AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT vs NVIDIA A2 Comparison

The Verdict

The data separates these two cards by capability and intent. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT is the clear performance pick, winning both recorded head-to-head tests by double digits. The NVIDIA A2 is the efficiency and capacity pick, offering double the memory at half the power draw. Choose the Radeon Pro 5500 XT if raw compute throughput is the priority and you can supply 125 W of power. Choose the NVIDIA A2 if you need 16 GB of VRAM, operate under tight power limits, or require the RT and tensor hardware that the AMD card lacks entirely.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different foundries and process nodes. AMD uses TSMC's 7 nm process for the Navi 14 chip, while NVIDIA uses Samsung's 8 nm process for the GA107 chip. The AMD die is smaller at 158 mm² despite containing 6,400 million transistors, yielding a density of 40.5M transistors per mm². The NVIDIA die is larger at 200 mm² and packs 8,700 million transistors, for a density of 43.5M per mm².

The AMD card is built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, part of the Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) generation. It has 1,536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. It has no RT cores and no tensor cores. Its FP16 performance is listed at 10.80 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, meaning it can double up FP32 work into FP16.

The NVIDIA A2 is Ampere architecture, part of the Workstation Ampere (Ax000) generation. It has fewer shading units at 1,280, but it compensates with dedicated hardware: 10 RT cores and 40 tensor cores. Its FP16 performance is 4.531 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, meaning there is no FP16 acceleration advantage over FP32. The A2 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD card tops out at DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Power and physical design differ substantially. The AMD card has a 125 W TDP and is listed as "IGP" slot width with no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The NVIDIA A2 has a 60 W TDP, is single-slot, also has no power connectors, and suggests a 250 W PSU. Neither card has display outputs. Both use PCIe 4.0 x8.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded database has two benchmark comparisons between these cards, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT wins both.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD card scores 41,772 against the NVIDIA A2's 35,357. That is an 18.1% advantage for AMD. This is the larger of the two wins and reflects the AMD card's higher raw FP32 throughput of 5.398 TFLOPS versus 4.531 TFLOPS for the A2.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the AMD card scores 39,601 against the A2's 34,023. That is a 16.4% advantage. Vulkan results show the same pattern, with AMD maintaining a comfortable lead even in a lower-level API.

The NVIDIA A2 has no wins recorded in the head-to-head data. The AMD card claims both of the two tested workloads.

Looking at broader context, the AMD card's average benchmark score is 45,384, which places it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A730M at 45,592 (0.5% higher), the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation at 45,972 (1.3% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti at 44,795 (1.3% lower). This means the Radeon Pro 5500 XT is trading blows with much more modern and expensive hardware.

The NVIDIA A2's average benchmark score is 34,690, placing it in the 79th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB at 34,561 (0.4% lower), the AMD Radeon HD 7970 at 34,541 (0.4% lower), the NVIDIA TITAN V at 34,355 (1% lower), and the NVIDIA RTX A1000 at 34,207 (1.4% lower). The A2 is essentially at parity with a card from 2012 (HD 7970) in average score, which shows its compute performance is modest.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every spec line. Here are the fields where they diverge:

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT | NVIDIA A2 |

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

| Chip | Navi 14 | GA107 |

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | Ampere |

| Generation | Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) | Workstation Ampere (Ax000) |

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

| Transistors | 6,400 million | 8,700 million |

| Die size | 158 mm² | 200 mm² |

| Transistor density | 40.5M / mm² | 43.5M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1187 MHz | 1440 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1757 MHz | 1770 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1750 MHz, 14 Gbps effective | 1563 MHz, 12.5 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 8 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 200.1 GB/s |

| Shading units | 1536 | 1280 |

| TMUs | 96 | 40 |

| ROPs | 32 | 32 |

| RT cores | None | 10 |

| Tensor cores | None | 40 |

| Pixel rate | 56.22 GPixel/s | 56.64 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 168.7 GTexel/s | 70.80 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 5.398 TFLOPS | 4.531 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1) | 4.531 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 125 W | 60 W |

| Slot width | IGP | Single-slot |

| Suggested PSU | 300 W | 250 W |

| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Release date | 2020-08-03 | 2021-11-09 |

| Predecessor | None listed | Quadro Turing |

| Successor | None listed | Workstation Ada |

Both cards have 128-bit memory buses, GDDR6 memory, PCIe 4.0 x8 interfaces, no display outputs, and no power connectors. Both are end-of-life products. Neither has a launch MSRP in the database.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in raw compute?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT is faster. It wins Geekbench OpenCL by 18.1% (41,772 vs 35,357) and Geekbench Vulkan by 16.4% (39,601 vs 34,023). Its FP32 throughput is 5.398 TFLOPS versus the A2's 4.531 TFLOPS.

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The NVIDIA A2 has 16 GB of GDDR6, exactly double the 8 GB on the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT. However, the AMD card has higher memory bandwidth at 224.0 GB/s versus 200.1 GB/s for the A2.

Q: Does the NVIDIA A2 support ray tracing?

A: Yes. The A2 has 10 RT cores and 40 tensor cores. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has neither RT cores nor tensor cores, so it cannot accelerate ray tracing or tensor workloads in hardware.

Q: Which card consumes less power?

A: The NVIDIA A2 has a 60 W TDP, less than half of the AMD card's 125 W TDP. The A2 also suggests a 250 W PSU versus 300 W for the AMD card. Both are slot-powered with no external power connectors.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: No. Both are listed as end-of-life. The AMD card was released on 2020-08-03, and the NVIDIA A2 was released on 2021-11-09. The A2 has a predecessor (Quadro Turing) and a successor (Workstation Ada).

Q: Which card has higher overall benchmark standing?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT sits in the 84th percentile of all GPUs with an average score of 45,384. The NVIDIA A2 sits in the 79th percentile with an average score of 34,690. The AMD card's average score is about 30.9% higher than the A2's.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT wins every recorded benchmark comparison in this matchup. It is the better choice for compute-heavy workloads where raw FP32 or FP16 throughput matters, such as general-purpose GPU compute, rendering, or any task that can leverage its 2:1 FP16 ratio for 10.80 TFLOPS. Its texture rate of 168.7 GTexel/s is more than double the A2's 70.80 GTexel/s, which indicates a clear advantage in texture-bound workloads. The higher memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s also helps in bandwidth-sensitive tasks. This card will perform closer to modern mid-range GPUs, as evidenced by its nearest rivals including the RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 5880 Ada Generation.

The NVIDIA A2 wins on capacity and efficiency. Its 16 GB of memory is the single biggest advantage: double the VRAM of the AMD card, which is critical for large models, big datasets, or multi-tenant virtualization where memory footprint exceeds 8 GB. The 60 W TDP means it can be deployed in power-constrained environments, and its single-slot design with no power connectors simplifies installation in dense systems. The A2 also has RT cores and tensor cores, making it the only one of the two that can accelerate ray tracing and AI inference workloads. Its FP16 performance is 1:1 with FP32, which is not as flexible as AMD's 2:1 ratio, but the dedicated tensor cores provide a path for deep learning that the AMD card simply cannot offer.

The practical split is clear: if your workload fits in 8 GB and needs speed, the AMD card is the answer. If your workload needs more than 8 GB, or if you need hardware acceleration for ray tracing or tensors, the NVIDIA A2 is the only option despite its lower raw scores. The A2's 79th percentile ranking and proximity to the TITAN V in average score show it is not slow in absolute terms, but it is clearly a step below the AMD card in general compute. For a system builder choosing between these two end-of-life cards, the decision comes down to whether memory capacity and special hardware matter more than raw throughput.