NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has a higher average benchmark score at 113,944, compared to 77,712 for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D. Interestingly, the RTX A5500 Mobile also ranks higher in percentile against all GPUs, sitting at the 94th percentile, while the RTX 5090 D is at the 92nd percentile.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in OpenCL performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is significantly faster in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 310,674 against 124,287 for the RTX A5500 Mobile. This represents a 60% deficit for the A5500 Mobile relative to the 5090 D in this test.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The RTX A5500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 5090 D has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, which is roughly 3.5 times the memory bandwidth of the A5500 Mobile.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock speed?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D has a boost clock of 2407 MHz, while the RTX A5500 Mobile boosts to 1500 MHz. The base clocks also differ, with the 5090 D starting at 2017 MHz and the A5500 Mobile at 975 MHz.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two?

A: The RTX A5500 Mobile has a TDP of 165 W, whereas the RTX 5090 D has a TDP of 575 W. The 5090 D also lists a suggested PSU of 950 W and uses a 1x 16-pin power connector, while the A5500 Mobile has no power connectors listed.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D perform in Vulkan compared to the A5500 Mobile?

A: In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 5090 D scores 376,915 versus 103,601 for the A5500 Mobile. The delta shows the A5500 Mobile trails by 72.5% in this benchmark, making the 5090 D the clear winner in both recorded head-to-head tests.

The Verdict

Based on the recorded data, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the outright performance winner in every direct head-to-head benchmark. It dominates in both OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, with massive margins of 60% and 72.5% respectively. For anyone prioritizing raw compute throughput in modern APIs, the RTX 5090 D is the obvious choice.

However, the RTX A5500 Mobile tells a different story when looking at the broader database. Its average benchmark score of 113,944 is dramatically higher than the 5090 D's 77,712, and it sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs compared to the 92nd percentile for the 5090 D. This suggests that the A5500 Mobile's strengths lie in a different set of workloads, likely those not captured by the limited head-to-head tests.

The RTX A5500 Mobile is a professional-grade mobile solution with a 165 W TDP, making it suitable for workstation-class laptops where power efficiency and portability matter. The RTX 5090 D, at 575 W with a suggested 950 W PSU, is a desktop behemoth that demands a substantial power supply and physical space, measuring 304 mm in length.

For users building a desktop workstation with no power constraints, the RTX 5090 D delivers superior performance in the tested benchmarks. For those needing a mobile solution that still ranks near the top of the database, the RTX A5500 Mobile is the practical pick, though it cannot match the 5090 D's raw speed in OpenCL and Vulkan.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The data shows a lopsided competition between these two GPUs. In the two recorded head-to-head tests, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D wins both, leaving the RTX A5500 Mobile with zero victories.

Starting with Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5090 D scores 310,674 against 124,287 for the A5500 Mobile. The delta percentage of -60% indicates that the A5500 Mobile is 60% behind the 5090 D in this workload. This is a substantial gap, reflecting the 5090 D's superior compute resources, including 21,760 shading units versus 7,424, and its higher clock speeds.

The Vulkan test shows an even larger disparity. The RTX 5090 D achieves 376,915, while the RTX A5500 Mobile manages 103,601. The delta here is -72.5%, meaning the A5500 Mobile trails by nearly three-quarters of the 5090 D's score. This indicates that the 5090 D's architecture handles modern graphics APIs with significantly greater efficiency, likely due to its newer Blackwell 2.0 design and much higher texture and pixel rates.

It is notably the RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score of 77,712 is pulled down by its Passmark results, which include scores like 231 in DirectX 10 and 219 in DirectX 12. These low scores contrast sharply with its Geekbench results, suggesting that the 5090 D's performance varies widely across different test suites. Meanwhile, the A5500 Mobile's average of 113,944 is based on its two Geekbench scores, which are both above 100,000.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification field. Starting with the chip, the RTX A5500 Mobile uses the GA103 chip, while the RTX 5090 D uses the GB202 chip. The manufacturing process differs as well: the A5500 Mobile is built on an 8 nm process at Samsung, while the 5090 D uses a 5 nm process at TSMC.

Transistor counts show a massive gap. The A5500 Mobile has 22,000 million transistors on a 496 mm² die, while the 5090 D has 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. This results in a transistor density of 44.4 million per mm² for the A5500 Mobile and 122.9 million per mm² for the 5090 D, highlighting the much denser design of the newer chip.

Clock speeds are substantially higher on the 5090 D, with a base of 2017 MHz and boost of 2407 MHz, versus 975 MHz base and 1500 MHz boost on the A5500 Mobile. Memory clocks also differ, with the A5500 Mobile running at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) and the 5090 D at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

Memory capacity and type are major differentiators. The A5500 Mobile offers 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, while the 5090 D offers 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus. Bandwidth figures reflect this: 512.0 GB/s for the A5500 Mobile versus 1.79 TB/s for the 5090 D.

Compute unit counts all favor the 5090 D. It has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 170 RT cores, and 680 tensor cores. The A5500 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 58 RT cores, and 232 tensor cores. Pixel rate and texture rate follow suit, with the 5090 D at 423.6 GPixel/s and 1,636.8 GTexel/s versus 144.0 GPixel/s and 348.0 GTexel/s for the A5500 Mobile. FP32 and FP16 performance are both 104.8 TFLOPS on the 5090 D, compared to 22.27 TFLOPS on the A5500 Mobile.

Power and physical specifications also diverge. The A5500 Mobile has a 165 W TDP, no power connectors, and no listed dimensions. The 5090 D has a 575 W TDP, a 1x 16-pin power connector, a suggested 950 W PSU, and measures 304 mm in length, 137 mm in height, and 48 mm in width. The bus interface differs as well, with PCIe 4.0 x16 on the A5500 Mobile and PCIe 5.0 x16 on the 5090 D.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these GPUs is generational. The RTX A5500 Mobile is based on Ampere architecture, built on an 8 nm process at Samsung. The RTX 5090 D uses Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. This process shrink, combined with the larger die, allows the 5090 D to pack 92,200 million transistors versus 22,000 million on the A5500 Mobile.

Core configuration changes are evident. The 5090 D has nearly three times the shading units (21,760 vs 7,424) and almost triple the RT cores (170 vs 58). Tensor cores scale similarly, from 232 on the A5500 Mobile to 680 on the 5090 D. These increases directly contribute to the 5090 D's higher FP32 and FP16 throughput, each rated at 104.8 TFLOPS versus 22.27 TFLOPS on the A5500 Mobile.

Memory architecture represents another key difference. The A5500 Mobile uses GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus, while the 5090 D uses GDDR7 with a 512-bit bus. The newer memory type and wider bus allow the 5090 D to achieve 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, a significant leap over the 512.0 GB/s of the A5500 Mobile. This bandwidth advantage is crucial for high-resolution textures and compute workloads.

Both GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API compatibility is identical. However, the 5090 D's newer architecture likely explains its superior Vulkan performance, as the recorded 376,915 score versus 103,601 indicates.

The production status and release timing differ sharply. The A5500 Mobile is end-of-life, released in March 2022, with its predecessor listed as Quadro Turing-M and successor as Ada-MW. The 5090 D is active, released in January 2025, with predecessor GeForce 40 and successor GeForce 60. The 5090 D also carries a launch MSRP of 2,299 USD, though the A5500 Mobile has no listed launch MSRP.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 D wins decisively in the two recorded head-to-head benchmarks. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 310,674 versus 124,287, a 60% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 376,915 versus 103,601, a 72.5% advantage. These results make the 5090 D the clear choice for applications relying on OpenCL compute or Vulkan rendering, such as modern game engines and GPU-accelerated workloads.

The RTX A5500 Mobile, despite losing both head-to-head tests, wins in average benchmark score and percentile ranking. Its 113,944 average score places it above the 5090 D's 77,712, and its 94th percentile versus 92nd percentile indicates stronger overall standing in the database. This suggests the A5500 Mobile performs better in test suites not covered by the head-to-head comparison, potentially including professional visualization or compute tasks where its architecture is optimized.

For power-sensitive deployments, the A5500 Mobile is the practical winner. Its 165 W TDP and lack of power connectors make it suitable for mobile workstations, whereas the 5090 D's 575 W TDP and 950 W suggested PSU demand a desktop platform with robust power delivery. The A5500 Mobile's portable device dependent display outputs also reflect its mobile intent, while the 5090 D offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b for multi-monitor desktop setups.

In terms of memory capacity, the 5090 D wins with 32 GB versus 16 GB, making it better suited for large datasets and high-capacity workloads. However, the A5500 Mobile's smaller footprint, both in power and physical size, makes it the choice for constrained environments.

Ultimately, the selection depends on the workload. For raw compute speed in OpenCL and Vulkan, the RTX 5090 D is unmatched in this comparison. For a balanced profile across a broader benchmark suite, or for mobile applications, the RTX A5500 Mobile holds its own despite its age and lower raw performance.