Intel Arc G3 Extreme vs NVIDIA N1 16SM Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data does not contain any head-to-head benchmark results between the Intel Arc G3 Extreme and the NVIDIA N1 16SM. Both products show zero wins in the comparison set, and the average benchmark score for each is zero. The percentile ranking against all GPUs is identical at 50 for both parts, placing them at the median of the database distribution. Without measured performance data, the use-case split must be derived from architectural characteristics rather than empirical scores.

The Intel Arc G3 Extreme positions itself around raw shader throughput with a compact execution unit count. Its 1536 shading units and 48 texture mapping units support a peak FP32 rate of 7.680 TFLOPS. The NVIDIA N1 16SM counters with 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and a peak FP32 rate of 9.609 TFLOPS, giving it a 25.1% higher theoretical compute ceiling. Texture-heavy workloads, where the N1 16SM has 2.67 times the texture units of the Arc part, would favor the NVIDIA product.

The Arc G3 Extreme holds an advantage in pixel throughput. Its 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate exceeds the 56.30 GPixel/s of the N1 16SM by 6.6%. Rasterization-bound scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions where pixel fill becomes the limiting factor, could favor the Intel part. Both products have 24 ROPs, so the pixel rate difference stems from the Arc G3 Extreme's higher boost clock relative to its ROP count.

FP16 compute presents a sharp divergence. The Arc G3 Extreme delivers 15.36 TFLOPS with a 2:1 FP16-to-FP32 ratio, doubling its FP32 throughput. The N1 16SM delivers 9.609 TFLOPS in FP16 with a 1:1 ratio, meaning it gains nothing from reduced precision. Applications that leverage FP16 acceleration, such as certain AI inference workloads and media processing pipelines, would see a clear advantage on the Intel side.

The N1 16SM integrates 64 tensor cores, while the Arc G3 Extreme has no tensor core count listed. The NVIDIA part also includes 16 RT cores versus 12 on the Intel part. Ray tracing workloads would lean toward the N1 16SM, assuming the additional RT core count translates into higher traversal and intersection throughput.

Memory architecture differentiates the two fundamentally. The N1 16SM uses 128 GB of LPDDR5X on a 256-bit bus, yielding 273.2 GB/s of dedicated bandwidth. The Arc G3 Extreme relies on system-shared memory with bandwidth labeled as system dependent. For workloads that repeatedly access large datasets, the NVIDIA part's fixed bandwidth advantage removes memory contention as a variable.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different foundries and process nodes. Intel fabricates the Arc G3 Extreme on a 3 nm process at Intel, while TSMC produces the N1 16SM on a 5 nm node. The Intel chip, codenamed Panther Lake, uses the Xe3-LPG architecture and belongs to the Arc Graphics-M generation. The NVIDIA chip, designated GB20B, uses the Blackwell 2.0 architecture within the Blackwell IGP generation. The N1 16SM has a measured die size of 382 mm², while the Arc G3 Extreme's die size is not recorded.

Clock behavior differs notably. The Arc G3 Extreme runs at a 300 MHz base clock and boosts to 2500 MHz. The N1 16SM has a 741 MHz base clock and boosts to 2346 MHz. The Intel part thus has a 154 MHz higher boost clock, contributing to its pixel rate advantage despite having the same ROP count. The NVIDIA part's higher base clock suggests different power management characteristics, though its TDP is listed as unknown whereas the Arc G3 Extreme carries an 80 W TDP.

The N1 16SM exposes a PCIe 5.0 x16 bus interface, while the Arc G3 Extreme uses an IGP bus interface. Both are integrated graphics products in slot width terms, and neither has power connectors. Display outputs differ: the Arc G3 Extreme uses portable-device-dependent outputs, while the N1 16SM provides a single HDMI port.

API support is a decisive split. The Arc G3 Extreme supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The N1 16SM lists N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan. This indicates the NVIDIA part may be oriented toward specialized or proprietary compute interfaces rather than general graphics APIs. The Intel part is fully exposed to standard graphics stacks.

Memory type and capacity diverge completely. The N1 16SM has 128 GB of LPDDR5X on a 256-bit bus with 273.2 GB/s bandwidth and a 1067 MHz base memory clock, translating to 8.5 Gbps effective. The Arc G3 Extreme uses system-shared memory with no dedicated capacity, bus width, or bandwidth figures. The NVIDIA part's memory clock is explicitly recorded; the Intel part's memory clock is simply listed as system shared.

Texture and compute resources favor the NVIDIA part by wide margins. The N1 16SM has 128 TMUs versus 48, a 2.67x difference. Its texture rate of 300.3 GTexel/s is 2.5 times the 120.0 GTexel/s of the Arc G3 Extreme. The shading unit count of 2048 versus 1536 gives the NVIDIA part a 33.3% advantage in raw shader count.

Ray tracing and tensor resources follow the same pattern. The N1 16SM has 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores; the Arc G3 Extreme has 12 RT cores and no listed tensor core count. The Intel part's FP16 advantage at 15.36 TFLOPS versus 9.609 TFLOPS suggests its tensor core functionality, if present, is not enumerated in the database.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

No benchmark scores exist in the database for either product. The head-to-head benchmark array is empty, and the win counts for both items are zero. The average benchmark score for each GPU is zero, and neither product has nearest rivals recorded. Consequently, the following analysis uses only specification-derived comparisons.

The largest compute advantage belongs to the N1 16SM in FP32 throughput. At 9.609 TFLOPS versus 7.680 TFLOPS, the NVIDIA part leads by 1.929 TFLOPS, a 25.1% margin. This advantage compounds in texture-heavy workloads: the N1 16SM's 300.3 GTexel/s versus 120.0 GTexel/s represents a 150.3% advantage, or 2.5 times the Intel part's texture rate.

The Arc G3 Extreme wins in FP16 compute. Its 15.36 TFLOPS at 2:1 ratio exceeds the N1 16SM's 9.609 TFLOPS at 1:1 by 5.751 TFLOPS, a 59.8% margin. This is the single largest relative advantage in either direction across the recorded specifications.

Pixel rate favors the Intel part, but by a smaller margin. The Arc G3 Extreme's 60.00 GPixel/s beats the N1 16SM's 56.30 GPixel/s by 3.70 GPixel/s, or 6.6%. Both GPUs have 24 ROPs, so the difference comes entirely from the Arc G3 Extreme's higher boost clock.

Memory bandwidth is exclusively recorded for the N1 16SM at 273.2 GB/s. The Arc G3 Extreme's bandwidth is system dependent, meaning no direct comparison can be made. The N1 16SM's 128 GB capacity and 256-bit bus provide a fixed, measurable memory subsystem.

The boost clock comparison shows the Arc G3 Extreme at 2500 MHz versus 2346 MHz for the N1 16SM, a 154 MHz difference. The base clocks are reversed: the N1 16SM runs at 741 MHz versus 300 MHz for the Arc G3 Extreme. The Intel part's higher boost clock explains its pixel rate edge despite identical ROP counts.

Shader count and texture unit comparisons overwhelmingly favor the NVIDIA part. The N1 16SM has 512 more shading units and 80 more texture mapping units. Its texture rate advantage of 180.3 GTexel/s is the largest absolute gap across all compute metrics.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw FP32 compute throughput?

A: The NVIDIA N1 16SM delivers 9.609 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is 25.1% higher than the Intel Arc G3 Extreme's 7.680 TFLOPS.

Q: Does either GPU support DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: Only the Intel Arc G3 Extreme lists DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support, along with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA N1 16SM lists N/A for all three APIs.

Q: What is the memory configuration of each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA N1 16SM uses 128 GB of LPDDR5X on a 256-bit bus with 273.2 GB/s bandwidth. The Intel Arc G3 Extreme uses system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth and no dedicated capacity.

Q: How do the texture processing capabilities compare?

A: The NVIDIA N1 16SM has 128 TMUs and a 300.3 GTexel/s texture rate, which is 2.5 times the 120.0 GTexel/s of the Intel Arc G3 Extreme, which has 48 TMUs.

Q: Which GPU has more ray tracing cores?

A: The NVIDIA N1 16SM has 16 RT cores, while the Intel Arc G3 Extreme has 12 RT cores, a difference of 4 cores in NVIDIA's favor.

Q: What about FP16 compute performance?

A: The Intel Arc G3 Extreme reaches 15.36 TFLOPS with a 2:1 FP16-to-FP32 ratio, which is 59.8% higher than the NVIDIA N1 16SM's 9.609 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio.

The Verdict

The database presents two integrated GPUs with complementary strengths, though no benchmark scores exist to validate real-world performance. The NVIDIA N1 16SM is the superior choice for FP32 compute, texture-heavy workloads, and memory-intensive tasks. Its 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, 273.2 GB/s dedicated bandwidth, and 64 tensor cores make it the stronger part for general compute and workloads that fit within standard graphics stacks, assuming those stacks are available despite the N/A API entries.

The Intel Arc G3 Extreme wins decisively in FP16 compute and holds a modest pixel rate advantage. Its 15.36 TFLOPS FP16 throughput is nearly 60% higher than the NVIDIA part, and its 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate edges out the 56.30 GPixel/s of the N1 16SM. The Intel part also carries full DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 support, making it the only one of the two with a complete, recorded graphics API stack.

For ray tracing workloads, the N1 16SM has the higher RT core count at 16 versus 12. For pixel fill operations, the Arc G3 Extreme has the higher rate. For FP32 shader compute, the N1 16SM leads by a quarter. For FP16 operations, the Arc G3 Extreme leads by nearly two-thirds.

Users who prioritize texture throughput, large memory capacity, and tensor core availability should select the NVIDIA N1 16SM. Users who need FP16 acceleration, standard graphics API compatibility, or maximum pixel fill should select the Intel Arc G3 Extreme. Both parts share the same 24 ROP count, the same IGP slot width, and the same release date of 2026-05-31.

Specification Differences

| Specification | Intel Arc G3 Extreme | NVIDIA N1 16SM |

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

| Architecture | Xe3-LPG | Blackwell 2.0 |

| Process Node | 3 nm | 5 nm |

| Foundry | Intel | TSMC |

| Die Size | unknown | 382 mm² |

| Base Clock | 300 MHz | 741 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2500 MHz | 2346 MHz |

| Memory Size | System Shared | 128 GB |

| Memory Type | System Shared | LPDDR5X |

| Memory Bus Width | System Shared | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | System Dependent | 273.2 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1536 | 2048 |

| TMUs | 48 | 128 |

| ROPs | 24 | 24 |

| RT Cores | 12 | 16 |

| Tensor Cores | null | 64 |

| Pixel Rate | 60.00 GPixel/s | 56.30 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 120.0 GTexel/s | 300.3 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 7.680 TFLOPS | 9.609 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1) | 9.609 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 80 W | unknown |

| Bus Interface | IGP | PCIe 5.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x HDMI |

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | N/A |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | N/A |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | N/A |