GPU Comparison

The AMD Instinct MI100 and NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile target entirely different segments of the GPU market, and the benchmark data reflects that divide. The MI100 is a data-center accelerator with a 96th percentile ranking, while the A5500 Mobile is a professional laptop part sitting at the 94th percentile. The data shows a single head-to-head benchmark in Geekbench OpenCL, where the MI100 scores 139,035 against the A5500 Mobile’s 124,287, a decisive 11.9% advantage. However, the A5500 Mobile counters with a Vulkan score of 103,601, a test the MI100 does not have, indicating a more balanced API feature set. The verdict is straightforward: the MI100 is for compute-heavy, server-side workloads where raw FP32 throughput and memory bandwidth are paramount, while the A5500 Mobile is for portable workstations needing broad API support and ray tracing capabilities, accepting lower raw compute in exchange.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear segmentation. Pick the AMD Instinct MI100 if your workload is pure compute. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 139,035 places it in the 96th percentile of all GPUs, outperforming its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB, by 0.7%. Its 1.23 TB/s memory bandwidth and 32 GB of HBM2 are unmatched by the mobile part, making it suitable for large datasets in training or simulation environments. The MI100 also leads the head-to-head OpenCL test by 11.9%, a margin that is significant for sustained compute tasks.

Pick the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile if you need a professional mobile solution with modern API support. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 124,287 is lower, but it also has a Vulkan score of 103,601, which the MI100 lacks entirely. The A5500 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the MI100 lists no API support for these consumer-facing standards. This makes the A5500 Mobile more versatile for workstation applications that require graphics rendering, CAD, or real-time visualization. Its 58 RT cores provide hardware ray tracing, a feature completely absent on the MI100. For a laptop, the A5500 Mobile’s 165 W TDP is also more practical than the MI100’s 300 W, which requires a dual-slot cooler and 2x 8-pin power connectors.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures from different foundries. The AMD Instinct MI100 uses the CDNA 1.0 architecture with the Arcturus chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with the GA103 chip, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. The process node difference is notable: the MI100’s 7 nm process allows for a larger die and more transistors, with 25,600 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, while the A5500 Mobile has 22,000 million transistors on a 496 mm² die. Interestingly, the transistor density tells a different story: the A5500 Mobile has a higher density at 44.4M transistors per mm², compared to the MI100’s 34.1M per mm².

The memory architecture diverges sharply. The MI100 uses HBM2 with a 4096-bit bus and 1.23 TB/s bandwidth, a massive pipeline for data movement. The A5500 Mobile uses GDDR6 with a 256-bit bus and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is less than half the bandwidth of the MI100. The MI100 has 7680 shading units, 480 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, while the A5500 Mobile has 7424 shading units, 232 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The MI100 has no RT cores or tensor cores listed, whereas the A5500 Mobile has 58 RT cores and 232 tensor cores. The MI100’s FP32 throughput is 23.07 TFLOPS, slightly above the A5500 Mobile’s 22.27 TFLOPS, but the FP16 performance shows a major divergence: the MI100 reaches 46.14 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the A5500 Mobile is capped at 22.27 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio). This means the MI100 doubles its FP16 throughput, while the A5500 Mobile does not.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher raw compute performance in OpenCL?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100 scores 139,035 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 11.9% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile’s 124,287. The MI100 also ranks in the 96th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the A5500 Mobile’s 94th percentile.

Q: Does the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile support ray tracing?

A: Yes. The A5500 Mobile has 58 RT cores specifically for hardware-accelerated ray tracing. The AMD Instinct MI100 has no RT cores listed in its specifications.

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100 has a significant advantage, with 1.23 TB/s bandwidth from its HBM2 memory, compared to the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile’s 512.0 GB/s from GDDR6 memory.

Q: Can the AMD Instinct MI100 run DirectX applications?

A: No. The MI100 lists DirectX as "N/A," along with OpenGL and Vulkan. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100 has a TDP of 300 W and requires a 700 W power supply and 2x 8-pin connectors. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has a 165 W TDP and requires no power connectors, as it is designed for portable devices.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two chips?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has a higher transistor density at 44.4M transistors per mm², despite using an 8 nm process, compared to the AMD Instinct MI100’s 34.1M per mm² on a 7 nm process.

Specification Differences

The following table highlights the key specification differences between the two GPUs, based solely on the provided data:

| Specification | AMD Instinct MI100 | NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | CDNA 1.0 | Ampere |

| Chip | Arcturus | GA103 |

| Process Node | 7 nm (TSMC) | 8 nm (Samsung) |

| Transistors | 25,600 million | 22,000 million |

| Die Size | 750 mm² | 496 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 34.1M / mm² | 44.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1000 MHz | 975 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1502 MHz | 1500 MHz |

| Memory Size | 32 GB HBM2 | 16 GB GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 4096 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 1.23 TB/s | 512.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 7680 | 7424 |

| TMUs | 480 | 232 |

| ROPs | 64 | 96 |

| RT Cores | None | 58 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 232 |

| FP32 Performance | 23.07 TFLOPS | 22.27 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 46.14 TFLOPS (2:1) | 22.27 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 300 W | 165 W |

| Power Connectors | 2x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 700 W | None |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX Support | N/A | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| OpenGL Support | N/A | 4.6 |

| Vulkan Support | N/A | 1.4 |

| Release Date | 2020-11-15 | 2022-03-21 |

| Successor | None | Ada-MW |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only common benchmark between the two is Geekbench OpenCL, where the AMD Instinct MI100 wins decisively. The MI100 scores 139,035, while the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile scores 124,287, giving the MI100 an 11.9% lead. This is a substantial margin, indicating that the MI100’s architecture is better suited for the parallel compute tasks that OpenCL measures. To put this in perspective, the MI100’s score is 0.7% ahead of its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB, and 0.9% ahead of the Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB. The A5500 Mobile, on the other hand, is 0.4% behind the Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB and 2.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7900.

The A5500 Mobile has a second benchmark, Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 103,601. The MI100 has no Vulkan score listed, which is consistent with its lack of Vulkan API support. This is a major functional difference: the A5500 Mobile can leverage the Vulkan API for cross-platform graphics and compute, while the MI100 is limited to the OpenCL pathway for its compute tasks. In terms of overall average benchmark score, the MI100 averages 139,035, while the A5500 Mobile averages 113,944. This gap is driven by the A5500 Mobile’s lower Vulkan score, which drags down its average relative to its OpenCL performance.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Instinct MI100 wins in raw compute and memory bandwidth. Its 11.9% lead in OpenCL is the headline metric, but the underlying specifications reinforce this. The 1.23 TB/s memory bandwidth is more than double the A5500 Mobile’s 512.0 GB/s, which is critical for memory-bound workloads like large matrix operations or deep learning training. The FP16 performance of 46.14 TFLOPS is 2.07x higher than the A5500 Mobile’s 22.27 TFLOPS, making the MI100 far more effective for mixed-precision compute. Its 32 GB of HBM2 memory also allows larger datasets to reside on the GPU without spilling to system memory. The MI100’s 96th percentile ranking versus the A5500 Mobile’s 94th percentile confirms its higher standing in the overall GPU landscape.

NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile wins in graphics features, API support, and portability. The A5500 Mobile has 58 RT cores and 232 tensor cores, enabling hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration, neither of which the MI100 offers. Its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 means it can handle a wide range of professional graphics workloads, from CAD to real-time rendering. The Vulkan score of 103,601 demonstrates its capability in that API, which is entirely absent on the MI100. The A5500 Mobile’s 165 W TDP and lack of external power connectors make it suitable for laptop integration, whereas the MI100’s 300 W TDP, dual-slot cooler, and 2x 8-pin power requirement confine it to a desktop server chassis. The A5500 Mobile’s higher transistor density (44.4M / mm²) also suggests a more efficient design per unit area, despite the larger absolute transistor count on the MI100.