NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile occupy opposite ends of the Ampere spectrum — one is a triple-slot desktop monster, the other a mobile workstation part. The benchmark data shows a decisive overall victory for the RTX 3090 Ti, which wins both head-to-head tests by margins ranging from 40.4% to 108.1%. Yet the RTX A5500 Mobile holds its own in the broader performance percentiles, sitting at the 94th percentile versus the RTX 3090 Ti's 95th, indicating that the mobile chip is far from a lightweight. The two share the same 8 nm Samsung process and Ampere architecture, but their physical design, memory subsystems, and power envelopes create vastly different performance profiles. This analysis breaks down where each GPU wins, what separates them architecturally, and which user should choose which.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3090 Ti wins in every measured category where both GPUs have comparable data. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 174,441 against the A5500 Mobile's 124,287, a 40.4% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens dramatically: 215,633 versus 103,601, a 108.1% lead. These are not marginal differences — the RTX 3090 Ti is delivering more than double the Vulkan compute performance of the mobile part. The RTX 3090 Ti also has a higher average benchmark score of 131,938 across all its tests, compared to 113,944 for the A5500 Mobile, a 15.8% gap in aggregate performance.

However, the A5500 Mobile's wins are not in raw speed but in efficiency and form factor. It consumes 165 W versus 450 W, runs on a single 256-bit memory bus instead of 384-bit, and fits into a portable device. The data shows the A5500 Mobile achieves 94th percentile performance among all GPUs, meaning it outperforms roughly 94% of the graphics cards in the database despite its mobile constraints. The RTX 3090 Ti sits at the 95th percentile, so the difference in relative standing is just one percentile point. For workloads where Vulkan is not the primary API, the A5500 Mobile's OpenCL score of 124,287 still places it well within striking distance of desktop workstation cards like the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation (117,088 average) and the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 (110,725 average). The mobile part wins on portability, power draw, and the ability to run on battery — none of which the RTX 3090 Ti can offer with its 850 W suggested PSU and triple-slot cooler.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on the Ampere architecture using Samsung's 8 nm process, but they use different chips. The RTX 3090 Ti uses the GA102 die, measuring 628 mm² with 28,300 million transistors, while the A5500 Mobile uses the GA103 die, measuring 496 mm² with 22,000 million transistors. The transistor density is nearly identical — 45.1 million per mm² for the GA102 versus 44.4 million per mm² for the GA103 — confirming that the smaller chip is simply a cut-down version of the same design philosophy. The RTX 3090 Ti packs 10,752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, 112 ROPs, 84 RT cores, and 336 tensor cores. The A5500 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 58 RT cores, and 232 tensor cores. That means the desktop part has 44.8% more shading units, 44.8% more TMUs, 16.7% more ROPs, 44.8% more RT cores, and 44.8% more tensor cores.

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The RTX 3090 Ti runs at 1560 MHz base and 1860 MHz boost, while the A5500 Mobile runs at 975 MHz base and 1500 MHz boost. The boost clock difference is 24%, but the base clock difference is 60%. Memory architecture diverges significantly: the RTX 3090 Ti uses 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, while the A5500 Mobile uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The desktop card has exactly double the memory bandwidth. Both support PCIe 4.0 x16, DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 3090 Ti's power connectors require a single 16-pin cable, while the A5500 Mobile has no power connectors — it draws power from the laptop's main supply.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two Geekbench tests provide the only direct comparison points, and they show a clear pattern. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3090 Ti scores 174,441 versus 124,287 for the A5500 Mobile, a 40.4% advantage. This test measures general-purpose compute across multiple platforms, and the result aligns with the raw hardware differences: the RTX 3090 Ti has 44.8% more shading units and 97.5% more memory bandwidth, so a 40.4% lead in OpenCL is actually slightly below what the hardware ratio might suggest, possibly due to the A5500 Mobile's more efficient memory access patterns at lower clock speeds.

The Geekbench Vulkan test is where the separation becomes extreme. The RTX 3090 Ti scores 215,633, while the A5500 Mobile scores 103,601, yielding a 108.1% delta. This more than doubles the OpenCL gap. Vulkan is a lower-level API that exposes hardware capabilities more directly, and the RTX 3090 Ti's higher shader count, faster clocks, and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth combine to produce a result that is more than twice the mobile part's score. The A5500 Mobile's Vulkan score of 103,601 is actually lower than its OpenCL score of 124,287, which is unusual — most GPUs perform similarly or better in Vulkan. This suggests the mobile chip's driver optimization or thermal management may constrain Vulkan workloads more heavily. The RTX 3090 Ti, by contrast, scores 215,633 in Vulkan versus 174,441 in OpenCL, showing a 23.6% improvement in Vulkan, which indicates the desktop part scales better with lower-level API access.

Looking at the nearest rivals provides context. The RTX 3090 Ti's average score of 131,938 places it within 0.7% of the NVIDIA L4 (131,072) and 2.4% behind both the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation (135,218) and NVIDIA A10M (135,230). The A5500 Mobile's average of 113,944 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB (114,395, a 0.4% difference), 2.7% behind the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation (117,088), and 2.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 (110,725). This means the mobile part performs at roughly the level of a data-center V100, while the desktop part sits between the L4 and the RTX 4000 Ada Generation.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear split: choose the RTX 3090 Ti for maximum raw performance in a desktop workstation, and choose the RTX A5500 Mobile for portable compute that still reaches the 94th percentile. The RTX 3090 Ti delivers 40.4% higher OpenCL performance and 108.1% higher Vulkan performance, with more than double the memory bandwidth, 44.8% more shaders, and a 24% higher boost clock. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory versus 16 GB of GDDR6 also provides a capacity advantage for large datasets. The trade-off is a 450 W TDP, triple-slot cooler, 336 mm length, and 850 W suggested PSU — it is not a portable device.

The A5500 Mobile, despite its 165 W TDP, sits just one percentile below the RTX 3090 Ti in overall GPU rankings. Its OpenCL score of 124,287 is competitive with desktop workstation cards like the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation and Tesla V100, making it a viable choice for mobile workstation users who need Ampere features without desktop power requirements. The lack of a launch MSRP for the mobile part and the 1,999 USD launch MSRP for the desktop card are the only pricing data available, and the mobile part's end-of-life status suggests it is being replaced by Ada-generation mobile parts. For users who need to render, simulate, or compute on the go, the A5500 Mobile's performance per watt is exceptional; for those with a fixed workstation, the RTX 3090 Ti's raw scores are unmatched in this comparison.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RTX 3090 Ti wins both head-to-head benchmarks: 174,441 versus 124,287 in Geekbench OpenCL (40.4% higher) and 215,633 versus 103,601 in Geekbench Vulkan (108.1% higher).

Q: How much memory bandwidth does each GPU offer?

A: The RTX 3090 Ti has 1.01 TB/s bandwidth from 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, while the A5500 Mobile has 512.0 GB/s from 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus — exactly double the bandwidth for the desktop part.

Q: What is the performance percentile ranking of each GPU?

A: The RTX 3090 Ti is at the 95th percentile among all GPUs, and the A5500 Mobile is at the 94th percentile, a difference of just one percentile point.

Q: Are the two GPUs based on the same architecture?

A: Yes, both use the Ampere architecture on Samsung's 8 nm process, but the RTX 3090 Ti uses the GA102 chip (628 mm², 28,300 million transistors) while the A5500 Mobile uses the GA103 chip (496 mm², 22,000 million transistors).

Q: How do the power requirements differ?

A: The RTX 3090 Ti has a 450 W TDP with a single 16-pin power connector and an 850 W suggested PSU, while the A5500 Mobile has a 165 W TDP and no power connectors, drawing power directly from the host device.

Q: Which GPU is better for Vulkan workloads?

A: The RTX 3090 Ti is dramatically better, scoring 215,633 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 103,601 for the A5500 Mobile, a 108.1% advantage. The mobile part's Vulkan score is also lower than its OpenCL score, suggesting potential driver or thermal constraints.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | GA102 | GA103 |

| Process Node | 8 nm | 8 nm |

| Transistors | 28,300 million | 22,000 million |

| Die Size | 628 mm² | 496 mm² |

| Base Clock | 1560 MHz | 975 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1860 MHz | 1500 MHz |

| Memory Size | 24 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6X | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 384 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 1.01 TB/s | 512.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 10752 | 7424 |

| TMUs | 336 | 232 |

| ROPs | 112 | 96 |

| RT Cores | 84 | 58 |

| Tensor Cores | 336 | 232 |

| Pixel Rate | 208.3 GPixel/s | 144.0 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 625.0 GTexel/s | 348.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 40.00 TFLOPS | 22.27 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 40.00 TFLOPS (1:1) | 22.27 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 450 W | 165 W |

| Slot Width | Triple-slot | Not specified |

| Power Connectors | 1x 16-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 850 W | Not specified |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | Portable Device Dependent |

| Dimensions | 336 mm x 140 mm x 61 mm | Not specified |

| Release Date | 2022-01-26 | 2022-03-21 |

| Launch MSRP | 1,999 USD | Not specified |

| Predecessor | GeForce 20 | Quadro Turing-M |

| Successor | GeForce 40 | Ada-MW |