Arc A310 vs Radeon R9 380X
Performance-wise the Arc A310 is out front, significantly faster, roughly 33% up on the Radeon R9 380X. It is also the stronger value pick here, so it's the easy recommendation if your budget allows.
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Arc A310 vs Radeon R9 380X: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Arc A310 vs Radeon R9 380X
The Arc A310 is significantly faster, around 33% ahead of the Radeon R9 380X. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.
Price & Value
Right now the Arc A310 starts at $100 USD against $349 USD for the Radeon R9 380X. Because it's both faster and competitively priced, the Arc A310 wins on performance-per-dollar by about 365%. The Arc A310 is trading below its $130 USD MSRP — a genuine deal. The Radeon R9 380X still sits about $120 USD above its $229 USD MSRP.
Power & Efficiency
The Arc A310 sips power at 30W next to the Radeon R9 380X's 190W, and still leads on performance-per-watt — quieter, cooler, and gentler on your PSU. Its more modern Alchemist architecture on a TSMC N6 process is part of why it does more with each watt.
Generation & Longevity
The Arc A310 is roughly 7 years newer than the Radeon R9 380X (Alchemist vs GCN 3.0), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Features & Ecosystem
Beyond raw numbers, the Arc A310 brings Intel XeSS upscaling and AV1 encoding, while the Radeon R9 380X 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 A310 or Radeon R9 380X?
The Arc A310 is the all-round winner here — it's faster and the better value, so buy it if it fits your budget. Only consider the Radeon R9 380X if you find it at a steep discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Arc A310 better than the Radeon R9 380X?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the Arc A310 or the Radeon R9 380X?
Is the Radeon R9 380X worth the extra $249 USD over the Arc A310?
Which should you buy: Arc A310 or Radeon R9 380X?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | Arc A310 | Radeon R9 380X |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Alchemist | GCN 3.0 |
| Process Node | TSMC N6 | TSMC 28nm |
| CUDA Cores (Shading Units / Stream Processors) | 768 | 2,048✓ |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 6 | — |
| Tensor / AI Cores | 96 | — |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | Arc A310 | Radeon R9 380X |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 2,000 MHz✓ | 970 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 2,000 MHz✓ | 970 MHz |
Memory
| Specification | Arc A310 | Radeon R9 380X |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 64-bit | 256-bit✓ |
| Memory Speed | 15.5 Gbps✓ | 5.7 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 124 GB/s | 182.4 GB/s✓ |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | Arc A310 | Radeon R9 380X |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| TDP | 30 W✓ | 190 W |
| Power Connectors | None | 2x 6-pin |
| Released | Oct 2022 | Nov 2015 |
