Intel Arc A380M vs NVIDIA N1 16SM Comparison

FAQ

Q: What are the process nodes for the Intel Arc A380M and the NVIDIA N1 16SM?

A: The Intel Arc A380M uses a 6 nm process node, while the NVIDIA N1 16SM uses a 5 nm process node. Both chips are manufactured by TSMC.

Q: How do the memory configurations differ between these two GPUs?

A: The Intel Arc A380M has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 96-bit bus with 186.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA N1 16SM has 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory on a 256-bit bus with 273.2 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the FP32 compute figures for each GPU?

A: The Intel Arc A380M delivers 4.096 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The NVIDIA N1 16SM delivers 9.609 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is more than double the compute throughput.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units and texture mapping units?

A: The NVIDIA N1 16SM has 2048 shading units and 128 TMUs. The Intel Arc A380M has 1024 shading units and 64 TMUs. The NVIDIA part doubles both counts.

Q: What API support does each GPU offer?

A: The Intel Arc A380M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA N1 16SM lists N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan in the database.

Q: What are the release dates for these two products?

A: The Intel Arc A380M was released on 2023-01-23. The NVIDIA N1 16SM has a release date of 2026-05-31.

Architecture Differences

The Intel Arc A380M and the NVIDIA N1 16SM represent fundamentally different design philosophies. The Intel part is built on the Xe-HPG architecture, specifically the Alchemist generation for Arc 3 Mobile. It uses the DG2-128 chip, which contains 7,200 million transistors on a 157 mm² die. The transistor density works out to 45.9M per mm². This is a discrete mobile GPU packaged as an MXM Module with an MXM-A (3.1) bus interface.

The NVIDIA N1 16SM uses the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, belonging to the Blackwell IGP (N1x) generation. Its chip is designated GB20B, and the die size is 382 mm². The transistor count is listed as unknown in the database, and no transistor density figure is recorded. This is an integrated graphics processor with an IGP slot width, using a PCIe 5.0 x16 bus interface. The form factor difference alone separates these products: one is a removable MXM module, the other is an integrated part.

The Intel GPU has 8 ray tracing cores, while the NVIDIA part has 16 RT cores. The NVIDIA N1 16SM also includes 64 tensor cores, a feature that the Intel Arc A380M does not list. The Intel GPU's FP16 performance is 8.192 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio relative to FP32, indicating accelerated half-precision throughput. The NVIDIA GPU's FP16 performance is 9.609 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, meaning it processes FP16 and FP32 at the same rate.

The Intel chip operates with a base clock of 1550 MHz and a boost clock of 2000 MHz. Its memory runs at 1937 MHz, translating to 15.5 Gbps effective. The NVIDIA chip has a base clock of 741 MHz and a boost clock of 2346 MHz. Its memory runs at 1067 MHz with 8.5 Gbps effective. The boost clock on the NVIDIA part is noticeably higher, but the base clock is much lower.

Power characteristics differ substantially. The Intel Arc A380M has a TDP of 35 W. The NVIDIA N1 16SM has an unknown TDP, and its power connectors are listed as None, which aligns with its integrated nature. The Intel part has no power connector listed either, likely due to the MXM module specification.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data shows no recorded wins for either side in the head-to-head benchmarks, as both arrays are empty. However, the specification analysis provides clear areas of advantage.

The NVIDIA N1 16SM wins decisively in raw compute throughput. Its FP32 performance of 9.609 TFLOPS is more than double the Intel Arc A380M's 4.096 TFLOPS. The texture rate of 300.3 GTexel/s on the NVIDIA part vastly exceeds the 128.0 GTexel/s on the Intel part. Shading units, TMUs, and RT cores are all doubled on the NVIDIA side. The memory subsystem is also superior: 128 GB of LPDDR5X with 273.2 GB/s bandwidth versus 6 GB of GDDR6 with 186.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA part has a 256-bit bus versus 96-bit on Intel.

The Intel Arc A380M wins in pixel fill rate. It produces 64.00 GPixel/s compared to 56.30 GPixel/s on the NVIDIA N1 16SM. This comes from having 32 ROPs versus 24 ROPs on the NVIDIA part, even though the NVIDIA GPU has a higher clock speed. The Intel part also has a higher base clock (1550 MHz versus 741 MHz) and a lower boost clock (2000 MHz versus 2346 MHz).

For API compatibility, the Intel Arc A380M has full support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA N1 16SM lists N/A for all three APIs in the database. This makes the Intel part the clear choice for applications relying on established graphics APIs.

The Intel GPU is also lighter on die size at 157 mm² versus 382 mm² for the NVIDIA part, and it has a lower process node density requirement. The NVIDIA part is larger but packs more functionality, including tensor cores and double the shading resources.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every recorded specification field.

• Process Node: Intel uses 6 nm; NVIDIA uses 5 nm.
• Die Size: 157 mm² for Intel; 382 mm² for NVIDIA.
• Transistors: 7,200 million for Intel; unknown for NVIDIA.
• Transistor Density: 45.9M / mm² for Intel; null for NVIDIA.
• Base Clock: 1550 MHz for Intel; 741 MHz for NVIDIA.
• Boost Clock: 2000 MHz for Intel; 2346 MHz for NVIDIA.
• Memory Clock: 1937 MHz (15.5 Gbps effective) for Intel; 1067 MHz (8.5 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA.
• Memory Size: 6 GB for Intel; 128 GB for NVIDIA.
• Memory Type: GDDR6 for Intel; LPDDR5X for NVIDIA.
• Bus Width: 96 bit for Intel; 256 bit for NVIDIA.
• Bandwidth: 186.0 GB/s for Intel; 273.2 GB/s for NVIDIA.
• Shading Units: 1024 for Intel; 2048 for NVIDIA.
• TMUs: 64 for Intel; 128 for NVIDIA.
• ROPs: 32 for Intel; 24 for NVIDIA.
• RT Cores: 8 for Intel; 16 for NVIDIA.
• Tensor Cores: null for Intel; 64 for NVIDIA.
• Pixel Rate: 64.00 GPixel/s for Intel; 56.30 GPixel/s for NVIDIA.
• Texture Rate: 128.0 GTexel/s for Intel; 300.3 GTexel/s for NVIDIA.
• FP32: 4.096 TFLOPS for Intel; 9.609 TFLOPS for NVIDIA.
• FP16: 8.192 TFLOPS (2:1) for Intel; 9.609 TFLOPS (1:1) for NVIDIA.
• TDP: 35 W for Intel; unknown for NVIDIA.
• Slot Width: MXM Module for Intel; IGP for NVIDIA.
• Power Connectors: null for Intel; None for NVIDIA.
• Bus Interface: MXM-A (3.1) for Intel; PCIe 5.0 x16 for NVIDIA.
• Display Outputs: Portable Device Dependent for Intel; 1x HDMI for NVIDIA.
• DirectX: 12 Ultimate (12_2) for Intel; N/A for NVIDIA.
• OpenGL: 4.6 for Intel; N/A for NVIDIA.
• Vulkan: 1.4 for Intel; N/A for NVIDIA.
• Release Date: 2023-01-23 for Intel; 2026-05-31 for NVIDIA.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no recorded head-to-head benchmark entries for this pair. Both the winsA and winsB fields are 0, and the headToHeadBenchmarks array is empty. This means there is no direct performance measurement data comparing these two GPUs in the database.

What the recorded specifications do provide is a clear quantitative comparison. In FP32 compute, the NVIDIA N1 16SM delivers 9.609 TFLOPS, which is 2.35 times the 4.096 TFLOPS of the Intel Arc A380M. The texture rate comparison is even more lopsided: 300.3 GTexel/s versus 128.0 GTexel/s, a 2.35x advantage for NVIDIA. The shading unit count of 2048 versus 1024 follows the same ratio.

The NVIDIA part also has a significant memory advantage. Its 273.2 GB/s bandwidth exceeds the Intel part's 186.0 GB/s by a factor of 1.47. The 128 GB memory capacity dwarfs the 6 GB on the Intel GPU, and the 256-bit bus is 2.67 times wider than the 96-bit bus.

The Intel Arc A380M holds the advantage in pixel fill rate. Its 64.00 GPixel/s beats the NVIDIA N1 16SM's 56.30 GPixel/s despite the NVIDIA part's higher boost clock. This is attributable to the Intel GPU having 32 ROPs versus 24 ROPs on the NVIDIA part. The difference is 7.70 GPixel/s, or approximately 13.7% higher on the Intel side.

The clock behavior also differs meaningfully. The Intel part has a base clock of 1550 MHz, more than double the NVIDIA base of 741 MHz. However, the NVIDIA boost clock of 2346 MHz exceeds the Intel boost of 2000 MHz. The NVIDIA part shows a much larger boost range, from 741 MHz to 2346 MHz, while the Intel part operates in a tighter range from 1550 MHz to 2000 MHz.

FP16 performance shows another distinction. The Intel Arc A380M achieves 8.192 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, meaning it doubles its FP32 throughput in half-precision workloads. The NVIDIA N1 16SM achieves 9.609 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, meaning its FP16 throughput equals its FP32 throughput. While the NVIDIA part has higher absolute FP16 numbers, the Intel part shows a more aggressive half-precision acceleration scheme.

The Verdict

The data presents two GPUs with clearly different target applications. The Intel Arc A380M is a discrete mobile GPU with a 35 W TDP, designed for portable devices where the display output is dependent on the host system. It provides full modern API support, including DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Its pixel fill rate of 64.00 GPixel/s is higher than the NVIDIA part, and its base clock of 1550 MHz is substantially higher. The 6 GB GDDR6 memory with 186.0 GB/s bandwidth suits workloads with moderate memory demands.

The NVIDIA N1 16SM is an integrated graphics processor with 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory and 273.2 GB/s bandwidth. Its FP32 compute of 9.609 TFLOPS is more than double the Intel part, and its 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, 16 RT cores, and 64 tensor cores provide a much larger execution resource pool. The 5 nm process node and 382 mm² die size indicate a high-complexity design. However, its API support is listed as N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan, which limits its applicability in conventional graphics workloads.

For applications that rely on established graphics APIs and where pixel throughput matters, the Intel Arc A380M is the appropriate choice. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate support and 64.00 GPixel/s fill rate, combined with a 35 W TDP, make it suitable for portable device integration where software compatibility is essential.

For compute-heavy workloads that do not depend on conventional graphics APIs, the NVIDIA N1 16SM offers superior raw throughput. Its FP32 performance of 9.609 TFLOPS, texture rate of 300.3 GTexel/s, and 64 tensor cores indicate a design optimized for parallel processing. The 128 GB memory capacity and 273.2 GB/s bandwidth provide ample data storage and transfer capability.

The lack of head-to-head benchmark data means the verdict rests entirely on specification analysis. The NVIDIA N1 16SM dominates in compute-centric metrics, while the Intel Arc A380M holds advantages in pixel fill rate, base clock stability, and API coverage. Neither part has a recorded average benchmark score, and both sit at the 50th percentile versus all GPUs in the database. The production status for both is Active, with the Intel part released on 2023-01-23 and the NVIDIA part dated 2026-05-31.