NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q Comparison

FAQ

Q: What are the two graphics cards being compared here?

A: This comparison examines the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480, a Fermi architecture card from the GeForce 400 generation, and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q, a Blackwell 2.0 architecture card from the Blackwell PRO W (x000) generation.

Q: How do their benchmark scores compare?

A: The GTX 480 records a Geekbench OpenCL score of 13,300, while the RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q records a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 11,088. These are different test suites, so direct score comparison is not possible, but each card's percentile ranking is similar: the GTX 480 sits at the 53rd percentile, and the RTX PRO 6000D sits at the 50th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: The GTX 480 features 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus with 177.4 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX PRO 6000D features 96 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the process node and transistor count difference?

A: The GTX 480 uses a 40 nm process at TSMC with 3,100 million transistors on a 529 mm² die. The RTX PRO 6000D uses a 5 nm process at TSMC with 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The GTX 480 has a TDP of 250 W with a suggested PSU of 600 W and uses 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors. The RTX PRO 6000D has a TDP of 300 W with a suggested PSU of 700 W and uses a single 16-pin connector.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The GTX 480 is listed as End-of-life, released on 2010-03-25, while the RTX PRO 6000D is Active, released on 2025-03-17.

Architecture Differences

The GTX 480 is built on the GF100 chip using the Fermi architecture, while the RTX PRO 6000D uses the GB202 chip with the Blackwell 2.0 architecture. This represents a generational leap of roughly fifteen years between releases, and the architectural changes are profound.

The process technology difference is stark. The GTX 480 uses a 40 nm node at TSMC, while the RTX PRO 6000D uses a 5 nm node, also at TSMC. This allows the newer card to pack 92,200 million transistors onto a 750 mm² die, compared to 3,100 million on a 529 mm² die for the older card. The transistor density tells the story clearly: 122.9M per mm² versus 5.9M per mm². That is a roughly 20-fold increase in density, enabling vastly more complex compute units.

The shading unit count scales dramatically. The GTX 480 has 480 shading units, 60 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The RTX PRO 6000D has 24,064 shading units, 752 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. Additionally, the newer card includes dedicated hardware that the older card entirely lacks: 188 RT cores and 752 tensor cores. These are specialized for ray tracing and AI workloads, respectively, and their presence fundamentally changes what the card can do.

Memory architecture also diverges completely. The GTX 480 uses GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, while the RTX PRO 6000D uses GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus. Bandwidth jumps from 177.4 GB/s to 1.79 TB/s, a tenfold increase. The memory clock is also different: 924 MHz (3.7 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

The bus interface advances from PCIe 2.0 x16 to PCIe 5.0 x16, and display outputs change from 2x DVI plus 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a to 4x DisplayPort 2.1b. API support also expands: the GTX 480 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, while the RTX PRO 6000D supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 480's recorded benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 13,300. This places it at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, slightly above its nearest rivals such as the AMD Radeon Pro 555X (13,321, delta -0.2%) and the AMD FirePro M6100 (13,354, delta -0.4%). For compute-oriented OpenCL workloads, the data indicates the GTX 480 remains competitive with much newer mid-range mobile and entry-level discrete GPUs, despite its age. This suggests it may still be viable for legacy compute tasks or basic OpenCL acceleration.

The RTX PRO 6000D's recorded benchmark is 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, scoring 11,088. This puts it at the 50th percentile, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q at the exact same score (delta 0%). The AMD Radeon RX 550 scores 11,075 (delta 0.1%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER scores 11,047 (delta 0.4%). The data shows this card is closely matched with these mid-range consumer and workstation GPUs in this specific DX12 test, which is unexpected for a professional-grade card with a 96 GB memory pool.

The use-case split is clear: the GTX 480 excels in OpenCL compute workloads relative to its peers, while the RTX PRO 6000D is positioned for modern DX12 gaming and professional 3D rendering. However, the RTX PRO 6000D's massive memory capacity (96 GB) and bandwidth (1.79 TB/s) suggest it is designed for data-intensive professional workloads, even though the Steel Nomad score does not reflect that directly.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The GTX 480 has no base or boost clock listed, while the RTX PRO 6000D has a base clock of 1590 MHz and a boost clock of 2288 MHz. Memory clock differs as noted: 924 MHz (3.7 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

Memory size is 1536 MB versus 96 GB, a 64-fold difference. Memory type is GDDR5 versus GDDR7. Bus width is 384-bit versus 512-bit. Bandwidth is 177.4 GB/s versus 1.79 TB/s.

Shading units: 480 versus 24,064. TMUs: 60 versus 752. ROPs: 48 versus 192. The RTX PRO 6000D has 188 RT cores and 752 tensor cores; the GTX 480 has none.

Pixel rate is 21.03 GPixel/s versus 439.3 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 42.06 GTexel/s versus 1,720.6 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 1,345.0 GFLOPS versus 110.1 TFLOPS. The RTX PRO 6000D also lists FP16 at 110.1 TFLOPS (1:1), while the GTX 480 has no FP16 figure.

TDP is 250 W versus 300 W. Slot width is dual-slot for both. Power connectors: 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin versus 1x 16-pin. Suggested PSU: 600 W versus 700 W.

Dimensions: both are 267 mm (10.5 inches) long. The RTX PRO 6000D adds height (111 mm, 4.4 inches) and width (40 mm, 1.6 inches) data, while the GTX 480 lists no height or width.

Production status: End-of-life versus Active. Release dates: 2010-03-25 versus 2025-03-17. Predecessors: GeForce 200 versus Workstation Ada. Successors: GeForce 500 versus none listed. Launch MSRP: 499 USD versus 8,565 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

There are no direct head-to-head benchmark entries in the database, and the wins tally shows 0 wins for each card. This means the two cards have never been tested against each other in the same benchmark suite. The comparison must therefore be drawn from their separate benchmark results and specification sheets.

The GTX 480's Geekbench OpenCL score of 13,300 is its sole recorded metric. It sits 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 555X (13,321), 0.4% behind the AMD FirePro M6100 (13,354), and 0.4% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5500M (13,356). The closest rival is the AMD Radeon HD 8950M at 13,376, which is 0.6% ahead. This clustering within a 1% band shows the GTX 480 is right in the middle of a tight pack of capable mobile and entry-level GPUs for OpenCL work.

The RTX PRO 6000D's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 11,088 is its only recorded benchmark. It is exactly tied with the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q, 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 550 (11,075), and 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (11,047). The AMD FirePro W4300 is 1.2% ahead at 11,225. This places the RTX PRO 6000D in a similar tight cluster, but notably at the lower end of its peer group rather than the middle.

The biggest relative difference in the data is not between the two cards directly, but in their percentile rankings versus all GPUs. The GTX 480 at the 53rd percentile is slightly ahead of the RTX PRO 6000D at the 50th percentile, despite the massive architectural gulf. This suggests that when normalized across the entire GPU landscape, the older card holds its own in its specific test, while the newer card's Steel Nomad result is less impressive relative to the overall field.

The Verdict

The data paints a clear picture of two cards built for entirely different eras and purposes. The GTX 480, with its 40 nm Fermi architecture and 480 shading units, is a legacy product that still performs respectably in OpenCL compute tasks, landing at the 53rd percentile overall. Its nearest rivals are all within a fraction of a percent, indicating that it remains competitive with a broad swath of mid-range GPUs from various generations.

The RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q is a modern professional workstation card with 24,064 shading units, 188 RT cores, 752 tensor cores, and 96 GB of GDDR7 memory. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 11,088 places it at the 50th percentile, which is surprisingly modest for a card with such extreme specifications. The data suggests that in this particular DX12 test, it is roughly equivalent to consumer cards like the GTX 1650 SUPER, though its memory capacity and bandwidth far exceed anything those cards offer.

For someone choosing between these two, the decision depends entirely on workload. If the task involves OpenCL compute on legacy systems, the GTX 480 remains a viable option, evidenced by its competitive percentile ranking. If the task involves modern DX12 rendering, ray tracing, tensor-based AI workloads, or massive datasets requiring 96 GB of memory, the RTX PRO 6000D is the only sensible choice, despite its lower percentile in a single benchmark.

The RTX PRO 6000D's launch MSRP is 8,565 USD, reflecting its professional positioning. The GTX 480's launch MSRP was 499 USD. Neither card is a general-purpose recommendation: the GTX 480 is end-of-life, and the RTX PRO 6000D is a specialized tool. The recorded data shows that raw specification superiority does not always translate to benchmark dominance, as the RTX PRO 6000D's Steel Nomad score demonstrates. The verdict is straightforward: pick the GTX 480 only for legacy OpenCL duties, and pick the RTX PRO 6000D for modern professional workloads that leverage its unique capabilities.