Intel Arc A770 vs NVIDIA CMP 30HX Comparison

The Intel Arc A770 and NVIDIA CMP 30HX represent two radically different purposes in the GPU landscape. The Arc A770 is a fully-featured consumer graphics card built for gaming and general compute, while the CMP 30HX is a mining-specific accelerator with no display outputs. Benchmark data shows the Arc A770 winning both head-to-head tests decisively, with a 67.4% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and a 50.9% lead in Geekbench Vulkan. However, the CMP 30HX holds its own in the aggregate rankings, sitting at the 89th percentile versus the A770’s 90th, and its average benchmark score of 63,842 is only 7.2% behind the A770’s 68,809. This creates an interesting split: raw compute leadership belongs to Intel, but the NVIDIA card’s efficiency and specialized design keep it competitive in its niche.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A770 wins every head-to-head benchmark recorded, making it the clear choice for any workload that relies on OpenCL or Vulkan compute. In Geekbench OpenCL, the A770 scores 109,175 against the CMP 30HX’s 65,199, a 67.4% advantage. This is a massive gap that indicates the A770’s 4,096 shading units and 19.66 TFLOPS of FP32 performance simply overwhelm the CMP 30HX’s 1,408 shading units and 5.027 TFLOPS. Similarly, in Geekbench Vulkan, the A770 posts 94,284 versus 62,484, a 50.9% lead. For any application that can leverage these APIs—rendering, simulation, or general-purpose GPU compute—the Arc A770 is the superior part by a wide margin.

The NVIDIA CMP 30HX, despite losing both head-to-head tests, wins in the efficiency and physical design categories. Its 125 W TDP is 100 W lower than the A770’s 225 W, and it requires only a single 8-pin power connector versus the A770’s 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin setup. The CMP 30HX also has a smaller physical footprint at 229 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 35 mm in width, compared to the A770’s unspecified dimensions. The suggested PSU requirement tells the story: 300 W for the CMP 30HX versus 550 W for the A770. For a mining operation or a dense compute rack where power and space are at a premium, the CMP 30HX is the pragmatic pick, even if it loses on raw performance.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two cards is stark. The Intel Arc A770 uses the DG2-512 chip built on Xe-HPG architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 6 nm process. It packs 21,700 million transistors into a 406 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 53.4M per mm². The NVIDIA CMP 30HX uses the TU116 chip based on Turing architecture, also from TSMC but on a much older 12 nm node. This chip contains only 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die, resulting in a density of 23.2M per mm². The A770’s denser, more modern process allows it to house nearly 3.3 times the transistors of the CMP 30HX.

Memory configurations further separate the two. The A770 features 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The CMP 30HX has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, yielding 336.0 GB/s. That is a 176 GB/s bandwidth advantage for Intel, which directly contributes to its superior compute throughput. The A770 also has 32 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the CMP 30HX, which lists no RT cores and no tensor cores. The A770 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the CMP 30HX is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1), meaning the Intel card is future-proofed for the latest graphics features.

The bus interface is another critical divergence. The A770 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, a full-bandwidth connection suitable for general-purpose computing. The CMP 30HX, in contrast, is limited to PCIe 1.0 x4, a severely constrained interface that is clearly designed for mining workloads where data transfer between host and GPU is minimal. This also explains why the CMP 30HX has no display outputs—it is not meant to drive a monitor, only to compute hashes. The A770, by contrast, offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0 outputs, making it a complete consumer solution.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The first head-to-head result is Geekbench OpenCL, where the Intel Arc A770 scores 109,175 against the NVIDIA CMP 30HX’s 65,199. The 67.4% delta is the largest margin between the two cards in any test. This performance gap can be attributed to the A770’s 19.66 TFLOPS of FP32 compute versus the CMP 30HX’s 5.027 TFLOPS—a 3.9x raw compute advantage. The A770’s 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth also helps feed its 256 TMUs and 128 ROPs, compared to the CMP 30HX’s 88 TMUs and 48 ROPs. OpenCL workloads that are memory-bandwidth-bound will see outsized gains on the Intel card.

The second head-to-head test is Geekbench Vulkan, where the A770 posts 94,284 and the CMP 30HX scores 62,484. The 50.9% delta is slightly narrower than OpenCL, but still a dominant win for Intel. Vulkan is a lower-level API that can better utilize the CMP 30HX’s Turing architecture, but the sheer compute disparity is too much to overcome. The A770’s 39.32 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1) performance, double its FP32 rate, likely contributes to Vulkan’s more flexible compute paths. The CMP 30HX’s FP16 of 10.05 TFLOPS (2:1) is less than a third of the Intel card’s, further widening the gap in mixed-precision workloads.

Looking at aggregate performance, the A770’s average benchmark score is 68,809, while the CMP 30HX sits at 63,842. That is a 7.8% overall lead for Intel. However, the CMP 30HX’s nearest rivals tell a different story. The CMP 30HX is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP, with a deltaPct of 0, and it edges out the AMD Radeon RX 7600M by 0.1%. It trails the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 by only 0.6%. This suggests the CMP 30HX is a solid mid-tier performer in raw compute, just not in the same class as the A770. The A770’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA CMP 90HX (0.3% behind) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200 (1.5% ahead), placing it in a higher performance tier entirely.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance in OpenCL?

A: The Intel Arc A770 wins decisively with a score of 109,175 in Geekbench OpenCL, compared to the NVIDIA CMP 30HX’s 65,199. This represents a 67.4% advantage for Intel.

Q: Does the NVIDIA CMP 30HX support display outputs?

A: No. The CMP 30HX has no display outputs, making it unsuitable for gaming or any task requiring a monitor. The Intel Arc A770, by contrast, offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0.

Q: How do the memory bandwidths compare?

A: The Intel Arc A770 has 512.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, while the NVIDIA CMP 30HX provides 336.0 GB/s. The A770’s 176 GB/s advantage comes from its 256-bit bus versus the CMP 30HX’s 192-bit bus.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The Intel Arc A770 has a TDP of 225 W, while the NVIDIA CMP 30HX draws only 125 W. The A770 also requires a 550 W suggested PSU, whereas the CMP 30HX only needs 300 W.

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The Intel Arc A770 has 16 GB of GDDR6, while the NVIDIA CMP 30HX has 6 GB of GDDR6. The A770’s memory capacity is more than 2.6 times larger.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: Both are end-of-life products. The Intel Arc A770 was released on 2022-10-11, and the NVIDIA CMP 30HX was released earlier on 2021-02-24.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the Intel Arc A770 is the superior compute card in every benchmark recorded. It wins both Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests by margins of 67.4% and 50.9%, respectively, and its average benchmark score of 68,809 places it in the 90th percentile of all GPUs. For anyone needing raw FP32 performance, 16 GB of memory, or ray tracing capabilities, the A770 is the only choice between these two. Its 19.66 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth make it a versatile workhorse for rendering, simulation, and modern gaming—though its end-of-life status means buyers should check availability.

The NVIDIA CMP 30HX, despite losing all head-to-head comparisons, is not without merit. Its 125 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU make it a low-power option for compute-dense environments. Its 89th percentile ranking and average score of 63,842 show it is no slouch, sitting within 0.6% of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100. However, its PCIe 1.0 x4 interface and lack of display outputs limit it to specialized mining or headless compute tasks. With a launch MSRP of 799 USD, it also commands a premium over the Arc A770’s 329 USD launch MSRP, despite delivering far less performance.

In practical terms, the choice depends on the workload. For general-purpose compute, gaming, or any task requiring a display, the Intel Arc A770 is the obvious winner. For a low-power, high-density mining rig where performance per watt is critical and display output is irrelevant, the CMP 30HX has a role—but its 6 GB memory and 5.027 TFLOPS FP32 limit its ceiling. The benchmark data favors Intel across the board, and the only scenario where the NVIDIA card makes sense is one where the A770’s 225 W TDP is simply too high to accommodate.