AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile and AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP represent two distinct eras of GPU design, with the former being a professional Ampere-based mobile solution and the latter a mid-range Polaris desktop card from an older generation. The benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap, with the A5000 Mobile achieving an average benchmark score of 24,763 compared to the RX 580 2048SP’s 23,061, placing them at the 70th and 68th percentiles of all GPUs, respectively. While both cards target different markets and use cases, their head-to-head results in compute and graphics APIs reveal a clear hierarchy, driven by fundamental architectural and specification differences.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile leads with an average benchmark score of 24,763, which is 7.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP’s 23,061.

Q: How large is the performance gap in OpenCL compute workloads?

A: The A5000 Mobile dominates, scoring 110,877 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 29,668 for the RX 580 2048SP, representing a massive 273.7% advantage for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Do both GPUs support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile features 48 dedicated RT cores, while the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP has no RT cores listed, indicating no hardware ray tracing support.

Q: Which GPU has a higher memory bandwidth?

A: The A5000 Mobile offers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, exactly double the 224.0 GB/s provided by the RX 580 2048SP, thanks to faster GDDR6 memory.

Q: Are these GPUs comparable in their PCIe interface?

A: No, they differ. The A5000 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RX 580 2048SP uses the older PCIe 3.0 x16 standard.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile achieves 151.2 GPixel/s, which is over 3.6 times higher than the AMD card’s 41.09 GPixel/s, reflecting its superior ROP count.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is profound, spanning process technology, core design, and feature sets. The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile is built on the Ampere architecture using Samsung’s 8 nm process node, packing 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP relies on the older GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm node, with just 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, resulting in a density of 24.6 million per square millimeter. The A5000 Mobile’s newer process and larger transistor budget enable a far more complex design.

The shading engine configuration highlights the scale difference: the A5000 Mobile has 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, while the RX 580 2048SP is equipped with only 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Furthermore, the A5000 Mobile includes 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads—features entirely absent from the RX 580 2048SP, which lists no RT or tensor cores. This makes the NVIDIA card a future-proof solution for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) applications, whereas the AMD card tops out at DirectX 12 (12_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the A5000 Mobile supports Vulkan 1.4 versus Vulkan 1.3 for the RX 580 2048SP. The NVIDIA chip also delivers FP32 and FP16 compute at 19.35 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), compared to 5.259 TFLOPS for the AMD card, indicating a 3.7-fold raw compute advantage.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile is the clear winner in nearly every performance metric, as evidenced by its 2-0 record in the head-to-head benchmarks. Its strengths lie in professional and compute-heavy workloads. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth provides ample capacity for large datasets, while the 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores make it suitable for ray-traced rendering and machine learning inference. The data shows it is 273.7% faster in Geekbench OpenCL, making it the obvious choice for tasks that leverage compute shaders, such as scientific simulations or video encoding. Its support for PCIe 4.0 also ensures faster data transfer with compatible CPUs.

The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, while trailing significantly, still holds relevance in specific legacy scenarios. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest, but the card’s simpler GCN architecture is well-documented for driver stability in older titles. It wins in none of the head-to-head benchmarks, losing Geekbench Vulkan by 128% (38,666 vs 88,144), but its lower power demands (both are rated at 150 W TDP) and reliance on PCIe 3.0 mean it can drop into older systems without requiring a platform upgrade. For users running DirectX 9 or 11 applications, the PassMark scores from the A5000 Mobile (169 for DX9, 133 for DX11) suggest compatibility, but the RX 580 2048SP’s GCN design is historically optimized for such APIs, even if the data doesn’t provide direct scores for it.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet reveals stark contrasts across every major component. The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile uses a GA104 chip with an 8 nm process, while the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP uses a Polaris 20 chip on 14 nm. Clock speeds differ notably: the A5000 Mobile runs at a base of 900 MHz and boosts to 1575 MHz, whereas the RX 580 2048SP has a higher base clock of 1168 MHz but a lower boost of 1284 MHz. Memory configuration is a major differentiator—the A5000 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 580 2048SP has 4 GB of GDDR5 on the same 256-bit bus but with only 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The effective memory speed is 14 Gbps for the NVIDIA card versus 7 Gbps for the AMD card.

Core counts are drastically different: 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs for the A5000 Mobile, versus 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs for the RX 580 2048SP. The A5000 Mobile includes 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores, while the AMD card has none. Pixel and texture rates follow suit: the A5000 Mobile achieves 151.2 GPixel/s and 302.4 GTexel/s, whereas the RX 580 2048SP manages only 41.09 GPixel/s and 164.4 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA card is a mobile solution with no specified slot width or power connectors (listed as "None"), while the AMD card is a dual-slot desktop part requiring a single 8-pin power connector and a 450 W suggested PSU. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 for the A5000 Mobile versus PCIe 3.0 x16 for the RX 580 2048SP. Display outputs also differ: the A5000 Mobile is "Portable Device Dependent," whereas the AMD card offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The A5000 Mobile measures 241 mm in length (9.5 inches) for the AMD card, while the NVIDIA card’s dimensions are not listed.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results are lopsided, with the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile winning both recorded tests by overwhelming margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the A5000 Mobile scores 110,877 against the RX 580 2048SP’s 29,668, a delta of 273.7%. This massive gap stems from the NVIDIA card’s 19.35 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, which is 3.7 times higher than the AMD card’s 5.259 TFLOPS. The A5000 Mobile’s 6,144 shading units and 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth allow it to process compute workloads far more efficiently, making it the superior choice for OpenCL-based applications like Folding@Home or video rendering.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the A5000 Mobile again leads with 88,144 points versus 38,666 for the RX 580 2048SP, a 128% advantage. This win is less dramatic than OpenCL but still decisive, reflecting the NVIDIA card’s superior Vulkan 1.4 support and modern architecture. The RX 580 2048SP’s older GCN design, limited to Vulkan 1.3, cannot match the newer Ampere hardware in driver-optimized workloads. While the A5000 Mobile’s PassMark scores (DirectX 9: 169, DirectX 11: 133, DirectX 12: 72, G3D: 15,779, Compute: 6,945) are not directly comparable to the AMD card’s lacking data, they underscore its versatility. The RX 580 2048SP does have a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 849, but no equivalent test exists for the A5000 Mobile, so a direct comparison in that metric is impossible. Overall, the benchmark data indicates that the A5000 Mobile is in a different performance class, with its nearest rivals being cards like the AMD Radeon RX 590 (0.1% delta) and Intel Arc A350M (0.5% delta), while the RX 580 2048SP’s closest competitors include the Intel Arc B580 (0.2%) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (-0.5%).