Intel Arc A380E vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell Comparison

Architecture Differences

The Intel Arc A380E and NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell represent two fundamentally different approaches to GPU design. Intel's chip, designated DG2-128, uses the Xe-HPG architecture and belongs to the Alchemist (Arc 3) generation. NVIDIA's GB203 silicon employs the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and is part of the Blackwell PRO W (x000) generation. The process nodes differ significantly: Intel fabricates on a 6 nm TSMC process, while NVIDIA uses a 5 nm TSMC process, contributing to a substantial gap in transistor density.

The transistor counts reveal the scale of this difference. Intel packs 7,200 million transistors onto a 157 mm² die, yielding a density of 45.9M per mm². NVIDIA crams 45,600 million transistors into a 378 mm² die, achieving 120.6M per mm². That is nearly triple the transistor density and roughly 6.3 times the total transistor count. The architectural implications are profound: NVIDIA can dedicate far more silicon to compute units, tensor cores, and ray tracing hardware.

The compute configurations diverge sharply. Intel's Arc A380E provides 1,024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation units. It includes 8 ray tracing cores but no dedicated tensor cores. NVIDIA's RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell offers 8,960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores. The inclusion of tensor cores is a major functional difference: NVIDIA's card can accelerate AI workloads, while Intel's cannot. The ray tracing hardware ratio also favors NVIDIA substantially, with nearly nine times more RT cores.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API-level feature parity exists. However, the underlying execution resources are vastly different, and the FP16 throughput tells an interesting story. Intel achieves 8.192 TFLOPS FP16 using a 2:1 ratio relative to its FP32 output, while NVIDIA reaches 36.83 TFLOPS FP16 at a 1:1 ratio. NVIDIA's FP16 capability is not just higher, it is sustained at full FP32 rate, which matters for mixed-precision workloads.

Specification Differences

Clock speeds present a curious inversion. The Intel card runs at a flat 2000 MHz for both base and boost clocks, meaning there is no dynamic frequency range. NVIDIA's card has a 1230 MHz base clock and a 2055 MHz boost clock, a spread of 825 MHz. Despite Intel's higher base clock, the boost clock advantage belongs to NVIDIA by 55 MHz.

Memory subsystems differ in nearly every measurable way. Intel provides 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus, running at 1937 MHz (15.5 Gbps effective), delivering 186.0 GB/s of bandwidth. NVIDIA provides 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus, running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective), delivering 672.0 GB/s. That is four times the capacity and roughly 3.6 times the bandwidth. The memory type also differs: GDDR6 versus GDDR7, with the newer standard offering higher effective data rates at lower clock speeds.

Rasterization throughput shows NVIDIA's dominance in raw pixel and texture processing. Intel's pixel rate is 64.00 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 128.0 GTexel/s. NVIDIA's figures are 197.3 GPixel/s and 575.4 GTexel/s, representing approximately 3.1 times the pixel throughput and 4.5 times the texture throughput. The FP32 compute gap follows a similar pattern: Intel delivers 4.096 TFLOPS while NVIDIA delivers 36.83 TFLOPS, a factor of roughly 9.

Power and physical characteristics also diverge. Intel's TDP is 75 W, requires no power connectors, and suggests a 250 W power supply. NVIDIA's TDP is 140 W, requires a single 16-pin connector, and suggests a 300 W power supply. Both are single-slot cards, but dimensions differ: Intel measures 254 mm long and 127 mm high, while NVIDIA is more compact at 241 mm long and 111 mm high. Both are 20 mm thick. Interface connectivity differs as well, with Intel using PCIe 4.0 x8 and NVIDIA using PCIe 5.0 x16, the latter offering more lanes on a newer standard. Display outputs are functionally similar, with Intel providing 4x DisplayPort 2.0 and NVIDIA providing 4x DisplayPort 2.1b.

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark data only contains results for the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell, so direct head-to-head measurements from the database are unavailable. However, the specification differences and NVIDIA's percentile ranking allow for a data-driven assessment of where each card excels.

The Intel Arc A380E wins in power efficiency by design. Its 75 W TDP means it can be powered entirely by the PCIe slot, requiring no auxiliary power connectors. The suggested 250 W power supply is 50 W lower than NVIDIA's 300 W recommendation. For systems with strict power budgets or compact chassis constraints, this is a meaningful advantage. The card's end-of-life production status also suggests it may serve as a low-cost deployment option for legacy or embedded systems, though pricing data is not available in the database.

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell wins in every compute and graphics metric recorded. Its FP32 throughput of 36.83 TFLOPS is roughly nine times Intel's 4.096 TFLOPS. Its memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s is about 3.6 times higher. Its 24 GB memory capacity is four times larger. Its 70 ray tracing cores versus Intel's 8, and its 280 tensor cores versus Intel's none, position it for workloads the Intel card simply cannot handle, such as AI inference and machine learning training.

The percentile data reinforces this split. The RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell sits at the 72nd percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 27,135. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, which scores 27,425 and trails by 1.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which scores 27,565 and trails by 1.6%. The Intel Arc A380E sits at the 50th percentile, though its average benchmark score is recorded as 0, indicating no benchmark entries exist in the database for this card.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell in FP32 compute?

A: The RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell delivers 36.83 TFLOPS FP32, while the Intel Arc A380E delivers 4.096 TFLOPS. That is approximately nine times higher.

Q: Which card has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell has 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus, providing 672.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Intel Arc A380E has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus, providing 186.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the Intel Arc A380E support tensor operations?

A: No. The Arc A380E has no tensor cores listed in the database. The RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell includes 280 tensor cores.

Q: What is the power consumption of each card?

A: The Intel Arc A380E has a 75 W TDP and requires no power connectors. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell has a 140 W TDP and requires a single 16-pin connector.

Q: How does the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: Its average benchmark score is 27,135. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT scores 27,425 (1.1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile scores 27,435 (1.1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 scores 27,565 (1.6% higher), and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 scores 26,683 (1.7% lower).

Q: Which card is smaller in physical footprint?

A: The RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell measures 241 mm in length and 111 mm in height. The Intel Arc A380E measures 254 mm in length and 127 mm in height. Both are 20 mm thick and single-slot.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no shared head-to-head benchmark entries between these two cards. The Intel Arc A380E has an empty benchmarks array, a 0 average benchmark score, and no nearest rivals recorded. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell has nine recorded benchmark submissions across multiple test suites.

The NVIDIA card's individual benchmark results show strong performance across different APIs. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 4,648. The Geekbench Vulkan result is 194,168, a particularly high score that suggests strong cross-platform compute performance. PassMark results vary by DirectX version: DirectX 9 scores 354, DirectX 10 scores 173, DirectX 11 scores 276, and DirectX 12 scores 97. The lower DirectX 12 score relative to older API versions is notable and may indicate driver optimization priorities or workload characteristics in that specific test. The PassMark G2D score is 1,265, while the G3D score reaches 28,427. The GPU compute score is 14,805.

These figures place the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell in a competitive position among its nearest rivals. The average benchmark score of 27,135 is 1.1% above the NVIDIA RTX A4000's 26,683, yet 1.1% below the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT's 27,425 and 1.1% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile's 27,435. The gap to the RTX 3090 is 1.6%, with the RTX 3090 scoring 27,565. This clustering indicates the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell performs within a narrow band around these established cards, despite the architectural differences between generations.

Without Intel benchmark data, a quantitative comparison between the two cards is impossible. The specification sheet, however, provides a clear directional picture. NVIDIA's advantage in shading units (8,960 versus 1,024), texture units (280 versus 64), ROPs (96 versus 32), and memory bandwidth (672.0 GB/s versus 186.0 GB/s) suggests the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell should dominate in any GPU-bound workload. The Intel card's higher base clock of 2000 MHz versus 1230 MHz does not compensate for the massive difference in execution resources.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear split by use case. The Intel Arc A380E is a low-power, single-slot card with a 75 W TDP and no external power requirement. It is best suited for systems where power delivery is constrained, such as compact workstations or embedded deployments. Its 6 GB memory and 186.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for lighter graphical tasks, but its 4.096 TFLOPS FP32 and 8 ray tracing cores limit its ceiling for demanding workloads. The card is end-of-life, which may affect long-term availability.

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is the choice for compute-intensive and AI-accelerated tasks. Its 36.83 TFLOPS FP32, 36.83 TFLOPS FP16, 70 ray tracing cores, and 280 tensor cores provide capabilities the Intel card lacks entirely. The 24 GB GDDR7 memory with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth supports large datasets and high-resolution textures. Its 72nd percentile ranking, with an average score of 27,135, places it within 1.6% of the GeForce RTX 3090 and 1.7% above the RTX A4000, confirming its position among capable workstation GPUs. The 140 W TDP and single 16-pin connector are modest requirements for the performance level on offer.

For users prioritizing minimal power draw and slot-powered simplicity, the Intel Arc A380E is the rational selection. For users prioritizing raw compute, memory capacity, AI features, and sustained FP16 throughput, the benchmark and specification data favor the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell without qualification. The database records no benchmark scores for the Intel card, so its real-world performance cannot be verified against the NVIDIA card's measured results. The specification gap, however, is so large that any benchmark data would be unlikely to change the fundamental conclusion.