AMD Instinct MI300X vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile Comparison

The Verdict

The data presents a clear performance hierarchy, but the intended use cases are so divergent that direct competition is almost incidental. The AMD Instinct MI300X is a dominant compute accelerator, with a Geekbench OpenCL score of 317,994, placing it in the 100th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile, with a score of 124,287 in the same test, sits at the 94th percentile. The MI300X is 155.9% faster in this single benchmark, a massive gap that reflects its purpose as a data center workhorse. For anyone building a high-performance compute node, the MI300X is the definitive choice based on raw score. For a mobile workstation, the RTX A5500 Mobile is the only option that exists in this comparison, as the MI300X has no display outputs and is an OAM module, not a mobile part. The verdict is not about which is better in general, but which fits the physical and performance requirements of the system.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The AMD Instinct MI300X uses the CDNA 3.0 architecture on a 5 nm process from TSMC, while the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture on an 8 nm process from Samsung. The MI300X chip, codenamed Aqua Vanjaram, contains 153,000 million transistors on a 1017 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 150.4 million per mm². In contrast, the RTX A5500 Mobile's GA103 chip has 22,000 million transistors on a 496 mm² die, with a density of 44.4 million per mm². This difference in process technology and design philosophy is stark. The MI300X is a massive, power-hungry accelerator, while the RTX A5500 Mobile is a more modest, efficient mobile part. The MI300X features 19,456 shading units, 1,216 TMUs, and reports 0 ROPs and a pixel rate of 0 MPixel/s, indicating it is not designed for traditional rasterized graphics output. The RTX A5500 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 144.0 GPixel/s. The MI300X also lacks dedicated RT and tensor cores in the recorded data, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has 58 RT cores and 232 tensor cores. The API support also differs: the MI300X lists DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan as "N/A", whereas the RTX A5500 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the recorded benchmark data, the AMD Instinct MI300X wins the only head-to-head test, Geekbench OpenCL, by a margin of 155.9%. This is its clear territory: raw compute throughput. The MI300X's score of 317,994 is 7.5% ahead of the NVIDIA L40S and 10.7% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation, showing it leads its own competitive set. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile, while slower, has its own advantages implied by the data. It is a mobile part, drawing 165 W, which is far lower than the MI300X's 750 W TDP. It is also a graphics-capable device with display outputs described as "Portable Device Dependent" and full API support, making it suitable for tasks that require graphical output or DirectX 12 Ultimate features. The benchmark data shows the RTX A5500 Mobile is close to its own rivals, such as the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB (0.4% difference) and the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation (2.7% behind), indicating it is a competitive mobile workstation GPU. The MI300X, with no display outputs and no graphics API support, does not compete in that space.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Instinct MI300X has an average benchmark score of 317,994, while the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has an average score of 113,944.

Q: How much faster is the AMD Instinct MI300X in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The MI300X scores 317,994 compared to the RTX A5500 Mobile's 124,287, resulting in a delta of 155.9% in favor of the AMD part.

Q: Does the AMD Instinct MI300X support display outputs?

A: No, the recorded data lists "No outputs" for the MI300X, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has "Portable Device Dependent" outputs.

Q: What is the difference in power consumption between the two?

A: The AMD Instinct MI300X has a TDP of 750 W, whereas the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has a TDP of 165 W.

Q: Which GPU has a higher memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Instinct MI300X has a memory bandwidth of 5.32 TB/s, while the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s.

Q: What is the production status of the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile?

A: The RTX A5500 Mobile is listed as "End-of-life" in the database.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only head-to-head benchmark recorded is Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the AMD Instinct MI300X achieved a score of 317,994, while the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile achieved 124,287. This is a decisive win for the MI300X, with a delta of 155.9%. To put this in perspective, the MI300X's score is more than double the RTX A5500 Mobile's score. The RTX A5500 Mobile's score of 124,287 puts it in the 94th percentile, which is respectable, but it is far behind the MI300X's perfect 100th percentile ranking. The MI300X also compares favorably to its nearest rivals: it is 5% behind the NVIDIA H200 NVL (which scores 334,891) and 8% behind the NVIDIA B200 (which scores 345,482), but it is 7.5% ahead of the NVIDIA L40S and 10.7% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation. The RTX A5500 Mobile, on the other hand, is nearly tied with the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB (which scores 114,395, a 0.4% difference) and is 2.7% behind the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation. These numbers show that the MI300X is in a different performance class entirely, competing with top-tier data center accelerators, while the RTX A5500 Mobile is a mid-range mobile option.

Specification Differences

The two products differ across nearly every specification category. The process node is 5 nm for the AMD Instinct MI300X and 8 nm for the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile. The MI300X has 153,000 million transistors, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has 22,000 million. The die size is 1017 mm² for the AMD part and 496 mm² for the NVIDIA part. The base clock is 1000 MHz for the MI300X and 975 MHz for the RTX A5500 Mobile, with boost clocks of 2100 MHz and 1500 MHz respectively. Memory configurations are vastly different: the MI300X has 192 GB of HBM3 on an 8192-bit bus with 5.32 TB/s bandwidth, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The MI300X has 19,456 shading units and 1,216 TMUs, compared to 7,424 shading units and 232 TMUs for the RTX A5500 Mobile. The RTX A5500 Mobile has 96 ROPs, while the MI300X has 0. The MI300X's pixel rate is 0 MPixel/s, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has 144.0 GPixel/s. Texture rates are 2,553.6 GTexel/s for the MI300X and 348.0 GTexel/s for the RTX A5500 Mobile. FP32 and FP16 performance are both 81.72 TFLOPS for the MI300X and 22.27 TFLOPS for the RTX A5500 Mobile. The TDP is 750 W for the AMD part and 165 W for the NVIDIA part. The MI300X is an OAM Module, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has no slot width listed. The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 for the MI300X and PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RTX A5500 Mobile. The MI300X has no display outputs, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has outputs dependent on the portable device. The MI300X has no API support for DirectX, OpenGL, or Vulkan, while the RTX A5500 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The release dates are also different: the MI300X was released in December 2023, while the RTX A5500 Mobile was released in March 2022 and is now end-of-life. The MI300X does not have a launch MSRP recorded in the database.