Intel Arc Graphics A380: Compelling For Open-Source Enthusiasts & Developers At ~$139

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel Arc Graphics A380: Compelling For Open-Source Enthusiasts & Developers At ~$139

Last week I outlined getting Intel Arc Graphics running on a open-source Linux graphics driver when using Linux 6.0 and later (along with a currently-experimental module option override) and then Mesa 22.2+. Now that I've had more days with the Intel Arc Graphics A380 as the company's budget discrete GPU, here are more of my thoughts on this graphics card that has begun retailing in the US for $139.

https://www.phoronix.com/review/intel-arc-a380-linux

[user1]

The Intel Arc Graphics A380 is designed for Vulkan 1.3, OpenGL 4.3, and OpenCL 3.0 support.

I think OpenGL 4.3 is a typo because all modern hardware and drivers should support OpenGL 4.6.

[birdie]

What Michael hasn't tested however are RX 580 and GTX 1060 both released over three years ago and both of which are much faster than this Intel GPU.

It's embarrassing really considering its price.

[c117152]

What Michael hasn't tested however are RX 580 and GTX 1060 both released over three years ago and both of which are much faster than this Intel GPU.

It's embarrassing really considering its price.

The A380 is a low power 75w card. I believe the only other low-power cards on your list is the RX550 and the GT1030 which the A380 outperforms and costs about the same.

[dimko]

Intel, for when you got nothing else.

[Michael]

I think OpenGL 4.3 is a typo because all modern hardware and drivers should support OpenGL 4.6.

Yep, typo. It supports OpenGL 4.6. Thanks.

[Slartifartblast]

A card that makes the 6400 look a good buy, quite an achievement Intel.

Has AV1 but otherwise awful in every way.

[blackshard]

No power consumption tests?

[Michael]

No power consumption tests?

As written multiple times in the article, no HWMON support ready yet for being able to measure the standalone GPU power consumption. Will come though hopefully by 6.1.

[numacross]

The A380 is a low power 75w card.

A 75W card having an 8-pin external power supply doesn't sound like the TBP is realistic. Intel's CPU TDP definition (only at base clocks) isn't realistic either.
TPU tested the A380 and found that it's using 94W at maximum load with 102W spikes:
power-consumption.png
The desktop power usage is higher than expected for a card this small.

Edit: Interestingly GTX 1060 peaks at 125W while being ~25% faster, so that doesn't look really good for A380 considering that 1060 is a 5-year old GPU made in a 16nm process.