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Arc A380 vs Radeon R9 390

Quick Verdict

Performance-wise the Arc A380 is out front, significantly faster, roughly 20% up on the Radeon R9 390. Value tips toward the Radeon R9 390, though: $50 USD cheaper for what you get.

Maximum Capacity Reached. Remove a model to add another. (2/2)

VS
INTEL Arc
A380
Price
$130 USD
Performance
6/100✓
VRAM
6 GB GDDR6
Key Specs Advantage
+145% Boost Clock (2,450 MHz vs 1,000 MHz)
$140 USDASRock Intel Arc A380 Challenger ITX 6GB OC Graphics Card | Single Slot ITX | 2250 MHz | 6GB GDDR6 | DisplayPort 2.0 | HDMI 2.0b | 0dB Cooling | 8K Support | 500W | DirectX 12 Ultimate | PCIe 4.0
$130 USDOpen Box ASRock Challenger Arc A380 6GB GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 ITX Video Card A380 CLI 6G OC
Used
AMD Radeon
R9 390
Price
$80 USD✓
Performance
5/100
VRAM
8 GB GDDR5✓
Key Specs Advantage
+433% Memory Bus (512-bit vs 96-bit)
+150% Stream Processors (2,560 vs 1,024)
+106% Bandwidth (384 GB/s vs 186 GB/s)
$299 USDASUS Strix Radeon R9 390 Overclocked 8 GB DDR5 512-bit DisplayPort HDMI 1.4a DVI-I Gaming Graphics Card
$80 USDUsed - Very Good ASUS Radeon R9 390 8GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card R9390-DC2-8GD5
Used
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Arc A380 vs Radeon R9 390: In-Depth Breakdown

Performance: Arc A380 vs Radeon R9 390

The Arc A380 is significantly faster, around 20% ahead of the Radeon R9 390. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p.

Price & Value

Right now the Radeon R9 390 starts at $80 USD against $130 USD for the Arc A380. Despite being slower, the Radeon R9 390 offers the better performance-per-dollar (~35% better value), so budget-focused buyers should weigh it carefully. The Radeon R9 390 is trading below its $329 USD MSRP — a genuine deal.

Power & Efficiency

The Arc A380 sips power at 75W next to the Radeon R9 390's 275W, 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.

VRAM & Future-Proofing

The Radeon R9 390's 8GB (vs 6GB on the Arc A380) gives it more room for 4K textures and memory-hungry creative or AI workloads.

Generation & Longevity

The Arc A380 is roughly 7 years newer than the Radeon R9 390 (Alchemist vs GCN 2.0), 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 R9 390 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 R9 390?

Choose the Arc A380 if you want the most performance and can absorb the higher price. If you're optimizing for value, the Radeon R9 390 stretches your money further for only slightly lower performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Arc A380 better than the Radeon R9 390?

The Arc A380 is significantly faster, roughly 20% ahead. The Radeon R9 390 is still worth it if value matters more than top-end frames.

Which is better for 4K gaming, the Arc A380 or the Radeon R9 390?

Neither is a dedicated 4K card; both are best at entry-level 1080p. For 4K you'd want a faster GPU, or lean on upscaling.

Is the Arc A380 worth the extra $50 USD over the Radeon R9 390?

Only if you need the extra performance or features; on pure value the Radeon R9 390 comes out ahead.

Does the Radeon R9 390 have enough VRAM advantage to matter?

Its 8GB (vs 6GB) gives real headroom for 4K, heavy texture mods, and creative/AI work. At 1080p the gap matters less.

Which should you buy: Arc A380 or Radeon R9 390?

Choose the Arc A380 if you want the most performance and can absorb the higher price. If you're optimizing for value, the Radeon R9 390 stretches your money further for only slightly lower performance.

Technical Specifications Comparison

Architecture & Cores

Architecture & Cores specifications comparison between Arc A380 and Radeon R9 390
SpecificationArc A380Radeon R9 390
ArchitectureAlchemistGCN 2.0
Process NodeTSMC N6TSMC 28nm
CUDA Cores (Shading Units / Stream Processors)1,0242,560✓
Ray Tracing Cores8—
Tensor / AI Cores128—

Clock Speeds

Clock Speeds specifications comparison between Arc A380 and Radeon R9 390
SpecificationArc A380Radeon R9 390
Base Clock2,000 MHz✓1,000 MHz
Boost Clock2,450 MHz✓1,000 MHz

Memory

Memory specifications comparison between Arc A380 and Radeon R9 390
SpecificationArc A380Radeon R9 390
VRAM Capacity6 GB8 GB✓
Memory TypeGDDR6GDDR5
Memory Bus96-bit512-bit✓
Memory Speed15.5 Gbps✓6 Gbps
Bandwidth186 GB/s384 GB/s✓

Connectivity & Power

Connectivity & Power specifications comparison between Arc A380 and Radeon R9 390
SpecificationArc A380Radeon R9 390
InterfacePCIe 4.0 x8PCIe 3.0 x16
TDP75 W✓275 W
Power Connectors1x 8-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
ReleasedJun 2022Jun 2015