Intel Arc B390 vs NVIDIA L4 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the recorded benchmark scores compare between the Intel Arc B390 and the NVIDIA L4?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has a single recorded score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The NVIDIA L4 has two recorded scores, 140838 in Geekbench OpenCL and 121306 in Geekbench Vulkan, giving it an average benchmark score of 131072.

Q: Where does each GPU sit in the overall performance percentile ranking?

A: The Intel Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The NVIDIA L4 sits at the 95th percentile, a substantial gap in overall standing.

Q: What are the closest rivals to the Intel Arc B390 in the database?

A: The nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX with an average score of 1463 and a delta of 1.3%, the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460 with a delta of 1.5%, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 with a delta of 2.5%, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 at 1443 with a delta of 2.7%. The Arc B390 leads each of these four by small margins.

Q: What are the closest rivals to the NVIDIA L4 in the database?

A: The nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti with an average score of 131938 and a delta of -0.7%, the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation at 135218 with a delta of -3.1%, the NVIDIA A10M at 135230 with a delta of -3.1%, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 at 135396 with a delta of -3.2%. The L4 trails each of these four by narrow margins, all within 3.2%.

Q: What is the difference in process node and foundry between the two?

A: The Intel Arc B390 uses a 3 nm process at Intel. The NVIDIA L4 uses a 5 nm process at TSMC.

Q: Do the two GPUs share the same API support?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Architecture Differences

The Intel Arc B390 is built on the Xe3-LPG architecture with the Panther Lake chip, belonging to the Arc Graphics-M (Panther Lake) generation. It is manufactured on a 3 nm process at Intel. The transistor count and die size are not recorded in the database.

The NVIDIA L4 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, belonging to the Server Ada (Lxx) generation. It is manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The L4 has 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 121.8M per mm².

The compute configurations differ sharply. The Arc B390 has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, 24 ROPs, and 12 ray tracing cores. The L4 has 7424 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, 80 ROPs, and 60 ray tracing cores. The L4 also carries 240 tensor cores, while the Arc B390 has no tensor core count recorded.

Clock behavior differs as well. The Arc B390 runs at a 300 MHz base clock and boosts to 2500 MHz. The L4 has a higher base clock at 795 MHz but a lower boost clock at 2040 MHz. Memory is a fundamental distinction: the Arc B390 uses system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth, while the L4 has 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 192 bit bus delivering 300.1 GB/s.

The L4 is a single-slot PCIe 4.0 x16 card measuring 169 mm in length and 56 mm in height, with no display outputs. The Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor with an IGP bus interface, no power connectors, and display outputs described as portable device dependent. The L4 has no power connectors either, but the database lists a suggested PSU of 250 W. The Arc B390 has a TDP of 80 W, while the L4 has a TDP of 72 W.

Production status is active for both. The L4 lists its predecessor as Server Ampere and its successor as Server Hopper. The Arc B390 has no predecessor or successor recorded.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

No direct head-to-head benchmark pairs exist in the database for these two GPUs. The comparison must instead rely on their individual recorded scores and relative positions.

The Arc B390 delivers one benchmark result, 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. That score places it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are all older NVIDIA parts: the GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710. Against those, the Arc B390 leads by 1.3%, 1.5%, 2.5%, and 2.7% respectively. These are narrow margins, indicating the Arc B390 sits just above a cluster of low-end discrete GPUs from previous generations.

The L4 delivers two benchmark results, 140838 in Geekbench OpenCL and 121306 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its average benchmark score is 131072, placing it at the 95th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are much stronger parts: the RTX 3090 Ti trails it by 0.7%, the RTX 4000 Ada Generation trails by 3.1%, the A10M trails by 3.1%, and the Radeon PRO W6800 trails by 3.2%. The L4 sits in a high-performance tier, close to but slightly below several flagship-class accelerators.

The gap between the two is enormous. The L4's average score of 131072 is roughly 88 times the Arc B390's single score of 1482. The percentile gap, from 9th to 95th, reinforces that these parts target entirely different performance segments. The Arc B390's results group it with entry-level mobile and OEM GPUs, while the L4's results group it with workstation and server accelerators near the top of the database.

The L4's Vulkan score of 121306 is lower than its OpenCL score of 140838 by roughly 14%. That spread is common for compute-oriented GPUs where OpenCL and Vulkan workloads exercise different driver paths. The Arc B390 has only one recorded test, so no similar intra-GPU comparison is possible.

The Verdict

The data indicates a complete performance class separation. The Intel Arc B390 records a single 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, placing it at the 9th percentile. The NVIDIA L4 records an average score of 131072, placing it at the 95th percentile. The L4's nearest rivals are high-end accelerators like the RTX 3090 Ti and RTX 4000 Ada Generation, all within 3.2% of its average score. The Arc B390's nearest rivals are entry-level GPUs like the GT 520MX and GT 710, all within 2.7% below it.

The L4 also holds structural advantages. It has 7424 shading units against 1536, 240 texture units against 48, 80 ROPs against 24, 60 ray tracing cores against 12, and 240 tensor cores against none recorded. Its 24 GB GDDR6 memory with 300.1 GB/s bandwidth is a dedicated pool, while the Arc B390 depends on system shared memory. The L4's pixel rate of 163.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 489.6 GTexel/s exceed the Arc B390's 60.00 GPixel/s and 120.0 GTexel/s.

The Arc B390 does hold some advantages in the record. Its 3 nm process node is smaller than the L4's 5 nm node. Its boost clock of 2500 MHz exceeds the L4's 2040 MHz. Its TDP of 80 W is higher than the L4's 72 W, though both are low-power parts. The Arc B390 is an integrated GPU with no power connector and an IGP bus interface, making it suitable only for portable devices with system shared memory.

For any workload requiring substantial compute throughput, the L4 is the clear choice based on the benchmark data. For an integrated GPU in a portable device, the Arc B390 occupies a different role entirely, one where the L4's dedicated PCIe card form factor and server orientation do not apply.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every recorded specification. The process node is 3 nm for the Arc B390 and 5 nm for the L4. The foundry is Intel for the Arc B390 and TSMC for the L4. The L4 records 35,800 million transistors, a 294 mm² die size, and a transistor density of 121.8M per mm²; none of these are recorded for the Arc B390.

Base clocks are 300 MHz for the Arc B390 and 795 MHz for the L4. Boost clocks are 2500 MHz for the Arc B390 and 2040 MHz for the L4. Memory differs fundamentally: the Arc B390 uses system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth, while the L4 has 24 GB GDDR6 on a 192 bit bus with 300.1 GB/s bandwidth.

Shader resources differ by large factors. The Arc B390 has 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, 24 ROPs, and 12 RT cores. The L4 has 7424 shading units, 240 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 60 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. Pixel rates are 60.00 GPixel/s for the Arc B390 and 163.2 GPixel/s for the L4. Texture rates are 120.0 GTexel/s for the Arc B390 and 489.6 GTexel/s for the L4. FP32 throughput is 7.680 TFLOPS for the Arc B390 and 30.29 TFLOPS for the L4. FP16 is 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1) for the Arc B390 and 30.29 TFLOPS (1:1) for the L4.

TDP is 80 W for the Arc B390 and 72 W for the L4. The Arc B390 is an IGP with no power connectors and no suggested PSU. The L4 is a single-slot card with no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The bus interface is IGP for the Arc B390 and PCIe 4.0 x16 for the L4. Display outputs are portable device dependent for the Arc B390 and absent for the L4. The L4 measures 169 mm in length and 56 mm in height; the Arc B390 has no dimensions recorded. Release dates are 2026-01-26 for the Arc B390 and 2023-03-20 for the L4.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA L4 wins on raw compute metrics across the board. Its FP32 throughput of 30.29 TFLOPS is roughly four times the Arc B390's 7.680 TFLOPS. Its texture rate of 489.6 GTexel/s is over four times the Arc B390's 120.0 GTexel/s. Its pixel rate of 163.2 GPixel/s is over 2.7 times the Arc B390's 60.00 GPixel/s. Its 24 GB GDDR6 memory with 300.1 GB/s bandwidth provides a dedicated, high-bandwidth pool that the Arc B390 cannot match with system shared memory.

The L4 wins on API-level compute features as well. It has 240 tensor cores, which the Arc B390 does not record at all. It has 60 ray tracing cores against 12. It has 7424 shading units against 1536. The L4 also wins on form factor flexibility for server use: it is a single-slot PCIe 4.0 x16 card with no display outputs, suited for headless acceleration, while the Arc B390 is bound to an IGP bus interface and portable device outputs.

The Intel Arc B390 wins on clock speed. Its 2500 MHz boost clock exceeds the L4's 2040 MHz. It also wins on process node, using 3 nm against the L4's 5 nm. Its 80 W TDP is lower than the L4's suggested PSU of 250 W, though the L4's actual TDP of 72 W is lower than the Arc B390's 80 W. The Arc B390 is an integrated solution requiring no separate card slot and no power connector, which gives it an advantage in portable devices where the L4 cannot be installed at all.

For workloads that fit within integrated graphics, the Arc B390 is the only viable option of the two. For any server, workstation, or compute workload requiring the L4's PCIe interface, dedicated memory, and tensor core support, the L4 is the only viable option. The benchmark data, with the L4 at the 95th percentile and the Arc B390 at the 9th, confirms that the L4 delivers performance in a different class entirely.