AMD Radeon R9 M395X vs NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains only one direct head-to-head benchmark between the AMD Radeon R9 M395X and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000: the Geekbench OpenCL test. This is a decisive win for the NVIDIA part. The Quadro RTX 5000 scores 78,999, while the AMD Radeon R9 M395X manages 17,829. That is a delta of -77.4% for the AMD card, meaning the NVIDIA card outperforms it by a factor of roughly 4.4 in this compute-oriented workload. The gap is massive and immediate; there is no nuance to unpack here. The NVIDIA card simply crushes the AMD part in raw OpenCL throughput.

However, the broader database picture adds context. The AMD Radeon R9 M395X has an average benchmark score of 25,891 across its recorded tests, while the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 sits at 21,629. That is counterintuitive given the head-to-head result. The explanation lies in the benchmark mix: the AMD part has only two recorded scores (Geekbench Metal and OpenCL), both of which are strong for its era, whereas the NVIDIA card carries nine scores including several Passmark legacy tests that drag its average down. The AMD part's percentile rank is 71 against all GPUs, while the NVIDIA card sits at 67. So despite losing the single shared workload by a wide margin, the AMD card holds a higher overall percentile placement due to its smaller, more favorable benchmark set.

The individual scores tell a story of specialization. The AMD Radeon R9 M395X posts 33,953 in Geekbench Metal, which is its best result and reflects its mobile-oriented design. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 counters with 92,309 in Geekbench Vulkan, its top score, and 78,999 in OpenCL. The Passmark suite shows a different side: DirectX 9 at 195, DirectX 10 at 113, DirectX 11 at 140, DirectX 12 at 59, G2D at 709, G3D at 15,616, and GPU compute at 6,525. These legacy tests reveal that the NVIDIA card is not uniformly dominant; its DirectX 12 score of 59 is notably low, likely due to driver overhead or test methodology, but the compute and Vulkan numbers are what define its professional positioning.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R9 M395X wins in the narrow sense of overall average benchmark score and percentile placement. Its 71st percentile versus the NVIDIA card's 67th is a real, if modest, edge. The AMD card also wins on the Geekbench Metal test, a workload that is not shared in the head-to-head but is recorded in its profile. That Metal score of 33,953 suggests the AMD part is optimized for Apple's graphics API, which aligns with its mobile MXM module form factor and its release in 2015.

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 wins decisively in the shared OpenCL benchmark, and its Vulkan score of 92,309 is the highest single recorded result across both cards. For compute-heavy tasks, the NVIDIA card is the clear choice. The Passmark G3D score of 15,616 also favors NVIDIA, and the GPU compute score of 6,525 reinforces that. The NVIDIA card's DirectX 11 score of 140 is nearly identical to the AMD card's overall average in percentage terms, but the raw numbers are not directly comparable across different test suites.

Use-case separation is stark. If the workload is OpenCL or Vulkan compute, the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 is the only rational pick. If the workload is Metal-based, the AMD Radeon R9 M395X has a dedicated strength that the NVIDIA card cannot match, as no Metal score is recorded for it. For legacy DirectX 9, 10, and 11 tasks, the NVIDIA card's Passmark scores are present but modest; the AMD card has no recorded Passmark data, so any comparison there is speculative. The data does not support a claim that the AMD card wins any shared test, but it does support that the AMD card holds a better overall percentile rank, which is a meaningful aggregate metric.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split. For anyone prioritizing raw compute in OpenCL or Vulkan, the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 is ahead by an enormous margin: 77.4% in the shared OpenCL test and a Vulkan score of 92,309 that no AMD result approaches. This is a professional workstation card, and the numbers reflect that. The 16 GB GDDR6 memory, 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, 11.15 TFLOPS FP32, and 22.30 TFLOPS FP16 all point to a compute-oriented design.

The AMD Radeon R9 M395X is a different creature. Its 8 GB GDDR5 memory and 160.0 GB/s bandwidth are from an older generation, but its Geekbench Metal score of 33,953 and its higher overall percentile of 71 indicate that it is not obsolete in every context. The AMD card's average benchmark score of 25,891 exceeds the NVIDIA card's 21,629, but that is a statistical artifact of test selection rather than a performance claim. The only shared test shows NVIDIA winning by a landslide.

The practical verdict: if you are choosing between these two for a workstation that runs OpenCL or Vulkan workloads, the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 is the only defensible option. If you are locked into a Metal-based environment, the AMD card has a recorded strength, but the lack of a Metal score for NVIDIA makes a direct comparison impossible. The NVIDIA card also has a launch MSRP of 2,299 USD, which positions it as a high-end professional product. The AMD card has no recorded MSRP, so no cost comparison is possible from the data.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only shared benchmark test?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 wins Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 78,999 versus the AMD Radeon R9 M395X's 17,829, a delta of -77.4%.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon R9 M395X outperform the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 in any recorded metric?

A: Yes, the AMD card has a higher average benchmark score (25,891 versus 21,629) and a higher percentile rank (71 versus 67). It also has a Geekbench Metal score of 33,953, which is not recorded for the NVIDIA card.

Q: What is the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000's best benchmark result?

A: Its highest recorded score is 92,309 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its OpenCL score is 78,999, and its Passmark G3D score is 15,616.

Q: What is the AMD Radeon R9 M395X's best benchmark result?

A: Its highest recorded score is 33,953 in Geekbench Metal. Its only other score is 17,829 in Geekbench OpenCL.

Q: How do the memory subsystems compare?

A: The AMD card has 8 GB GDDR5 with a 256-bit bus and 160.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has 16 GB GDDR6 with a 256-bit bus and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Are there any legacy DirectX benchmarks for the AMD card?

A: No, the AMD card has no recorded Passmark scores. The NVIDIA card has Passmark scores for DirectX 9 (195), 10 (113), 11 (140), and 12 (59).

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon R9 M395X is built on GCN 3.0 architecture with a chip named Amethyst. It uses a 28 nm process at TSMC, packing 5,000 million transistors onto a 366 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 13.7M per mm². The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 uses the Turing architecture with a TU104 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC, with 13,600 million transistors on a 545 mm² die, resulting in 25.0M transistors per mm². The NVIDIA chip is nearly three times as dense and uses a smaller process node.

The AMD card has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The NVIDIA card has 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. NVIDIA also adds 48 RT cores and 384 tensor cores, which are completely absent from the AMD part. The AMD card's pixel rate is 23.14 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 92.54 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA card's pixel rate is 116.2 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 348.5 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA card is roughly 5 times faster in pixel throughput and 3.8 times faster in texture throughput.

Compute figures reinforce the gap. The AMD card delivers 2.961 TFLOPS FP32 and the same 2.961 TFLOPS FP16 at a 1:1 ratio. The NVIDIA card delivers 11.15 TFLOPS FP32 and 22.30 TFLOPS FP16 at a 2:1 ratio. The NVIDIA card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD card is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the NVIDIA card has Vulkan 1.4 versus the AMD card's Vulkan 1.2.170.

Specification Differences

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 has a base clock of 1620 MHz and a boost clock of 1815 MHz, while the AMD Radeon R9 M395X has no recorded base or boost clock, only a memory clock of 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The NVIDIA memory clock is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). Memory capacity differs: 8 GB GDDR5 for AMD versus 16 GB GDDR6 for NVIDIA, both on a 256-bit bus, but bandwidth is 160.0 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s.

Power requirements are vastly different. The AMD card has a TDP of 75 W and uses an MXM Module slot width with no power connectors. The NVIDIA card has a TDP of 230 W, a dual-slot design, requires 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors, and suggests a 550 W PSU. The NVIDIA card is 267 mm long and 111 mm tall; the AMD card has no recorded dimensions. Display outputs differ: the AMD card is portable-device dependent, while the NVIDIA card has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a and 1x USB Type-C.

Release dates are three years apart: the AMD card launched on 2015-05-04, and the NVIDIA card on 2018-08-12. Both are end-of-life. The AMD card's predecessor is Solar System and successor is Polaris Mobile. The NVIDIA card's predecessor is Quadro Volta and successor is Workstation Ampere. The NVIDIA card has a recorded launch MSRP of 2,299 USD; the AMD card has none. The NVIDIA card's series is listed as GeForce 50-series, while the AMD card has no series designation.