AMD Radeon Pro W5500X vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Comparison

# AMD Radeon Pro W5500X vs NVIDIA RTX A4000

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X and NVIDIA RTX A4000 occupy distinctly different positions in the workstation GPU landscape, despite their similar overall percentiles. The W5500X holds a 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the A4000 sits at the 72nd percentile, placing them within 1 percentile of each other in aggregate standing. However, their benchmark portfolios tell very different stories: the W5500X has a single Geekbench Metal score of 27,973, while the A4000 presents a broader profile spanning DirectX, OpenCL, Vulkan, and compute workloads. This asymmetry in available data shapes much of the comparison, but the architectural gulf between RDNA 1.0 and Ampere provides substantial material for analysis.

Where Each One Wins

The W5500X wins exclusively in the Metal API arena, where its Geekbench Metal score of 27,973 stands as its sole benchmark entry. This single data point places it within 0.2% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7800M (27,883). For workflows that rely heavily on Apple's Metal graphics API, the W5500X demonstrates competitive performance against much newer hardware, as evidenced by its 0.5% edge over the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27,839). The card's design for Apple MPX bus interface and dual HDMI 2.0b outputs suggests it was tailored specifically for Mac Pro environments, where Metal performance is the primary graphics benchmark.

The RTX A4000 wins across every other measurable dimension, with its most dominant showing in Geekbench Vulkan where it scores 127,645, and Geekbench OpenCL at 105,739. The Passmark G3D score of 19,459 further cements its position in DirectX-centric workloads. The A4000's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (26,553), which it leads by 0.5%, and the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (26,421), which it surpasses by 1%. In compute-oriented tasks, the Passmark GPU Compute score of 9,760 indicates substantial parallel processing capability. The A4000 also demonstrates strength across legacy DirectX tests, with Passmark DirectX 9 at 240 and DirectX 10 at 126, showing backward compatibility that the W5500X cannot match due to lack of comparable data.

Architecture Differences

The W5500X is built on AMD's RDNA 1.0 architecture using the Navi 14 chip, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. This 7 nm node packs 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 40.5 million per mm². The architecture features 1,536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation pipelines. Notably, the W5500X has no dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, reflecting its RDNA 1.0 heritage predating AMD's ray tracing implementations. The card operates with a base clock of 1187 MHz and boost clock of 1757 MHz, delivering 5.398 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 10.80 TFLOPS of FP16 performance via a 2:1 ratio. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs across a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The RTX A4000 employs NVIDIA's Ampere architecture on the GA104 chip, manufactured by Samsung on an 8 nm process. This larger chip houses 17,400 million transistors across a 392 mm² die, with a transistor density of 44.4 million per mm². The A4000 dramatically expands the compute footprint with 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. Critically, it adds 48 dedicated ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads that the W5500X cannot perform. The clock speeds are lower in base operation at 735 MHz but boost to 1560 MHz, yet the massive core count yields 19.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and matching 19.17 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 1:1 ratio. Memory capacity doubles to 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The A4000 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the W5500X is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1), a difference that matters for modern game development and visualization workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Direct benchmark comparisons are limited by the fact that the W5500X has only one recorded benchmark while the A4000 has ten. However, the available data reveals decisive advantages for the A4000 in all comparable categories. The most striking difference appears in compute performance: the A4000's Passmark GPU Compute score of 9,760 demonstrates its ability to handle parallel processing tasks, while the W5500X has no corresponding compute benchmark in the data. Similarly, the A4000's Geekbench OpenCL score of 105,739 and Vulkan score of 127,645 show exceptional performance in cross-platform APIs, whereas the W5500X's absence from these benchmarks suggests its optimization for Metal rather than general-purpose compute.

The W5500X's sole benchmark, Geekbench Metal at 27,973, provides the only direct comparison point. While the A4000 does not have a Metal benchmark in its portfolio, the W5500X's score positions it competitively against its named rivals: within 0.2% of the GTX 980 Ti and 0.5% ahead of the Radeon Pro Vega 20. In DirectX workloads, the A4000 shows consistent strength across generations, with Passmark scores of 240 for DirectX 9, 126 for DirectX 10, 158 for DirectX 11, and 72 for DirectX 12. The A4000's Passmark G3D score of 19,459 and G2D score of 1,024 further illustrate its all-around graphics capability. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,604 provides additional evidence of modern DirectX 12 performance that the W5500X cannot match due to its older DirectX 12_1 API support.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear division of purpose. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X is a specialized tool for Metal-centric Apple ecosystems, as its single benchmark and Apple MPX bus interface indicate. Its 73rd percentile ranking and competitive Metal score suggest it remains viable for Mac Pro users whose workloads prioritize Metal-accelerated graphics. The card's 125 W TDP and dual-slot form factor also make it a manageable addition to compatible systems.

The NVIDIA RTX A4000 is a more versatile workstation card, evidenced by its broad benchmark portfolio spanning ten tests across multiple APIs and its 72nd percentile ranking. The 16 GB memory capacity, 448 GB/s bandwidth, and 19.17 TFLOPS FP32 performance position it for demanding professional workloads including ray tracing and AI inference, thanks to its 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores. Its single-slot design with one 6-pin power connector and 140 W TDP offers installation flexibility that the W5500X's dual-slot Apple MPX design cannot match. The A4000's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface also provides broader system compatibility than the proprietary Apple MPX connection. Users requiring DirectX 12 Ultimate features, Vulkan performance, or substantial compute capabilities should choose the A4000. Users locked into Apple's MPX ecosystem with Metal-based workflows should consider the W5500X, though its end-of-life status and 2019 release date warrant consideration.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has better overall performance according to benchmark percentiles?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X holds a 73rd percentile ranking while the NVIDIA RTX A4000 sits at the 72nd percentile, making them nearly equivalent in overall standing despite their architectural differences.

Q: How do the memory specifications differ between these two cards?

A: The W5500X has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus providing 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the A4000 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus delivering 448.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the RTX A4000 support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RTX A4000 includes 48 dedicated ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads, whereas the W5500X has no such cores.

Q: What is the FP32 compute performance difference?

A: The W5500X delivers 5.398 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the A4000 provides 19.17 TFLOPS, representing a substantial 3.55x advantage for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Which card supports more modern DirectX features?

A: The RTX A4000 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the W5500X is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1), making the A4000 better suited for modern game development and DirectX 12 Ultimate applications.

Q: What are the physical form factor differences?

A: The W5500X is a dual-slot card using the Apple MPX bus interface with two HDMI 2.0b outputs, while the A4000 is a single-slot card with PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, and measures 241 mm in length.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro W5500X | NVIDIA RTX A4000 |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | Ampere |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 6,400 million | 17,400 million |

| Die Size | 158 mm² | 392 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 40.5M / mm² | 44.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1187 MHz | 735 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1757 MHz | 1560 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 448.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1536 | 6144 |

| TMUs | 96 | 192 |

| ROPs | 32 | 96 |

| RT Cores | None | 48 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 192 |

| Pixel Rate | 56.22 GPixel/s | 149.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 168.7 GTexel/s | 299.5 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 5.398 TFLOPS | 19.17 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1) | 19.17 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 125 W | 140 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | Single-slot |

| Power Connectors | None listed | 1x 6-pin |

| Bus Interface | Apple MPX | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 2x HDMI 2.0b | 4x DisplayPort 1.4a |

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

| Release Date | 2019-12-10 | 2021-04-11 |