AMD Radeon PRO W7900 vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Comparison

NVIDIA RTX A5500 and AMD Radeon PRO W7900 are both professional workstation GPUs, but benchmark data reveals a stark contrast in their performance profiles. The RTX A5500, built on the Ampere architecture, posts an average benchmark score of 165,217, placing it in the 97th percentile of all GPUs. The Radeon PRO W7900, using RDNA 3.0, achieves an average score of 110,725, which puts it in the 94th percentile. While the W7900 carries a higher launch MSRP of 3,999 USD, the measured performance data tells a different story about which card delivers more computational power in real-world tests.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The direct comparison between these two cards shows a decisive victory for the NVIDIA RTX A5500 in both available benchmark tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A5500 scores 174,637, while the Radeon PRO W7900 manages only 84,379. This represents a 107% advantage for the NVIDIA card, meaning it more than doubles the AMD card's performance in this compute-oriented test. The gap is substantial enough that any workload relying heavily on OpenCL compute will clearly favor the RTX A5500.

The Vulkan benchmark presents a narrower but still significant margin. The RTX A5500 scores 155,797, compared to the Radeon PRO W7900's 137,070, giving NVIDIA a 13.7% lead. While not as dramatic as the OpenCL result, this still indicates that the Ampere-based card holds a consistent edge across different graphics APIs. This suggests that for graphics-intensive applications, the RTX A5500 maintains its advantage, though the competition is tighter than in pure compute tasks.

Looking at the broader competitive landscape, the RTX A5500's average score of 165,217 places it close to several high-end rivals. It sits 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7800, which scores 164,894, and just 0.5% behind the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation at 166,094. The A5500 also outperforms the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB by 1.7%, with that card scoring 162,504. This positioning shows the A5500 is competitive with cards from both the previous and current workstation generations.

The Radeon PRO W7900's average score of 110,725 places it in a different performance tier entirely. It is only 1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II, which scores 109,617, and 3.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600X at 107,342. Notably, both the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile and NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB outperform the W7900, scoring 113,944 and 114,395 respectively, representing 2.8% and 3.2% advantages. This indicates that the W7900's measured performance lags behind not only its direct competitor but also several other professional cards.

The data presents a clear hierarchy: the RTX A5500 occupies a performance class roughly 49% higher than the W7900 based on average benchmark scores. This difference is consistent across both individual tests, with the OpenCL gap being particularly pronounced. For users comparing these two cards, the benchmark results strongly favor the NVIDIA option, regardless of the specific workload.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 has a significantly higher average benchmark score of 165,217, compared to the AMD Radeon PRO W7900's 110,725. This represents approximately a 49% advantage for the NVIDIA card.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The RTX A5500 scores 174,637, which is 107% higher than the Radeon PRO W7900's score of 84,379. This means the NVIDIA card more than doubles the AMD card's OpenCL performance.

Q: Is the Radeon PRO W7900 competitive with the RTX A5500 in any benchmark?

A: The closest result is in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the RTX A5500 scores 155,797 versus the W7900's 137,070. However, the NVIDIA card still wins by 13.7%, so no benchmark shows the AMD card ahead.

Q: How does the RTX A5500 compare to other NVIDIA workstation cards?

A: The RTX A5500's average score of 165,217 is 0.5% behind the RTX 4500 Ada Generation's 166,094, and 1.7% ahead of the A100 PCIe 40 GB's 162,504. This places it in a competitive position against both newer and established NVIDIA professional cards.

Q: What is the Radeon PRO W7900's closest rival according to benchmark data?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II is the closest rival, with an average score of 109,617, just 1% behind the W7900's 110,725. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile at 113,944 is also close but slightly ahead of the W7900.

Q: How does transistor density differ between the two cards?

A: The Radeon PRO W7900 has a transistor density of 109.1 million transistors per mm², while the RTX A5500 has 45.1 million per mm². This is due to the W7900's 5 nm process node versus the A5500's 8 nm node.

The Verdict

The benchmark data makes a compelling case for the NVIDIA RTX A5500 as the superior performer between these two cards. With wins in both head-to-head tests, the A5500 demonstrates a clear performance advantage that spans compute and graphics workloads. The 107% lead in OpenCL and 13.7% lead in Vulkan are not marginal differences; they represent a substantial performance gap that will be noticeable in any professional application.

The Radeon PRO W7900's position in the 94th percentile of all GPUs is respectable, but its average score of 110,725 places it in a lower performance tier than the RTX A5500's 97th percentile ranking. The W7900's nearest rivals include older cards like the Radeon Pro Vega II and the mobile RTX A5500, suggesting that its measured performance does not match what its specifications might suggest. For users prioritizing raw benchmark performance, the RTX A5500 is the clear choice.

However, the Radeon PRO W7900 does offer certain advantages that may matter to specific users. Its 48 GB of memory is double the RTX A5500's 24 GB, which could be significant for large datasets. Additionally, the W7900 is still in active production, while the RTX A5500 is end-of-life. These factors could influence purchasing decisions despite the benchmark gap. The data shows that the RTX A5500 wins decisively on performance, but the W7900 may still appeal to those needing more memory capacity or a current production card.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ substantially in their core specifications. The Radeon PRO W7900 features 6,144 shading units, while the RTX A5500 has 10,240, giving NVIDIA a 67% advantage in this metric. Texture mapping units also favor AMD, with the W7900's 384 TMUs versus the A5500's 320, a 20% difference. Raster operations units show a larger gap, with the W7900's 192 ROPs double the A5500's 96.

Clock speeds differ notably as well. The RTX A5500 has a base clock of 1080 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, while the Radeon PRO W7900 runs at 1760 MHz base and 2495 MHz boost. This gives the AMD card a 63% higher base clock and 50% higher boost clock. Memory configuration also varies, with the W7900 offering 48 GB of GDDR6 at 864.0 GB/s bandwidth, compared to the A5500's 24 GB at 768.0 GB/s. Both use a 384-bit memory bus.

Power requirements and physical dimensions differ as well. The RTX A5500 has a TDP of 230 W with a suggested PSU of 550 W, while the W7900 draws 295 W with a 600 W suggested PSU. The A5500 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length, while the W7900 is a triple-slot card at 280 mm long, 51 mm wide, and 110 mm tall. Display outputs also differ, with the A5500 offering 4x DisplayPort 1.4a and the W7900 providing 3x DisplayPort 2.1 plus 1x mini-DisplayPort 2.1.

Architecture Differences

The architectural foundations of these two GPUs are fundamentally different. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 is built on the Ampere architecture using the GA102 chip, manufactured by Samsung on an 8 nm process. This chip contains 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 45.1 million per mm². The card includes 80 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores, reflecting Ampere's focus on both RT and AI workloads.

In contrast, the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip, codenamed Plum Bonito. It is manufactured by TSMC on a 5 nm process, with 57,700 million transistors packed into a 529 mm² die, achieving a density of 109.1 million per mm². The W7900 has 96 ray tracing cores but no dedicated tensor cores, a notable difference in AI-oriented compute capability.

The performance metrics derived from these architectures show stark differences in raw throughput. The RTX A5500 delivers 34.10 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, while the Radeon PRO W7900 achieves 61.32 TFLOPS for both precision levels. This gives AMD a 80% advantage in theoretical compute. However, pixel rates tell a different story: the W7900's 479.0 GPixel/s far exceeds the A5500's 159.8 GPixel/s, a 200% difference. Texture rates similarly favor AMD, with 958.1 GTexel/s versus 532.8 GTexel/s.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API compatibility is identical. The release timeline shows the RTX A5500 launched in March 2022, while the Radeon PRO W7900 arrived in May 2023. The A5500 is end-of-life, with the Workstation Ada generation as its successor, while the W7900 remains active production. These architectural differences explain some of the benchmark results, though the measured performance does not always align with theoretical specifications.