NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D vs NVIDIA Quadro P6000 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a stark generational divide. In the two shared tests, the GeForce RTX 4090 D wins decisively in both. The most substantial margin appears in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 4090 D scores 278,621 against the Quadro P6000's 66,382. That is a delta of 319.7%, meaning the newer card delivers more than four times the raw compute throughput in this workload. The gap narrows somewhat in Geekbench Vulkan, but remains commanding: 246,941 versus 73,590, a 235.6% advantage. These are not incremental improvements; they represent a complete overhaul of performance expectations between generations.

When placed against the broader database, the RTX 4090 D sits at the 98th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 178,050. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell, posts an average score of 182,109, which places the 4090 D 2.2% behind. The NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80 GB is 3.1% ahead, and the RTX 5000 Ada Generation is 3.6% ahead. The A100 SXM4 40 GB leads by 4.9%. This clustering shows the 4090 D is competitive with professional workstation and data center cards, despite being positioned in the consumer GeForce lineup. The deltas are small, all within 5%, suggesting that the 4090 D trades blows with the top of NVIDIA's professional stack rather than dominating it.

The Quadro P6000, by contrast, sits at the 90th percentile with an average score of 69,986. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200 at 69,870, which the P6000 edges by 0.2%. The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile is 0.2% ahead of the P6000, and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE is 1.2% ahead. The NVIDIA CMP 90HX trails by 1.4%. These are tight margins, indicating the P6000 is squarely in the middle of a performance tier that includes mobile workstation parts and mid-range consumer cards. The data shows a GPU that was once a flagship but now competes with much less expensive hardware.

The head-to-head deltas are the clearest signal. A 319.7% lead in OpenCL and a 235.6% lead in Vulkan are not close calls. For any workload that relies on these APIs, the RTX 4090 D is in a different league. The Quadro P6000's only consolation is that it still performs at a respectable level in absolute terms, but relative to the newer card, it is outclassed by a wide margin.

Where Each One Wins

The GeForce RTX 4090 D wins every benchmark where both cards were tested. That includes both OpenCL and Vulkan workloads. OpenCL is often used for general-purpose compute, scientific simulations, and some rendering tasks. The 319.7% delta there suggests the 4090 D is the clear choice for compute-heavy applications that scale across thousands of shading units. Vulkan, a low-overhead graphics API, also favors the 4090 D heavily, with a 235.6% lead. This indicates strong performance in modern game engines and real-time rendering pipelines that leverage Vulkan's explicit control.

The Quadro P6000 has no benchmark wins in this comparison. Its strengths, if any, must be inferred from its profile rather than its recorded scores. It is a dual-slot card with a 250 W TDP, which is lower than the 4090 D's 425 W. It also uses a single 8-pin power connector, whereas the 4090 D requires a 16-pin connector and an 800 W suggested PSU. For systems with older power supplies or limited physical space, the P6000 is easier to integrate. Its 267 mm length is shorter than the 4090 D's 304 mm, and its height of 111 mm versus 137 mm makes it a better fit for compact chassis.

The RTX 4090 D, however, wins on every measurable performance axis in the database. It also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate with feature level 12_2, while the P6000 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). For ray tracing, the 4090 D has 114 RT cores; the P6000 has none. For AI workloads, the 4090 D has 456 tensor cores; the P6000 has none. The use-case split is therefore not about performance parity, but about system constraints and legacy compatibility. If the workload is modern and performance-sensitive, the 4090 D is the only rational choice. If the workload is legacy, power-limited, or space-constrained, the P6000 may still serve, but only at a fraction of the performance.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are separated by two full architecture generations. The GeForce RTX 4090 D is built on Ada Lovelace, while the Quadro P6000 uses Pascal. The process node difference is substantial: the 4090 D is fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC, while the P6000 uses a 16 nm process, also at TSMC. This node shrink allows the 4090 D to pack 76,300 million transistors onto a 609 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 125.3 million per square millimeter. The P6000, by contrast, contains 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die, for a density of 25.1 million per square millimeter. That is a five-fold density advantage for the newer chip, which explains much of the performance gap.

The chip designs themselves are fundamentally different. The 4090 D uses the AD102 chip, a flagship-class design. The P6000 uses GP102, which was a high-end part in its day but is now several tiers below modern flagships. The Ada Lovelace architecture introduces dedicated hardware that Pascal lacks entirely: 114 RT cores for ray tracing and 456 tensor cores for AI acceleration. The P6000 has neither. This is not a clock speed difference or a minor feature gap; it is a structural difference in what the silicon can do.

The memory architectures also diverge. The 4090 D uses GDDR6X with a 384-bit bus and 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The P6000 uses GDDR5X, also on a 384-bit bus, but with 432.8 GB/s of bandwidth. Both cards have 24 GB of memory, but the 4090 D's memory operates at 21 Gbps effective, while the P6000's runs at 9 Gbps. The doubling of memory speed, combined with the newer memory type, gives the 4090 D more than twice the memory bandwidth. For large datasets, texture streaming, or high-resolution rendering, this bandwidth advantage is critical.

The shading resources are equally lopsided. The 4090 D has 14,592 shading units, 456 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The P6000 has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The pixel rate for the 4090 D is 443.5 GPixel/s, versus 157.9 GPixel/s for the P6000. The texture rate is 1,149.1 GTexel/s versus 394.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute is 73.54 TFLOPS for the 4090 D, against 12.63 TFLOPS for the P6000. The FP16 numbers are even more divergent: the 4090 D achieves 73.54 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, while the P6000 manages only 197.4 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio. For half-precision compute, the 4090 D is not just faster; it is in a different computational universe.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 4090 D has a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. The P6000 operates at 1506 MHz base and 1645 MHz boost. The memory clock is 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective for the 4090 D, versus 1127 MHz with 9 Gbps effective for the P6000. Memory bandwidth is 1.01 TB/s versus 432.8 GB/s. The TDP is 425 W for the 4090 D and 250 W for the P6000. The 4090 D is triple-slot, while the P6000 is dual-slot. Power connectors are 1x 16-pin for the 4090 D and 1x 8-pin for the P6000. The suggested PSU is 800 W versus 600 W. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 for the 4090 D, while the P6000 uses PCIe 3.0 x16.

The display outputs also differ. The 4090 D offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The P6000 offers 1x DVI and 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. The inclusion of DVI on the P6000 reflects its 2016 design era, while the HDMI 2.1 on the 4090 D supports modern high-refresh-rate displays. Physically, the 4090 D is 304 mm long, 137 mm tall, and 61 mm wide. The P6000 is 267 mm long and 111 mm tall, with no width listed. The 4090 D is heavier in every dimension except the missing width figure. Both cards are end-of-life in production status. The release dates are far apart: December 27, 2023 for the 4090 D, and September 30, 2016 for the P6000. The launch MSRP for the 4090 D is 1,599 USD. The launch MSRP for the P6000 is 5,999 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The GeForce RTX 4090 D has 14,592 shading units, while the Quadro P6000 has 3,840. That is a 3.8-fold difference in raw shader count.

Q: Does the Quadro P6000 support ray tracing or tensor operations?

A: No. The P6000 has no RT cores and no tensor cores. The RTX 4090 D has 114 RT cores and 456 tensor cores.

Q: How much memory bandwidth does each card have?

A: The RTX 4090 D has 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth with GDDR6X memory. The Quadro P6000 has 432.8 GB/s with GDDR5X memory. Both use a 384-bit bus.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference between the two?

A: The RTX 4090 D has an average benchmark score of 178,050, while the Quadro P6000 has an average of 69,986. The RTX 4090 D is 154.4% higher in average score.

Q: Which card has a higher TDP?

A: The RTX 4090 D has a TDP of 425 W, while the Quadro P6000 has a TDP of 250 W. The newer card requires a suggested PSU of 800 W, versus 600 W for the older card.

Q: What are the DirectX feature levels?

A: The RTX 4090 D supports DirectX 12 Ultimate with feature level 12_2. The Quadro P6000 supports DirectX 12 with feature level 12_1.

The Verdict

The data points to a single conclusion for most buyers: the GeForce RTX 4090 D is the superior performer in every recorded benchmark. It wins both head-to-head tests by margins of 319.7% and 235.6%. It has more shading units, more TMUs, more ROPs, dedicated RT and tensor cores, higher clocks, more memory bandwidth, and a newer architecture on a smaller process node. Its average benchmark score of 178,050 places it at the 98th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are professional data center and workstation cards, all within a few percentage points. The Quadro P6000, with an average score of 69,986, sits at the 90th percentile and competes with mobile workstation parts and mid-range consumer cards.

The Quadro P6000 does have advantages in system integration. It is shorter, shorter in height, dual-slot instead of triple-slot, draws 175 W less power, and uses a widely compatible 8-pin power connector. It also has a DVI output, which may matter for legacy display setups. But none of these advantages translate into benchmark wins. For any workload measured in the database, the RTX 4090 D is faster, often by a wide margin.

The choice depends on constraints. If the system can accommodate the 4090 D's size, power draw, and 16-pin connector, the data says it is the clear pick for compute, graphics, ray tracing, and AI tasks. If the system is legacy, power-limited, or space-constrained, the P6000 remains functional, but it will deliver a fraction of the performance. The recorded numbers do not support any scenario where the P6000 wins on performance. For users who prioritize raw throughput and modern feature support, the RTX 4090 D is the only defensible option. For users with strict physical or power limits, the P6000 may be the only option that fits, but they should expect a massive performance trade-off.