GPU Comparison

The Intel Arc A750 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile are two graphics processors that, despite their very different physical forms and architectures, land almost exactly on top of each other in aggregate performance. The data shows the Intel desktop card averages a benchmark score of 20,582, while the NVIDIA mobile chip averages 20,534, a gap of just 0.2% in favor of the Arc A750. Both sit in the 65th and 66th percentile of all GPUs respectively, making them direct performance rivals. However, the path each takes to reach that parity is remarkably distinct, with the desktop Intel part winning in some workloads and the mobile NVIDIA part dominating others.

FAQ

Q: How close are the Intel Arc A750 and RTX 3070 Mobile in overall performance?

A: The average benchmark scores are nearly identical. The Intel Arc A750 scores 20,582, while the RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20,534. This puts the Intel part a mere 0.2% ahead on average, and both GPUs are listed as nearest rivals to each other in the benchmark database.

Q: Which card wins in DirectX 12 performance?

A: Intel takes the lead in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test with a score of 2,612, which is 9.7% higher than the RTX 3070 Mobile's 2,380. The Intel card also wins the Passmark DirectX 12 test, scoring 70 versus 64, a 9.4% advantage.

Q: Is there a benchmark where the NVIDIA card is significantly faster?

A: Yes, in legacy DirectX workloads, the NVIDIA GPU is far ahead. In Passmark DirectX 11, the RTX 3070 Mobile scores 138, which is 47.8% higher than the Arc A750's 72. Similarly, in Passmark DirectX 10, the NVIDIA card's 113 beats Intel's 65 by 42.5%.

Q: Which GPU has a higher memory bandwidth?

A: The Intel Arc A750 has a higher memory bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s, compared to the RTX 3070 Mobile's 448.0 GB/s. This is achieved with the same 256-bit bus width but faster memory clocks on the Intel card.

Q: What are the power requirements for each?

A: The Intel Arc A750 is a desktop card with a 225 W TDP and requires a 550 W power supply, using a 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connector setup. The RTX 3070 Mobile has a much lower 115 W TDP and lists "None" for power connectors, as it is designed for laptops.

Q: How does the transistor count compare between the two chips?

A: The Intel DG2-512 chip packs 21,700 million transistors on a 406 mm² die, while the NVIDIA GA104 has 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. This gives the Intel chip a higher transistor density of 53.4M per mm² versus 44.4M per mm² for the NVIDIA chip.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies from their respective manufacturers. The Intel Arc A750 is built on the Xe-HPG architecture, specifically the DG2-512 chip, which is fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC. In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with the GA104 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm node. This process difference contributes to the Intel chip's higher transistor density; Intel packs 21,700 million transistors into a 406 mm² die, yielding 53.4M transistors per mm², while NVIDIA fits 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die for a density of 44.4M per mm².

The compute unit configurations are also starkly different. Intel's design relies on 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 112 ROPs, complemented by 28 dedicated ray tracing cores. NVIDIA's approach uses a larger count of 5,120 shading units but fewer TMUs and ROPs, at 160 and 80 respectively, along with 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores. The Intel card does not list tensor core data. This leads to different peak throughput numbers: Intel achieves 17.20 TFLOPS FP32 and 34.41 TFLOPS FP16 (with 2:1 ratio), while NVIDIA manages 15.97 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio), highlighting a key architectural difference in how each handles half-precision compute.

Memory subsystems differ as well. Both use 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, but the Intel card runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for a 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA part runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), giving it 448.0 GB/s. The Intel card is a dual-slot desktop solution with PCIe 4.0 x16 and display outputs including 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0, while the NVIDIA mobile chip relies on the host laptop for all display output, listed as "Portable Device Dependent." Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, but NVIDIA adds a large tensor core array for AI workloads that Intel does not match in this configuration.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark results split the two GPUs into distinct usage profiles. The Intel Arc A750 is the stronger choice for modern, DirectX 12-based workloads and general 2D tasks. Its win in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test (2,612 vs 2,380, a 9.7% lead) indicates it handles current-generation gaming APIs well. The Intel card also wins in Passmark DirectX 9 (181 vs 160, 13.1% ahead) and DirectX 12 (70 vs 64, 9.4% ahead), suggesting a strong forward-looking driver stack for newer titles. Its 14.2% lead in the Passmark G2D test (732 vs 641) also points to better desktop and 2D application performance.

On the other side, the NVIDIA RTX 3070 Mobile is the clear winner in legacy DirectX titles and raw compute workloads. The most dramatic deltas come in Passmark DirectX 11, where NVIDIA scores 138 to Intel's 72, a 47.8% advantage that makes the Arc A750 nearly half as fast in this API. The DirectX 10 test shows a similar 42.5% gap (113 vs 65). For compute-heavy tasks, the NVIDIA card wins the Passmark GPU Compute test with 6,827 versus 5,368, a 21.4% lead, and also takes the Passmark G3D test with 15,309 to Intel's 12,534, an 18.1% margin. This suggests the NVIDIA card is better suited for older game libraries and general-purpose GPU compute applications.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal two very different physical implementations. The Intel Arc A750 is a desktop card with a 225 W TDP, a dual-slot cooler, and requires a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connector, with a suggested 550 W power supply. The RTX 3070 Mobile is a mobile chip with a 115 W TDP and no dedicated power connectors, designed to be powered by the laptop's motherboard.

Clock speeds show a significant divergence. The Intel card has a base clock of 2050 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, while the NVIDIA chip runs at a much lower 1110 MHz base and 1560 MHz boost. However, the NVIDIA card compensates with a higher shader count of 5,120 versus 3,584. The memory clocks also differ, with Intel at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) and NVIDIA at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), leading to the aforementioned bandwidth difference of 512.0 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s.

The Intel card has more TMUs (224 vs 160) and ROPs (112 vs 80), while NVIDIA has more RT cores (40 vs 28) and adds 160 tensor cores. Pixel and texture rates favor Intel: 268.8 GPixel/s and 537.6 GTexel/s versus NVIDIA's 124.8 GPixel/s and 249.6 GTexel/s. The Intel chip is physically larger at 406 mm² versus 392 mm², built on a smaller 6 nm process versus 8 nm. The release dates are also different, with the Intel card launching on 2022-10-11, over a year after the RTX 3070 Mobile's 2021-01-11 launch.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results show a perfect 5-5 split, but the margins are not symmetrical. Intel's wins tend to be moderate, while NVIDIA's wins in specific tests are massive. The biggest Intel victory comes in the Passmark DirectX 9 test, where the Arc A750 scores 181 against the RTX 3070 Mobile's 160, a 13.1% advantage. Intel also wins the Passmark G2D test by 14.2% (732 vs 641), the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test by 9.7% (2,612 vs 2,380), and the Passmark DirectX 12 test by 9.4% (70 vs 64). The Geekbench OpenCL test also goes to Intel, with 98,554 versus 92,939, a 6% lead.

NVIDIA's victories are more polarized. The Passmark DirectX 11 test is a landslide for NVIDIA, with a score of 138 versus Intel's 72, a 47.8% delta. The DirectX 10 test is nearly as lopsided, with NVIDIA winning 113 to 65, a 42.5% margin. In the Passmark GPU Compute test, NVIDIA leads by 21.4% (6,827 vs 5,368), and in the Passmark G3D test, NVIDIA wins by 18.1% (15,309 vs 12,534). The only close NVIDIA win is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 3070 Mobile edges out the Arc A750 with 86,768 to 85,631, a narrow 1.3% margin.

Looking at the overall average benchmarks, the two GPUs are inseparable, with the Intel Arc A750 at 20,582 and the RTX 3070 Mobile at 20,534. However, the distribution of scores tells the real story: the Intel card is a specialist in modern DX12 and 2D workloads, while the NVIDIA card is a champion of legacy DX10/DX11 gaming and compute. The data suggests that for a user with a modern DirectX 12 library, the Intel card offers a slight edge, but for anyone relying on older titles or OpenCL-style compute tasks, the NVIDIA card is the clear winner despite its mobile form factor. The 1.3% NVIDIA win in Vulkan also indicates that API-specific optimization remains a deciding factor between these two otherwise equally matched GPUs.