AMD Radeon Pro Duo vs NVIDIA RTX A5000 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro Duo and NVIDIA RTX A5000 represent two distinct eras of professional workstation graphics. The data shows a stark generational divide: the Radeon Pro Duo, built on 28 nm GCN 3.0, was a dual-GPU flagship from 2016, while the RTX A5000, based on 8 nm Ampere, arrived five years later with a completely different architectural approach. Benchmark results indicate that the RTX A5000 delivers a decisive performance advantage in the one directly comparable test, though the Radeon Pro Duo retains relevance in specific legacy compute scenarios. The following analysis breaks down their architectural, benchmark, and specification differences using only the provided data.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5000 wins decisively, scoring 157,905 compared to the AMD Radeon Pro Duo's 35,860. This represents a delta of -77.3% for the AMD card, meaning the RTX A5000 is roughly 4.4 times faster in this specific test.

Q: How do the two cards compare in overall GPU percentile rankings?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Duo sits at the 80th percentile against all GPUs, while the NVIDIA RTX A5000 is at the 78th percentile. Despite the A5000's massive OpenCL win, its average benchmark score of 33,622 is actually lower than the Duo's 35,860, due to the different test suites included in each card's benchmark history.

Q: What are the closest rivals to each card based on average scores?

A: For the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (35,520, delta 1%), followed by the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35,435, delta 1.2%). For the NVIDIA RTX A5000, the closest is the GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB (33,694, delta -0.2%), with the AMD Radeon RX 7700S (33,849, delta -0.7%) close behind.

Q: What memory configurations do the two cards use?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Duo uses 4 GB of HBM memory on a 4096-bit bus, yielding 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA RTX A5000 uses 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 768.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has more shading units and texture mapping units?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5000 has 8,192 shading units, exactly double the Radeon Pro Duo's 4,096. Both cards share the same count of 256 TMUs, but the A5000 has 96 ROPs versus the Duo's 64.

Q: What is the power connector requirement for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Duo requires three 8-pin power connectors and a suggested 750 W power supply, with a TDP of 350 W. The NVIDIA RTX A5000 needs only one 8-pin connector and a 550 W suggested PSU, with a lower TDP of 230 W.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two cards is fundamental. The AMD Radeon Pro Duo is built on GCN 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. Its chip, codenamed "Capsaicin," packs 8,900 million transistors into a 596 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 14.9M per mm². This is a dual-GPU design, which explains its dual-slot form factor and 350 W TDP.

In contrast, the NVIDIA RTX A5000 uses the Ampere architecture (GA102 chip) on Samsung's 8 nm process. It integrates 28,300 million transistors on a slightly larger 628 mm² die, achieving a much higher density of 45.1M per mm². This single-chip design is more efficient, with a TDP of 230 W. The A5000's architecture also includes dedicated hardware that the Duo lacks entirely: 64 RT cores for ray tracing and 256 tensor cores for AI acceleration. The Duo has no such specialized units listed.

The memory subsystems are also architecturally distinct. The Duo employs 4 GB of HBM with a massive 4096-bit bus, while the A5000 uses 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus. Despite the Duo's wider bus, the A5000's higher memory clock (2000 MHz vs 500 MHz) gives it significantly more bandwidth. The API support further differentiates them: the A5000 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Duo is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the A5000 has Vulkan 1.4 versus the Duo's Vulkan 1.2.170.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the data is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results are lopsided. The NVIDIA RTX A5000 scores 157,905 against the AMD Radeon Pro Duo's 35,860. This is a delta of -77.3% for the Duo, indicating that the A5000 is approximately 4.4 times faster in raw OpenCL compute throughput. This massive gap is consistent with the architectural differences: the A5000's 8,192 shading units (double the Duo's 4,096) and significantly higher clock speeds (1695 MHz boost vs. no listed boost clock for the Duo) drive its 27.77 TFLOPS FP32 performance versus the Duo's 8.192 TFLOPS.

However, the broader benchmark picture is more nuanced. The RTX A5000's average benchmark score across all its tests (3DMark Steel Nomad, Geekbench Vulkan, Passmark G3D, etc.) is 33,622. The Duo's average score, based solely on its Geekbench OpenCL result, is 35,860. This means that while the A5000 wins the OpenCL head-to-head, its overall average is actually 6.2% lower than the Duo's. This is likely because the A5000's benchmark suite includes more demanding tests like Passmark DirectX 9/10/11/12 and 3DMark Steel Nomad, which may scale differently. The A5000's Passmark G3D score of 22,541 and GPU Compute score of 12,455 show strong performance in those categories, but the Duo has no equivalent entries to compare directly.

Looking at the nearest rivals provides context for each card's standing. The Duo's nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro GV100, scores 35,520, just 1% below the Duo. The RTX 5070 Ti Mobile is 1.2% behind. This places the Duo in a competitive bracket with high-end mobile GPUs and older Volta workstation parts. The A5000's rivals are quite different: the GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB (33,694) is only 0.2% behind, and the RX 7700S is 0.7% behind. This suggests that despite its architectural modernity, the A5000's average score places it in a performance bracket with mid-range consumer and older gaming GPUs, likely due to the mixed workload nature of its benchmark suite.

The Verdict

The data strongly favors the NVIDIA RTX A5000 for any workload that relies on OpenCL compute. Its 77.3% advantage in that specific test is overwhelming and reflects its superior shading unit count, clock speeds, and memory bandwidth. The A5000's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, ray tracing cores, and tensor cores makes it the clear choice for modern rendering pipelines, AI inference, and any application that can leverage its 24 GB of VRAM. The 768.0 GB/s bandwidth and 433.9 GTexel/s texture rate are substantial upgrades over the Duo's 512.0 GB/s and 256.0 GTexel/s.

The AMD Radeon Pro Duo, however, is not without merit. Its 80th percentile ranking is higher than the A5000's 78th, and its average benchmark score is higher due to the nature of its less demanding test suite. For legacy compute workloads that are optimized for GCN architecture, the Duo's dual-GPU design might still deliver acceptable performance. Its 4096-bit memory bus, while paired with slower HBM, could be advantageous in certain memory-latency-sensitive tasks. The Duo also launched at an MSRP of 1,499 USD, though this is a historical figure.

Who should pick which? If the priority is maximum compute performance, modern API support, and the ability to handle large datasets (24 GB VRAM), the RTX A5000 is the unambiguous choice. If the workload is strictly legacy GCN-optimized compute and the higher average score percentile is a consideration, the Radeon Pro Duo could suffice, but the data shows it is severely outclassed in the only direct comparison available. The A5000's lower TDP (230 W vs 350 W) and single 8-pin power requirement also make it far easier to integrate into existing systems.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro Duo | NVIDIA RTX A5000 |

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

| Architecture | GCN 3.0 | Ampere |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 8 nm |

| Transistors | 8,900 million | 28,300 million |

| Die Size | 596 mm² | 628 mm² |

| Shading Units | 4,096 | 8,192 |

| ROPs | 64 | 96 |

| RT Cores | None | 64 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 256 |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 24 GB |

| Memory Type | HBM | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 4096 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 768.0 GB/s |

| FP32 Performance | 8.192 TFLOPS | 27.77 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 8.192 TFLOPS (1:1) | 27.77 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| Pixel Rate | 64.00 GPixel/s | 162.7 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 256.0 GTexel/s | 433.9 GTexel/s |

| TDP | 350 W | 230 W |

| Power Connectors | 3x 8-pin | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 750 W | 550 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 1.4a, 3x DisplayPort 1.2 | 4x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |