Intel Arc B390 vs NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data reveals a decisive performance gap between the Intel Arc B390 and the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation. The Intel Arc B390 records a single benchmark result in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 with a score of 1482, placing it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation, by contrast, delivers Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores of 124812 and 109364 respectively, with an average benchmark score of 117088 and a 95th percentile ranking. The difference in average scores is substantial, with the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation outperforming the Arc B390 by a factor of roughly 79 times in the recorded metrics.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each product clarifies the competitive positioning. The Intel Arc B390 sits alongside entry-level discrete mobile GPUs from previous generations. Its closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX with an average score of 1463, a delta of only 1.3% in favor of the Arc B390. The Arc B390 also edges out the GeForce 800M by 1.5%, the GeForce GT 625 OEM by 2.5%, and the GeForce GT 710 by 2.7%. These are marginal victories over very old, low-end parts, indicating that the Arc B390's measured performance is confined to the lower end of the database spectrum.

The NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation operates in a different performance class entirely. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GB10 with an average score of 117393, a delta of 0.3% in favor of the GB10. The AMD Radeon PRO W7700 scores 118976, which is 1.6% higher than the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation surpasses the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB by 2.4% and the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile by 2.8%. These deltas are small, showing that the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation is tightly clustered with professional workstation GPUs that perform at a much higher level than the Arc B390's competitive set.

The raw compute figures in the database reinforce this separation. The Arc B390 delivers 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance, while the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation delivers 19.17 TFLOPS FP32, a 2.5 times advantage. Pixel throughput for the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation is 99.84 GPixel/s versus 60.00 GPixel/s for the Arc B390. Texture rate also favors the NVIDIA part, 299.5 GTexel/s against 120.0 GTexel/s. Every recorded throughput metric in the database favors the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation by a wide margin.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation is the superior performer by every recorded benchmark and specification metric. Its average benchmark score of 117088 places it at the 95th percentile of all GPUs, while the Intel Arc B390's 1482 score sits at the 9th percentile. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation belongs to the workstation class, surrounded by rivals like the AMD Radeon PRO W7700 and NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB, and it trades blows with those parts within a few percentage points. The Arc B390 competes with decade-old entry-level parts like the GeForce GT 710 and GeForce GT 625 OEM.

The Arc B390 does achieve small victories over its immediate rivals, but those rivals are not in the same performance tier as the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation. For workloads requiring high FP32 throughput, the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation delivers 19.17 TFLOPS, which is more than double the Arc B390's 7.680 TFLOPS. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation also provides 20 GB of dedicated GDDR6 memory with 280.0 GB/s bandwidth, whereas the Arc B390 relies on system-shared memory with bandwidth that the database lists as system dependent.

The production status of both products is Active, and both support DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. However, the performance data clearly indicates that the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation is the appropriate choice for any application that demands serious compute capability. The Arc B390's recorded performance is suitable only for the most basic graphics tasks.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The Intel Arc B390 uses the Panther Lake chip with the Xe3-LPG architecture, fabricated on a 3 nm process at Intel. The NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation uses the AD104 chip with the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The transistor counts differ enormously: the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation contains 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, with a transistor density of 121.8 million per mm². The Arc B390's transistor count and die size are listed as unknown in the database.

The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation is a discrete card with a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface and dual-slot form factor. The Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor with an IGP bus interface and no slot width, meaning it is built into a processor package. The power delivery also differs: the Arc B390 has an 80 W TDP with no power connectors, while the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has a 70 W TDP, no power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 250 W.

Memory architecture is another major distinction. The Arc B390 uses system-shared memory with no dedicated VRAM, no fixed bus width, and bandwidth described only as system dependent. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus with 280.0 GB/s bandwidth. The base and boost clocks also differ, with the Arc B390 running at 300 MHz base and 2500 MHz boost, while the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation runs at 720 MHz base and 1560 MHz boost, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz or 14 Gbps effective.

The compute resources are heavily skewed toward the NVIDIA part. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 48 RT cores, and 192 tensor cores. The Arc B390 has 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, 24 ROPs, and 12 RT cores, with no tensor core count listed. The FP16 throughput for the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation is 19.17 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, while the Arc B390 achieves 15.36 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio.

The display outputs also differ. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation provides 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the Arc B390's display outputs are listed as portable device dependent. The release dates are separated by nearly three years, with the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation released on 2023-03-20 and the Arc B390 on 2026-01-26.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has a significantly higher average benchmark score of 117088 across Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests, compared to the Intel Arc B390's single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482.

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

A: The Arc B390 leads the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX by 1.3%, the GeForce 800M by 1.5%, the GeForce GT 625 OEM by 2.5%, and the GeForce GT 710 by 2.7%. All of these deltas are small, and the rivals are low-end parts from older generations.

Q: What are the nearest competitors to the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation?

A: The NVIDIA GB10 is 0.3% faster, the AMD Radeon PRO W7700 is 1.6% faster, the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB is 2.4% slower, and the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile is 2.8% slower.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same graphics APIs?

A: Yes, both the Intel Arc B390 and the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation support DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What memory configurations do the two GPUs use?

A: The Arc B390 uses system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation uses 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 280.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units and RT cores?

A: The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has 6144 shading units and 48 RT cores, while the Arc B390 has 1536 shading units and 12 RT cores.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc B390 wins only in the narrowest sense: it outperforms its own nearest rivals by single-digit percentage points. Against the GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GeForce GT 625 OEM, and GeForce GT 710, the Arc B390 holds a slim edge. These wins are real but insubstantial in absolute terms, since all of these GPUs occupy the lowest performance tier in the database. The Arc B390 also has a higher boost clock at 2500 MHz compared to the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation's 1560 MHz, though this does not translate into higher throughput. The Arc B390's FP16 rate of 15.36 TFLOPS is notable relative to its FP32 rate, but it still trails the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation's 19.17 TFLOPS FP16.

The NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation wins on every meaningful performance metric. Its FP32 throughput of 19.17 TFLOPS is 2.5 times that of the Arc B390. Its pixel rate of 99.84 GPixel/s exceeds the Arc B390's 60.00 GPixel/s. Its texture rate of 299.5 GTexel/s is nearly 2.5 times the Arc B390's 120.0 GTexel/s. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has 4 times the shading units, 4 times the TMUs, 2.7 times the ROPs, and 4 times the RT cores. It also has 192 tensor cores, a feature the Arc B390 lacks entirely in the database listing.

The memory situation strongly favors the NVIDIA part. Dedicated 20 GB GDDR6 with 280.0 GB/s bandwidth is vastly different from system-shared memory with no fixed bandwidth. For workloads that depend on memory bandwidth, the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has a structural advantage that cannot be overcome by the Arc B390's higher boost clock. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation also provides four dedicated mini-DisplayPort outputs, while the Arc B390's display outputs depend on the portable device it is integrated into.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every recorded specification. The process node is 3 nm for the Arc B390 versus 5 nm for the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation. The foundries differ, Intel for the Arc B390 and TSMC for the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has a known transistor count of 35,800 million and die size of 294 mm², while the Arc B390 lists both as unknown. The base clock is 300 MHz for the Arc B390 and 720 MHz for the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation. The boost clock is 2500 MHz for the Arc B390 and 1560 MHz for the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation. The memory clock is system shared for the Arc B390 and 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective for the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation. The memory size, type, and bus width are all system shared for the Arc B390, while the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation uses 20 GB GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus. The bandwidth is system dependent for the Arc B390 and 280.0 GB/s for the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation.

The shading units, TMUs, ROPs, and RT cores are all higher on the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation: 6144 versus 1536, 192 versus 48, 64 versus 24, and 48 versus 12. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has 192 tensor cores, while the Arc B390 has none listed. The pixel rate is 99.84 GPixel/s versus 60.00 GPixel/s. The texture rate is 299.5 GTexel/s versus 120.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput is 19.17 TFLOPS versus 7.680 TFLOPS. The FP16 throughput is 19.17 TFLOPS at 1:1 versus 15.36 TFLOPS at 2:1. The TDP is 70 W for the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation and 80 W for the Arc B390. The slot width is dual-slot for the NVIDIA part and IGP for the Intel part. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 for the NVIDIA part and IGP for the Intel part. The display outputs are 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a for the NVIDIA part and portable device dependent for the Intel part. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation has a suggested PSU of 250 W, while the Arc B390 has none listed. The dimensions for the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation are 168 mm length and 69 mm height, with no dimensions listed for the Arc B390. Both use no power connectors. The RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation lists a predecessor of Workstation Ampere and a successor of Blackwell PRO W, while the Arc B390 lists neither.