AMD Radeon PRO W6600 vs NVIDIA PG506-232 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark database records a single shared compute test for these two workstation accelerators, and the results are decisively lopsided. The NVIDIA PG506-232 wins the only head-to-head benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, with a score of 225,124 against the AMD Radeon PRO W6600's 73,514. That represents a 206.2% advantage for the NVIDIA part, which places it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the AMD card sits in the 92nd percentile.

The PG506-232 is clearly positioned for compute-heavy server workloads. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB (8.7% slower), the NVIDIA RTX 6000D (14.9% slower), and the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D (2.4% slower). Only the NVIDIA L20 scores higher, by 10.4%. This is a card built for sustained, high-throughput compute tasks where raw OpenCL performance is the primary metric.

The AMD Radeon PRO W6600, by contrast, is a more modest workstation card. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X (1.3% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (2.7% slower), and both the PCIe 16 GB and 12 GB versions of the NVIDIA Tesla P100 (3.0% and 3.3% slower, respectively). The W6600's average benchmark score of 81,995 is substantially lower than the PG506-232's 225,124, but it brings capabilities the NVIDIA card lacks entirely: display outputs and ray tracing support. The PG506-232 has no display outputs at all, making it unsuitable for any interactive graphics role, while the W6600 offers four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs and 28 ray tracing cores.

Thus the use-case split is clean: the PG506-232 is for compute-only server deployments where maximum OpenCL throughput and large memory capacity are paramount, while the W6600 is for professional visualization workstations that need display connectivity and real-time ray tracing in addition to moderate compute performance.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA PG506-232 scores 225,124 in Geekbench OpenCL, compared to 73,514 for the AMD Radeon PRO W6600. The PG506-232 leads by 206.2%.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the W6600 includes 28 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA PG506-232 has no ray tracing cores listed in the database.

Q: What is the memory configuration of each card?

A: The NVIDIA PG506-232 has 24 GB of HBM2 memory on a 3072-bit bus with 933.1 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Can the NVIDIA PG506-232 output video to displays?

A: No. The database lists its display outputs as "No outputs." The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The NVIDIA PG506-232 has a TDP of 165 W and a suggested PSU of 450 W, using an 8-pin EPS connector. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 has a TDP of 100 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W, using a single 6-pin connector.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count?

A: The NVIDIA PG506-232 has 54,200 million transistors on an 826 mm² die, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 has 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. Both use a 7 nm process from TSMC.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains one direct comparison test between these two cards: Geekbench OpenCL. The results are stark. The NVIDIA PG506-232 returns a score of 225,124, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 returns 73,514. The delta is 206.2% in favor of the NVIDIA card, meaning the PG506-232 delivers more than three times the OpenCL performance of the W6600.

This is not a marginal difference. The PG506-232's score places it above the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D (which scores 219,827, a 2.4% deficit) and the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB (207,124, an 8.7% deficit) in the database's nearest-rival rankings. The W6600's score, by contrast, sits within a tight cluster: the Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80,959 (1.3% lower), the GeForce RTX 5090 scores 79,842 (2.7% lower), and the Tesla P100 variants score 79,605 and 79,396 (3.0% and 3.3% lower). This indicates the W6600 is competitive with a specific tier of older and mid-range accelerators, but it is not in the same performance class as the PG506-232.

The OpenCL result is the only benchmark the two share, so any broader comparison must be inferred from architecture and feature differences. The PG506-232's raw compute figures in the database support its dominant OpenCL score: 10.32 TFLOPS FP32 and 10.32 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio), with a pixel rate of 138.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 322.6 GTexel/s. The W6600, while lower in FP32 at 9.247 TFLOPS, doubles its FP16 throughput to 18.49 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) and has a higher pixel rate at 165.1 GPixel/s, but a lower texture rate at 289.0 GTexel/s. The PG506-232's 224 tensor cores and 3584 shading units vastly outnumber the W6600's 1792 shading units and lack of tensor cores, which explains the compute gap.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every measurable specification in the database. The NVIDIA PG506-232 uses a GA100 chip with the Ampere architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm TSMC process with 54,200 million transistors on an 826 mm² die. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 uses a Navi 23 chip with the RDNA 2.0 architecture, also on a 7 nm TSMC process, but with 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. Transistor density is higher on the NVIDIA card: 65.6M per mm² versus 46.7M per mm².

Clock speeds diverge significantly. The PG506-232 runs at a base clock of 930 MHz and a boost clock of 1440 MHz, with memory clocked at 1215 MHz (2.4 Gbps effective). The W6600 runs much faster: base 2331 MHz, boost 2580 MHz, and memory at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). Despite the higher clocks, the W6600's smaller memory bus (128 bit versus 3072 bit) yields far lower memory bandwidth: 224.0 GB/s versus 933.1 GB/s.

Memory capacity and type also differ: 24 GB of HBM2 on the NVIDIA card versus 8 GB of GDDR6 on the AMD card. The PG506-232 has 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 224 tensor cores, with no ray tracing cores. The W6600 has 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 28 ray tracing cores, with no tensor cores.

Physical and power characteristics diverge. The PG506-232 is a dual-slot card, 267 mm long and 112 mm high, with a TDP of 165 W and a suggested PSU of 450 W, powered by an 8-pin EPS connector. The W6600 is a single-slot card, 241 mm long, with a TDP of 100 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W, powered by a single 6-pin connector. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 4.0 x16 for the NVIDIA card versus PCIe 4.0 x8 for the AMD card. Display outputs are the most functional difference: the PG506-232 has none, while the W6600 has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The AMD card also lists API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4), while the NVIDIA card lists none in the database.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split between these two accelerators reflects their intended roles. The NVIDIA PG506-232 is built on the Ampere architecture, a design optimized for dense compute and AI workloads. Its GA100 chip includes 224 tensor cores, dedicated matrix-math units that accelerate deep learning and scientific computing, and its FP16 throughput matches its FP32 throughput at a 1:1 ratio, indicating a compute-oriented design that does not sacrifice half-precision performance. The HBM2 memory with a 3072-bit bus provides 933.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is essential for feeding large datasets and models. The absence of display outputs and ray tracing cores confirms that this is a server accelerator, not a workstation graphics card.

The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 employs the RDNA 2.0 architecture, which is a graphics-first design. It includes 28 ray tracing cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing for professional visualization and rendering workloads. Its FP16 throughput is double its FP32 throughput (18.49 TFLOPS versus 9.247 TFLOPS), a 2:1 ratio typical of graphics-oriented GPUs that use half-precision for certain shading effects. The GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 224.0 GB/s, which is sufficient for display-centric tasks but far below the PG506-232's bandwidth. The W6600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, making it compatible with a wide range of graphics APIs, while the PG506-232 lists no API support in the database, consistent with its compute-only role.

The transistor and die-size figures also illustrate the divergent design philosophies. The PG506-232 packs 54,200 million transistors into 826 mm², a massive chip with heavy compute resources. The W6600 uses 11,060 million transistors on 237 mm², a much smaller and more power-efficient design. The PG506-232's higher transistor density (65.6M per mm² versus 46.7M per mm²) reflects a denser logic layout, while the W6600's lower density and higher clock speeds (up to 2580 MHz boost versus 1440 MHz) suggest a design tuned for frequency rather than raw throughput. Both use the same 7 nm TSMC process, so the differences are purely architectural, not manufacturing-related.

The database also records production status and release timing. Both cards are end-of-life. The PG506-232 was released on 2021-04-11, and its predecessor is listed as Tesla Turing with a successor of Server Ada. The W6600 was released on 2021-06-07, with its predecessor listed as Radeon Pro Vega and no successor recorded. The NVIDIA card's launch MSRP is not in the database, while the AMD card lists a launch MSRP of 649 USD.