GPU Comparison

# NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation vs Intel Arc A730M

The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation and Intel Arc A730M occupy very different positions in the GPU landscape, despite their near-identical average benchmark scores. The RTX 5880 Ada sits at the 85th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 45,972, while the Arc A730M ranks at the 84th percentile with an average score of 45,592, a difference of just 0.8% in favor of the NVIDIA part. This statistical tie masks fundamental architectural and performance differences that make each card suitable for distinct workloads. The data reveals a desktop workstation GPU with massive compute resources facing a mobile-oriented chip with a completely different design philosophy.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head benchmark results are decisively one-sided, with the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation winning the only shared test. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5880 Ada scores 326,898 compared to the Arc A730M's 70,352, representing a 364.7% advantage for NVIDIA. This is not a marginal victory but a complete rout in raw compute throughput, reflecting the fundamental difference in their design targets.

However, the benchmark comparison is limited by the fact that the two cards share only one common test. The Intel Arc A730M has results in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (1,732) and Geekbench Vulkan (64,693), while the NVIDIA card offers a broader suite of PassMark tests including DirectX 10 (167), DirectX 11 (228), DirectX 12 (70), DirectX 9 (335), G2D (777), G3D (25,096), and GPU compute (14,208). The data suggests the RTX 5880 Ada is built for sustained compute workloads, while the Arc A730M's profile aligns with mobile gaming and general-purpose graphics where its lower power envelope is an advantage.

The RTX 5880 Ada's win count stands at 1 in the head-to-head comparison, with the Arc A730M at 0. Yet the near-identical average scores, 45,972 versus 45,592, indicate that the Arc A730M performs comparably in aggregate across different test suites, just not in the one test where both were measured. This suggests the Arc A730M excels in other areas not captured by the shared benchmark, particularly in DirectX and Vulkan workloads where its architecture can flex its capabilities.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two GPUs is vast. The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation uses the AD102 chip built on TSMC's 5 nm process, packing 76,300 million transistors into a 609 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 125.3 million per square millimeter. The Intel Arc A730M, by contrast, uses the DG2-512 chip on TSMC's 6 nm process with 21,700 million transistors across a 406 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 53.4 million per square millimeter.

The RTX 5880 Ada is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, part of the Workstation Ada generation, while the Arc A730M uses the Xe-HPG architecture from the Alchemist generation (Arc 7 Mobile). The NVIDIA card features 14,080 shading units, 440 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs, alongside 110 ray tracing cores and 440 tensor cores. The Arc A730M offers 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with 24 ray tracing cores and no tensor core specification. This means the RTX 5880 Ada has 4.6 times the shading units and 4.6 times the TMUs of the Intel part.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The Arc A730M has a higher base clock at 1,100 MHz versus 975 MHz, but the RTX 5880 Ada boosts significantly higher at 2,460 MHz compared to 2,050 MHz. Memory configurations are equally divergent: the RTX 5880 Ada offers 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus with 864.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the Arc A730M provides 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card's memory runs at 2,250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while the Intel chip operates at 1,750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

Power consumption highlights their different roles. The RTX 5880 Ada draws 285 W with a dual-slot design and a single 16-pin power connector, requiring a 600 W power supply. The Arc A730M is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with an 80 W TDP, no discrete power connectors, and no suggested PSU rating. The RTX 5880 Ada measures 267 mm in length and 112 mm in height, while the Arc A730M has no published dimensions.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion: the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation is a compute powerhouse designed for workstation workloads that demand massive parallel processing, while the Intel Arc A730M is a mobile-oriented GPU that balances performance with efficiency. The RTX 5880 Ada's 364.7% lead in Geekbench OpenCL, its 69.27 TFLOPS FP32 performance versus the Arc A730M's 12.60 TFLOPS, and its 48 GB memory capacity versus 12 GB make it the obvious choice for professional rendering, scientific computing, and AI-adjacent tasks.

The Arc A730M, with its 80 W TDP and IGP form factor, is suited for portable devices where power efficiency is paramount. Its 25.19 TFLOPS FP16 performance (at a 2:1 ratio) suggests it can handle half-precision workloads competitively relative to its size, and its presence in mobile devices means it serves a completely different market segment than the desktop-bound RTX 5880 Ada.

Benchmark results indicate the RTX 5880 Ada's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A2000 (average score 46,043, delta -0.2%), the Arc A730M itself (45,592, delta 0.8%), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45,384, delta 1.3%), and the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (46,601, delta -1.4%). For the Arc A730M, its nearest rivals are the Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45,384, delta 0.5%), the RTX 5880 Ada (45,972, delta -0.8%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (45,152, delta 1%), and the RTX A2000 (46,043, delta -1%). These numbers show both cards perform in the same aggregate tier, despite their architectural disparities.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation has an average benchmark score of 45,972, while the Intel Arc A730M scores 45,592. The difference is 0.8% in favor of the NVIDIA card.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in Geekbench OpenCL performance?

A: The RTX 5880 Ada scores 326,898, while the Arc A730M scores 70,352. This gives the NVIDIA card a 364.7% advantage in this test.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between these GPUs?

A: The RTX 5880 Ada offers 48 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, while the Arc A730M provides 12 GB on a 192-bit bus. The RTX 5880 Ada's bandwidth is 864.0 GB/s compared to 336.0 GB/s for the Arc A730M.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The RTX 5880 Ada boosts to 2,460 MHz, while the Arc A730M boosts to 2,050 MHz. However, the Arc A730M has a higher base clock at 1,100 MHz versus 975 MHz for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Are these GPUs in the same form factor?

A: No. The RTX 5880 Ada is a dual-slot desktop card measuring 267 mm in length with a 16-pin power connector and 285 W TDP. The Arc A730M is an IGP with an 80 W TDP and no discrete power connectors, designed for portable devices.

Q: What are the production statuses of these GPUs?

A: The RTX 5880 Ada is listed as Active, while the Arc A730M is marked as End-of-life.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark between these two GPUs is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results are stark. The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation scores 326,898, which is 364.7% higher than the Intel Arc A730M's 70,352. This massive delta reflects the RTX 5880 Ada's 69.27 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus the Arc A730M's 12.60 TFLOPS, a 5.5-fold difference in raw floating-point capability.

The RTX 5880 Ada also dominates in memory bandwidth, offering 864.0 GB/s compared to the Arc A730M's 336.0 GB/s. This bandwidth advantage, combined with four times the memory capacity (48 GB versus 12 GB), allows the NVIDIA card to handle substantially larger datasets without hitting memory bottlenecks. Its pixel rate of 433.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,082.4 GTexel/s dwarf the Arc A730M's 196.8 GPixel/s and 393.6 GTexel/s, respectively.

The Arc A730M, however, is not without its own statistical merits. Its average benchmark score of 45,592 places it within 0.8% of the RTX 5880 Ada, and its Geekbench Vulkan score of 64,693 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,732 demonstrate functional DirectX 12 and Vulkan capabilities. The Arc A730M's 25.19 TFLOPS FP16 performance (at a 2:1 ratio) shows it can deliver double-precision-like throughput in half-precision workloads, a feature that could appeal to certain mobile compute tasks.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification category. The RTX 5880 Ada uses a 5 nm process with 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die, while the Arc A730M uses a 6 nm process with 21,700 million transistors on a 406 mm² die. Transistor density favors NVIDIA at 125.3M per mm² versus Intel's 53.4M per mm².

Compute resources diverge sharply: the RTX 5880 Ada has 14,080 shading units, 440 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 110 RT cores, and 440 tensor cores. The Arc A730M has 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 24 RT cores, with no tensor core data. The RTX 5880 Ada's FP32 performance is 69.27 TFLOPS (1:1 FP16 ratio), while the Arc A730M delivers 12.60 TFLOPS FP32 and 25.19 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio).

Memory specifications are equally divergent: 48 GB GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus at 864.0 GB/s for NVIDIA versus 12 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus at 336.0 GB/s for Intel. Power profiles show 285 W TDP for the RTX 5880 Ada with a 600 W suggested PSU, versus 80 W TDP for the Arc A730M with no PSU requirement. The RTX 5880 Ada is dual-slot with a 16-pin connector and 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs; the Arc A730M is an IGP with portable-device-dependent outputs. Both support PCIe 4.0 x16, DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Production status differs: the RTX 5880 Ada is Active, while the Arc A730M is End-of-life.