Intel Arc B390 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Max-Q Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single recorded benchmark result for the Intel Arc B390, the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where it scores 1482 points. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Max-Q has no benchmark entries in this dataset, and the head-to-head comparison field is empty. This lack of direct comparative data means the analysis below relies on the relative positioning of the Arc B390 against its nearest rivals and the architectural specifications of both parts.

The Arc B390 places at the 9th percentile among all GPUs in the database, which indicates it sits in the lower performance tier. Its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX (average score 1463, delta of 1.3 percent), the GeForce 800M (average score 1460, delta of 1.5 percent), the GeForce GT 625 OEM (average score 1446, delta of 2.5 percent), and the GeForce GT 710 (average score 1443, delta of 2.7 percent). The Arc B390 leads each of these by a narrow margin, with the largest gap being 2.7 percent over the GT 710. These are marginal victories, not commanding leads.

The RTX 4080 Max-Q, by contrast, holds a 50th percentile ranking among all GPUs, placing it squarely in the mid-range of the database distribution. Its average benchmark score is recorded as zero because no benchmark data exists for it in this collection. The percentile figure, however, is derived from the broader database and suggests a substantially different performance class than the Arc B390. The absence of any rival entries for the RTX 4080 Max-Q further limits direct comparison, as there are no delta values to quantify its distance from adjacent GPUs.

In terms of raw theoretical compute, the two parts differ enormously. The Arc B390 delivers 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 15.36 TFLOPS of FP16 (at a 2:1 ratio). The RTX 4080 Max-Q delivers 20.04 TFLOPS of FP32 and 20.04 TFLOPS of FP16 (at a 1:1 ratio). The NVIDIA part offers roughly 2.6 times the FP32 throughput and 1.3 times the FP16 throughput of the Intel part. Pixel and texture rates follow a similar pattern: the RTX 4080 Max-Q reaches 108.0 GPixel/s and 313.2 GTexel/s, while the Arc B390 manages 60.00 GPixel/s and 120.0 GTexel/s. These figures give the NVIDIA GPU a 1.8x advantage in pixel fill and a 2.6x advantage in texture fill.

Where Each One Wins

The Arc B390 wins in the only direct benchmark entry recorded. Its 1482 score in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it ahead of its nearest listed rivals by margins ranging from 1.3 to 2.7 percent. For users constrained to the performance envelope suggested by that score and its percentile rank, the Arc B390 is the faster option among the four GPUs it is compared against in the database. That said, the victories are narrow, and the absolute performance level is low, as indicated by the 9th percentile standing.

The RTX 4080 Max-Q wins in every architectural and theoretical metric where both parts have recorded data. It has more shading units (7424 versus 1536), more texture mapping units (232 versus 48), more raster output units (80 versus 24), and more ray tracing cores (58 versus 12). It also includes 232 tensor cores, a feature the Arc B390 does not list. Memory bandwidth is a decisive advantage: the RTX 4080 Max-Q has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the Arc B390 uses system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth. The NVIDIA part also boosts to 1350 MHz from a 795 MHz base, while the Intel part boosts to 2500 MHz from a 300 MHz base, though the higher clock does not compensate for the massive difference in parallel resources.

The RTX 4080 Max-Q also wins on transistor budget and die size. It uses 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, produced on TSMC's 5 nm process with a transistor density of 121.8M per mm². The Arc B390's transistor count and die size are recorded as unknown, and its process node is 3 nm from Intel's own foundry. The RTX 4080 Max-Q has a lower thermal design power of 60 W versus the Arc B390's 80 W, which indicates the NVIDIA part delivers its higher performance within a smaller power envelope.

Architecture Differences

The Intel Arc B390 is built on the Panther Lake chip using the Xe3-LPG architecture, part of the Arc Graphics-M generation for Panther Lake platforms. It uses a 3 nm process from Intel and is integrated into the processor as an IGP, with no dedicated power connectors and a slot width of IGP. Its memory subsystem is entirely system shared, meaning capacity, type, bus width, and bandwidth all depend on the host system's configuration. The chip includes 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, 24 ROPs, and 12 ray tracing cores, with no tensor cores listed. Its FP16 rate is 15.36 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio relative to FP32, indicating that half-precision throughput is double the single-precision rate.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Max-Q uses the AD104 chip with the Ada Lovelace architecture, part of the GeForce 40 Mobile generation. It is fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The part is a discrete GPU connected via PCIe 4.0 x16, though it still uses the IGP slot width and has no power connectors, reflecting its Max-Q mobile design. Its memory is 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The chip contains 7424 shading units, 232 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 58 ray tracing cores, and 232 tensor cores. Its FP16 rate matches its FP32 rate at 20.04 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, meaning it does not gain a half-precision advantage like the Intel part.

Both parts support the same API feature set: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Both are listed as Active in production status and both have display outputs described as portable device dependent. The RTX 4080 Max-Q has a predecessor in the GeForce 30 Mobile series and a successor in the GeForce 50 Mobile series, while the Arc B390 lists no predecessor or successor.

The process node difference is notable: the Arc B390 uses a newer 3 nm node from Intel, while the RTX 4080 Max-Q uses a 5 nm node from TSMC. Yet the NVIDIA part achieves far higher transistor counts and performance metrics, which suggests the architectural scale difference outweighs the process advantage. The Intel part's base clock of 300 MHz is very low, likely reflecting power management in an integrated context, while its 2500 MHz boost is high. The NVIDIA part's clocks are more conservative, ranging from 795 MHz base to 1350 MHz boost, but its massive shader count multiplies throughput.

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. It leads the GeForce GT 520MX by 1.3 percent, the GeForce 800M by 1.5 percent, the GeForce GT 625 OEM by 2.5 percent, and the GeForce GT 710 by 2.7 percent. All of these are narrow margins, and the 9th percentile rank indicates a low overall performance tier.

Q: What is the performance percentile of the RTX 4080 Max-Q?

A: The RTX 4080 Max-Q sits at the 50th percentile among all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is recorded as zero because no benchmark entries exist for it in this dataset. The percentile is derived from its overall standing, not from a specific test result.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The RTX 4080 Max-Q has 7424 shading units, while the Intel Arc B390 has 1536. The NVIDIA part also has 232 texture mapping units versus 48, 80 raster output units versus 24, and 58 ray tracing cores versus 12. The RTX 4080 Max-Q additionally includes 232 tensor cores, which the Arc B390 does not list.

Q: How do the memory systems differ?

A: The RTX 4080 Max-Q uses 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Arc B390 uses system shared memory, meaning its size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all system dependent. The NVIDIA part's dedicated memory provides a fixed bandwidth figure, while the Intel part's bandwidth cannot be quantified from the recorded data.

Q: What are the thermal design power ratings?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has a TDP of 80 W, while the RTX 4080 Max-Q has a TDP of 60 W. Despite the lower power budget, the NVIDIA part delivers higher theoretical throughput, including 20.04 TFLOPS of FP32 versus 7.680 TFLOPS for the Intel part.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 4080 Max-Q has a predecessor in the GeForce 30 Mobile series and a successor in the GeForce 50 Mobile series. The Arc B390 lists no predecessor or successor.

The Verdict

The data presents two GPUs at opposite ends of the recorded performance spectrum. The Intel Arc B390 competes with legacy NVIDIA parts from over a decade ago, edging out the GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GeForce GT 625 OEM, and GeForce GT 710 by margins of 1.3 to 2.7 percent. Its 9th percentile rank places it among the lowest-performing GPUs in the database. Its single benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is the only direct performance data available for it.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Max-Q occupies the 50th percentile, a position that indicates a fundamentally different performance class. Its theoretical compute metrics dwarf the Arc B390's: 20.04 TFLOPS of FP32 versus 7.680 TFLOPS, 432.0 GB/s of dedicated memory bandwidth versus system shared memory, and 7424 shading units versus 1536. It also achieves these figures within a 60 W TDP, which is lower than the Arc B390's 80 W TDP.

For users whose reference point is the Arc B390's nearest rivals, the Intel part is the faster choice, but only by a small margin. For users comparing across the database's broader distribution, the RTX 4080 Max-Q is the clear pick based on its percentile standing and architectural specifications. The absence of a direct head-to-head benchmark prevents a definitive single-test comparison, but the recorded data leaves little ambiguity about which part offers higher performance. The Arc B390 is an integrated solution with modest throughput, while the RTX 4080 Max-Q is a discrete mobile GPU with roughly 2.6 times the FP32 throughput, 2.6 times the texture rate, and 1.8 times the pixel rate. The NVIDIA part also provides ray tracing and tensor cores in larger counts, along with a fixed 12 GB memory allocation.

The production status of both parts is Active, and the RTX 4080 Max-Q has a clear generational lineage with predecessors and successors in the GeForce mobile lineup. The Arc B390 stands alone in its recorded lineage. Based strictly on the benchmark and specification data, the RTX 4080 Max-Q is the higher-performing GPU, while the Arc B390 offers only marginal advantages over its immediate rivals in the lower percentile tier.