Intel Arc A580 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Comparison

# FAQ

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference between the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and the Intel Arc A580?

A: The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 59,188, while the Arc A580 scores 57,756. This puts the RTX 5080 2.5% ahead of the Arc A580, according to the nearestRivals deltaPct data.

Q: Which GPU wins in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, and by how much?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 wins decisively with a score of 8,637 versus the Intel Arc A580's 2,229, representing a 287.5% advantage for the RTX 5080.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in Geekbench Vulkan performance?

A: The RTX 5080 scores 257,942 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the Arc A580 scores 79,381. The RTX 5080 leads by 224.9%, a substantial margin in this cross-platform API test.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: The RTX 5080 features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory with a 256-bit bus and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Arc A580 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density, and what does that indicate?

A: The RTX 5080 has a transistor density of 120.6M per mm², compared to the Arc A580's 53.4M per mm². This reflects the RTX 5080's more advanced 5 nm process node versus the Arc A580's 6 nm node.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX and Vulkan versions?

A: Yes, both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API feature parity exists despite significant performance differences.

# The Verdict

The data paints an unambiguous picture for most workloads: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the superior performer across every benchmark recorded. It wins all three head-to-head tests, with margins ranging from 188.5% to 287.5%. The RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 59,188 places it 2.5% above the Arc A580's 57,756, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A570M (1.6% behind) and the Intel Arc Pro A60 (1.9% ahead), indicating it sits in a competitive cluster among mid-range GPUs.

However, the Arc A580 is not without merit. Its average score of 57,756 puts it within 2.5% of the RTX 5080 on aggregate, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X at 0.2% behind and the NVIDIA P102-100 at 0.3% behind. This suggests the Arc A580 holds its own in the broader benchmark database context, even though it loses decisively in the specific head-to-head tests.

For users prioritizing raw gaming performance, particularly in DX12 titles, the RTX 5080 is the clear choice — the 3DMark Steel Nomad result alone demonstrates nearly 4x the performance. For compute workloads via OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX 5080 also dominates, with 188.5% and 224.9% leads respectively. The Arc A580, with its lower TDP of 175 W versus 360 W and smaller 8 GB memory footprint, appears better suited for scenarios where power efficiency and moderate VRAM requirements take precedence over maximum frame rates.

The RTX 5080's 89th percentile ranking among all GPUs matches the Arc A580's percentile, meaning both cards sit at the same tier in the overall distribution. Yet the head-to-head results show the RTX 5080 outperforms the Arc A580 by more than 2.5x in every direct comparison. The verdict: the RTX 5080 is the performance leader, while the Arc A580 remains a viable option for those prioritizing lower power draw and sufficient, but not exceptional, benchmark scores.

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data reveals a complete sweep for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, with no benchmark where the Intel Arc A580 manages to close the gap. The most striking result is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the RTX 5080 scores 8,637 against the Arc A580's 2,229. This 287.5% delta is the largest margin across all three tests, indicating that the RTX 5080's architecture is exceptionally well-suited to modern DirectX 12 workloads. The Arc A580's score of 2,229 in this test places it far behind, suggesting a fundamental throughput disadvantage in this specific benchmark scenario.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5080 achieves 264,461 points, while the Arc A580 manages 91,657. The 188.5% lead for the RTX 5080 is significant, though proportionally smaller than the 3DMark result. This test measures general-purpose compute performance, and the RTX 5080's 56.28 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus the Arc A580's 12.29 TFLOPS explains the substantial gap. The Arc A580's FP16 performance of 24.58 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) does not translate into OpenCL gains that would narrow the margin.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows the RTX 5080 scoring 257,942 versus the Arc A580's 79,381, a 224.9% advantage. This result is notable because Vulkan is a low-level API that often rewards architectural efficiency. The RTX 5080's Blackwell 2.0 architecture with 10,752 shading units and 336 texture mapping units provides far greater parallel processing capability than the Arc A580's 3,072 shading units and 192 TMUs. The RTX 5080 also benefits from a higher boost clock of 2,617 MHz versus the Arc A580's 2,000 MHz, compounding the core count advantage.

Across all three tests, the RTX 5080's win margins are consistent — never below 188.5% and reaching as high as 287.5%. This uniformity suggests the performance gap is not workload-specific but rather a general throughput advantage stemming from the RTX 5080's larger silicon, higher clocks, and more advanced memory subsystem. The Arc A580's 512.0 GB/s bandwidth is exactly half the RTX 5080's 960.0 GB/s, and this memory bandwidth deficit likely contributes to the consistent underperformance in compute-heavy benchmarks.

# Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification category. The RTX 5080 uses the GB203 chip with Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die. The Arc A580 uses the DG2-512 chip with Xe-HPG architecture, built on a 6 nm process at TSMC with 21,700 million transistors on a 406 mm² die. Despite the Arc A580's larger physical die, it packs fewer than half the transistors, resulting in a transistor density of 53.4M per mm² versus the RTX 5080's 120.6M per mm².

Clock speeds diverge significantly: the RTX 5080 has a base clock of 2,295 MHz and a boost clock of 2,617 MHz, while the Arc A580 operates at 1,700 MHz base and 2,000 MHz boost. Memory configurations differ in type and capacity — the RTX 5080 offers 16 GB of GDDR7 at 1,875 MHz (30 Gbps effective) delivering 960.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the Arc A580 provides 8 GB of GDDR6 at 2,000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for 512.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Core counts show a stark contrast: the RTX 5080 has 10,752 shading units, 336 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 84 RT cores, and 336 tensor cores. The Arc A580 has 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 24 RT cores, with no tensor cores listed. This translates to pixel rates of 293.1 GPixel/s for the RTX 5080 versus 192.0 GPixel/s for the Arc A580, and texture rates of 879.3 GTexel/s versus 384.0 GTexel/s.

Power requirements differ substantially: the RTX 5080 has a TDP of 360 W with a 1x 16-pin connector and a suggested PSU of 750 W, while the Arc A580 draws 175 W with 2x 8-pin connectors and a 450 W suggested PSU. The RTX 5080 uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while the Arc A580 uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs also differ: the RTX 5080 offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b, while the Arc A580 provides 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0.

# Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these GPUs is fundamental. The RTX 5080 employs Blackwell 2.0 architecture, NVIDIA's latest generation, built on a 5 nm TSMC process. The Arc A580 uses Intel's Xe-HPG architecture from the Alchemist generation (Arc 5), fabricated on a 6 nm TSMC node. This process advantage allows the RTX 5080 to achieve a transistor density of 120.6M per mm², more than double the Arc A580's 53.4M per mm², despite the Arc A580 having a larger die area.

The RTX 5080's Blackwell architecture integrates 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, enabling dedicated ray tracing and AI acceleration. The Arc A580 has 24 RT cores but no tensor cores, meaning it lacks the dedicated matrix math units that the RTX 5080 uses for AI-driven features. This difference is reflected in the FP16 compute ratios: the RTX 5080 delivers 56.28 TFLOPS FP16 with a 1:1 ratio to FP32, while the Arc A580 achieves 24.58 TFLOPS FP16 via a 2:1 ratio, indicating a different approach to half-precision workloads.

Memory architecture differs in generation and efficiency. The RTX 5080 uses GDDR7 memory with 30 Gbps effective speed, while the Arc A580 uses GDDR6 at 16 Gbps effective. Both use 256-bit buses, but the RTX 5080's newer memory technology yields 960.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 512.0 GB/s for the Arc A580. The RTX 5080's 16 GB capacity doubles the Arc A580's 8 GB, which matters for large textures and datasets.

The RTX 5080's rendering pipeline is significantly wider, with 336 TMUs versus 192 TMUs and 112 ROPs versus 96 ROPs. This yields a texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s versus 384.0 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s versus 192.0 GPixel/s. Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, but the RTX 5080's newer architecture likely leverages these APIs more efficiently, as evidenced by its benchmark dominance. The RTX 5080's PCIe 5.0 interface doubles the bandwidth available to the Arc A580's PCIe 4.0, though this matters less for gaming than for compute workloads that stream data to the GPU.