NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile vs NVIDIA RTX A5000 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data shows a clear overall winner in the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile, which takes 7 of the 9 head-to-head tests. The largest margin of victory comes in the Passmark DirectX 11 test, where the RTX 4090 Mobile scores 262 against the RTX A5000's 187, a 40.1% advantage. This is a substantial gap that indicates a significant performance difference in legacy DirectX 11 workloads, which are still common in many professional and gaming applications.

In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RTX 4090 Mobile again demonstrates a strong lead, scoring 170774 versus 137828, a 23.9% delta. This result is particularly relevant for cross-platform compute and rendering workloads that leverage Vulkan's modern API. The Passmark DirectX 9 test shows a similar pattern, with the RTX 4090 Mobile scoring 310 against 251, a 23.5% lead. The DirectX 12 test also favors the mobile part, with a score of 107 versus 87, a 23% advantage.

The Geekbench OpenCL test, which is a common measure of general-purpose GPU compute, shows the RTX 4090 Mobile at 180831 against the RTX A5000's 157905, a 14.5% win. In the Passmark DirectX 10 test, the RTX 4090 Mobile scores 173 versus 153, a 13.1% lead. The Passmark G3D test, which is an aggregate gaming and 3D graphics score, shows the RTX 4090 Mobile at 27212 versus 22541, a 20.7% advantage.

The RTX A5000 does win two tests, but by much smaller margins. The Passmark G2D test, which measures 2D graphics and desktop composition performance, shows the A5000 at 1032 versus 984, a 4.7% lead. The Passmark GPU Compute test is nearly a tie, with the A5000 scoring 12455 against the RTX 4090 Mobile's 12347, a 0.9% difference. These two wins are narrow, and the compute result is essentially a statistical dead heat.

The average benchmark score paints a contrasting picture. The RTX 4090 Mobile has an average score of 43667, while the RTX A5000 has an average of 33622. However, the RTX A5000's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB (with a delta of -0.2%) and the AMD Radeon RX 7700S (with a delta of -0.7%), which places its performance contextually closer to those parts. The RTX 4090 Mobile's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (delta of 0.8%) and the RTX A6000 (delta of -0.9%), indicating it sits in a higher performance tier. The percentile ranking supports this: the RTX 4090 Mobile is in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A5000 is in the 78th percentile.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4090 Mobile is the clear winner in almost every compute and graphics scenario recorded. Its dominant DirectX 11 and DirectX 9 performance makes it the stronger choice for applications that rely on older graphics APIs, which includes many legacy professional tools and a large portion of the existing game library. The 23.9% lead in Vulkan also makes it the better option for modern cross-platform engines and compute workloads that use this API. Its 20.7% advantage in the Passmark G3D test confirms that for raw 3D rendering performance, the mobile part is decisively ahead.

The RTX A5000's wins are isolated to two specific areas. First, in 2D desktop and GUI acceleration, as measured by the Passmark G2D test, the A5000 holds a 4.7% edge. This is a minor but real advantage for workstation tasks that involve heavy 2D interface rendering, such as large spreadsheet manipulation or complex vector graphics in design software. Second, in the Passmark GPU Compute test, the A5000 is marginally ahead by 0.9%. While this margin is within the noise of most benchmarking, it does indicate that for certain pure compute kernels, the A5000 can match the RTX 4090 Mobile's output, even if it cannot surpass it in the broader Geekbench OpenCL test where it trails by 14.5%.

For users prioritizing raw frame rates in modern games, shader-heavy rendering, or compute tasks that leverage Vulkan or OpenCL, the data points squarely to the RTX 4090 Mobile. For those whose workflow is dominated by 2D desktop environments or specific compute shaders that are not well-represented by the larger OpenCL suite, the RTX A5000 offers a narrow niche advantage.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile has a higher average benchmark score at 43667, compared to the NVIDIA RTX A5000's 33622.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4090 Mobile in DirectX 11?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile scores 262 in the Passmark DirectX 11 test, which is 40.1% higher than the RTX A5000's score of 187.

Q: Does the RTX A5000 win any benchmark tests?

A: Yes, the RTX A5000 wins two tests: the Passmark G2D test with a score of 1032 (a 4.7% lead over 984) and the Passmark GPU Compute test with a score of 12455 (a 0.9% lead over 12347).

Q: What is the performance difference in the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile scores 170774 in the Geekbench Vulkan test, which is 23.9% higher than the RTX A5000's score of 137828.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in the Passmark G3D test?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile scores 27212 in the Passmark G3D test, a 20.7% advantage over the RTX A5000's score of 22541.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile is in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A5000 is in the 78th percentile.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every core specification. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 112 raster operations pipelines (ROPs). The RTX A5000 has 8192 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The RTX 4090 Mobile also carries 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores, while the RTX A5000 has 64 ray tracing cores and 256 tensor cores.

Memory configurations are also distinct. The RTX 4090 Mobile features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s. The RTX A5000 offers 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a wider 384-bit bus, resulting in a higher bandwidth of 768.0 GB/s. The memory clock differs as well, with the RTX 4090 Mobile running at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) and the RTX A5000 at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective).

The physical and power profiles are starkly different. The RTX 4090 Mobile has a TDP of 120 W and is an integrated graphics package (IGP) with no power connectors. The RTX A5000 is a dual-slot card with a 230 W TDP, a single 8-pin power connector, and a suggested power supply of 550 W. The A5000 is a full-length card at 267 mm (10.5 inches) and 112 mm (4.4 inches) in height, while the RTX 4090 Mobile has no recorded dimensions. The RTX 4090 Mobile's display outputs are listed as portable device dependent, whereas the RTX A5000 provides 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Architecture Differences

The fundamental architecture is the primary divider. The RTX 4090 Mobile is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD103 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The RTX A5000 uses the Ampere architecture with the GA102 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. This process difference is significant, leading to a large discrepancy in transistor density. The RTX 4090 Mobile packs 45,900 million transistors into a 379 mm² die, achieving a density of 121.1 million transistors per mm². The RTX A5000 contains 28,300 million transistors on a much larger 628 mm² die, with a density of only 45.1 million transistors per mm².

The clock behavior shows a shared boost clock but a different base clock. Both GPUs boost to 1695 MHz, but the RTX 4090 Mobile has a base clock of 1335 MHz, while the RTX A5000 has a base clock of 1170 MHz. The compute rates reflect these differences. The RTX 4090 Mobile delivers 32.98 TFLOPS of FP32 and FP16 performance (at a 1:1 ratio), with a pixel rate of 189.8 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 515.3 GTexel/s. The RTX A5000 delivers 27.77 TFLOPS of FP32 and FP16 performance, with a pixel rate of 162.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 433.9 GTexel/s.

The generation and lifecycle also differ. The RTX 4090 Mobile is part of the GeForce 40 Mobile generation, released in January 2023, and its production status is active. Its predecessor is the GeForce 30 Mobile series, and its successor is the GeForce 50 Mobile series. The RTX A5000 belongs to the Workstation Ampere (Ax000) generation, released in April 2021, and is now end-of-life. Its predecessor is the Quadro Turing line, and its successor is the Workstation Ada series. Both support the same API set, including DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.