NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data for these two NVIDIA parts comes from entirely different benchmark suites, making a direct apples-to-apples comparison impossible. The GeForce GTX 590 has a single Geekbench OpenCL score of 12,830, while the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q has a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 11,088. The head-to-head benchmark table is empty, and neither card registers a win against the other in the database. This means any direct performance comparison must rely on contextualizing each card within its own nearest rivals rather than a side-by-side numerical duel.

For the GeForce GTX 590, the benchmark results place it at the 52nd percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 455, scores 12,831, a negligible 0% difference. The GTX 590 effectively trades blows with that card. It sits 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670, which scores 12,773. Against the AMD FirePro W5100 (12,847), the GTX 590 is 0.1% slower, and it trails the AMD Radeon 740M (12,870) by 0.3%. Essentially, the GTX 590's OpenCL performance is clustered within a tight band around these four rivals, none of which it beats by more than a fraction of a percent. This indicates that in this legacy compute workload, the GTX 590 is a middle-of-the-pack performer, neither dominant nor notably deficient among its immediate peers.

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q, by contrast, shows a similar clustering pattern but with different rivals. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score is 11,088, placing it at the 50th percentile of all GPUs. It is exactly tied with the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q, which also scores 11,088 with a 0% delta. The AMD Radeon RX 550 is a hair behind at 11,075, making the RTX PRO 6000 0.1% faster. The card is 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (11,047). Only the AMD FirePro W4300 (11,225) beats it, and by a slim 1.2% margin. The data suggests that in the Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q is a solid, mid-tier performer whose score is statistically indistinguishable from several other cards, both modern and older.

The lack of overlapping benchmarks is a significant limitation. The GTX 590's OpenCL score cannot be compared to the RTX PRO 6000's DX12 score, as they measure different workloads and API efficiencies. The database does not provide a common test, so a head-to-head victory for either card cannot be declared. The wins counter for both remains at zero. Analysts must therefore interpret each card's standing relative to its own benchmark pool, which the percentile values and nearest rival deltas provide.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast, spanning over a decade of NVIDIA design evolution. The GeForce GTX 590 uses the GF110 chip, built on the Fermi 2.0 architecture, while the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q uses the GB202 chip, built on Blackwell 2.0. The GTX 590 is fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC, whereas the RTX PRO 6000 uses a 5 nm process, also at TSMC. Transistor counts reflect this generational leap: the GTX 590 packs 3,000 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, resulting in a density of 5.8M per mm². The RTX PRO 6000 contains 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, achieving a density of 122.9M per mm². That is a massive increase in both raw transistor count and packing density.

Clock behavior differs fundamentally. The GTX 590 lists only a memory clock of 854 MHz (3.4 Gbps effective) with no base or boost clock data. The RTX PRO 6000 has a base clock of 1035 MHz and a boost clock of 2280 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The memory subsystems are in different leagues. The GTX 590 has 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, yielding 164.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX PRO 6000 has 96 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, yielding 1.79 TB/s. That is an order of magnitude more capacity and bandwidth.

Compute resources are similarly disparate. The GTX 590 has 512 shading units, 64 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 48 raster operations units (ROPs). The RTX PRO 6000 has 24,064 shading units, 752 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. The newer card also introduces dedicated hardware absent from the GTX 590: 188 ray tracing cores and 752 tensor cores. These features enable capabilities that the Fermi architecture cannot support. The GTX 590's pixel rate is 19.46 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 38.91 GTexel/s, while the RTX PRO 6000 reaches 437.8 GPixel/s and 1,714.6 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 1,244.2 GFLOPS for the GTX 590 versus 109.7 TFLOPS for the RTX PRO 6000. The RTX PRO 6000 also has FP16 throughput at 109.7 TFLOPS (1:1), while the GTX 590 has no listed FP16 capability.

Power and connectivity also diverge. The GTX 590 has a TDP of 365 W and requires two 8-pin power connectors, with a suggested 750 W PSU. The RTX PRO 6000 has a TDP of 300 W, uses a single 16-pin connector, and suggests a 700 W PSU. The bus interface moves from PCIe 2.0 x16 on the GTX 590 to PCIe 5.0 x16 on the RTX PRO 6000. Display outputs shift from 3x DVI and 1x mini-DisplayPort to 4x DisplayPort 2.1b. API support jumps from DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6 to DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 590 has no Vulkan support listed, while the RTX PRO 6000 does.

The Verdict

The data dictates a clear segmentation by era and purpose. The GeForce GTX 590 is an end-of-life product from the GeForce 500 generation, released in March 2011. Its benchmark score places it at the 52nd percentile, with performance that is essentially tied with several mid-range cards from both AMD and NVIDIA. In the database, the GTX 590's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 455, with a 0% delta, meaning there is no measurable performance difference between them in the OpenCL test. Anyone seeking a card for legacy DirectX 11 workloads or older compute tasks might find the GTX 590 adequate, but the data shows it offers no advantage over its immediate peers. Its launch MSRP was 699 USD, but the production status is end-of-life, so availability is a moot point for new purchases.

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q is an active product from the Blackwell PRO W generation, released in March 2025. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score sits at the 50th percentile, and it is exactly tied with the RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q. This suggests that within the database, the Max-Q variant offers no performance uplift over its sibling in this specific test. The card is only 0.4% faster than a GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER, which is a much older and lower-tier part. This is a notable result: the RTX PRO 6000's raw DX12 score does not blow past older mainstream cards, according to the recorded data. Its launch MSRP was 8,565 USD, and it is currently active in production.

Who should pick which? The data supports a choice based on workload and API support. If the requirement is for modern features like ray tracing, tensor cores, Vulkan 1.4, and DirectX 12 Ultimate, the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q is the only option between these two. The GTX 590 lacks all of those capabilities. If the requirement is strictly for a legacy OpenCL benchmark score around 12,830, the GTX 590 is competitive with its peers, but it offers nothing that a Radeon Pro 455 or GeForce GTX 670 does not. The RTX PRO 6000, despite its higher price, delivers a fundamentally different feature set and memory configuration, with 96 GB of GDDR7 versus 1536 MB of GDDR5. The verdict from the database is that these are not competing products; they are artifacts from different generations with non-overlapping benchmark identities.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two cards, based solely on the recorded data:

• Architecture: Fermi 2.0 (GTX 590) versus Blackwell 2.0 (RTX PRO 6000).
• Process Node: 40 nm versus 5 nm.
• Transistors: 3,000 million versus 92,200 million.
• Die Size: 520 mm² versus 750 mm².
• Transistor Density: 5.8M / mm² versus 122.9M / mm².
• Memory Clock: 854 MHz (3.4 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).
• Memory Size: 1536 MB versus 96 GB.
• Memory Type: GDDR5 versus GDDR7.
• Memory Bus Width: 384 bit versus 512 bit.
• Memory Bandwidth: 164.0 GB/s versus 1.79 TB/s.
• Shading Units: 512 versus 24,064.
• TMUs: 64 versus 752.
• ROPs: 48 versus 192.
• RT Cores: None versus 188.
• Tensor Cores: None versus 752.
• Pixel Rate: 19.46 GPixel/s versus 437.8 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: 38.91 GTexel/s versus 1,714.6 GTexel/s.
• FP32: 1,244.2 GFLOPS versus 109.7 TFLOPS.
• FP16: None versus 109.7 TFLOPS (1:1).
• TDP: 365 W versus 300 W.
• Power Connectors: 2x 8-pin versus 1x 16-pin.
• Suggested PSU: 750 W versus 700 W.
• Bus Interface: PCIe 2.0 x16 versus PCIe 5.0 x16.
• Display Outputs: 3x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort versus 4x DisplayPort 2.1b.
• DirectX Support: 12 (11_0) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2).
• Vulkan Support: None versus 1.4.
• Dimensions: Length 279 mm versus 267 mm (height and width are identical at 111 mm and 40 mm).
• Production Status: End-of-life versus Active.
• Release Date: 2011-03-23 versus 2025-03-17.
• Predecessor: GeForce 400 versus Workstation Ada.
• Successor: GeForce 600 versus None.
• Launch MSRP: 699 USD versus 8,565 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher benchmark percentile in the database?

A: The GeForce GTX 590 sits at the 52nd percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q sits at the 50th percentile. The GTX 590 ranks slightly higher, but this is based on different benchmark suites (OpenCL for GTX 590, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 for RTX PRO 6000).

Q: How does the GTX 590 compare to its closest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 455?

A: The GTX 590 scores 12,830 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the Radeon Pro 455 scores 12,831. The delta is 0%, meaning there is no measurable performance difference between the two cards in this test.

Q: What is the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q's performance relative to the RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q?

A: Both cards score exactly 11,088 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, resulting in a 0% delta. The database records them as tied in performance.

Q: Does the GTX 590 support Vulkan or ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 590 has no Vulkan support listed and no ray tracing cores. Its API support is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The RTX PRO 6000 supports Vulkan 1.4 and has 188 ray tracing cores.

Q: What are the memory capacity and bandwidth differences?

A: The GTX 590 has 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, providing 164.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX PRO 6000 has 96 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a lower power draw according to the data?

A: The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q has a TDP of 300 W, which is lower than the GTX 590's 365 W. The RTX PRO 6000 also suggests a 700 W PSU versus 750 W for the GTX 590.