NVIDIA A10M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D Comparison

The Verdict

The data presents a stark generational divide. The NVIDIA A10M is a single-purpose compute accelerator from the Ampere server generation, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a current, active consumer flagship built on Blackwell 2.0. The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 5090 D is in a completely different performance class, delivering a score in the Geekbench OpenCL test that is more than double that of the A10M, with a delta of -56.5% for the A10M.

The A10M, with its end-of-life production status and no display outputs, is a legacy part. Its recorded Geekbench OpenCL score of 135,230 places it in the 96th percentile of all GPUs in the database, but its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation (135,218) and AMD Radeon PRO W6800 (135,396), show that it is essentially at parity with that specific generation of workstation cards. It is not a competitive option for modern workloads.

The RTX 5090 D is the clear choice for any task that requires maximum compute throughput. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 310,674 is a decisive victory. While its average benchmark score of 77,712 (which includes a wider range of tests like Passmark and 3DMark) places it in the 92nd percentile, the OpenCL result confirms its raw compute dominance. This GPU is for users who need the fastest available processing power and are working within the GeForce 50-series ecosystem.

For a buyer today, the decision is straightforward. The A10M is a dated, niche server card. The RTX 5090 D is the superior product for virtually any compute-intensive application, from rendering to machine learning, based on the data in the database. The only reason to consider the A10M would be in a legacy system requiring its specific single-slot form factor and 150 W power profile, but even then, its performance is vastly inferior.

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmarks show a single head-to-head comparison: Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the RTX 5090 D wins outright. There are no benchmark categories in the database where the A10M outperforms the RTX 5090 D; the wins column shows 0 for the A10M and 1 for the RTX 5090 D.

Looking at the broader benchmark suite for the RTX 5090 D, it shows strength across different APIs. It scores 376,915 in Geekbench Vulkan, 44,065 in Passmark G3D, and 28,396 in Passmark GPU Compute. These figures, combined with its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326, paint a picture of a versatile card that excels in both graphics and compute. The A10M, by contrast, has only the single OpenCL score of 135,230, which is its only recorded data point and indicates its narrow focus on compute tasks without display output.

The A10M's "win" is not in performance but in its physical and power characteristics. It is a single-slot, 267 mm card with an 8-pin EPS connector and a 150 W TDP. This makes it suitable for dense server deployments where space and power are at a premium. The RTX 5090 D is a dual-slot, 304 mm card with a 16-pin connector and a 575 W TDP, requiring a more robust power supply and chassis. The A10M also has no display outputs, reinforcing its role as a pure compute accelerator, whereas the RTX 5090 D includes 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs for full display functionality.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between the two GPUs is massive, reflecting a generational leap. The A10M is built on the Ampere architecture and uses the GA102 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It houses 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 45.1M per mm². Its memory subsystem consists of 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus, providing 500.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

In contrast, the RTX 5090 D uses the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. This chip contains 92,200 million transistors on a larger 750 mm² die, achieving a much higher density of 122.9M per mm². It is equipped with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering a significantly higher 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth.

The compute resources also differ drastically. The A10M has 7,168 shading units, 224 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 56 RT cores, and 224 Tensor Cores. Its FP32 and FP16 performance are both rated at 23.44 TFLOPS. The RTX 5090 D, however, features 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 170 RT cores, and 680 Tensor Cores. Its FP32 and FP16 performance are each rated at 104.8 TFLOPS, a 4.5x increase in raw compute throughput over the A10M.

The interface and feature set also differ. The A10M uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RTX 5090 D uses the newer PCIe 5.0 x16. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 5090 D has a much higher TDP of 575 W compared to the A10M's 150 W, and it requires a 950 W suggested PSU versus the A10M's 450 W. The A10M is end-of-life, while the RTX 5090 D is active and was released on 2025-01-29.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D has a significantly higher score of 310,674, compared to the NVIDIA A10M's score of 135,230. The RTX 5090 D leads by a delta of -56.5% (from the A10M's perspective).

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The A10M has 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus with 500.2 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 5090 D has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient?

A: Based on the TDP figures, the A10M is more power-efficient, with a 150 W TDP and a suggested 450 W PSU. The RTX 5090 D has a 575 W TDP and a suggested 950 W PSU.

Q: Can the A10M be used for display output?

A: No, the A10M has no display outputs. It is designed purely as a compute accelerator. The RTX 5090 D, in contrast, has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs.

Q: What are the physical size differences?

A: The A10M is a single-slot card measuring 267 mm in length and 112 mm in height. The RTX 5090 D is a dual-slot card measuring 304 mm in length, 137 mm in height, and 48 mm in width.

Q: What is the production status of each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA A10M is listed as end-of-life, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is listed as active.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single direct comparison between the NVIDIA A10M and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D: the Geekbench OpenCL test. This is the only head-to-head benchmark recorded, and the result is decisive.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the A10M scores 135,230, while the RTX 5090 D scores 310,674. The RTX 5090 D is the winner, and the delta percentage of -56.5% indicates that the A10M's score is less than half of the RTX 5090 D's. This is a massive performance gap.

To contextualize the A10M's result, it is useful to look at its nearest rivals in the database. The A10M's score of 135,230 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation's 135,218 (delta 0%), the AMD Radeon PRO W6800's 135,396 (delta -0.1%), and the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo's 135,774 (delta -0.4%). This shows that the A10M's performance is typical for its generation and class of workstation accelerator. It is not an outlier, but rather a representative product of that era.

The RTX 5090 D's score of 310,674, on the other hand, is not directly compared to a similar workstation card in the head-to-head data. Instead, its nearest rivals in the average benchmark score category are mobile and data center parts like the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940, delta -1.6%) and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605, delta -2.4%). These are much lower average scores, but they include a wider variety of tests than just OpenCL.

The RTX 5090 D's additional benchmark scores, such as 376,915 in Geekbench Vulkan and 44,065 in Passmark G3D, further demonstrate its high level of performance across different workloads. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326 also confirms its strength in modern gaming and graphics APIs. The A10M has no other recorded benchmarks besides the OpenCL test, reinforcing its role as a specialized compute part.

The data makes it clear that in the only shared benchmark, the RTX 5090 D is the overwhelming victor. The A10M's performance is comparable to its contemporaries from the same era, but it cannot compete with the modern architecture and sheer scale of the RTX 5090 D. The performance difference is not incremental; it is a generational leap forward in compute capability.