Efficiency and power consumption
As this is an inventory, the many details about the individual cards are somewhat out of place here and there would simply be too much content for one article. There will be a follow-up to Battlemage and one or two new details. But today and for these charts, a general overview is of course much more useful. So how does the power consumption of the cards develop in different load scenarios? In this context, I look at the light 2D workloads, the medium 3D shading and the render and compute tasks separately.
I don’t want to create a kind of efficiency index, because the results of the individual programs are far too different for that. NVIDIA, especially with Ada, is significantly more efficient than the AMD cards and especially Battlemage under mixed load. What we generally don’t like are the high idle values of the newer generations of all manufacturers, as this has also been much more economical in the past. The Arch B580 takes the cake, however, as it drinks like a hole even when idling. One reason for this increased consumption is probably the rudimentary power management of the GPU. In addition, there is a further increase when using multiple monitors, which Intel wanted to address. In addition, the architecture of the Arc B580 itself is likely to contribute to this behavior. But we will probably have to dig a little deeper, as Intel is unfortunately keeping a low profile.
The power consumption of graphics cards under medium load varies depending on the model and manufacturer. The Intel Arc B580 has a power consumption of around 142 watts under mixed load, although it is specified with a TDP of 190 watts. This makes it significantly more economical than MAD’s RX 7600, which is ahead in quite a few benchmarks. In comparison, NVIDIA specifies a maximum power consumption of 115 watts for the GeForce RTX 4060. However, practical measurements show that the card is even slightly below 100 watts in my case. It is important to note that higher power consumption does not necessarily indicate lower efficiency, as it often goes hand in hand with higher computing power and better performance. Nevertheless, users who value energy efficiency should take these differences into account when selecting their hardware.
Here, the GeForce RTX 4060 is even slightly above the specified TDP, but still half a universe ahead of the AMD card. The Intel Arc B580 just scrapes the 200 watt mark, which is far too much.
Summary and conclusion
In its current state, the Intel Arc B580 is an ambivalent product that combines exciting approaches with a clear need for optimization. It marks Intel’s attempt to establish itself in the consumer GPU market, but falls short of expectations in many respects. While the 12 GB graphics memory and the solid hardware base could theoretically offer advantages, practice shows that the card is often slowed down by immature drivers and a lack of optimization. This is particularly evident in workstation scenarios, where Intel still has a lot of work to do to catch up with established manufacturers such as NVIDIA and AMD.
The tests under professional workloads and software suites such as Blender, Autodesk, Creo or SolidWorks show a mixed picture. On a positive note, the Arc B580 delivers quite usable results in some scenarios and can even keep up with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060. However, numerous weaknesses also come to light: some applications only run with significant limitations, others fail completely or crash. Despite the 4 GB more memory compared to the two competitors, the Intel card often lacks the necessary stability and performance, which in many cases is due to the still inadequate driver support.
Another point of criticism is the energy efficiency. The Arc B580 has an extremely high power consumption in idle mode and in multi-monitor setups, which is far above what modern GPUs should offer. This indicates rudimentary power management, which Intel urgently needs to improve. Even under load, the card scratches its maximum TDP of 190 watts and thus lags far behind the competition in terms of efficiency. Compared to the GeForce RTX 4060, which often remains below its nominal TDP of 115 watts, and the Radeon RX 7600, the Arc B580 is significantly more power-hungry, which makes it less attractive for energy-efficient systems.
A direct comparison with AMD and NVIDIA also shows that Intel still has some catching up to do in certain areas, such as 3D performance and support for applications with specialized requirements. While NVIDIA scores with optimized drivers and functions such as CUDA and OptiX, and AMD focuses on a broad spectrum of price-performance-oriented cards, Intel has not yet found a clear positioning. The inconsistency is particularly striking: while the card delivers solid results in some benchmarks, it falls far short of expectations in others or fails completely due to driver problems.
With the Arc B580, Intel is trying to strike a balance between a gaming GPU and a card that is also suitable for semi-professional workloads. The card shows that Intel definitely has the potential to assert itself in this market, but still has a long way to go to become seriously competitive. For users who are willing to experiment and deal with driver problems and unstable applications, the Arc B580 can be an interesting option. For the broader market or professional users, however, it is currently not a convincing choice due to its numerous limitations and high power consumption. If Intel manages to significantly improve the drivers and optimize power management, the Arc B580 could become a solid foundation for future GPU generations. Until then, however, it remains more of a niche product with a lot of untapped potential. A pity somehow…
Intel Arc B580 Limited Edition, 12GB GDDR6, HDMI, 3x DP (31P06HB0BA)
![]() | Lagernd | 309,00 €*Stand: 12.02.25 21:46 |
![]() | Auf Lager, 1-2 Werktage | 323,02 €*Stand: 12.02.25 22:09 |
![]() | Lieferzeit 3-5 Werktage | 349,73 €*Stand: 12.02.25 22:32 |
Acer Nitro Arc B580 OC, AN-B580-OCA, 12GB GDDR6, HDMI, 3x DP (DP.Z4BWW.P01)
![]() | Bestellt: auf Lager erwartet 03-03-2025 | 319,90 €*Stand: 12.02.25 21:13 |
![]() | Auf Lager, 1-2 Werktage | 323,18 €*Stand: 12.02.25 22:09 |
![]() | Auf Lager | 330,00 €*Stand: 12.02.25 22:28 |
ASRock Arc B580 Challenger 12GB OC, B580 CL 12GO, 12GB GDDR6, HDMI, 3x DP (90-GA5LZZ-00UANF)
![]() | Lagernd, Lieferung 1-2 WerktageStand: 12.02.25 22:32 | 326,99 €*Stand: 12.02.25 22:33 |
![]() | in 5-10 Tagen lieferbar | 327,00 €*Stand: 12.02.25 22:34 |
![]() | Onlineshop: ca. 2-4 WerktageBerlin, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover/Laatzen, München, Stuttgart: nicht lagerndStand: 12.02.25 22:33 | 327,00 €*Stand: 12.02.25 22:34 |
Sparkle Arc B580 TITAN OC, SB580T-12GOC, 12GB GDDR6, HDMI, 3x DP (1A1-S00421500G)
![]() | Lagernd, Lieferung 1-2 WerktageStand: 12.02.25 22:32 | 328,99 €*Stand: 12.02.25 22:33 |
![]() | Lagernd | 329,00 €*Stand: 12.02.25 21:46 |
![]() | Auf Lager - 1-3 Werktage Lieferzeit | 329,90 €*Stand: 12.02.25 21:13 |
ASRock Arc B580 Steel Legend 12GB OC, B580 SL 12GO, 12GB GDDR6, HDMI, 3x DP (90-GA5CZZ-00UANF)
![]() | Bestellt: auf Lager erwartet 26-02-2025 | 346,13 €*Stand: 12.02.25 21:13 |
![]() | Sofort lieferbar, Lieferzeit max. 1-3 Werktage | 349,00 €*Stand: 12.02.25 21:56 |
![]() | Sofort verfügbar, Lieferzeit max. 1-3 Werktage | 349,00 €*Stand: 12.02.25 22:33 |
- 1 - Introduction, Competitors and Test System
- 2 - Autodesk AutoCAD 2024
- 3 - Autodesk Inventor Pro 2021
- 4 - PTC Creo 9 - No FSAA vs. FSAA
- 5 - Dassault Systèmes Solidworks 2022 - No FSAA vs. FSAA
- 6 - SPECviewperf 2020
- 7 - Adobe CC: Photoshop
- 8 - Adobe CC: Premiere Pro
- 9 - Rendering and GPU-Compute
- 10 - Power Consumption, Summary and Conclusion
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