AMD Radeon PRO W6800 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Comparison

The Verdict

The data splits these two cards into entirely different jobs. The AMD Radeon PRO W6800 is a workstation card built for sustained compute and professional rendering, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a consumer flagship that happens to be brutally fast in raw compute. The benchmark records show the RTX 5090 wins both shared tests by massive margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5090 scores 334370 against the W6800’s 121808, a 63.6% deficit for the AMD card. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 5090 scores 376728 against 109961, a 70.8% gap. If you need maximum compute throughput in these specific workloads, the RTX 5090 is the clear choice. However, the W6800 holds advantages that matter for professional use: it is end-of-life but still carries 32 GB of GDDR6 memory, a 96th percentile ranking among all GPUs, and an average benchmark score of 135396 that sits within 0.8% of its nearest rivals. The RTX 5090, despite its huge single-test wins, sits at the 92nd percentile with an average score of only 79842, dragged down by a set of lower DirectX and Passmark results. Pick the RTX 5090 for raw speed in OpenCL and Vulkan. Pick the W6800 if you need consistent professional-grade performance across a broader benchmark suite, or if you specifically require its established workstation feature set.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon PRO W6800 uses the Navi 21 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 51.5M per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 uses the GB202 chip on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm TSMC process. It crams 92,200 million transistors into a 750 mm² die, achieving 122.9M per mm². That density difference is the first clue to their divergent roles. The W6800 is a prosumer workstation part with a modest 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. It has 60 RT cores but no dedicated tensor cores listed. The RTX 5090 is a monolithic monster with 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. It carries 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores, making it far more capable for AI-accelerated tasks and ray tracing workloads. The W6800’s FP32 throughput is 17.83 TFLOPS, while the RTX 5090 hits 104.8 TFLOPS. The FP16 numbers tell a similar story: the W6800 achieves 35.67 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the RTX 5090 matches its FP32 at 104.8 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio. Memory architecture also diverges sharply. The W6800 uses 32 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 5090 uses 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s, more than three times the bandwidth. Clock speeds favor the RTX 5090 as well: it boosts to 2407 MHz versus the W6800’s 2322 MHz, and its memory runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) versus the W6800’s 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective). The W6800 supports PCIe 4.0 x16; the RTX 5090 uses PCIe 5.0 x16. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The W6800 pulls 250 W with a 600 W suggested PSU, while the RTX 5090 draws 575 W and needs a 950 W PSU.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two tests shared between these cards are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and the RTX 5090 dominates both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5090 scores 334370 versus the W6800’s 121808. That is a 63.6% advantage for NVIDIA. The gap is even wider in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 5090 scores 376728 against 109961, a 70.8% lead. These are not close contests. The RTX 5090’s raw compute resources, its 21760 shading units and 104.8 TFLOPS FP32, simply overwhelm the W6800’s 3840 shading units and 17.83 TFLOPS. The W6800 has no wins in the shared benchmark set. However, the broader benchmark picture complicates the story. The RTX 5090’s average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 79842, while the W6800’s average is 135396. The RTX 5090’s impressive OpenCL and Vulkan numbers are offset by weak Passmark results: 226 in DirectX 10, 341 in DirectX 11, 185 in DirectX 12, 395 in DirectX 9, 1413 in G2D, 39650 in G3D, and 26756 in GPU compute. The W6800, by contrast, has no such weak outliers in its recorded benchmarks. Its Geekbench scores are 174420 in Metal, 121808 in OpenCL, and 109961 in Vulkan. The RTX 5090 also has a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18355, but that alone does not lift its average. The percentile rankings reflect this divergence: the W6800 sits at the 96th percentile among all GPUs, while the RTX 5090 sits at the 92nd. The nearest rivals for the W6800 are all within 0.8%: the NVIDIA A10M at 135230 (0.1% delta), the RTX 4000 Ada Generation at 135218 (0.1%), the W6800X Duo at 135774 (-0.3%), and the Radeon PRO V620 at 136472 (-0.8%). The RTX 5090’s nearest rivals include the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79605 (0.3%), the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB at 79396 (0.6%), the RX 6850M XT at 78940 (1.1%), and the Pro Vega 64X at 80959 (-1.4%). This shows the W6800 is a more consistent performer across its test suite, while the RTX 5090 is a specialist that excels in specific workloads.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute power in shared benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 wins both shared tests decisively. It scores 334370 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the W6800’s 121808, and 376728 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 109961. The deltas are 63.6% and 70.8% respectively.

Q: Does the AMD card have any benchmark advantage at all?

A: The recorded data shows the W6800 has a higher average benchmark score of 135396 compared to the RTX 5090’s 79842. It also ranks higher in overall GPU percentile, at 96th versus the RTX 5090’s 92nd. However, in the two tests they share, the W6800 wins none.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: Both cards have 32 GB of memory. The W6800 uses GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 5090 uses GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, which is substantially faster.

Q: How do their power requirements differ?

A: The W6800 has a TDP of 250 W and a suggested PSU of 600 W. The RTX 5090 has a TDP of 575 W and requires a suggested PSU of 950 W. The RTX 5090 also uses a single 16-pin power connector, while the W6800 uses 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin.

Q: Which card is better for a professional workstation user?

A: The data suggests the W6800 is the more consistent professional choice. It is in the 96th percentile of all GPUs, has an average score of 135396, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.8% of its performance. The RTX 5090, despite its massive OpenCL and Vulkan wins, has a lower average score and a lower percentile ranking.

Q: What are the physical size differences?

A: The W6800 measures 267 mm in length, 120 mm in height, and 50 mm in width. The RTX 5090 is longer at 304 mm and taller at 137 mm, but thinner at 40 mm. Both are dual-slot cards.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 wins in every shared benchmark, and it wins by enormous margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, it is 63.6% ahead of the W6800. In Geekbench Vulkan, it is 70.8% ahead. This makes it the obvious choice for workloads that rely heavily on these APIs, such as compute-heavy rendering, physics simulations, or machine learning inference that leverages Vulkan compute. Its 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 and 104.8 TFLOPS FP16 performance, combined with 680 tensor cores and 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth, give it a massive throughput advantage for parallel workloads. The RTX 5090 also wins on memory technology, using GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, which is a generational leap over the W6800’s GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. If your application scales with raw compute and memory bandwidth, the RTX 5090 is the clear winner.

The W6800 wins in overall consistency and professional positioning. Its average benchmark score of 135396 is far higher than the RTX 5090’s 79842, and its 96th percentile ranking beats the RTX 5090’s 92nd. The W6800 also has a Geekbench Metal score of 174420, which the RTX 5090 does not have recorded. This suggests the W6800 is better suited for macOS-style or Metal-based workflows, as well as for applications that need steady performance across a wide range of tests rather than extreme peaks in a few. The W6800’s power draw is also far lower at 250 W versus 575 W, and it uses standard 6-pin and 8-pin power connectors rather than the RTX 5090’s 16-pin connector. For a professional workstation that runs 24/7 or sits in a rack, the W6800’s lower power requirements and established workstation feature set (6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs) make it a more practical choice despite its lower raw compute.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon PRO W6800 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 |

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

| Process Node | 7 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 26,800 million | 92,200 million |

| Die Size | 520 mm² | 750 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 51.5M / mm² | 122.9M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1575 MHz | 2017 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2322 MHz | 2407 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2000 MHz, 16 Gbps effective | 1750 MHz, 28 Gbps effective |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR7 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 512 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 1.79 TB/s |

| Shading Units | 3840 | 21760 |

| TMUs | 240 | 680 |

| ROPs | 96 | 176 |

| RT Cores | 60 | 170 |

| Tensor Cores | N/A | 680 |

| Pixel Rate | 222.9 GPixel/s | 423.6 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 557.3 GTexel/s | 1,636.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 17.83 TFLOPS | 104.8 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 35.67 TFLOPS (2:1) | 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 575 W |

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 950 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 1x 16-pin |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1b |

| Dimensions | 267 mm x 120 mm x 50 mm | 304 mm x 137 mm x 40 mm |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2021-06-07 | 2025-01-29 |

| Launch MSRP | 2,249 USD | 1,999 USD |