GPU Comparison

The data places the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 and Intel Arc A730M in entirely different performance strata, despite their adjacent percentile rankings among all GPUs (86th and 84th, respectively). The RTX 4080 is a desktop flagship built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, while the Arc A730M is a mobile part from Intel's Alchemist generation. Benchmark results show the RTX 4080 dominating every shared test, with deltas ranging from 205.2% to 307.7%. This is not a contest of equals; the RTX 4080 is decisively faster, and the Arc A730M's relevance comes from its efficiency and mobile positioning rather than raw performance competition.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head benchmark data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 wins all three shared tests. There are zero wins for the Intel Arc A730M in the direct comparison. However, the use-case split is not about who wins individual workloads, it is about what each product is designed to do. The RTX 4080 is a triple-slot desktop card with a 320 W TDP, 16 GB of GDDR6X memory, and a 256-bit bus. It is built for high-resolution gaming, content creation, and compute tasks where maximum throughput is the priority. Its 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth position it firmly as a desktop workhorse.

The Arc A730M, in contrast, is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) for portable devices, with an 80 W TDP and no dedicated power connectors. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 336.0 GB/s, which is less than half the RTX 4080's bandwidth. The Arc A730M's advantage is its form factor and power envelope. It is designed for laptops where space and thermals are constrained, and where a full-size triple-slot card is physically impossible. Benchmark results indicate the Arc A730M is a capable mobile GPU, but it cannot compete with the RTX 4080 on raw performance. The RTX 4080 is the choice for uncompromised performance; the Arc A730M is the choice for mobility with adequate graphics capability.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, while the Intel Arc A730M averages 45592. The RTX 4080 is 18.98% higher on this metric.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080's average score of 54247 is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54209. This places the two cards effectively at parity in average performance.

Q: What is the Arc A730M's closest competitor according to average score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has an average score of 45384, which is 0.5% lower than the Arc A730M's 45592. The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation trails by 0.8% with a score of 45972.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The RTX 4080 scores 6567, while the Arc A730M scores 1732. This represents a 279.2% advantage for the RTX 4080, meaning it is nearly four times faster in this specific test.

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

A: The RTX 4080 ranks in the 86th percentile, while the Arc A730M ranks in the 84th percentile. Despite the massive performance gap, both sit in a similar percentile band because the Arc A730M is a mobile part competing against other mobile and older desktop GPUs.

Q: In which API tests does the RTX 4080 show its largest lead?

A: The largest lead is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 4080 scores 263779 versus 64693 for the Arc A730M, a 307.7% delta. The smallest lead is in Geekbench OpenCL, at 205.2%, with scores of 214739 and 70352 respectively.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three shared benchmarks paint a consistent picture of overwhelming RTX 4080 superiority. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 4080 scores 6567 against the Arc A730M's 1732, a delta of 279.2%. This is a synthetic DirectX 12 test that stresses the GPU pipeline, and the result indicates the RTX 4080 delivers nearly four times the throughput of the Arc A730M in this workload. The delta is substantial enough that the Arc A730M would need multiple frames of rendering time to match a single frame from the RTX 4080.

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows a smaller but still massive gap. The RTX 4080 scores 214739, while the Arc A730M manages 70352, a 205.2% delta. OpenCL is a general-purpose compute API, and the RTX 4080's higher shading unit count (9728 versus 3072) and faster clock speeds (2505 MHz boost versus 2050 MHz) drive this result. The RTX 4080 also has 304 texture mapping units versus 192 on the Arc A730M, contributing to its compute advantage.

The most lopsided result is in Geekbench Vulkan. The RTX 4080 scores 263779, compared to 64693 for the Arc A730M, yielding a 307.7% delta. Vulkan is a low-overhead graphics API, and the RTX 4080's Ada Lovelace architecture, with 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores, appears to scale exceptionally well in this test. The Arc A730M has 24 RT cores and no listed tensor cores, which may explain its weaker showing. Across all three tests, the RTX 4080 wins by a minimum of 2x and a maximum of over 3x, leaving no ambiguity about which GPU delivers higher performance.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ on nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 4080 uses the AD103 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process, while the Arc A730M uses the DG2-512 chip on a 6 nm TSMC process. Transistor counts diverge sharply: the RTX 4080 has 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, giving a density of 121.1M / mm². The Arc A730M has 21,700 million transistors on a larger 406 mm² die, resulting in a density of only 53.4M / mm². This means the RTX 4080 packs more than twice the transistors into a slightly smaller area.

Clock speeds favor the RTX 4080 significantly. Its base clock is 2205 MHz with a boost of 2505 MHz, versus 1100 MHz base and 2050 MHz boost for the Arc A730M. Memory configurations also differ: the RTX 4080 has 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, achieving 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, while the Arc A730M has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, achieving 336.0 GB/s. The memory clock is 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective) for the RTX 4080 and 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for the Arc A730M.

Compute resources are heavily skewed toward the RTX 4080. It has 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 76 RT cores, and 304 tensor cores. The Arc A730M has 3072 shading units, 192 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 24 RT cores, and no listed tensor cores. Pixel rate is 280.6 GPixel/s for the RTX 4080 versus 196.8 GPixel/s for the Arc A730M. Texture rate is 761.5 GTexel/s versus 393.6 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 48.74 TFLOPS for the RTX 4080 and 12.60 TFLOPS for the Arc A730M. FP16 performance is 48.74 TFLOPS (1:1) for the RTX 4080 and 25.19 TFLOPS (2:1) for the Arc A730M.

Power and physical specifications are also divergent. The RTX 4080 has a 320 W TDP, is triple-slot, requires a 1x 16-pin power connector, and suggests a 700 W PSU. The Arc A730M has an 80 W TDP, is an IGP, has no power connectors, and no suggested PSU. The RTX 4080 measures 310 mm in length, 140 mm in height, and 61 mm in width, while the Arc A730M has no listed dimensions. Both use PCIe 4.0 x16 and support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational and philosophical. The RTX 4080 is built on NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace architecture, which is designed for maximum desktop performance with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. Its FP16 performance matches FP32 at a 1:1 ratio, indicating unified throughput across precision levels. The architecture is mature, with a release date of 2022-09-19, and it has a predecessor (GeForce 30) and successor (GeForce 50) in its product line.

The Arc A730M uses Intel's Xe-HPG architecture, part of the Alchemist generation for Arc 7 Mobile. It is built on a 6 nm TSMC process, which is less dense than the RTX 4080's node. The Arc A730M has 24 RT cores and no tensor core count listed, suggesting a different approach to compute acceleration. Its FP16 performance is 25.19 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, meaning it does half the FP16 work per clock compared to FP32. This is a common design for consumer GPUs that prioritize FP32 throughput.

The die size difference is notable: the Arc A730M's DG2-512 chip is 406 mm², larger than the RTX 4080's AD103 at 379 mm², yet it contains far fewer transistors (21,700 million versus 45,900 million). This indicates the RTX 4080's architecture is significantly more transistor-dense, likely due to the smaller process node and more complex compute units. The RTX 4080's 304 tensor cores are a key differentiator, as they enable DLSS and other AI features that the Arc A730M cannot match at the hardware level. The Arc A730M's lack of tensor cores and lower RT core count (24 versus 76) mean it will struggle with ray tracing and AI-assisted workloads compared to the RTX 4080. Both GPUs are end-of-life, but the RTX 4080 has a clear architectural lineage, while the Arc A730M appears to be a standalone effort in Intel's mobile GPU push.