Intel Arc B580 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data splits these two GPUs into distinct roles. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile wins 8 of 9 head-to-head comparisons, with an average benchmark score of 27435 against the Intel Arc B580's 23021. That is a 19.2% gap in aggregate performance, placing the NVIDIA part at the 73rd percentile of all GPUs while the Intel card sits at the 68th. The RTX 4070 Mobile is the stronger compute and DirectX performer, leading by double digits in most tests. The Intel Arc B580 is not without a counterpoint: it wins the Vulkan test by a narrow 1.2% margin, and it carries 12 GB of memory versus 8 GB. For a desktop builder who prioritizes raw frame rates in older DirectX titles or general GPU compute, the data points to the NVIDIA part. For someone who needs more memory capacity and can accept a lower overall score, the Intel card offers a specific advantage, though the recorded measurements show it loses the overall performance battle.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 Mobile dominates the legacy DirectX suite. In PassMark DirectX 10 it scores 116 versus 76, a 52.6% advantage, its largest win of the comparison. DirectX 11 shows a 39.8% lead (179 versus 128), and DirectX 9 shows a 21.9% lead (223 versus 183). These are not marginal victories; they indicate that the NVIDIA architecture maintains a substantial edge in older API workloads. The DirectX 12 result is closer, 85 versus 76 for an 11.8% lead, but still favors NVIDIA. In PassMark G3D, the RTX 4070 Mobile scores 19587 against 15748, a 24.4% advantage, confirming its overall rasterization strength. The compute test also goes to NVIDIA, 8399 versus 7729, an 8.7% lead. The 2D test is the smallest NVIDIA win at 7.6% (763 versus 709).

The Intel Arc B580 claims only one head-to-head victory: Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 109672 against 108367, a 1.2% margin. That is a narrow win, but it is the one area where the Intel architecture pulls ahead. The B580 also has a higher pixel rate (213.6 GPixel/s versus 81.36 GPixel/s) and texture rate (427.2 GTexel/s versus 244.1 GTexel/s), which are not directly reflected in the PassMark results but hint at fill-rate oriented workloads. The RTX 4070 Mobile, by contrast, wins the OpenCL test decisively, 109197 versus 92821, a 17.6% margin that suggests better general-purpose compute throughput.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different design philosophies. The RTX 4070 Mobile uses the AD106 chip with Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm TSMC process with 22,900 million transistors on a 188 mm² die. That yields a transistor density of 121.8 million per mm², a very high packing density. The Intel Arc B580 uses the BMG-G21 chip with Xe2-HPG architecture, also on a 5 nm TSMC process, but with 19,600 million transistors spread across a 272 mm² die, giving a much lower density of 72.1 million per mm². The Intel chip is physically larger but has fewer transistors.

The shading unit counts tell a similar story. The RTX 4070 Mobile has 4608 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, with 36 ray tracing cores and 144 tensor cores. The Arc B580 has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with 20 ray tracing cores and no tensor core entry in the data. NVIDIA's FP32 throughput is 15.62 TFLOPS, while Intel's is 13.67 TFLOPS. But Intel's FP16 rate is 27.34 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, whereas NVIDIA's FP16 is 15.62 TFLOPS at 1:1. That means the Intel card can process half-precision workloads at nearly double its FP32 rate, a notable architectural difference for compute tasks that use FP16.

Memory is another major split. The RTX 4070 Mobile uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Arc B580 uses 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, yielding 456.0 GB/s, a 78% bandwidth advantage. Clock speeds also differ: the RTX 4070 Mobile runs at 1395 MHz base and 1695 MHz boost, while the Arc B580 runs at a flat 2670 MHz base and boost. Memory speeds are 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA and 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) for Intel. The form factors diverge as well: the RTX 4070 Mobile is an IGP with no power connectors and portable-device-dependent outputs, while the Arc B580 is a dual-slot card with a 1x 8-pin connector, a 450 W suggested PSU, and outputs of 1x HDMI 2.1a plus 3x DisplayPort 2.1.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 27435, compared to the Intel Arc B580's 23021. That is a difference of 4414 points in favor of the NVIDIA part.

Q: Does the Intel Arc B580 win any benchmark against the RTX 4070 Mobile?

A: Yes, the Arc B580 wins the Geekbench Vulkan test, scoring 109672 versus 108367, a 1.2% margin. It also has a higher pixel rate (213.6 GPixel/s versus 81.36 GPixel/s) and texture rate (427.2 GTexel/s versus 244.1 GTexel/s), though those are specifications, not benchmark scores.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4070 Mobile in DirectX 10 and DirectX 11?

A: In PassMark DirectX 10, the RTX 4070 Mobile scores 116 versus 76, a 52.6% lead. In DirectX 11, it scores 179 versus 128, a 39.8% lead.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The Intel Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile has 8 GB. The Intel card also has a wider 192-bit bus and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 256.0 GB/s for NVIDIA.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile has 4608 shading units, while the Intel Arc B580 has 2560. However, the Intel card has more texture mapping units (160 versus 144) and more ROPs (80 versus 48).

Q: What is the transistor count and die size difference?

A: The RTX 4070 Mobile has 22,900 million transistors on a 188 mm² die. The Arc B580 has 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. The NVIDIA chip has a higher transistor density at 121.8 million per mm² versus 72.1 million per mm² for Intel.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The biggest single win for the RTX 4070 Mobile comes in PassMark DirectX 10, where it scores 116 against the Arc B580's 76. That 52.6% delta is the largest margin in the entire comparison, and it suggests the NVIDIA architecture handles legacy API paths with far greater efficiency. DirectX 11 follows a similar pattern: 179 versus 128, a 39.8% lead. These two tests alone account for the bulk of the performance gap between the cards. DirectX 9 is also decisive, 223 versus 183, a 21.9% advantage. The DirectX 12 result is tighter at 85 versus 76, an 11.8% lead, but still favors NVIDIA. The data indicates that as APIs become more modern, the Intel card closes the gap somewhat, but it never overtakes the RTX 4070 Mobile in any DirectX test.

The PassMark G3D test, which measures overall 3D graphics performance, shows the RTX 4070 Mobile at 19587 versus 15748, a 24.4% advantage. That is a substantial margin for a mainstream desktop card against a mobile part, and it reinforces the idea that the NVIDIA GPU has more raw graphics throughput despite its lower pixel and texture rates. The compute test, PassMark GPU Compute, goes to NVIDIA at 8399 versus 7729, an 8.7% lead. The OpenCL test in Geekbench is even more one-sided: 109197 versus 92821, a 17.6% margin. This suggests the RTX 4070 Mobile is the better choice for OpenCL-based workloads, which are common in scientific and productivity applications.

The Intel Arc B580's only benchmark win is Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 109672 versus 108367, a 1.2% margin. That is a narrow victory, but it is worth noting because Vulkan is a modern, low-overhead API used in many current games. The fact that Intel wins here, even slightly, indicates that its Xe2-HPG architecture is competitive in Vulkan-specific paths. The 2D test also deserves mention: the RTX 4070 Mobile scores 763 versus 709, a 7.6% lead, which is the smallest NVIDIA win. The overall picture from the head-to-head data is clear: NVIDIA wins 8 of 9 tests, with margins ranging from 7.6% to 52.6%, while Intel's single victory is a 1.2% edge in Vulkan. The average benchmark score difference of 19.2% (27435 versus 23021) aligns with the median of those margins, confirming that the RTX 4070 Mobile is the faster GPU in the majority of measured workloads.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs diverge on nearly every specification that matters. The RTX 4070 Mobile uses the AD106 chip with Ada Lovelace architecture, while the Arc B580 uses BMG-G21 with Xe2-HPG. Both are on a 5 nm TSMC process, but the transistor counts differ: 22,900 million for NVIDIA versus 19,600 million for Intel. Die size is 188 mm² versus 272 mm², giving NVIDIA a much higher transistor density at 121.8 million per mm² versus 72.1 million per mm². Clock speeds are significantly different: the RTX 4070 Mobile runs at 1395 MHz base and 1695 MHz boost, while the Arc B580 runs at 2670 MHz base and boost, a much higher clock but with fewer shading units.

Memory configuration is a major differentiator. The RTX 4070 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) memory speed. The Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 456.0 GB/s bandwidth and 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) memory speed. The Intel card has 78% more bandwidth and 50% more capacity, which could matter for texture-heavy workloads or larger datasets. The shading unit count favors NVIDIA at 4608 versus 2560, but the TMU count favors Intel at 160 versus 144, and the ROP count favors Intel even more at 80 versus 48. Ray tracing cores are 36 for NVIDIA versus 20 for Intel, and NVIDIA has 144 tensor cores while Intel has none listed in the data.

Pixel rate and texture rate also favor Intel: 213.6 GPixel/s versus 81.36 GPixel/s, and 427.2 GTexel/s versus 244.1 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput favors NVIDIA at 15.62 TFLOPS versus 13.67 TFLOPS, but FP16 favors Intel at 27.34 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 15.62 TFLOPS (1:1). The TDP is another clear split: the RTX 4070 Mobile draws 115 W and is an IGP with no power connectors, while the Arc B580 draws 190 W, is a dual-slot card with a 1x 8-pin connector, and requires a 450 W suggested PSU. The bus interface is the same for both (PCIe 4.0 x8), and both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Display outputs differ: NVIDIA is portable-device dependent, while Intel offers 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1. The Arc B580 has a launch MSRP of 249 USD, while the RTX 4070 Mobile has no listed launch MSRP. Release dates are also far apart: the RTX 4070 Mobile launched on 2023-01-02, while the Arc B580 launched on 2024-12-12.