NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a decisive victory for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. The RTX 5090 scores 334,370, while the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB scores 207,124. That is a delta of 38.1% in favor of the GeForce card, a substantial gap in raw compute throughput as measured by this workload.

The A100 does not win any recorded head-to-head tests in this comparison. Its single benchmark score, 207,124, places it at the 99th percentile of all GPUs in the database, which indicates it is still an elite performer among the broader population of graphics cards. However, when matched directly against the RTX 5090, the data shows a clear hierarchy: the newer consumer architecture simply outruns the older server part in OpenCL compute.

Looking at the RTX 5090's broader benchmark portfolio, its average score across all recorded tests is 79,842, which is dragged down by several low-passmark legacy tests. Its Geekbench OpenCL result of 334,370 is its strongest compute showing, while its Geekbench Vulkan score reaches 376,728. The A100's average score is identical to its single OpenCL result at 207,124, since that is the only test recorded for it.

The percentile rankings are interesting. The A100 sits at the 99th percentile, while the RTX 5090 sits at the 92nd. This seems contradictory given the RTX 5090's higher raw scores, but it reflects the fact that the A100's score is from a single, compute-heavy workload where it excels relative to the database population, whereas the RTX 5090's average is diluted by its many legacy DirectX and Passmark tests. For the specific OpenCL test, the RTX 5090 is clearly superior, but the A100's consistency across the single metric it has is notable.

In terms of nearest rivals, the A100's closest competitor is the NVIDIA RTX 6000D at 195,964, which the A100 beats by 5.7%. It also leads the NVIDIA Tesla V100S PCIe 32 GB by 6.5%. On the losing side, the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D is 5.8% faster, and the NVIDIA PG506-232 is 8% faster. The RTX 5090's nearest rivals are quite different: it is nearly tied with the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% ahead), the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (0.6% ahead), and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.1% ahead), while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is 1.4% faster. This suggests the RTX 5090's average score is being compared against a much lower-performing peer group, which is a quirk of the averaging method.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is faster, scoring 334,370 compared to the A100's 207,124. That is a 38.1% higher score for the RTX 5090.

Q: Does the A100 win any head-to-head benchmark against the RTX 5090?

A: No. The database records zero wins for the A100 and one win for the RTX 5090 in their direct comparison.

Q: How does the A100 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The A100 is 5.7% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX 6000D and 6.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla V100S PCIe 32 GB. It trails the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D by 5.8% and the NVIDIA PG506-232 by 8%.

Q: What is the RTX 5090's percentile ranking versus all GPUs?

A: The RTX 5090 sits at the 92nd percentile, while the A100 is at the 99th percentile. This is despite the RTX 5090 having a higher OpenCL score, because the RTX 5090's average includes many lower-scoring legacy tests.

Q: What memory configurations do the two cards have?

A: The A100 has 80 GB of HBM2e memory on a 5120-bit bus, while the RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus. The A100's bandwidth is 1.94 TB/s, slightly higher than the RTX 5090's 1.79 TB/s.

Q: Are there any other benchmark results for the A100 besides OpenCL?

A: No, the only recorded benchmark for the A100 is Geekbench OpenCL. The RTX 5090 has multiple results including 3DMark, Passmark, and Geekbench Vulkan.

Where Each One Wins

The data splits cleanly by workload type and intended use case.

The NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB wins on memory capacity and bandwidth for large-scale compute. With 80 GB of HBM2e and 1.94 TB/s of bandwidth, it is built for datasets that dwarf the RTX 5090's 32 GB GDDR7 allocation. In scenarios where the working set exceeds 32 GB, the A100 is the only viable option, as the RTX 5090 would be forced to spill to system memory or fail outright. The A100's 5120-bit bus and HBM2e stack offer a 8.4% bandwidth advantage over the RTX 5090's 1.79 TB/s, which matters for memory-bound kernels that stream large tensors.

The RTX 5090 wins on raw compute throughput across every measured metric. Its FP32 rating is 104.8 TFLOPS versus the A100's 19.49 TFLOPS, a 5.4x advantage. Its texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s against the A100's 609.1 GTexel/s, and its pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s versus 225.6 GPixel/s. The RTX 5090 also has dedicated ray tracing cores (170) and a higher shading unit count (21,760 versus 6,912), making it the clear choice for graphics rendering, real-time visualization, and any workload that benefits from the latest consumer-facing feature set.

For gaming and consumer workloads, the RTX 5090 is the obvious pick. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the A100 has no recorded API support and no display outputs. The RTX 5090 also includes display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1b), meaning it can drive monitors directly, whereas the A100 is a compute-only accelerator with no video outputs.

For server-side inference and training, the A100's 99th percentile ranking and its position as an end-of-life product with a successor in Server Ada suggest it was designed for data center deployment. Its dual-slot form factor and 8-pin EPS power connector are standard for rack servers, while the RTX 5090's 16-pin connector is a consumer power delivery standard.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge sharply on nearly every specification.

The RTX 5090 uses a much larger shader array: 21,760 shading units versus the A100's 6,912. Texture mapping units also favor the RTX 5090, 680 versus 432, and render output units are close, 176 versus 160. The RTX 5090 has 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores, while the A100 has no ray tracing cores listed and 432 tensor cores.

Clock speeds are dramatically different. The RTX 5090 runs at a base of 2017 MHz and boosts to 2407 MHz, while the A100 is at 1065 MHz base and 1410 MHz boost. Memory clocks also differ: 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) for the RTX 5090 versus 1512 MHz (3 Gbps effective) for the A100.

Memory size and type are the biggest divergences. The A100 has 80 GB of HBM2e on a 5120-bit bus, while the RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus. Despite the smaller bus width, the RTX 5090's GDDR7 reaches 1.79 TB/s, close to the A100's 1.94 TB/s.

Power and physical dimensions differ significantly. The RTX 5090 has a TDP of 575 W and requires a 950 W power supply, versus the A100's 300 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU. The RTX 5090 is longer (304 mm versus 267 mm), taller (137 mm versus 111 mm), and has a defined width of 40 mm, while the A100's width is not recorded. Both are dual-slot cards.

The bus interface differs: PCIe 5.0 x16 for the RTX 5090, PCIe 4.0 x16 for the A100. The RTX 5090 has display outputs, the A100 has none. The RTX 5090 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the A100 lists no API support.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is generational. The A100 uses the Ampere architecture (chip GA100) on TSMC's 7 nm process, while the RTX 5090 uses Blackwell 2.0 (chip GB202) on a 5 nm process. The A100 is from the Server Ampere generation, released in June 2021, while the RTX 5090 is from the GeForce 50 series, released in January 2025.

Transistor counts reflect the process and design differences. The RTX 5090 packs 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, yielding a density of 122.9M per mm². The A100 has 54,200 million transistors on a larger 826 mm² die, resulting in a much lower density of 65.6M per mm². This is a direct consequence of the 5 nm process versus 7 nm, allowing the RTX 5090 to fit more logic in less space.

Cache and feature hierarchies differ as well. The RTX 5090's tensor cores are rated at 680, and it supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32 (104.8 TFLOPS for both), whereas the A100's FP16 is 77.97 TFLOPS at a 4:1 ratio, meaning it uses a different precision path. The RTX 5090's FP32 throughput is 104.8 TFLOPS, over five times the A100's 19.49 TFLOPS.

The A100 has no ray tracing cores, while the RTX 5090 has 170. This is a fundamental architectural difference: the A100 is a pure compute accelerator for AI and HPC, while the RTX 5090 is a graphics and compute hybrid with dedicated hardware for real-time ray tracing and rasterization. The A100's lack of display outputs reinforces this, as it is designed for headless server operation.

Production status also differs: the A100 is end-of-life with a successor in Server Ada, while the RTX 5090 is active with a successor in GeForce 60. This means the A100 is no longer the current server flagship, while the RTX 5090 is a current-generation consumer product.

The Verdict

The data points to two distinct buying decisions, depending on the workload.

For anyone running compute workloads that fit within 32 GB of memory, the RTX 5090 is the superior choice based on benchmark scores alone. Its 38.1% OpenCL lead over the A100, combined with its 5.4x FP32 throughput advantage and 2.7x texture rate, makes it the faster card for general compute, graphics, and mixed workloads. Its 170 ray tracing cores and full API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, OpenGL 4.6) mean it can handle visualization tasks that the A100 cannot, since the A100 has no display outputs and no listed API support.

For workloads that require more than 32 GB of memory, the A100 is the only option in this comparison. Its 80 GB of HBM2e is a 2.5x capacity advantage over the RTX 5090, and its 1.94 TB/s bandwidth is higher. If the dataset exceeds the RTX 5090's memory ceiling, the A100's performance advantage is moot, as the RTX 5090 simply cannot hold the data. The A100's 99th percentile ranking also indicates it remains a top-tier performer among all GPUs in the database, even at end-of-life.

Power consumption is a meaningful differentiator. The A100 draws 300 W versus the RTX 5090's 575 W, and it requires a 700 W PSU versus 950 W. For multi-GPU server deployments, the A100's lower power draw allows more cards per chassis and lower cooling requirements, which could offset its lower per-card performance in dense compute environments.

The RTX 5090 is the pick for single-GPU workstations, gaming, rendering, and any workload that prioritizes raw speed over memory capacity. The A100 is the pick for large-scale AI training, inference, and scientific computing where memory footprint is the binding constraint and power efficiency matters. The RTX 5090's launch MSRP is 1,999 USD, while the A100's launch MSRP is not recorded in the database.