Intel Arc B580 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive overall victory for the Intel Arc B580, which wins 7 of the 10 head-to-head benchmark comparisons against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile. The most significant margin comes in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the Arc B580 scores 3068 against the RTX 3070 Mobile's 2380, a 28.9% advantage. This is a substantial lead in a modern DirectX 12 workload and establishes the Intel part as the stronger choice for current-generation gaming titles.

Vulkan performance tells a similar story. The Arc B580 posts 109672 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 26.4% ahead of the RTX 3070 Mobile's 86768. This gap indicates that the Intel architecture scales well across both major low-level graphics APIs, not just DirectX 12. The Arc B580's advantage in these two modern API tests contrasts sharply with its performance in legacy DirectX 10 workloads, where the NVIDIA part wins by 32.7% (113 versus 76). That is the largest single-test margin in either direction, and it highlights a clear generational split in driver optimization and hardware design.

DirectX 11 results also favor NVIDIA, though by a smaller margin. The RTX 3070 Mobile scores 138 versus 128 for the Arc B580, a 7.2% lead. This suggests that older game engines and applications built around DirectX 11 may run more smoothly on the NVIDIA hardware. However, the Arc B580 counters in DirectX 12 with an 18.8% win (76 versus 64) and in DirectX 9 with a 14.4% win (183 versus 160). The DirectX 9 result is particularly notable because it shows the Intel part handling very old APIs with relative strength, despite the NVIDIA card's edge in the DirectX 10 and 11 tests.

Compute performance also favors the Intel card. In Passmark GPU Compute, the Arc B580 scores 7729 versus 6827 for the RTX 3070 Mobile, a 13.2% advantage. This is consistent with the Arc B580's higher raw FP32 throughput of 13.67 TFLOPS, though the NVIDIA part actually has a higher rated FP32 of 15.97 TFLOPS. The benchmark result suggests that architectural efficiency and driver scheduling play a larger role than theoretical peak throughput in this particular compute test.

The 2D performance category goes to Intel as well. Passmark G2D shows 709 for the Arc B580 versus 641 for the RTX 3070 Mobile, a 10.6% margin. This is a less demanding workload, but it can matter for desktop responsiveness and productivity tasks. In the overall Passmark G3D score, the Arc B580 edges out the RTX 3070 Mobile by 2.9% (15748 versus 15309), a much narrower gap than the modern API tests would suggest. This reflects the fact that the G3D aggregate includes older DirectX tests where NVIDIA performs better, pulling the overall score closer together.

The OpenCL results are essentially a tie. The RTX 3070 Mobile scores 92939 against the Arc B580's 92821, a difference of only 0.1%. This is the closest head-to-head result in the entire dataset and indicates that general-purpose compute workloads using OpenCL will see nearly identical performance from either card.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Arc B580 is the clear winner for modern gaming and compute workloads. Its 28.9% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 26.4% lead in Geekbench Vulkan make it the stronger choice for current DirectX 12 and Vulkan titles. The 18.8% win in Passmark DirectX 12 reinforces this pattern, and the 13.2% advantage in GPU compute suggests that content creation and compute-heavy tasks will also run faster on the Intel card. The DirectX 9 win by 14.4% is a bonus for anyone still running older games, and the 10.6% G2D margin means the Arc B580 also handles basic 2D workloads with a slight edge.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile wins where legacy API support matters. Its 32.7% lead in DirectX 10 is the largest margin in any test, and its 7.2% win in DirectX 11 means that games and applications built for those APIs will perform better on the NVIDIA hardware. The 0.1% OpenCL margin is effectively a draw, so NVIDIA's only meaningful advantages are in the older DirectX tiers. For users who primarily play older titles or run legacy business applications, the RTX 3070 Mobile has a real, measured benefit. But for anyone focused on current or upcoming games, the Arc B580's modern API dominance is the more relevant factor.

The overall average benchmark score reflects this split. The Arc B580 has an average score of 23021, while the RTX 3070 Mobile sits at 20534, a difference of roughly 12%. The Arc B580 also holds a higher percentile ranking at 68 versus 65 for the NVIDIA part. In terms of nearest rivals, the Arc B580 sits within 1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, delta -0.7%) and the NVIDIA P106-100 (23249, delta -1%), while the RTX 3070 Mobile is closest to the Intel Arc B570 (20556, delta -0.1%) and the Intel Arc A750 (20582, delta -0.2%). This places the Arc B580 in desktop-class territory, while the RTX 3070 Mobile aligns with lower-tier Intel desktop parts.

Architecture Differences

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, which represents the second generation of Intel's discrete graphics push. The chip, codenamed BMG-G21, is fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC, packing 19,600 million transistors into a 272 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 72.1M per mm², a figure that reflects the advanced manufacturing node. The architecture includes 20 dedicated ray tracing cores, which places it in the same feature tier as NVIDIA's Ampere parts.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with the GA104 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. It contains 17,400 million transistors across a much larger 392 mm² die, resulting in a lower transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The NVIDIA part has 40 ray tracing cores and 160 tensor cores, which are dedicated AI acceleration units. The Arc B580 has no tensor core equivalent listed, so NVIDIA holds the advantage in AI and DLSS-style workloads, though the raw compute benchmarks do not show a decisive NVIDIA lead.

The 5 nm process gives Intel a significant efficiency and density advantage. A smaller die with more transistors per square millimeter means the Arc B580 can deliver competitive performance at a lower thermal footprint. The RTX 3070 Mobile has a TDP of 115 W, while the Arc B580 is rated at 190 W, so the NVIDIA part consumes less power in absolute terms. However, the Intel card is a desktop part with a dual-slot cooler and a single 8-pin power connector, while the NVIDIA part is a mobile chip with no dedicated power connectors, as it relies on the laptop's power delivery system.

Both architectures support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so feature-level API support is identical. The key architectural differences are the process node, the transistor density, and the presence of tensor cores on the NVIDIA side. Intel's ray tracing cores are fewer in number (20 versus 40), but the modern API benchmark results suggest that Intel's implementation is effective in practice.

Specification Differences

The Intel Arc B580 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile differ across nearly every specification category. The Intel card uses a 5 nm TSMC process, while the NVIDIA part uses Samsung's 8 nm node. Transistor counts are 19,600 million for Intel versus 17,400 million for NVIDIA, and die sizes are 272 mm² versus 392 mm². The Intel chip achieves a density of 72.1M per mm², compared to 44.4M per mm² for NVIDIA.

Clock speeds show a major divergence. The Arc B580 has a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, which is identical for both. The RTX 3070 Mobile has a base clock of 1110 MHz and a boost clock of 1560 MHz, significantly lower. Memory clocks also differ: the Intel card runs at 2375 MHz with 19 Gbps effective, while the NVIDIA part runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective.

Memory configuration is another clear split. The Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3070 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s. The Intel card has more memory and slightly more bandwidth, while NVIDIA has a wider bus. Shading units favor NVIDIA at 5120 versus 2560 for Intel, though the TMU count is identical at 160 and the ROP count is also identical at 80. RT cores are 20 for Intel and 40 for NVIDIA, and NVIDIA adds 160 tensor cores where Intel has none.

Pixel rate and texture rate favor Intel. The Arc B580 posts 213.6 GPixel/s and 427.2 GTexel/s, while the RTX 3070 Mobile posts 124.8 GPixel/s and 249.6 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput favors NVIDIA at 15.97 TFLOPS versus 13.67 TFLOPS for Intel. FP16 performance is identical to FP32 on NVIDIA (15.97 TFLOPS at 1:1), while Intel doubles its FP16 rate to 27.34 TFLOPS at 2:1. TDP is 190 W for Intel and 115 W for NVIDIA. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x8 for Intel and PCIe 4.0 x16 for NVIDIA. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1 for Intel, while NVIDIA is marked as "Portable Device Dependent." The Intel card is a dual-slot desktop part with a 272 mm length, while the NVIDIA mobile chip has no listed dimensions. The Arc B580 has a launch MSRP of 249 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in modern DirectX 12 gaming benchmarks?

A: The Intel Arc B580 wins decisively. It scores 3068 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 versus 2380 for the RTX 3070 Mobile, a 28.9% advantage. It also wins Passmark DirectX 12 by 18.8% (76 versus 64).

Q: Does the NVIDIA card have any advantages in benchmarks?

A: Yes. The RTX 3070 Mobile wins Passmark DirectX 10 by 32.7% (113 versus 76) and Passmark DirectX 11 by 7.2% (138 versus 128). It also edges out the Arc B580 in Geekbench OpenCL by 0.1% (92939 versus 92821).

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 456.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3070 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. Intel offers more capacity and slightly higher bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute throughput?

A: The RTX 3070 Mobile has a higher FP32 rating at 15.97 TFLOPS versus 13.67 TFLOPS for the Arc B580. However, the Arc B580 wins the Passmark GPU Compute benchmark by 13.2% (7729 versus 6827).

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference?

A: The Arc B580 has an average benchmark score of 23021, while the RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534. This places the Intel card in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the 65th percentile for NVIDIA.

Q: Which GPU is closer to a desktop-class NVIDIA card?

A: The Arc B580's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, delta -0.7%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, delta 0.6%). The RTX 3070 Mobile's nearest rivals are the Intel Arc B570 (20556, delta -0.1%) and Intel Arc A750 (20582, delta -0.2%).