Intel Arc B570 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Comparison

The Intel Arc B570 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 represent two distinct eras of GPU design, separated by over a decade of architectural evolution. Benchmark data shows the Arc B570 is decisively faster, with an average benchmark score of 20556 compared to the GTX 780’s 19164. While the GTX 780 holds a slightly higher percentile ranking among all GPUs, the head-to-head results reveal a massive performance gulf in modern APIs, making the modern card the clear choice for contemporary workloads.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the Intel Arc B570 is the superior product for nearly any modern use case. Its average benchmark score of 20556 places it 7.3% ahead of the GTX 780’s 19164, and its Geekbench scores are multiples higher. The GTX 780, with a percentile rank of 64 versus the Arc B570’s 65, is functionally obsolete for current generation software. The Arc B570 should be chosen by anyone building or upgrading a system for current gaming, content creation, or compute tasks. The GTX 780 is only viable for legacy applications that rely on its specific feature set or for users who require its older display outputs. Given that the Arc B570 launched at 219 USD and the GTX 780 launched at 649 USD, the performance and feature disparity makes the Intel card the only logical choice for new purchases.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast. The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation) using a 5 nm process at TSMC, packing 19,600 million transistors into a 272 mm² die. In contrast, the GTX 780 uses the Kepler architecture (GeForce 700 generation) on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC, but with only 7,080 million transistors on a much larger 561 mm² die. This results in a transistor density of 72.1M/mm² for the Arc B570 versus just 12.6M/mm² for the GTX 780.

The memory subsystems differ fundamentally. The Arc B570 features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 780 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 384-bit bus, but achieves only 288.4 GB/s. Clock speeds also favor the newer card, with the Arc B570 running at a constant 2500 MHz base and boost, while the GTX 780 operates at 863 MHz base and 902 MHz boost.

Feature support is where the GTX 780 shows its age. The Arc B570 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and includes 18 dedicated ray tracing cores. The GTX 780 only supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175, with no ray tracing hardware. The Arc B570 also has a higher pixel rate (200.0 GPixel/s versus 43.30 GPixel/s) and texture rate (360.0 GTexel/s versus 173.2 GTexel/s), while delivering 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute versus 4.156 TFLOPS. Power requirements are lower for the Arc B570, with a 150 W TDP and a suggested 450 W PSU, compared to the GTX 780’s 250 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the benchmark data, the Intel Arc B570 wins in every measurable category. In the head-to-head Geekbench OpenCL test, the Arc B570 scores 83514 against the GTX 780’s 22863, a 265.3% advantage. In the Vulkan test, the Arc B570 achieves 96844 versus 24514, a 295.1% lead. These are not marginal improvements; they represent a multi-generational leap in compute capability.

The GTX 780 has no benchmark wins against the Arc B570. Its only competitive advantage lies in its legacy connectivity, offering 2x DVI outputs alongside HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2. The Arc B570 instead provides 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1, which are superior for modern displays but incompatible with very old monitors. For users with legacy DVI-only displays, the GTX 780 remains an option, but for any performance-oriented task, the Arc B570 is the definitive winner. The data shows the Arc B570’s wins count at 2, with 0 for the GTX 780.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the Intel Arc B570 in Vulkan workloads?

A: The Arc B570 scores 96844 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 295.1% higher than the GTX 780’s 24514 score.

Q: Does the GTX 780 support ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 780 has no ray tracing cores, while the Arc B570 includes 18 dedicated RT cores.

Q: What are the memory capacity differences?

A: The Arc B570 has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the GTX 780 has 3 GB of GDDR5.

Q: Which card has better API support for modern games?

A: The Arc B570 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the GTX 780 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: How do their power requirements compare?

A: The Arc B570 has a 150 W TDP and suggests a 450 W PSU, while the GTX 780 has a 250 W TDP and suggests a 600 W PSU.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result comes from the Geekbench OpenCL test. The Intel Arc B570 scores 83514, dwarfing the GTX 780’s 22863. This 265.3% delta highlights the immense compute advantage of the newer architecture, driven by higher clock speeds, more efficient processing units, and vastly superior memory bandwidth. The Arc B570’s 380.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 288.4 GB/s, combined with its 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, makes it over four times more powerful in raw compute.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows an even larger gap. The Arc B570 achieves 96844, while the GTX 780 manages only 24514. This 295.1% difference underscores how poorly the Kepler architecture scales with modern low-level APIs. The GTX 780’s lack of support for newer Vulkan features and its older asynchronous compute capabilities severely limit its performance. The Arc B570’s support for Vulkan 1.4 versus the GTX 780’s 1.2.175 version explains much of this discrepancy.

Beyond these head-to-head tests, the broader benchmark suite reinforces the Arc B570’s dominance. In Passmark tests, the Arc B570 scores 14195 in G3D and 7281 in GPU compute, with notable scores in DirectX 9 (164), DirectX 11 (118), and DirectX 12 (72). The GTX 780 has no Passmark scores listed, but its Geekbench Metal score of 10114 is far below the Arc B570’s OpenCL and Vulkan results. The Arc B570’s average benchmark score of 20556 places it within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M390X, showing it competes with much newer mobile parts. The GTX 780’s average of 19164 puts it in the company of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (0.6% delta) and AMD Radeon RX 6600 (0.7% delta), but those comparisons are misleading given the GTX 780’s age and lack of modern feature support. The data conclusively shows the Arc B570 is not just a refresh, but a complete generational overhaul that leaves the GTX 780 in a different performance class entirely.