Arc A380 vs Radeon RX 590
On raw speed the Radeon RX 590 comes out ahead: meaningfully ahead, about 17% ahead of the Arc A380. That said, the Arc A380 is the smarter buy on value — $2,755 AUD less for the performance on offer.
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Radeon RX 590 vs Arc A380: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Radeon RX 590 vs Arc A380
The Radeon RX 590 is noticeably faster, around 17% ahead of the Arc A380. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
The Arc A380 currently lists from $229 AUD, $2,755 AUD less than the Radeon RX 590 at $2,984 AUD. Despite being slower, the Arc A380 offers the better performance-per-dollar (~1017% better value), so budget-focused buyers should weigh it carefully. The Arc A380 still sits about $90 AUD above its $139 AUD MSRP. The Radeon RX 590 still sits about $2,705 AUD above its $279 AUD MSRP.
Power & Efficiency
At 75W against 225W, the Arc A380 is both the lower-power and the more efficient card, making it the easier build to cool and power. Its more modern Alchemist architecture on a TSMC N6 process is part of why it does more with each watt.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
VRAM favors the Radeon RX 590 at 8GB versus 6GB on the Arc A380 — that extra 2GB matters most at 4K, with high-res texture packs, and for content-creation/local-AI work.
Generation & Longevity
The Arc A380 is roughly 4 years newer than the Radeon RX 590 (Alchemist vs GCN 4.0 (Polaris)), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the Arc A380 brings Intel XeSS upscaling and AV1 encoding, while the Radeon RX 590 offers AMD FSR upscaling and strong rasterization value. If you lean on upscaling or ray tracing, that ecosystem difference can matter as much as the frame-rate gap.
Which should you buy: Arc A380 or Radeon RX 590?
Choose the Radeon RX 590 if you want the most performance and can absorb the higher price. If you're optimizing for value, the Arc A380 stretches your money further for only slightly lower performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Radeon RX 590 better than the Arc A380?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the Arc A380 or the Radeon RX 590?
Is the Radeon RX 590 worth the extra $2,755 AUD over the Arc A380?
Does the Radeon RX 590 have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Which should you buy: Arc A380 or Radeon RX 590?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | Arc A380 | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Alchemist | GCN 4.0 (Polaris) |
| Process Node | TSMC N6 | GloFo 12nm |
| CUDA Cores (Shading Units / Stream Processors) | 1,024 | 2,304✓ |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 8 | — |
| Tensor / AI Cores | 128 | — |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | Arc A380 | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 2,000 MHz✓ | 1,469 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 2,450 MHz✓ | 1,545 MHz |
Memory
| Specification | Arc A380 | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 6 GB | 8 GB✓ |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 96-bit | 256-bit✓ |
| Memory Speed | 15.5 Gbps✓ | 8 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 186 GB/s | 256 GB/s✓ |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | Arc A380 | Radeon RX 590 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| TDP | 75 W✓ | 225 W |
| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | 1x 8-pin |
| Released | Jun 2022 | Nov 2018 |