Intel Arc A770 vs NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB and the Intel Arc A770 represent two distinct eras of GPU design, separated by six years of architectural evolution. The data places the Tesla P100 in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, while the Arc A770 sits at the 90th percentile, but their benchmark trajectories diverge dramatically. The Pascal-generation compute card, a product of 2016, relies on raw memory bandwidth and a massive 4096-bit bus, whereas the Alchemist-generation consumer card from 2022 leverages a modern 6 nm process and over twice the FP32 throughput. Their head-to-head comparison in Geekbench OpenCL reveals a decisive 27.1% victory for the Intel card, yet the story is more nuanced when examining their respective positions within their own competitive spheres.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc A770 claims the sole direct benchmark victory in this comparison, winning the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 109,175 against the Tesla P100’s 79,605. This 27.1% margin is substantial, indicating that in compute workloads leveraging OpenCL, the Arc A770 is the clear performance leader. The Arc’s advantage stems from its higher raw compute throughput: 19.66 TFLOPS FP32 versus the Tesla’s 9.526 TFLOPS, effectively doubling the floating-point capability. Additionally, the Arc A770 offers 4096 shading units compared to 3584 on the Tesla, providing more parallel execution resources for general-purpose compute tasks.

However, the Tesla P100 wins in memory bandwidth-centric scenarios, despite lacking a direct benchmark win. Its HBM2 memory operates across a 4096-bit bus, delivering 732.2 GB/s of bandwidth—43% more than the Arc A770’s 512.0 GB/s from its 256-bit GDDR6 interface. For workloads that are memory-bound rather than compute-bound, such as large matrix operations or data streaming, the Tesla’s superior bandwidth would provide a tangible advantage. The Tesla also maintains a tighter competitive position within its peer group: its average benchmark score of 79,605 places it just 0.3% behind the GeForce RTX 5090 and 0.8% ahead of the Radeon RX 6850M XT, showing it competes at the very top tier of its era. In contrast, the Arc A770’s average score of 68,809 places it 0.3% behind the NVIDIA CMP 90HX, indicating it sits slightly below its closest contemporary rivals.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational. The Tesla P100 uses the GP100 chip built on NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture, manufactured on a 16 nm TSMC process. It packs 15,300 million transistors into a 610 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 25.1 million per square millimeter. The Arc A770, by contrast, uses Intel’s DG2-512 chip based on the Xe-HPG architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 6 nm node. This newer process allows Intel to integrate 21,700 million transistors into a smaller 406 mm² die, achieving a density of 53.4 million transistors per square millimeter—more than double the Tesla’s density.

Memory subsystems diverge completely. The Tesla employs 16 GB of HBM2 with a 4096-bit bus width, achieving 732.2 GB/s bandwidth. The Arc A770 also has 16 GB, but uses GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s. This 220 GB/s bandwidth deficit is the Arc’s primary architectural weakness, though its higher clocks compensate in compute-heavy tasks: the Arc runs at a 2100 MHz base and 2400 MHz boost, versus the Tesla’s more modest 1190 MHz base and 1329 MHz boost. The memory clock difference is even starker, with the Arc’s memory at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) against the Tesla’s 715 MHz (1430 Mbps effective).

Feature sets reflect their intended markets. The Tesla P100 has no display outputs, no ray tracing cores, and no tensor cores—it is a pure compute accelerator. The Arc A770 includes 32 ray tracing cores, supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), and offers Vulkan 1.4, whereas the Tesla maxes out at DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. The Arc also provides modern display connectivity with 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0 outputs, while the Tesla offers none. Power profiles are comparable: the Tesla draws 250 W with a single 8-pin connector, while the Arc draws slightly less at 225 W but requires two connectors (1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin). The Tesla uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Arc uses PCIe 4.0 x16, doubling the interface bandwidth for data transfer.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark pairing in the data is Geekbench OpenCL, where the Intel Arc A770 decisively outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla P100. The Arc scores 109,175 against the Tesla’s 79,605, representing a 27.1% advantage. This is not a marginal victory—it is a landslide that reflects the Arc’s superior compute architecture for this specific workload type. The Arc’s FP32 throughput of 19.66 TFLOPS is more than double the Tesla’s 9.526 TFLOPS, and its texture rate of 614.4 GTexel/s far exceeds the Tesla’s 297.7 GTexel/s. Pixel rate also favors the Arc at 307.2 GPixel/s versus 127.6 GPixel/s, a 2.4x difference.

The Tesla’s competitive positioning, however, shows it remains formidable within its own generation. Its average score of 79,605 places it within 0.3% of the RTX 5090 (79,842), a much newer flagship, and it beats the Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940) by 0.8%. It trails the Radeon Pro Vega 64X (80,959) by 1.7%. The Arc A770’s average of 68,809 puts it 0.3% behind the NVIDIA CMP 90HX (69,000) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 (68,562), while trailing the Radeon Pro WX 8200 (69,870) by 1.5% and the Quadro P6000 (69,986) by 1.7%. Notably, the Arc’s Geekbench OpenCL score of 109,175 is far above its average, suggesting that this particular test plays to its strengths, while other unlisted workloads would likely show smaller gaps or even Tesla wins.

In Vulkan, the Arc A770 scores 94,284, although no direct Tesla comparison exists in this API. The Tesla’s Vulkan 1.3 support versus the Arc’s Vulkan 1.4 indicates the Arc has more modern API features, which could translate to better performance in Vulkan-based workloads. The Tesla’s 19.05 TFLOPS FP16 performance (2:1 ratio) compares to the Arc’s 39.32 TFLOPS FP16, again showing the Arc’s doubling advantage in half-precision compute.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The Intel Arc A770 leads with 19.66 TFLOPS FP32 and 39.32 TFLOPS FP16, versus the Tesla P100’s 9.526 TFLOPS FP32 and 19.05 TFLOPS FP16. This aligns with the Arc’s 27.1% Geekbench OpenCL victory.

Q: Does the Tesla P100 have any advantage in memory performance?

A: Yes, the Tesla P100 provides 732.2 GB/s bandwidth via HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, which is 43% higher than the Arc A770’s 512.0 GB/s from GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. For memory-bound tasks, the Tesla would be superior despite its lower compute scores.

Q: Are these GPUs comparable in terms of API support?

A: No, the Arc A770 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Tesla P100 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. The Arc also has 32 ray tracing cores, which the Tesla lacks entirely.

Q: How do their power requirements compare?

A: The Tesla P100 has a 250 W TDP with a single 8-pin power connector and recommends a 600 W PSU. The Arc A770 has a 225 W TDP, uses 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connectors, and recommends a 550 W PSU.

Q: Which GPU has better display output capabilities?

A: Only the Arc A770 has display outputs, offering 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0. The Tesla P100 has no display outputs, making it unsuitable for direct display connection.

Q: What are the release timelines of these products?

A: The Tesla P100 launched on June 19, 2016, as part of the Tesla Pascal generation, while the Arc A770 launched on October 11, 2022, in the Alchemist generation. Both are now end-of-life products.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear compute performance winner: the Intel Arc A770 dominates the Tesla P100 in the sole head-to-head benchmark, delivering 27.1% higher Geekbench OpenCL scores. Its double the FP32 throughput, superior texture and pixel rates, and modern architectural features like ray tracing and DirectX 12 Ultimate make it the more capable general-purpose GPU for anyone running compute or graphics workloads. The Arc also offers display outputs, making it a viable option for workstations that need both compute and visual output, whereas the Tesla is a headless accelerator.

However, the Tesla P100 retains relevance in specific scenarios. Its 732.2 GB/s memory bandwidth—the highest in this comparison—makes it preferable for memory-bandwidth-sensitive applications where the 4096-bit HBM2 interface provides a decisive edge over the Arc’s GDDR6. The Tesla’s competitive positioning also shows it holds its own against modern cards: it sits within 0.3% of the RTX 5090’s average score, a signal of its enduring compute capability. Its 92nd percentile ranking versus the Arc’s 90th percentile further indicates that, on aggregate, the Tesla outperforms the Arc across all tested GPUs, despite losing the specific OpenCL test.

For buyers prioritizing raw compute throughput and modern features, the Arc A770 is the logical choice—it wins the benchmark that matters and offers superior FP32/FP16 performance. For users whose workloads stress memory bandwidth over compute, the Tesla P100’s HBM2 advantage could prove more valuable. The Arc’s lower TDP (225 W vs 250 W), single-card power draw, and modern PCIe 4.0 interface also make it easier to integrate into contemporary systems. Ultimately, the Arc A770 is the better all-around GPU based on the data, but the Tesla P100 is far from obsolete for memory-centric compute tasks.