHz boost for AMD. Memory speed is 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective for Intel, versus 1710 MHz with 6.8 Gbps effective for AMD. Memory size is 12 GB GDDR6 for Intel and 8 GB GDDR5 for AMD, with bus widths of 192-bit and 256-bit respectively. Bandwidth is 336.0 GB/s for Intel and 218.9 GB/s for AMD.

Compute unit counts favor Intel: 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs versus 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Intel card has 24 ray tracing cores; the AMD card has none. Pixel rate is 196.8 GPixel/s for Intel and 38.40 GPixel/s for AMD. Texture rate is 393.6 GTexel/s for Intel and 172.8 GTexel/s for AMD. FP32 performance is 12.60 TFLOPS for Intel and 5.530 TFLOPS for AMD. FP16 performance is 25.19 TFLOPS (2:1) for Intel and 5.530 TFLOPS (1:1) for AMD.

TDP is 80 W for Intel and 185 W for AMD. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 for Intel and Apple MPX for AMD. Display outputs are portable device dependent for Intel and 2x HDMI 2.0b for AMD. API support differs: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) for Intel versus DirectX 12 (12_0) for AMD, and Vulkan 1.4 for Intel versus Vulkan 1.3 for AMD. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

The Verdict

The data points to the Intel Arc A730M as the stronger GPU in nearly every measurable category. It wins both shared benchmarks by margins of 61.3% and 93.1%, offers more memory, higher bandwidth, more compute units, and does so at 80 W versus the AMD card's 185 W. The Intel part also supports ray tracing and newer API features, which the AMD card cannot match.

The AMD Radeon Pro 580X retains relevance only in specific contexts. Its Metal benchmark score of 39,577 suggests it can handle macOS-optimized workloads, and its Apple MPX bus interface indicates it was built for Mac Pro systems. For users locked into a Mac environment with software that leverages Metal, the Radeon Pro 580X remains a functional choice, even if its cross-platform scores trail the Intel part significantly.

For general-purpose GPU tasks, compute workloads, or any application that uses OpenCL or Vulkan, the Intel Arc A730M is the clear pick based on the recorded data. Its 84th percentile ranking and proximity to GPUs like the NVIDIA RTX A2000 and RTX 5090 Mobile place it in a competitive tier that the AMD Radeon Pro 580X does not approach. The Intel card's lower power draw further solidifies its position as the more efficient and capable option. The AMD card's narrower strengths, limited to Metal-specific scenarios on Apple hardware, do not outweigh the Intel part's comprehensive advantages.