Intel Arc B580 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile Comparison

Intel Arc B580 versus NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile is a lopsided comparison. The recorded data shows the Intel part wins all eight head-to-head benchmark matchups, with margins ranging from 20.4% to 75.1%. The average benchmark score for the Arc B580 is 23021, against 8746 for the RTX 3050 A Mobile, placing the Intel card in the 68th percentile of all GPUs while the NVIDIA part sits in the 44th percentile. This is not a close contest, and the analysis below details where each card stands.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single margin appears in Geekbench OpenCL. The Arc B580 scores 92821, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile manages 52998, a 75.1% advantage for Intel. Compute workloads that scale with raw shader throughput and memory bandwidth favor the Arc B580 decisively. A nearly identical gap shows in Passmark GPU Compute, where the Arc B580 scores 7729 versus 4419, a 74.9% difference. These two results alone indicate that the Intel architecture delivers far higher general-purpose compute performance, consistent with its larger shading unit count and wider memory interface.

DirectX 12 performance follows the same pattern. The Arc B580 scores 76 in Passmark DirectX 12, compared to 55 for the RTX 3050 A Mobile, a 38.2% win. DirectX 11 shows a 36.2% margin, with scores of 128 versus 94. Even legacy DirectX 9, which often favors mature drivers and older architectures, sees the Arc B580 score 183 against 152, a 20.4% edge. The smallest wins are still substantial, suggesting that the Arc B580's advantage is not limited to modern APIs but persists across the entire rendering stack.

Passmark G3D, a general 3D graphics benchmark, records 15748 for the Arc B580 and 11664 for the RTX 3050 A Mobile, a 35% difference. The 2D portion shows a 34.8% margin, with scores of 709 and 526. DirectX 10 also goes to Intel, 76 versus 61, a 24.6% win. Across all eight tests, the Arc B580 leads every time. No recorded benchmark shows the NVIDIA part ahead.

For context, the Arc B580's nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP at 23061 (0.2% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 22895 (0.6% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 23172 (0.7% lower), and the NVIDIA P106-100 at 23249 (1% lower). The RTX 3050 A Mobile, by contrast, sits alongside the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 at 8743 (0% difference), the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 at 8686 (0.7% higher), the AMD Radeon R9 M265X at 8851 (1.2% higher), and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 at 8863 (1.3% higher). The two parts occupy entirely different performance tiers, with the Arc B580 landing near desktop cards from several generations ago and the RTX 3050 A Mobile matching much older or lower-end hardware.

Where Each One Wins

The Arc B580 wins every recorded benchmark, so the question of where each one wins is answered by the nature of the margins. In compute-heavy tests, Geekbench OpenCL and Passmark GPU Compute, the Intel card's lead is roughly three-quarters over the NVIDIA part. This points to workloads involving physics simulation, video encoding, or general data-parallel tasks, where the Arc B580's 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth provide a substantial foundation. The RTX 3050 A Mobile's 4.813 TFLOPS and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are far lower, explaining the consistent compute deficit.

For gaming and graphics rendering, the DirectX 11, DirectX 12, and G3D results show a narrower but still clear lead for Intel. The 35% to 38% margins in these tests suggest that the Arc B580 handles modern game workloads with more headroom, though the gap is less extreme than in pure compute. The RTX 3050 A Mobile's strongest relative showing comes in DirectX 9, where its 152 points trail the Arc B580's 183 by only 20.4%. This indicates that older, less demanding titles narrow the gap, but the NVIDIA part still does not win.

The RTX 3050 A Mobile has no wins in the recorded data. Its role, based on the numbers, is limited to scenarios where its 45 W TDP and IGP form factor matter more than performance. The database shows no benchmark where the NVIDIA part takes the lead, so any use-case analysis must acknowledge that the Arc B580 dominates across every metric tested.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different foundries and process nodes. The Arc B580 uses a 5 nm process from TSMC, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile uses an 8 nm process from Samsung. The Intel chip, designated BMG-G21, packs 19,600 million transistors into a 272 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 72.1M per mm². The NVIDIA chip, GA106, has 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, with a density of 43.5M per mm². The Intel part achieves higher density despite a similar physical size, indicating a more compact transistor layout.

Architecture generations differ as well. The Arc B580 uses Xe2-HPG, part of the Battlemage generation (Arc 5), while the RTX 3050 A Mobile uses Ampere from the GeForce 30 Mobile generation. The Intel card's predecessor is Alchemist; the NVIDIA card's predecessor is GeForce 20 Mobile. Neither has a successor listed in the database.

Core configurations show a wide gap. The Arc B580 has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, along with 20 ray tracing cores. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 1792 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with 14 ray tracing cores and 56 tensor cores. The Intel part has no tensor cores listed, while the NVIDIA part includes them, a notable feature for AI workloads, but the database does not record any tensor-specific benchmark for either card. The shading unit advantage for Intel, 2560 versus 1792, aligns with the FP32 output of 13.67 TFLOPS versus 4.813 TFLOPS.

Memory architecture is another major split. The Arc B580 carries 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 456.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, for 192.0 GB/s. The Intel card's memory clocks at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective), while the NVIDIA part runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). Capacity alone, 12 GB versus 4 GB, gives the Arc B580 a clear edge in texture-heavy scenes or large datasets, and the bandwidth difference compounds that advantage.

Clock speeds also differ. The Arc B580 has a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has a base of 1065 MHz and boost of 1343 MHz. The Intel card operates at more than double the boost clock of the NVIDIA part, which contributes to its higher pixel rate (213.6 GPixel/s versus 42.98 GPixel/s) and texture rate (427.2 GTexel/s versus 75.21 GTexel/s).

Power and physical design diverge sharply. The Arc B580 has a 190 W TDP, requires a dual-slot cooler and a single 8-pin power connector, and needs a 450 W suggested power supply. It measures 272 mm in length, 115 mm in height, and 45 mm in width, and connects via PCIe 4.0 x8. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has a 45 W TDP, is listed as IGP (integrated graphics package) with no power connectors, no suggested PSU, and no recorded dimensions. It also uses PCIe 4.0 x8 and has display outputs described as portable device dependent. The Arc B580 offers 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1, while the NVIDIA part's outputs depend on the host device.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API feature levels are identical. The production status differs: the Arc B580 is active, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile is end-of-life. The release dates place the Arc B580 at 2024-12-12 and the RTX 3050 A Mobile at 2023-12-31. The Arc B580 has a launch MSRP of 249 USD, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has no launch MSRP recorded.

The Verdict

The data points to a single conclusion: the Intel Arc B580 is the stronger GPU in every recorded benchmark. Its average score of 23021 places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile's 8746 average sits in the 44th percentile. The nearest rivals for the Arc B580 include the RTX 3080 and RTX 2080, both within 1% of its average score, meaning the Intel card performs at a level comparable to high-end desktop GPUs from recent generations. The RTX 3050 A Mobile, by contrast, matches the GTX 460 v2 and Quadro P2200, hardware that is several generations old or designed for workstation tasks.

For users who need compute performance, the Arc B580 is the clear pick. The 75% margins in Geekbench OpenCL and Passmark GPU Compute show that it handles data-parallel workloads far better than the NVIDIA mobile part. For gaming, the DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 wins of 36.2% and 38.2%, respectively, indicate the Arc B580 provides a smoother experience at higher settings or resolutions, assuming the system can supply 190 W and accommodate a full-length dual-slot card. The RTX 3050 A Mobile, with its 45 W TDP and IGP form factor, suits compact or power-limited systems where the Arc B580 physically cannot fit.

The RTX 3050 A Mobile does have one feature the Arc B580 lacks: 56 tensor cores. The database records no benchmark for these cores, so their practical impact cannot be quantified from the available data. However, for software that uses tensor cores for AI acceleration, the NVIDIA part may hold an unmeasured advantage. The Arc B580 has no tensor cores listed at all.

The RTX 3050 A Mobile is also end-of-life, while the Arc B580 remains active. The Intel card's predecessor is Alchemist, and it carries a 249 USD launch MSRP, which the database records but does not use for any performance ranking. The NVIDIA part has no MSRP on record.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Arc B580 has an average benchmark score of 23021, compared to 8746 for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile.

Q: What is the largest performance margin between the two?

A: The largest margin is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the Arc B580 scores 92821 against 52998 for the RTX 3050 A Mobile, a 75.1% difference. Passmark GPU Compute is nearly identical at 74.9%.

Q: How do the memory specifications compare?

A: The Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 456.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The Arc B580 has 2560 shading units, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has 1792.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same DirectX version?

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

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The Arc B580 has a 190 W TDP, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile has a 45 W TDP.

Q: Which GPU has tensor cores?

A: The RTX 3050 A Mobile has 56 tensor cores. The Arc B580 has no tensor cores listed in the database.

Q: What is the production status of each GPU?

A: The Arc B580 is listed as active, while the RTX 3050 A Mobile is end-of-life.

Specification Differences

The table below lists only the fields where the two GPUs differ.

| Field | Intel Arc B580 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile |

| --- | --- | --- |

| Chip | BMG-G21 | GA106 |

| Architecture | Xe2-HPG | Ampere |

| Generation | Battlemage (Arc 5) | GeForce 30 Mobile |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 19,600 million | 12,000 million |

| Die Size | 272 mm² | 276 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 72.1M / mm² | 43.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 2670 MHz | 1065 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2670 MHz | 1343 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2375 MHz 19 Gbps effective | 1500 MHz 12 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 12 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 192 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 456.0 GB/s | 192.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2560 | 1792 |

| TMUs | 160 | 56 |

| ROPs | 80 | 32 |

| RT Cores | 20 | 14 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 56 |

| Pixel Rate | 213.6 GPixel/s | 42.98 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 427.2 GTexel/s | 75.21 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 13.67 TFLOPS | 4.813 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 27.34 TFLOPS (2:1) | 4.813 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 190 W | 45 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | None |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1a, 3x DisplayPort 2.1 | Portable Device Dependent |

| Dimensions | 272 mm length, 115 mm height, 45 mm width | None recorded |

| Production Status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release Date | 2024-12-12 | 2023-12-31 |

| Predecessor | Alchemist | GeForce 20 Mobile |

| Launch MSRP | 249 USD | None |

| Percentile vs All GPUs | 68 | 44 |

| Average Benchmark Score | 23021 | 8746 |

The recorded data shows no specification where the RTX 3050 A Mobile outperforms the Arc B580, with the exception of tensor core count and lower power draw, both of which are not reflected in any benchmark result. The Intel card leads on every measured performance metric.