NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data offers two direct comparisons between the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, both drawn from the Geekbench suite. The results are decisive in one direction. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the A100 scores 178,627, while the RTX 5090 D reaches 310,674. That is a 42.5% advantage for the RTX 5090 D, a substantial margin that reflects a large gap in raw compute throughput under this particular workload. The Vulkan result is even more lopsided. The A100 posts 146,380, while the RTX 5090 D delivers 376,915, which is 61.2% higher. The A100 does not win either of the two head-to-head tests, and the overall win count stands at zero for the A100 and two for the RTX 5090 D.

Interpreting these deltas requires some context. The A100 is a server-oriented accelerator with a 97th percentile ranking across all GPUs in the database, so it is not a slow part by any means. Its average benchmark score of 162,504 places it among the top tier of professional hardware. Yet the RTX 5090 D, despite holding a lower 92nd percentile ranking, dominates the shared tests. That percentile gap is explained by the composition of the benchmark suite: the RTX 5090 D has many more recorded tests, including several DirectX and Passmark entries, which pull its average down relative to the A100's narrow two-test profile. The head-to-head results are unambiguous, however. The GeForce part is dramatically faster in both OpenCL and Vulkan, with the Vulkan delta being the largest single gap in the comparison.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides additional perspective. The A100 sits very close to a cluster of professional GPUs: it is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X, 1.4% behind the AMD Radeon PRO W7800, 1.6% behind the NVIDIA RTX A5500, and 2.2% behind the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation. These are tight margins, indicating the A100's performance profile is well within the expected range for its generation and market position. The RTX 5090 D, by contrast, has nearest rivals that are quite different in character: it is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, 2.1% behind the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB, and 2.4% behind the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB. Those rivals are older or lower-tier parts, which suggests the RTX 5090 D's average score is dragged down by its diverse benchmark set rather than by a lack of capability. The direct comparison against the A100 tells the real story: the RTX 5090 D is the faster card in every shared test, and often by a wide margin.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras and are built for different purposes. The A100 uses the GA100 chip, based on the Ampere architecture, and belongs to the Server Ampere generation. It is fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with 54,200 million transistors on a die size of 826 mm². That yields a transistor density of 65.6 million per square millimeter. The RTX 5090 D uses the GB202 chip, based on Blackwell 2.0, and belongs to the GeForce 50 series. It is built on a 5 nm process, also at TSMC, with 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. Its transistor density is 122.9 million per square millimeter, a significant increase that reflects both the smaller node and the newer design.

The compute resources differ enormously. The A100 has 6,912 shading units, 432 texture mapping units, 160 ROPs, and 432 tensor cores. The RTX 5090 D has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 680 tensor cores, and 170 dedicated ray tracing cores. The RTX 5090 D also has a much higher FP32 throughput: 104.8 TFLOPS versus 19.49 TFLOPS for the A100. The FP16 numbers are interesting. The A100 lists 77.97 TFLOPS with a 4:1 ratio, meaning that figure is achieved through packed math. The RTX 5090 D lists 104.8 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, so it delivers the same FP16 throughput as FP32 without any packing trick. That is a notable architectural advancement, as it removes the traditional penalty for half-precision work.

Clock speeds also favor the newer card. The A100 runs at a base clock of 765 MHz and a boost clock of 1410 MHz. The RTX 5090 D runs at 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost. Memory configurations are strikingly different as well. The A100 has 40 GB of HBM2e on a 5120-bit bus, delivering 1.56 TB/s of bandwidth, with memory clocked at 1215 MHz or 2.4 Gbps effective. The RTX 5090 D has 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, with memory at 1750 MHz or 28 Gbps effective. The A100 has a wider bus and more capacity, but the RTX 5090 D still achieves higher bandwidth thanks to the much faster GDDR7 memory. Pixel and texture rates follow the same pattern. The A100 outputs 225.6 GPixel/s and 609.1 GTexel/s. The RTX 5090 D outputs 423.6 GPixel/s and 1,636.8 GTexel/s, roughly double and nearly triple the A100's rates respectively.

Power and interface specs also differ. The A100 has a 250 W TDP and uses an 8-pin EPS connector, with a suggested PSU of 600 W. It is a dual-slot card, 267 mm long and 111 mm tall, with no display outputs. The RTX 5090 D has a 575 W TDP and uses a single 16-pin connector, with a suggested PSU of 950 W. It is also dual-slot, but larger: 304 mm long, 137 mm tall, and 48 mm wide. It includes display outputs with one HDMI 2.1b and three DisplayPort 2.1b connectors. The bus interface also differs, with the A100 using PCIe 4.0 x16 and the RTX 5090 D using PCIe 5.0 x16. The A100 supports no DirectX, OpenGL, or Vulkan APIs in the database, whereas the RTX 5090 D supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The A100 is end-of-life, released in June 2020, with Tesla Turing as its predecessor and Server Ada as its successor. The RTX 5090 D is active, released in January 2025, with GeForce 40 as its predecessor and GeForce 60 as its successor.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 D wins every shared benchmark, so the case for it is simple: it is faster in both OpenCL and Vulkan, and by large margins. The 42.5% lead in OpenCL and the 61.2% lead in Vulkan make it the clear choice for any workload that relies on those APIs. Its higher FP32 and FP16 throughput, combined with its higher clock speeds and memory bandwidth, suggest it will excel in compute-heavy tasks that are not constrained by the A100's strengths. The presence of ray tracing cores, 170 of them, and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate gives it a feature set aimed at modern graphics workloads, including gaming and real-time rendering. Its display outputs also mean it can drive monitors directly, which the A100 cannot do at all.

The A100 wins in areas that are not captured by the head-to-head tests. It has more memory, 40 GB versus 32 GB, and a much wider memory bus, 5120-bit versus 512-bit. That combination is valuable for workloads that need to hold very large datasets on the GPU, such as certain scientific computing or machine learning inference tasks where memory capacity matters more than raw throughput. Its HBM2e memory, while slower in aggregate bandwidth than the GDDR7 on the RTX 5090 D, offers a different access pattern that some server workloads may favor. The A100's 250 W TDP is also far lower than the RTX 5090 D's 575 W, which could be a deciding factor in dense server deployments where power budgets are tight. Its smaller physical footprint, 267 mm versus 304 mm, and its EPS power connector, which is common in server infrastructure, make it easier to integrate into existing enterprise systems.

The production status matters here as well. The A100 is end-of-life, so it is a mature product with a long track record in the field. The RTX 5090 D is active and newer, with a successor already planned in GeForce 60. For organizations that rely on established server platforms with validated driver stacks, the A100's stability and compatibility may outweigh its performance deficit. For anyone building a new system, the RTX 5090 D offers more performance, more modern features, and a longer expected lifespan.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The A100 has an average benchmark score of 162,504, while the RTX 5090 D has an average of 77,712. However, the A100 has only two recorded benchmarks, while the RTX 5090 D has ten, which affects the average.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the shared tests?

A: The RTX 5090 D leads by 42.5% in Geekbench OpenCL and by 61.2% in Geekbench Vulkan. It wins both head-to-head tests, leaving the A100 with no wins in the direct comparison.

Q: Does the A100 have more memory bandwidth?

A: No. The A100 has 1.56 TB/s of bandwidth, while the RTX 5090 D has 1.79 TB/s. The A100 does have more memory capacity, 40 GB versus 32 GB, and a wider bus, 5120-bit versus 512-bit.

Q: What are the architectural differences in process node?

A: The A100 uses a 7 nm process with 54,200 million transistors on an 826 mm² die. The RTX 5090 D uses a 5 nm process with 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, giving it a higher transistor density of 122.9M per mm² versus 65.6M per mm².

Q: Which GPU supports display outputs?

A: Only the RTX 5090 D supports displays, with one HDMI 2.1b and three DisplayPort 2.1b outputs. The A100 has no display outputs.

Q: What do the nearest rival comparisons show for each card?

A: The A100 is within 2.2% of its nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon PRO W7800 and NVIDIA RTX A5500. The RTX 5090 D is within 2.4% of its nearest rivals, which include the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT and NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner in raw performance: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D. It beats the A100 by 42.5% in OpenCL and 61.2% in Vulkan, and it offers dramatically higher FP32 throughput at 104.8 TFLOPS versus 19.49 TFLOPS. It also has more shading units, more tensor cores, higher clock speeds, higher memory bandwidth, and a feature set that includes ray tracing and modern API support. For any workload that uses the benchmarks recorded in the database, the RTX 5090 D is the stronger choice.

The A100 retains a role for specific use cases. Its 40 GB of memory exceeds the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB, and its 5120-bit bus is the widest in this comparison. Its 250 W TDP is less than half of the RTX 5090 D's 575 W, and its EPS power connector and smaller dimensions fit standard server infrastructure. It is end-of-life, which means it is a known quantity with established support. For applications that need maximum memory capacity, lower power draw, or compatibility with legacy server platforms, the A100 remains viable despite its performance deficit.

The choice depends on the priority. If the goal is maximum compute performance, modern features, and display output, the RTX 5090 D wins outright. If the goal is large memory capacity, lower power consumption, and server-friendly integration, the A100 has advantages that the benchmarks do not measure. The RTX 5090 D is the faster card in every recorded test, but the A100 is not without its own strengths in the broader context of its design.