NVIDIA CMP 50HX vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and the NVIDIA CMP 50HX occupy opposite ends of the GPU spectrum, yet both are end-of-life products from the same manufacturer. The RTX 4090 is a flagship consumer graphics card built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, while the CMP 50HX is a mining-specific accelerator based on the older Turing architecture. The benchmark data reveals an absolute chasm in performance, but the CMP 50HX's existence raises questions about specialized hardware versus general-purpose compute. In the two shared head-to-head tests, the RTX 4090 dominates completely, with a Geekbench OpenCL score of 255,416 versus the CMP 50HX's 56,135, a 355% advantage. The Vulkan gap is even wider, with the RTX 4090 posting 271,631 against the CMP 50HX's 47,445, representing a 472.5% lead. These are not incremental improvements; they are generational leaps compounded by architectural and specification differences.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two benchmark tests where both GPUs have recorded scores are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and the RTX 4090 wins both decisively. In OpenCL compute, the RTX 4090 scores 255,416, which is 355% higher than the CMP 50HX's 56,135. This means for every single point of performance the mining card produces, the RTX 4090 produces over four and a half. The Vulkan test shows an even more pronounced disparity: the RTX 4090's 271,631 dwarfs the CMP 50HX's 47,445, a delta of 472.5%. This suggests the RTX 4090's architecture is far more efficient at translating its raw compute resources into actual API-level performance, particularly in a modern graphics API like Vulkan.

The average benchmark score across all recorded tests further contextualizes the gap. The RTX 4090 holds an average score of 60,347, while the CMP 50HX averages 51,790. While the single-test differentials are massive, the averages are closer, because the RTX 4090's dataset includes many lower-scoring legacy DirectX tests (such as a Passmark DirectX 9 score of 397 and a DirectX 10 score of 224) that drag its mean down. The CMP 50HX only has two data points, both from Geekbench, so its average is purely a reflection of those compute-heavy workloads. This skew means the head-to-head deltas are the most reliable comparison, and they show a clear, one-sided victory for the RTX 4090.

Looking at where the RTX 4090 sits among its rivals, its nearest competitor by average score is the Intel Arc Pro A60, with a delta of 0%. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is actually 2.5% ahead, while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 trails by 2.9%. This indicates that the RTX 4090, despite its raw power, has an average benchmark score that is tightly clustered with professional workstation cards. Conversely, the CMP 50HX's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, with the CMP 50HX leading by 1.6%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti trails by 3.7%. This places the mining card's compute performance in the same league as high-end gaming GPUs from a previous generation, which is remarkable for a product without any display outputs.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4090 wins every category where data exists. It is unequivocally the superior performer in both OpenCL and Vulkan compute workloads, with margins exceeding 350% in both cases. The data implies that for any task requiring raw number-crunching, whether it be rendering, simulation, or machine learning inference, the RTX 4090 is the only viable choice between these two. Its 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 82.58 TFLOPS of FP16 (at a 1:1 ratio) provide a massive computational foundation that the CMP 50HX cannot approach with its 11.07 TFLOPS FP32 and 22.15 TFLOPS FP16 (at a 2:1 ratio).

The CMP 50HX does not win any benchmark tests, but its specification profile suggests a different intended use case. It has no display outputs, which means it is not designed for gaming or visual workloads. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus provides 560.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for certain types of cryptographic hashing algorithms that are memory-bound rather than compute-bound. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus offers 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is nearly double, but the mining card's lower power draw and simpler design might have made it attractive for dedicated mining rigs where efficiency per square inch of space is a factor. However, the performance data does not support any scenario where the CMP 50HX wins. The RTX 4090's pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are vastly superior to the CMP 50HX's 123.6 GPixel/s and 296.6 GTexel/s, confirming that the consumer card is better at every stage of the graphics pipeline.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is stark and explains the performance chasm. The RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD102 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. This advanced node allows for a transistor density of 125.3 million per square millimeter, packing 76,300 million transistors onto a 609 mm² die. The CMP 50HX, in contrast, uses the Turing architecture with the TU102 chip, fabricated on TSMC's older 12 nm process. Its transistor density is a mere 24.7 million per square millimeter, with 18,600 million transistors spread across a larger 754 mm² die. The RTX 4090 achieves more than four times the transistor density, which is a direct reflection of the process technology advantage.

The compute resources differ by an order of magnitude. The RTX 4090 features 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, while the CMP 50HX has only 3,584 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. This means the RTX 4090 has roughly 4.5 times more shading units and 2.6 times more TMUs, enabling its massive fill rates. The ray tracing and tensor core counts also follow this pattern: the RTX 4090 has 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores, while the CMP 50HX has 56 RT cores and 448 tensor cores. While the tensor core counts are somewhat closer, the RTX 4090's newer generation of tensor cores is likely more efficient per core, though the FACT PACK does not specify generations.

The memory architecture also reflects the generational divide. The RTX 4090 uses GDDR6X memory at 21 Gbps effective, while the CMP 50HX uses GDDR6 at 14 Gbps effective. Combined with the bus width differences (384-bit versus 320-bit), the RTX 4090 achieves 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth versus the CMP 50HX's 560.0 GB/s. The RTX 4090's FP16 performance is identical to its FP32 (82.58 TFLOPS), indicating a 1:1 ratio, whereas the CMP 50HX's FP16 is exactly double its FP32 (22.15 versus 11.07), indicating a 2:1 ratio. This suggests the RTX 4090 is designed for full-rate FP16 compute, while the CMP 50HX uses a more traditional throughput doubling approach.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 4090 has a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, while the CMP 50HX operates at 1350 MHz base and 1545 MHz boost. This clock speed advantage, combined with the architectural efficiency, contributes to the RTX 4090's towering performance. The memory configurations are fundamentally different: the RTX 4090 offers 24 GB of GDDR6X, while the CMP 50HX offers 10 GB of GDDR6. The power requirements also diverge significantly, with the RTX 4090 rated at 450 W TDP and requiring a 850 W power supply, while the CMP 50HX is rated at 250 W TDP and needs a 600 W power supply.

Physical dimensions and power connectors differ as well. The RTX 4090 is a triple-slot card measuring 304 mm in length, 137 mm in height, and 61 mm in width, using a single 16-pin power connector. The CMP 50HX is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm long, 116 mm tall, and 35 mm wide, using two 8-pin connectors. The bus interface is another major differentiator: the RTX 4090 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the CMP 50HX uses PCIe 1.0 x4, which severely limits data transfer speeds to the host system. The display outputs present the most obvious functional difference: the RTX 4090 has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the CMP 50HX has no outputs at all, confirming its mining-only purpose. The RTX 4090 was released on 2022-09-19, while the CMP 50HX came later on 2021-06-23, and the RTX 4090 had a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60,347, while the NVIDIA CMP 50HX averages 51,790, a difference of roughly 16.5% in favor of the RTX 4090.

Q: What is the performance difference in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The RTX 4090 scores 271,631 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 472.5% higher than the CMP 50HX's score of 47,445, making it the larger of the two head-to-head deltas.

Q: Does the CMP 50HX support any display outputs?

A: No, the CMP 50HX has no display outputs, while the RTX 4090 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Q: How do the memory bandwidths compare?

A: The RTX 4090's memory bandwidth is 1.01 TB/s, which is nearly double the CMP 50HX's 560.0 GB/s, due to its wider 384-bit bus and faster GDDR6X memory.

Q: What are the TDP ratings for each card?

A: The RTX 4090 has a TDP of 450 W and requires a suggested 850 W power supply, while the CMP 50HX has a TDP of 250 W and a suggested 600 W power supply.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The RTX 4090 has 16,384 shading units, which is over four times the 3,584 shading units found on the CMP 50HX.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the superior GPU in every measurable way. For any user who needs graphics output, general-purpose compute, or gaming performance, the RTX 4090 is the only rational choice. Its 355% lead in OpenCL and 472.5% lead in Vulkan over the CMP 50HX are not just margins; they represent different performance tiers entirely. The RTX 4090's higher clocks, more shading units, larger memory pool, and faster bandwidth make it a versatile high-end solution, even if its average benchmark score places it only slightly above professional workstation cards like the Intel Arc Pro A60 and slightly below the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M.

The CMP 50HX, despite having no display outputs and being designed for mining, still holds its own against modern gaming GPUs in compute benchmarks, sitting 1.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 3.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. This suggests that for pure compute tasks without visual output, the CMP 50HX is not a slouch, but it is utterly outclassed by the RTX 4090. The RTX 4090's FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS is over seven times the CMP 50HX's 11.07 TFLOPS, a gap that no amount of architectural optimization on the Turing side can close. The verdict is straightforward: pick the RTX 4090 for any task that requires graphics, rendering, or high-throughput compute; pick the CMP 50HX only if you have a specific mining workload that requires a lower-power, no-display card, and you are willing to accept a performance deficit of over 350% in compute benchmarks. The RTX 4090 is the definitive winner based on all available data.