Intel Arc A380E x2 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data presents a stark contrast between two professional graphics solutions. The Intel Arc A380E x2 is positioned as an end-of-life, single-slot, 130 W device with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, designed for compact or multi-GPU deployments. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q is an active, dual-slot, 300 W workstation flagship with 96 GB of GDDR7 memory. Benchmark results are only available for the NVIDIA product, where it scores 11088 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. This places it at the 50th percentile against all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q with an identical average score of 11088 (a 0% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 550 at 11075 (0.1% behind), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER at 11047 (0.4% behind). The AMD FirePro W4300 scores 11225, which is 1.2% higher than the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q. For any workload requiring the massive 96 GB memory pool, the Blackwell architecture, or the 109.7 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, the data clearly favors the NVIDIA solution. The Intel card, with its 4.096 TFLOPS FP32 and 6 GB memory, serves a fundamentally different purpose, likely for low-power or specific embedded tasks where its 130 W TDP and single-slot footprint are primary considerations.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two parts is substantial. The Intel Arc A380E x2 uses the DG2-128 chip built on Xe-HPG architecture, belonging to the Alchemist (Arc 3) generation. It is fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC, containing 7,200 million transistors on a 157 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 45.9M per mm². The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q uses the GB202 chip based on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, part of the Blackwell PRO W (x000) generation. It is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 92,200 million transistors packed into a 750 mm² die, achieving a density of 122.9M per mm². This represents a 12.8x increase in transistor count and a 4.8x increase in die size, with density nearly 2.7x higher.

The compute configurations diverge sharply. The Intel GPU has 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, 32 ROPs, and 8 ray tracing cores. It does not include dedicated tensor cores in the recorded data. The NVIDIA GPU has 24064 shading units, 752 TMUs, 192 ROPs, 188 ray tracing cores, and 752 tensor cores. The shading unit count is over 23x higher on the NVIDIA part. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 in their API listings, but the underlying hardware capabilities differ by an order of magnitude in raw throughput.

Memory architecture also differs fundamentally. The Intel card has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus, providing 186.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has 96 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. That is a 16x increase in capacity and roughly a 9.6x increase in bandwidth. The memory clock rates reflect the different technologies: 1937 MHz (15.5 Gbps effective) for the Intel GDDR6, versus 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) for the NVIDIA GDDR7. The bus interface also differs, with the Intel card using PCIe 4.0 x8 and the NVIDIA card using PCIe 5.0 x16.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons between the Intel Arc A380E x2 and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q. The benchmark array for the Intel product is empty, and the head-to-head results list is empty as well. For the NVIDIA product, the only recorded benchmark is the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where it scores 11088. This result places it at the 50th percentile among all GPUs tracked in the database.

Interpreting the NVIDIA score against its nearest rivals provides context. The RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q matches it exactly with a score of 11088, indicating a 0% performance difference. The AMD Radeon RX 550 trails by a mere 0.1% with a score of 11075, which is within measurement noise and suggests that for this specific test, the two are effectively equivalent. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER scores 11047, which is 0.4% lower than the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q. The AMD FirePro W4300 actually leads the group with a score of 11225, outperforming the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q by 1.2%. These deltas are all very small, indicating that in the Steel Nomad DX12 workload, the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q performs on par with several much older and less expensive GPUs, at least according to the recorded scores.

Without benchmark data for the Intel Arc A380E x2, a direct numerical comparison of application performance is impossible. The specification differences, however, suggest that the NVIDIA part has a massive advantage in theoretical compute. The FP32 throughput for the Intel card is 4.096 TFLOPS, while the NVIDIA card delivers 109.7 TFLOPS, a 26.8x difference. The pixel rate is 64.00 GPixel/s for Intel versus 437.8 GPixel/s for NVIDIA, a 6.8x difference. The texture rate is 128.0 GTexel/s for Intel versus 1,714.6 GTexel/s for NVIDIA, a 13.4x difference. These figures indicate that in any compute-heavy or graphics-intensive workload, the NVIDIA card would dominate, but the Intel card may still be relevant for specific low-power or multi-card configurations where its smaller footprint and lower power draw are beneficial.

Specification Differences

The two products differ across nearly every recorded specification field. The process node is 6 nm for Intel and 5 nm for NVIDIA, both at TSMC. The transistor count is 7,200 million versus 92,200 million, and the die size is 157 mm² versus 750 mm². The base clock is 2000 MHz for Intel and 1035 MHz for NVIDIA, while the boost clock is 2000 MHz for Intel and 2280 MHz for NVIDIA. The Intel card has a fixed boost clock equal to its base, while the NVIDIA card boosts to over twice its base frequency.

Memory specifications differ completely: 6 GB GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus with 186.0 GB/s bandwidth for Intel, versus 96 GB GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth for NVIDIA. The shading units are 1024 versus 24064, TMUs are 64 versus 752, ROPs are 32 versus 192, and ray tracing cores are 8 versus 188. The NVIDIA card has 752 tensor cores, while the Intel card has none listed. The FP32 compute is 4.096 TFLOPS versus 109.7 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 8.192 TFLOPS (2:1) for Intel versus 109.7 TFLOPS (1:1) for NVIDIA. The Intel card has a 2:1 FP16 ratio, meaning its FP16 throughput is double its FP32, while the NVIDIA card has a 1:1 ratio, delivering the same throughput for both precisions.

Power and physical specifications also diverge. The Intel TDP is 130 W with a 300 W suggested PSU, while the NVIDIA TDP is 300 W with a 700 W suggested PSU. The Intel card is single-slot with a 1x 6-pin power connector, while the NVIDIA card is dual-slot with a 1x 16-pin connector. Dimensions differ: Intel is 265 mm long, 127 mm high, 20 mm wide; NVIDIA is 267 mm long, 111 mm high, 40 mm wide. Display outputs are 8x mini-DisplayPort 2.0 for Intel versus 4x DisplayPort 2.1b for NVIDIA. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x8 for Intel and PCIe 5.0 x16 for NVIDIA. Production status is end-of-life for Intel and active for NVIDIA. The release dates are 2024-03-31 for Intel and 2025-03-17 for NVIDIA. The Intel card has a predecessor of Xe Graphics and a successor of Battlemage, while the NVIDIA card has a predecessor of Workstation Ada and no successor listed. The NVIDIA launch MSRP is 8,565 USD, while the Intel card has no launch MSRP recorded.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute throughput?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q delivers 109.7 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, compared to 4.096 TFLOPS for the Intel Arc A380E x2. This is a 26.8x difference in favor of the NVIDIA card.

Q: How do the memory capacities compare?

A: The Intel card has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus, providing 186.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has 96 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card offers 16x more capacity and roughly 9.6x more bandwidth.

Q: What is the recorded benchmark score for the NVIDIA card?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q scores 11088 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. This places it at the 50th percentile against all GPUs in the database.

Q: How does the NVIDIA card compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q matches it exactly at 11088 (0% delta). The AMD Radeon RX 550 scores 11075 (0.1% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER scores 11047 (0.4% lower), and the AMD FirePro W4300 scores 11225 (1.2% higher).

Q: What are the power consumption requirements?

A: The Intel Arc A380E x2 has a TDP of 130 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q has a TDP of 300 W and a suggested PSU of 700 W. The Intel card uses a 1x 6-pin power connector, while the NVIDIA card uses a 1x 16-pin connector.

Q: Which card supports newer PCIe and display standards?

A: The Intel card uses PCIe 4.0 x8 and has 8x mini-DisplayPort 2.0 outputs. The NVIDIA card uses PCIe 5.0 x16 and has 4x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs. The NVIDIA card supports the newer PCIe 5.0 standard and the DisplayPort 2.1b specification.