Intel Arc Pro A60 vs NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation Comparison

Intel Arc Pro A60 and NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation occupy very different corners of the professional GPU market, and the benchmark data reflects that split clearly. The RTX 5880 Ada Generation is decisively faster in raw compute, but the Arc Pro A60 holds its own as a compact, power-efficient option for specific workloads. Below is a breakdown of where each card wins, their architectural differences, and what the recorded numbers mean for real-world selection.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5880 Ada Generation wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database, the Geekbench OpenCL test. It scores 326,898 against the Arc Pro A60’s 63,485, a delta of -80.6% for the Intel card. That is a massive, unambiguous win for NVIDIA in compute-heavy tasks. The RTX 5880’s average benchmark score of 45,972 across all recorded tests also places it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, while the Arc Pro A60 sits higher at the 88th percentile despite a lower raw average score of 60,326. This is because the Arc Pro A60’s benchmark set is limited to two OpenCL and Vulkan tests, both strong results for its class, whereas the RTX 5880 includes several DirectX and PassMark tests that drag its average down.

Where the Arc Pro A60 wins is in efficiency and form factor. It has a 130 W TDP and is single-slot, while the RTX 5880 requires 285 W, a dual-slot design, and a 1x 16-pin power connector. The Intel card also uses PCIe 4.0 x16, same as the NVIDIA card, but its 12 GB GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 384.0 GB/s, which is less than half the RTX 5880’s 864.0 GB/s. However, for workloads that do not demand massive memory bandwidth, the Arc Pro A60’s lower power draw and smaller footprint make it the better fit for space-constrained or power-limited systems. The data shows no wins for the Arc Pro A60 in the head-to-head benchmark, but its architecture and specifications suggest it is designed for a different role: entry-level professional visualization rather than compute-heavy rendering.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on different architectures from different foundries. The Arc Pro A60 uses Intel’s Xe-HPG architecture, specifically the DG2-256 chip, manufactured on TSMC’s 6 nm process. It integrates 11,500 million transistors on a 269 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 42.8M per mm². The RTX 5880 Ada Generation uses NVIDIA’s Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD102 chip, built on TSMC’s 5 nm process. That chip packs 76,300 million transistors into a 609 mm² die, yielding a much higher density of 125.3M per mm². The NVIDIA card is physically larger and significantly more complex, which explains its higher power and performance ceiling.

Core counts differ dramatically. The Arc Pro A60 has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, 64 ROPs, and 16 ray tracing cores. It has no tensor cores listed. The RTX 5880 Ada Generation has 14,080 shading units, 440 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 110 RT cores, and 440 tensor cores. That is roughly seven times more shading units and nearly seven times more RT cores. The FP32 compute rating tells the story: 8.397 TFLOPS for the Intel card versus 69.27 TFLOPS for the NVIDIA card. FP16 also diverges, with the Arc Pro A60 delivering 16.79 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, while the RTX 5880 matches FP32 exactly at 69.27 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, indicating no dedicated FP16 acceleration path difference in the recorded data.

Memory subsystems are also fundamentally different. The Arc Pro A60 runs GDDR6 at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus, while the RTX 5880 uses GDDR6 at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) across a 384-bit bus. The NVIDIA card’s 48 GB capacity dwarfs the Intel’s 12 GB, and its 864.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than double the Arc Pro A60’s 384.0 GB/s. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API compatibility is identical. Display outputs differ: the Arc Pro A60 offers 4x DisplayPort 2.0, while the RTX 5880 offers 4x DisplayPort 1.4a, meaning the Intel card supports a newer display standard.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only head-to-head benchmark recorded is Geekbench OpenCL. The RTX 5880 Ada Generation scores 326,898, and the Arc Pro A60 scores 63,485. The delta is -80.6%, meaning the Intel card delivers less than one-fifth of the NVIDIA card’s performance in this specific test. This is a compute-oriented workload that stresses raw shading and memory throughput, areas where the RTX 5880’s 14,080 shaders and 864.0 GB/s bandwidth dominate. The Arc Pro A60’s 2,048 shaders and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth simply cannot compete in this arena.

The RTX 5880’s broader benchmark profile from the database shows additional strengths. In PassMark DirectX 9 it scores 335, DirectX 10 scores 167, DirectX 11 scores 228, and DirectX 12 scores 70. The PassMark G3D score is 25,096, and the GPU compute score is 14,208. The G2D score is 777. These numbers are not directly comparable to the Arc Pro A60, which lacks PassMark results, but they indicate that the NVIDIA card is capable across legacy and modern graphics APIs. The Arc Pro A60’s only other benchmark is Geekbench Vulkan at 57,166, which is lower than its OpenCL score of 63,485, suggesting it is slightly stronger in OpenCL than Vulkan in the recorded data.

The percentile rankings provide context. The Arc Pro A60 sits at the 88th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60,326. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, which scores 60,347, a 0% delta, meaning the Arc Pro A60 is essentially tied with that flagship consumer card in the database’s average metric. Other nearby rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% slower) and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61,896, 2.5% faster). The RTX 5880 Ada Generation, despite its massive OpenCL win, sits at the 85th percentile with an average score of 45,972, dragged down by its diverse benchmark set. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A2000 (46,043, -0.2%), and it is also close to the Intel Arc A730M (45,592, 0.8% faster) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45,384, 1.3% faster). This means the RTX 5880, in the database’s aggregate view, performs like a mid-tier workstation card despite its extreme compute peak.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in raw compute?

A: The RTX 5880 Ada Generation is far faster in raw compute. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 326,898 against the Arc Pro A60’s 63,485, a -80.6% delta for the Intel card.

Q: Does the Arc Pro A60 have any advantage in memory bandwidth?

A: No. The RTX 5880 has 864.0 GB/s bandwidth versus the Arc Pro A60’s 384.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card also has 48 GB of memory versus 12 GB.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Arc Pro A60 has a 130 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The RTX 5880 Ada Generation has a 285 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 600 W.

Q: Do both cards support the same graphics APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. They differ in display outputs: the Arc Pro A60 has DisplayPort 2.0, while the RTX 5880 has DisplayPort 1.4a.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking in the database?

A: The Arc Pro A60 ranks at the 88th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 5880 ranks at the 85th percentile. This is because the Intel card’s limited benchmark set is consistently strong, while the NVIDIA card’s wider set includes lower DirectX scores.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The RTX 5880’s AD102 chip has a density of 125.3M transistors per mm², while the Arc Pro A60’s DG2-256 chip has 42.8M per mm². The NVIDIA card uses a 5 nm process versus Intel’s 6 nm process.

Specification Differences

• Chip: Intel DG2-256 versus NVIDIA AD102
• Architecture: Xe-HPG versus Ada Lovelace
• Process Node: 6 nm versus 5 nm (both TSMC)
• Transistors: 11,500 million versus 76,300 million
• Die Size: 269 mm² versus 609 mm²
• Base Clock: 900 MHz versus 975 MHz
• Boost Clock: 2050 MHz versus 2460 MHz
• Memory Clock: 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) versus 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective)
• Memory Size: 12 GB versus 48 GB
• Memory Bus Width: 192 bit versus 384 bit
• Memory Bandwidth: 384.0 GB/s versus 864.0 GB/s
• Shading Units: 2,048 versus 14,080
• TMUs: 128 versus 440
• ROPs: 64 versus 176
• RT Cores: 16 versus 110
• Tensor Cores: None listed versus 440
• FP32: 8.397 TFLOPS versus 69.27 TFLOPS
• FP16: 16.79 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 69.27 TFLOPS (1:1)
• TDP: 130 W versus 285 W
• Slot Width: Single-slot versus Dual-slot
• Power Connectors: None listed versus 1x 16-pin
• Suggested PSU: 300 W versus 600 W
• Display Outputs: 4x DisplayPort 2.0 versus 4x DisplayPort 1.4a
• Release Date: 2023-06-05 versus 2024-01-04

The Verdict

The RTX 5880 Ada Generation is the clear choice for any workload that demands maximum compute throughput. Its OpenCL score is over five times higher than the Arc Pro A60’s, and its 48 GB memory capacity and 864.0 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for large datasets and memory-intensive rendering. It also has tensor cores, which the Intel card lacks, giving it an edge in AI-adjacent tasks. The trade-off is power and size: 285 W, dual-slot, and a 600 W PSU recommendation are significant requirements.

The Arc Pro A60 is the better pick for systems where power and space are limited. Its 130 W TDP, single-slot design, and 300 W PSU requirement allow it to fit into smaller chassis with less cooling overhead. It also supports DisplayPort 2.0, which is a newer standard than the RTX 5880’s DisplayPort 1.4a. Its performance, while far below the NVIDIA card in compute, is still respectable for its class, as shown by its 88th percentile ranking and near-tie with the RTX 4090 in the database’s average score metric. For users who prioritize ease of integration and lower power draw over raw throughput, the Arc Pro A60 is the sensible option. For users who need maximum performance and memory, the RTX 5880 Ada Generation is the only choice in this comparison.