NVIDIA B300 SXM6 AC vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D Comparison

The NVIDIA B300 SXM6 AC and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D represent two distinct extremes of NVIDIA’s product stack: a server-grade Blackwell Ultra accelerator designed for massive compute throughput versus a consumer Ada Lovelace graphics card. The benchmark data shows a single shared metric—Geekbench OpenCL—where the B300 SXM6 AC scores 369,831 against the RTX 4090 D’s 278,621, a 32.7% advantage. However, the RTX 4090 D counters with its own benchmark suite, including 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (8,587) and Geekbench Vulkan (246,941), which the B300 does not participate in. The verdict hinges on intended workload: the B300 is the compute leader, while the RTX 4090 D is the only option with graphics and display capabilities.

The Verdict

The data positions the NVIDIA B300 SXM6 AC as the raw compute champion, with a Geekbench OpenCL score of 369,831 that places it in the 100th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 4090 D sits at the 98th percentile with an average benchmark score of 178,050 across its three tests. In head-to-head comparison, the B300 leads by 32.7% in OpenCL, a decisive margin that reflects its server-class design. For users running compute-heavy workloads—such as AI training, scientific simulation, or data center processing—the B300 is the clear pick, as its nearest rival, the NVIDIA B200, scores 345,482 (7% behind), and the AMD Instinct MI300X scores 317,994 (16.3% behind).

Conversely, the RTX 4090 D is the only card with display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a) and full API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4), making it the sole option for gaming, workstation graphics, or any task requiring a visual interface. Its average benchmark score of 178,050 is dragged down by the inclusion of Vulkan and 3DMark tests, but its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 8,587 indicates gaming capability that the B300 lacks entirely, as the B300 reports N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan. Additionally, the RTX 4090 D has a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD, though pricing is not a factor in performance analysis.

The B300’s production status is Active, while the RTX 4090 D is End-of-life, suggesting longevity for the former. Thus, the verdict is straightforward: the B300 for compute density, the RTX 4090 D for graphics and versatility. The B300’s single benchmark score of 369,831 is 7% higher than the B200 and 10.4% higher than the H200 NVL, confirming its position at the top of the server hierarchy, whereas the RTX 4090 D’s nearest rival, the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell, scores 182,109, which is 2.2% higher, showing the consumer card is competitive but not dominant in its own segment.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is stark. The B300 SXM6 AC uses the GB110 chip on the Blackwell Ultra architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC, while the RTX 4090 D uses AD102 on Ada Lovelace, also 5 nm TSMC. The B300 packs 208,000 million transistors on a 1628 mm² die (127.8M transistors per mm²), versus 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die (125.3M per mm²) for the RTX 4090 D—a 2.7x transistor count advantage for the server card, despite similar density. This scale translates to vastly different memory subsystems: the B300 has 288 GB of HBM3e on an 8192-bit bus with 8.19 TB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 4090 D has 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth. The B300’s memory bandwidth is 8.1x higher, a critical factor for data-intensive workloads.

Compute resources diverge further. The B300 has 18,944 shading units, 592 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, with 592 tensor cores, whereas the RTX 4090 D has 14,592 shading units, 456 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 114 RT cores, and 456 tensor cores. The B300’s pixel rate is 48.77 GPixel/s versus 443.5 GPixel/s for the RTX 4090 D—a 9.1x deficit for the server card—while texture rates are comparable (1,202.9 GTexel/s vs 1,149.1 GTexel/s). FP32 and FP16 compute are nearly identical: 76.99 TFLOPS for the B300 vs 73.54 TFLOPS for the RTX 4090 D, a 4.7% lead for the former. Clock speeds differ significantly: the B300 runs at 1665 MHz base and 2032 MHz boost, versus 2280 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost for the RTX 4090 D, which compensates for its smaller die. The B300’s memory clocks at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective), while the RTX 4090 D runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective).

Power and interface specs reinforce the divide. The B300 is an SXM Module with a 1100 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 1500 W, using PCIe 6.0 x16, while the RTX 4090 D is a triple-slot card with a 425 W TDP, an 800 W suggested PSU, a 16-pin connector, and PCIe 4.0 x16. The B300 has no display outputs and no API support (DirectX, OpenGL, Vulkan all N/A), while the RTX 4090 D fully supports modern graphics APIs. The B300’s release date is 2025-09-10, with a successor of Server Rubin and a predecessor of Server Hopper, whereas the RTX 4090 D launched 2023-12-27, succeeding GeForce 30 and preceding GeForce 50. These are fundamentally different tools: the B300 is a compute accelerator, the RTX 4090 D is a graphics card.

Where Each One Wins

The B300 SXM6 AC wins decisively in compute throughput. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 369,831 is 32.7% higher than the RTX 4090 D’s 278,621, and it holds the 100th percentile ranking against all GPUs. This score is also 7% above the NVIDIA B200 (345,482), 10.4% above the H200 NVL (334,891), and 16.3% above the AMD Instinct MI300X (317,994), placing it at the apex of server accelerators. The 288 GB HBM3e memory and 8.19 TB/s bandwidth are unmatched by any consumer card, making it ideal for large model training, high-performance computing, and memory-bound analytics. The absence of display outputs and graphics APIs confirms its sole purpose is compute.

The RTX 4090 D wins in graphics and consumer-facing benchmarks. It is the only card with display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a) and API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4), enabling gaming and workstation visualization. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8,587 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 246,941 are tests the B300 does not participate in, indicating a functional monopoly in this comparison. The RTX 4090 D also has a higher pixel rate (443.5 GPixel/s vs 48.77 GPixel/s) and more ROPs (176 vs 24), which directly benefits rasterization and frame rendering. Its average benchmark score of 178,050, while lower than the B300’s single score, is influenced by the inclusion of diverse tests, and it sits near rivals like the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell (182,109, -2.2%) and A100 SXM4 80 GB (183,725, -3.1%), showing it is competitive in its class.

The wins are workload-specific: the B300 dominates in raw compute and memory capacity, while the RTX 4090 D dominates in graphics, display, and gaming. For a server rack, the B300 is the workhorse; for a desktop, the RTX 4090 D is the only viable choice.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA B300 SXM6 AC scores 369,831, which is 32.7% higher than the RTX 4090 D’s 278,621.

Q: Does the B300 support display outputs?

A: No, the B300 has no display outputs, while the RTX 4090 D has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The B300 has 288 GB of HBM3e, whereas the RTX 4090 D has 24 GB of GDDR6X, a 12x difference in capacity.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel rate?

A: The RTX 4090 D has a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s, which is 9.1x higher than the B300’s 48.77 GPixel/s.

Q: What is the B300’s percentile ranking?

A: The B300 is in the 100th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 4090 D is in the 98th percentile.

Q: Which card is currently in production?

A: The B300 is Active, while the RTX 4090 D is End-of-life.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only shared benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, where the B300 SXM6 AC achieves 369,831 against the RTX 4090 D’s 278,621, a 32.7% delta in favor of the server card. This single metric encapsulates the compute gap: the B300’s score is 91,210 points higher, which is more than the RTX 4090 D’s entire Vulkan score (246,941) minus its OpenCL score (278,621). The B300’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA B200, scores 345,482, meaning the B300 outperforms its closest competitor by 7%, and the gap to the RTX 4090 D is 4.7x larger than the gap to the B200.

The RTX 4090 D counters with benchmarks the B300 cannot run. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8,587 demonstrates graphics rendering capability, and its Geekbench Vulkan score of 246,941 shows API-level performance. These tests have no B300 equivalent, as the B300 lists N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan. In terms of average benchmark score, the B300’s single score of 369,831 stands alone, while the RTX 4090 D averages 178,050 across three tests, with its OpenCL score being its highest. The RTX 4090 D’s nearest rival, the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell, scores 182,109, which is 2.2% higher, while the A100 SXM4 80 GB scores 183,725 (3.1% higher), showing the consumer card is within a tight band of professional alternatives.

The deltaPct values further contextualize the rivalry. The B300 leads its nearest rival (B200) by 7%, and extends that lead to 10.4% over the H200 NVL and 16.3% over the MI300X. The RTX 4090 D trails its nearest rival (RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell) by -2.2%, and falls -3.1% behind the A100 SXM4 80 GB. This indicates the B300 is a class leader, while the RTX 4090 D is a mid-pack contender in its segment. The head-to-head wins tally is 1-0 in favor of the B300, but that reflects the limited overlap in test suites; the RTX 4090 D’s wins are in domains where the B300 does not compete. Ultimately, the data shows a 32.7% compute lead for the B300, but the RTX 4090 D retains the graphics crown by default.