NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 vs NVIDIA Quadro M5000 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark data separates these two NVIDIA cards cleanly by workload type. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 wins both shared head-to-head tests by significant margins, but the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 holds its own in one specific compute environment.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3090 delivers a score of 172,758 against the Quadro M5000's 29,481. That is an 82.9% advantage for the newer card, a gap that reflects the different eras these GPUs come from. OpenCL compute workloads, which often scale with raw shader throughput, memory bandwidth, and driver optimization, strongly favor the Ampere architecture.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 3090 scores 53,927 versus 32,931 for the Quadro M5000. The 38.9% lead is smaller than in OpenCL, but still decisive. Vulkan's lower-level API overhead rewards architectures with higher geometry throughput, faster memory subsystems, and more recent feature support, all of which favor the RTX 3090.

The Quadro M5000 does not win any head-to-head benchmark in the database. However, its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 31,206, which places it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 3090, despite its massive wins in the two shared tests, has a lower average benchmark score of 27,565 and sits in the 73rd percentile. This discrepancy comes from the test suite composition: the Quadro M5000 has only two recorded benchmarks, both of which are relatively strong for its class, while the RTX 3090 has ten recorded benchmarks, several of which (like Passmark DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests) are legacy or synthetic loads where the card does not scale proportionally to its raw compute power.

The RTX 3090's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile at 27,435 average score, the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT at 27,425, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 at 27,839. These deltas are all within 1.1%, meaning the RTX 3090's average sits in a tight competitive cluster. The Quadro M5000, by contrast, sits near the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q at 31,220, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER at 31,087, and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell at 31,532. Its delta to these rivals is within 1.5%, indicating that its two strong OpenCL and Vulkan scores place it in a higher average tier than the RTX 3090's broader test spread.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from fundamentally different design generations. The Quadro M5000 uses the GM204 chip built on Maxwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The RTX 3090 uses the GA102 chip built on Ampere architecture, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. The process shrink is dramatic: 28 nm versus 8 nm allows the RTX 3090 to pack 28,300 million transistors into a 628 mm² die, while the Quadro M5000 holds 5,200 million transistors in a 398 mm² die. Transistor density tells the story clearly, 13.1 million per square millimeter for the Quadro M5000 versus 45.1 million per square millimeter for the RTX 3090.

Clock speeds also reflect the architectural gap. The Quadro M5000 runs at a base clock of 861 MHz and boosts to 1038 MHz. The RTX 3090 starts at 1395 MHz and boosts to 1695 MHz. Memory clocks differ as well: the Quadro M5000 uses 1653 MHz memory with 6.6 Gbps effective data rate, while the RTX 3090 runs at 1219 MHz with 19.5 Gbps effective. The RTX 3090's GDDR6X memory operates at a lower base clock but achieves far higher effective throughput due to the newer memory standard.

Memory capacity and bandwidth are starkly different. The Quadro M5000 offers 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 211.6 GB/s. The RTX 3090 offers 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 936.2 GB/s, more than four times the bandwidth. For workloads that scale with memory size, such as large datasets, high-resolution textures, or machine learning model weights, this is a decisive factor.

Compute resources follow the same pattern. The Quadro M5000 has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The RTX 3090 has 10,496 shading units, 328 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units. The RTX 3090 also adds 82 ray tracing cores and 328 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the Quadro M5000. Pixel rate is 66.43 GPixel/s for the Quadro M5000 versus 189.8 GPixel/s for the RTX 3090. Texture rate is 132.9 GTexel/s versus 556.0 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 4.252 TFLOPS versus 35.58 TFLOPS. The RTX 3090 additionally supports FP16 at 35.58 TFLOPS in a 1:1 ratio, while the Quadro M5000 lists no FP16 capability.

Power and physical requirements differ substantially. The Quadro M5000 has a 150 W TDP and uses a single 6-pin power connector, with a suggested 450 W power supply. The RTX 3090 has a 350 W TDP, uses a single 12-pin power connector, and requires a suggested 750 W power supply. The Quadro M5000 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height. The RTX 3090 is a triple-slot card measuring 336 mm in length, 140 mm in height, and 61 mm in width.

Bus interface and display outputs also differ. The Quadro M5000 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and provides 1x DVI plus 4x DisplayPort 1.2. The RTX 3090 uses PCIe 4.0 x16 and provides 1x HDMI 2.1 plus 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both cards support DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, but the RTX 3090 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) while the Quadro M5000 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The RTX 3090 also carries ray tracing and tensor core hardware, which enables features the Maxwell architecture cannot execute.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear choice for most workloads: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is the stronger card. In OpenCL it leads by 82.9%, and in Vulkan by 38.9%. It offers 24 GB of GDDR6X memory versus 8 GB of GDDR5, has more than five times the FP32 compute throughput, and includes dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores. For any task involving large memory footprints, modern graphics APIs, ray tracing, or compute-heavy workloads, the RTX 3090 is the correct selection.

The Quadro M5000's case rests on its average benchmark score and percentile. Its average of 31,206 exceeds the RTX 3090's 27,565, and its 76th percentile versus the RTX 3090's 73rd percentile. This is driven by its two recorded benchmarks, both of which are strong relative to its generation. However, the only direct comparisons available show the RTX 3090 winning both. The Quadro M5000's lower power draw of 150 W, smaller physical footprint, and single 6-pin power connector make it easier to integrate into space-constrained systems, though the RTX 3090 requires a 350 W TDP and a 750 W suggested power supply.

The RTX 3090 also holds a launch MSRP of 1,499 USD, a figure recorded in the database. The Quadro M5000 has no recorded launch MSRP.

For users prioritizing raw performance in modern workloads, the RTX 3090 is the answer. For users who need a lower-power, dual-slot card with a smaller footprint and whose workloads align with the Quadro M5000's specific strengths, the older card remains viable, but the benchmark data does not show it winning any direct comparison.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher OpenCL performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 scores 172,758 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 scores 29,481. The RTX 3090 leads by 82.9%.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The RTX 3090 scores 53,927 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 32,931 for the Quadro M5000, a 38.9% advantage for the RTX 3090.

Q: Which card has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 936.2 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro M5000 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 211.6 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Quadro M5000 has a 150 W TDP with a single 6-pin power connector and a suggested 450 W power supply. The RTX 3090 has a 350 W TDP with a single 12-pin power connector and a suggested 750 W power supply.

Q: Does the Quadro M5000 have ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The Quadro M5000 has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 3090 includes 82 ray tracing cores and 328 tensor cores.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Quadro M5000 has an average benchmark score of 31,206, placing it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 3090 has an average benchmark score of 27,565, placing it in the 73rd percentile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct comparisons between these cards. Both are decisive wins for the RTX 3090, but the magnitude differs by test.

Geekbench OpenCL is the largest gap. The RTX 3090 scores 172,758, while the Quadro M5000 scores 29,481. The RTX 3090 wins by 82.9%. This test stresses general-purpose compute across many parallel cores. The RTX 3090's 10,496 shading units, 35.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, and 936.2 GB/s memory bandwidth give it an enormous advantage. The Quadro M5000's 2,048 shading units, 4.252 TFLOPS, and 211.6 GB/s cannot compete in a workload that scales with raw throughput and memory speed. The 8 nm Ampere architecture also benefits from higher clock speeds, with the RTX 3090 boosting to 1695 MHz versus the Quadro M5000's 1038 MHz.

Geekbench Vulkan is closer but still one-sided. The RTX 3090 scores 53,927 versus 32,931 for the Quadro M5000, a 38.9% lead. Vulkan is a lower-level API that reduces driver overhead, which can narrow gaps between architectures. The Quadro M5000's Maxwell architecture was designed for professional workloads and handles Vulkan reasonably well, but the RTX 3090's newer feature set, including DirectX 12 Ultimate support, ray tracing cores, and tensor cores, gives it additional headroom. The RTX 3090's 82 ray tracing cores and 328 tensor cores do not directly accelerate standard Vulkan rasterization, but the overall hardware advantage in shading units, texture rate, and pixel rate still dominates.

The RTX 3090's broader benchmark suite includes tests the Quadro M5000 does not share. Passmark DirectX 11 scores 26645, Passmark G3D scores 26645, Passmark GPU Compute scores 15356, Passmark G2D scores 1063, Passmark DirectX 9 scores 268, Passmark DirectX 10 scores 182, Passmark DirectX 12 scores 110, and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 scores 5118. The Quadro M5000 has no recorded results for these tests, so they do not factor into the head-to-head comparison, but they do contribute to the RTX 3090's average score and its nearest rival relationships. The RTX 3090's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile at 27,435 average score and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT at 27,425, both within 0.5% of the RTX 3090's 27,565 average.

The Quadro M5000's nearest rivals tell a different story. Its average of 31,206 sits near the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q at 31,220, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER at 31,087, and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell at 31,532. These deltas range from 0% to 1.5%, indicating the Quadro M5000, despite being an older architecture, still performs competitively in the specific benchmarks recorded for it.

In summary, the RTX 3090 wins both shared benchmarks by margins of 82.9% and 38.9%. The Quadro M5000 retains a higher average benchmark score due to its limited test set and strong relative showing in OpenCL and Vulkan, but no recorded data shows it beating the RTX 3090 in any direct comparison. Users should weight the head-to-head results more heavily than the aggregate average when choosing between these two cards.