AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D Comparison

# The Verdict

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is in a completely different performance class than the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100. Across the two shared benchmark tests, the RTX 5090 D wins both, with margins that are not incremental but generational. The data shows a 366.4% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL and a 588.9% advantage in Geekbench Vulkan. If your workload is compute-heavy and you need current-generation performance, the RTX 5090 D is the only rational choice.

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100, however, still holds a niche. Its 89th percentile ranking among all GPUs is respectable, and it sits in the 92nd percentile for the RTX 5090 D — meaning both are above-average hardware. But the WX 9100 is end-of-life, built on a 14 nm process, and its nearest rivals are AMD Radeon RX 7600M and Radeon Pro Vega 56, with average scores within 0.8% of its own. That is a crowded, low-margin neighborhood. The RTX 5090 D, by contrast, sits near the top of the entire GPU landscape.

For a professional workstation buyer in 2025, the RTX 5090 D is the verdict. For legacy deployments or projects already locked into GCN-era software stacks, the WX 9100 remains functional but obsolete. The performance gap is so wide that no workload in the FACT PACK favors the AMD card.

# Architecture Differences

The RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, using the GB202 chip fabricated by TSMC on a 5 nm process. It packs 92,200 million transistors onto a 750 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 122.9 million per mm². This is a massive, modern GPU with 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, 176 render output units, 170 ray tracing cores, and 680 tensor cores. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6.

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 uses the Vega 10 chip, built on GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm process. It contains 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, with a transistor density of 25.3 million per mm². It has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. It has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. Its API support tops out at DirectX 12 (12_1), Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6.

The process node difference is stark: 5 nm versus 14 nm. That alone explains a large portion of the performance delta. The RTX 5090 D also carries dedicated hardware for ray tracing and AI workloads, while the WX 9100 has none. The memory architectures are worlds apart — GDDR7 versus HBM2 — which impacts bandwidth and capacity in ways detailed below.

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two GPUs share exactly two benchmark results in the FACT PACK: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. Both are decisive wins for the RTX 5090 D.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5090 D scores 310,674 against the WX 9100's 66,605. That is a 366.4% delta — the NVIDIA card delivers more than four times the OpenCL compute performance. For any OpenCL-based rendering, simulation, or data processing workload, this is not a close contest.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 5090 D scores 376,915 against 54,711 for the WX 9100. The delta here is 588.9%, meaning the RTX 5090 D is nearly seven times faster in Vulkan compute. This is the single largest margin in the comparison. Vulkan is increasingly common in professional visualization and game engine workloads, and the RTX 5090 D's advantage is overwhelming.

The RTX 5090 D also has its own benchmark suite that the WX 9100 cannot match. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 14,326. In Passmark G3D, it scores 44,065, and in Passmark GPU Compute, 28,396. The WX 9100 has no equivalent results in these tests, so direct comparison is impossible — but the RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score of 77,712 versus the WX 9100's 64,212 tells the story. That is a 21% average advantage, even when comparing across different test sets.

# Specification Differences

The RTX 5090 D and WX 9100 differ in nearly every measurable specification.

Process and Die: 5 nm versus 14 nm. 92,200 million transistors versus 12,500 million. 750 mm² versus 495 mm². The RTX 5090 D has over seven times the transistor count.

Clocks: The RTX 5090 D runs at a 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost. The WX 9100 runs at 1200 MHz base and 1500 MHz boost. The NVIDIA card also has memory clocked at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective), versus 945 MHz (1890 Mbps effective) for the AMD card.

Memory: 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The WX 9100 has 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 483.8 GB/s. The RTX 5090 D has double the capacity and 3.7 times the bandwidth.

Compute Units: 21,760 shading units versus 4,096 — a 5.3x difference. 680 TMUs versus 256. 176 ROPs versus 64.

Rates: The RTX 5090 D achieves 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate. The WX 9100 achieves 96.00 GPixel/s and 384.0 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 104.8 TFLOPS versus 12.29 TFLOPS — an 8.5x gap. FP16 is 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 24.58 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power: The RTX 5090 D has a 575 W TDP with a 950 W suggested PSU. The WX 9100 has a 230 W TDP with a 550 W suggested PSU. Both are dual-slot. The RTX 5090 D uses a single 16-pin connector; the WX 9100 uses a 6-pin and an 8-pin.

Interface and Outputs: PCIe 5.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16. The RTX 5090 D has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. The WX 9100 has 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a.

Dimensions: The RTX 5090 D is 304 mm long, 137 mm tall, and 48 mm wide. The WX 9100 is 267 mm long and 111 mm tall; its width is not listed.

Lifecycle: The RTX 5090 D is active production, released 2025-01-29, with a launch MSRP of 2,299 USD. The WX 9100 is end-of-life, released 2017-07-09, with a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD.

# FAQ

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 5090 D has 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth from 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus. The WX 9100 has 483.8 GB/s from 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus. The NVIDIA card delivers 3.7 times the bandwidth.

Q: Does the WX 9100 support ray tracing?

A: No. The WX 9100 has no ray tracing cores. The RTX 5090 D has 170 dedicated RT cores.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5090 D in Vulkan compute?

A: The RTX 5090 D scores 376,915 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 54,711 for the WX 9100, a 588.9% delta — nearly seven times faster.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The RTX 5090 D has 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. The WX 9100 has 12,500 million on a 495 mm² die. That is a 7.4x difference in transistor count.

Q: Which GPU has a higher FP32 throughput?

A: The RTX 5090 D achieves 104.8 TFLOPS FP32. The WX 9100 achieves 12.29 TFLOPS. The RTX 5090 D is 8.5 times faster in FP32.

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No. The RTX 5090 D is listed as Active production status. The WX 9100 is End-of-life.

# Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 D wins in every benchmark category where both cards have data. In OpenCL, it is 366.4% ahead. In Vulkan, 588.9% ahead. Its average benchmark score is 77,712 versus 64,212. There is no workload in the FACT PACK where the WX 9100 comes out ahead.

The RTX 5090 D is the pick for modern compute, AI-adjacent workloads (thanks to 680 tensor cores), ray-traced rendering, and any application that can leverage DirectX 12 Ultimate or Vulkan 1.4. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth make it suitable for large dataset processing. Its 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 (1:1) throughput are top-tier numbers.

The WX 9100's only practical advantage is its six mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, which could support multi-display professional setups. It also has a lower 230 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU, making it easier to integrate into existing power-constrained systems. Its 16 GB of HBM2 memory is still notable for its era, but the 483.8 GB/s bandwidth is less than a third of the RTX 5090 D's.

For legacy software that requires GCN 5.0 behavior or for systems that cannot physically accommodate a 304 mm, 48 mm thick, 575 W card, the WX 9100 remains a functional option. But the data is unambiguous: the RTX 5090 D is faster in every measurable way, and the performance gap is so large that no software optimization could close it. The WX 9100's 89th percentile ranking is respectable, but the RTX 5090 D's 92nd percentile, combined with 2 wins and 0 losses in head-to-head tests, makes it the definitive choice for anyone who needs maximum performance.