Intel’s first desktop GPU looks like a total letdown

The first Intel GPU has been tested, after months of delay. But early performance numbers look disappointing. 

Intel has been amping up their entrance into the GPU market for months. First launching in Korea with mobile variants months ago, many are eagerly waiting for how well their desktop variants perform. However, Intel has not been able to have drivers ready for its Arc Alchemist GPU lineup, which is crucial for GPU performance.

The review originates from BilliBilli user Shenmedounengce. The unit they tested was the “GUNNIR Intel Arc A380 6G OC”. The Intel Arc A380 is one of the entry-level GPUs in the Intel Arc Alchemist stack of graphics cards, so no one was expecting it to beat out the RTX 3080, but the card barely manages to compete with AMD’s RX 6400.

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Considering that this GPU is launching north of $200, and in some cases around $500, we certainly expected this card to trade blows with the RX 6400 at the very least. The Arc A380 was tested alongside Core i5-12400 CPU on a B660 motherboard. There are additional factors in the testing process which remain unclear. But, one thing is certain.

If this entry-level card cannot compete with the RX 6400, which is already a stripped-back GPU, then Intel’s entire Arc Alchemist lineup might be in big trouble.

Intel Arc A380 GPU benchmarks

According to Shenmedounengce’s testing, the Intel Arc A380 looks to be competing against the GTX 1650 and RX 6400. In synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark, it is comfortably ahead of both cards. But, synthetic benchmarks are no replacement for real-world performance. Unfortunately, the A380 lags behind both the GTX 1650 and the RX 6400 in every single test, which was monitoring 1080p performance.

The RTX 3050 also appears to be around three times faster than the Arc A380. The only benefits that the Arc A380 seemingly has over the RX 6400 are AV1 encoding and decoding, which was not present on AMD’s cut-down chip.

This gives pause to the rest of Intel’s lineup, especially the flagship Intel Arc A780, as it claims to be competitive against the RTX 3070. But, if the real-world results end up anything like the entry-level A380, Intel’s graphics cards could be in big trouble.

After months of delays, poor results is one of the last things we wanted to see. Remember, competition, especially in the GPU market is an incredibly good thing. We can only hope that the rest of the cards in Intel’s stack do not suffer from the same issues of underperforming against competitors like the A380.