NVIDIA CMP 30HX vs NVIDIA RTX A6000 Comparison

The Verdict

The data presents a clear separation of purpose between these two NVIDIA boards. The NVIDIA CMP 30HX is a mining-oriented Turing part with no display outputs, built for a single task. The NVIDIA RTX A6000 is a full-featured Ampere workstation GPU with professional display support. Benchmark results show the RTX A6000 winning both recorded head-to-head tests, with a 66.4% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL and a 62% advantage in Geekbench Vulkan. The CMP 30HX holds a higher percentile ranking at 89 versus the RTX A6000's 84, but that reflects its narrower benchmark set rather than raw capability. Buyers needing compute density, professional features, and large memory should choose the RTX A6000. The CMP 30HX is only sensible for legacy mining workloads where its lack of outputs and smaller memory pool are acceptable.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectures, nodes, and foundries. The CMP 30HX uses the TU116 chip on a 12 nm TSMC process, with 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die. The RTX A6000 uses the GA102 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process, packing 28,300 million transistors onto a 628 mm² die. Transistor density reflects the node difference: the CMP 30HX achieves 23.2M per mm², while the RTX A6000 reaches 45.1M per mm². The CMP 30HX belongs to the Mining GPUs generation, while the RTX A6000 is part of Workstation Ampere (Ax000). The RTX A6000 also carries a predecessor, Quadro Turing, and a successor, Workstation Ada. The CMP 30HX lists neither.

Feature sets diverge sharply. The RTX A6000 includes 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, enabling hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration. The CMP 30HX has no RT or tensor cores listed. The RTX A6000 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the CMP 30HX stops at DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX A6000 provides four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs; the CMP 30HX has none. The CMP 30HX uses a PCIe 1.0 x4 interface, while the RTX A6000 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, a major bandwidth difference for data transfer. The RTX A6000 uses an 8-pin EPS power connector, the CMP 30HX a single 8-pin.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data includes two Geekbench tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A6000 scores 193,937 against the CMP 30HX's 65,199, a delta of 66.4% in favor of the RTX A6000. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX A6000 scores 164,462 against 62,484, a delta of 62%. The CMP 30HX wins neither test. These gaps are consistent with the underlying hardware: the RTX A6000 has over seven times the shading units (10,752 versus 1,408), nearly four times the texture units (336 versus 88), and more than double the ROPs (112 versus 48). The RTX A6000 also delivers 38.71 TFLOPS FP32 against 5.027 TFLOPS for the CMP 30HX. Memory bandwidth favors the RTX A6000 at 768.0 GB/s versus 336.0 GB/s, and memory capacity is 48 GB versus 6 GB.

The CMP 30HX does hold its own in certain derived metrics. Its pixel rate is 85.68 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 157.1 GTexel/s. The RTX A6000 counters with 201.6 GPixel/s and 604.8 GTexel/s. The CMP 30HX has a higher base clock at 1530 MHz versus 1410 MHz, but the boost clocks are close: 1785 MHz for the CMP 30HX and 1800 MHz for the RTX A6000. The CMP 30HX also has a higher transistor density per clock efficiency if measured purely by die size, but that does not translate into benchmark wins. The RTX A6000's FP16 output is 38.71 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, while the CMP 30HX achieves 10.05 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, meaning the RTX A6000 handles half-precision workloads without the throughput penalty that the CMP 30HX incurs.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification field. The CMP 30HX uses the TU116 chip, the RTX A6000 uses GA102. The CMP 30HX is on 12 nm TSMC, the RTX A6000 on 8 nm Samsung. Transistor counts are 6,600 million versus 28,300 million. Die size is 284 mm² versus 628 mm². Transistor density is 23.2M per mm² versus 45.1M per mm². Base clocks are 1530 MHz versus 1410 MHz. Boost clocks are 1785 MHz versus 1800 MHz. Memory clocks are 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective versus 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective. Memory size is 6 GB versus 48 GB. Memory bus width is 192 bit versus 384 bit. Memory bandwidth is 336.0 GB/s versus 768.0 GB/s. Shading units are 1,408 versus 10,752. TMUs are 88 versus 336. ROPs are 48 versus 112. RT cores are absent versus 84. Tensor cores are absent versus 336. Pixel rate is 85.68 GPixel/s versus 201.6 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 157.1 GTexel/s versus 604.8 GTexel/s. FP32 is 5.027 TFLOPS versus 38.71 TFLOPS. FP16 is 10.05 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 38.71 TFLOPS (1:1). TDP is 125 W versus 300 W. The CMP 30HX has a suggested PSU of 300 W, the RTX A6000 of 700 W. The CMP 30HX uses PCIe 1.0 x4, the RTX A6000 PCIe 4.0 x16. The CMP 30HX has no display outputs, the RTX A6000 has four DisplayPort 1.4a. The CMP 30HX is 229 mm long, 111 mm tall, and 35 mm wide. The RTX A6000 is 267 mm long and 112 mm tall, with width not recorded. Both are dual-slot. The CMP 30HX launched on 2021-02-24, the RTX A6000 on 2020-10-04. The CMP 30HX has a launch MSRP of 799 USD. The RTX A6000 has a launch MSRP of 4,649 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The CMP 30HX has an average benchmark score of 63,842, while the RTX A6000 averages 44,075. However, the CMP 30HX is based on only two benchmark tests (Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan), while the RTX A6000 includes nine tests spanning DirectX 9 through 12, G2D, G3D, and compute workloads.

Q: Why does the CMP 30HX have a higher percentile rank than the RTX A6000?

A: The CMP 30HX sits at the 89th percentile against all GPUs, while the RTX A6000 sits at the 84th. This reflects the different benchmark distributions. The CMP 30HX's two Geekbench scores are strong relative to its limited test set, whereas the RTX A6000's broader test suite includes legacy DirectX and 2D workloads that pull its average down.

Q: How large is the memory capacity gap between the two cards?

A: The RTX A6000 ships with 48 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 768.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The CMP 30HX has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 336.0 GB/s. The RTX A6000 has eight times the memory capacity and more than double the bandwidth.

Q: Does the CMP 30HX support real-time ray tracing?

A: No. The CMP 30HX lists no RT cores and no tensor cores. The RTX A6000 includes 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing features. The CMP 30HX only supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The CMP 30HX has a TDP of 125 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The RTX A6000 has a TDP of 300 W and a suggested PSU of 700 W. The RTX A6000 requires an 8-pin EPS connector, while the CMP 30HX uses a single 8-pin.

Q: Which GPU is better for compute-heavy workloads like OpenCL?

A: The RTX A6000 is significantly faster in compute. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 193,937 versus 65,199 for the CMP 30HX, a 66.4% lead. The RTX A6000 also delivers 38.71 TFLOPS FP32 versus 5.027 TFLOPS, and its FP16 throughput is 38.71 TFLOPS compared to 10.05 TFLOPS for the CMP 30HX.