NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 vs NVIDIA PG506-232 Comparison

The NVIDIA PG506-232 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 are two very different GPUs separated by four years of architecture development, target markets, and raw compute philosophy. The PG506-232 is a server Ampere part aimed at data centers, while the RTX 5090 is a consumer Blackwell 2.0 flagship. The database shows they do not share a single benchmark test except for Geekbench OpenCL, which provides a direct comparison point, but the differences in their design goals are stark. This analysis walks through the recorded data to show where each card stands, what separates them internally, and who should be looking at which product.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only common benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. The RTX 5090 scores 334,370, while the PG506-232 scores 225,124. That means the RTX 5090 is 32.7% ahead of the PG506-232 in this particular OpenCL workload. This is a significant margin, but it is not a universal statement about all performance. OpenCL on Geekbench tends to favor raw shader throughput and memory bandwidth, both of which are heavily skewed toward the newer card. The RTX 5090 has 21,760 shading units versus 3,584 on the PG506-232, and memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s versus 933.1 GB/s. Those numbers explain the OpenCL gap directly.

Looking at the broader database context, the PG506-232 sits at the 99th percentile of all GPUs with its average benchmark score of 225,124. Its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D at 219,827 (2.4% slower), the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB at 207,124 (8.7% slower), and the NVIDIA RTX 6000D at 195,964 (14.9% slower). The only rival that beats it is the NVIDIA L20 at 251,147, which is 10.4% faster. So the PG506-232 is a strong compute card, but it is not the absolute top of the server stack.

The RTX 5090, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 79,842 across all its recorded tests, which puts it at the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79,605 (0.3% slower), the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB at 79,396 (0.6% slower), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78,940 (1.1% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X at 80,959 (1.4% faster). This is a curious grouping: the RTX 5090's average is dragged down by its inclusion of legacy DirectX and 2D tests, which score far lower than its modern workloads. For example, its Passmark DirectX 9 score is 395, DirectX 10 is 226, DirectX 11 is 341, DirectX 12 is 185, and G2D is 1,413. Meanwhile, its Passmark G3D score is 39,650 and GPU compute is 26,756. The average blends these very different metrics into one number, which explains why a 92nd percentile card sits near a much older Tesla P100 in the average score ranking.

The head-to-head comparison in Geekbench OpenCL is the only direct measurement, and it clearly favors the RTX 5090. But the PG506-232's strength is not in that single workload. Its architecture is optimized for tensor operations and server tasks, and its percentile rank of 99 versus 92 indicates that, within the database's full GPU population, the PG506-232 is closer to the top of the absolute performance ceiling in its specific compute niche. The RTX 5090's lower percentile is a function of its broader test suite, not a sign of weakness in modern workloads.

Architecture Differences

The PG506-232 uses the GA100 chip on the Ampere architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The RTX 5090 uses the GB202 chip on Blackwell 2.0, manufactured on a 5 nm process, also at TSMC. The transistor counts tell the story of how far the design has moved: the PG506-232 has 54,200 million transistors on a die size of 826 mm², giving a density of 65.6 million transistors per mm². The RTX 5090 has 92,200 million transistors on a smaller die of 750 mm², resulting in a much higher density of 122.9 million per mm². That is nearly double the density, which is what the 5 nm node enables.

Memory is another major divergence. The PG506-232 has 24 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 933.1 GB/s. The RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The GDDR7 memory runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective data rate, while the HBM2 runs at 1215 MHz with 2.4 Gbps effective. The RTX 5090 has nearly double the bandwidth, despite using a narrower bus, because GDDR7 is far faster per pin.

Compute resources differ dramatically. The PG506-232 has 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, 96 render output units, and 224 tensor cores. It has no dedicated ray tracing cores. The RTX 5090 has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 680 tensor cores, and 170 ray tracing cores. The RTX 5090's FP32 throughput is 104.8 TFLOPS, compared to 10.32 TFLOPS on the PG506-232. Both have a 1:1 ratio for FP16, meaning the RTX 5090 also offers 104.8 TFLOPS FP16, while the PG506-232 offers 10.32 TFLOPS. The pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s versus 138.2 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s versus 322.6 GTexel/s. In every raw compute metric, the RTX 5090 is an order of magnitude ahead.

The PG506-232 has no display outputs, while the RTX 5090 offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. The RTX 5090 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the PG506-232 has no recorded API support for any of those. The PG506-232 uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the RTX 5090 uses PCIe 5.0 x16. Power draw also shifts: the PG506-232 has a TDP of 165 W with an 8-pin EPS connector and a suggested PSU of 450 W. The RTX 5090 has a TDP of 575 W, a single 16-pin connector, and a suggested PSU of 950 W.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RTX 5090 scores 334,370, which is 32.7% higher than the PG506-232's 225,124.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The PG506-232 has 24 GB of HBM2 with a 3072-bit bus and 933.1 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 with a 512-bit bus and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the PG506-232 support ray tracing?

A: No. The PG506-232 has no ray tracing cores, while the RTX 5090 has 170.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The RTX 5090 has 122.9 million transistors per mm², while the PG506-232 has 65.6 million per mm².

Q: What is the TDP difference?

A: The PG506-232 has a TDP of 165 W, while the RTX 5090 has a TDP of 575 W.

Q: Can the PG506-232 output video to a display?

A: No. The PG506-232 has no display outputs. The RTX 5090 has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b.

The Verdict

The data clearly separates these two products. The RTX 5090 is a consumer graphics card designed for high-performance rendering, gaming, and AI workloads with display output. It is active in production, released in January 2025, and has a launch MSRP of 1,999 USD. Its raw compute numbers are far ahead of the PG506-232 in every category, including a tenfold difference in FP32 throughput. It wins the only direct benchmark comparison by a healthy margin.

The PG506-232 is an end-of-life server part released in April 2021. It has no display outputs, no ray tracing, and a much lower TDP at 165 W. Its strengths lie in its 99th percentile ranking, which suggests it remains near the top of the database's server compute performance, and its HBM2 memory with a wide 3072-bit bus, which is characteristic of data center workloads that favor memory capacity and bandwidth over shader throughput. The RTX 5090's 92nd percentile reflects its broader test suite, but in the only shared test, it wins decisively.

For anyone building a workstation that requires display output, modern API support, ray tracing, or the absolute highest FP32 throughput, the RTX 5090 is the clear pick. For a headless server environment where power draw is a concern and the workload is compute-heavy, the PG506-232 offers a lower power envelope and a proven track record in the database's top percentile. The RTX 5090 is the more capable product by the numbers, but the PG506-232 still occupies a valid niche for specific server deployments.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification. The process node moves from 7 nm to 5 nm, transistor count from 54,200 million to 92,200 million, and die size from 826 mm² to 750 mm². Base clock jumps from 930 MHz to 2017 MHz, boost clock from 1440 MHz to 2407 MHz, and memory clock from 1215 MHz to 1750 MHz. Memory size goes from 24 GB to 32 GB, type from HBM2 to GDDR7, bus width from 3072 bit to 512 bit, and bandwidth from 933.1 GB/s to 1.79 TB/s. Shading units increase from 3,584 to 21,760, TMUs from 224 to 680, ROPs from 96 to 176, and tensor cores from 224 to 680. The RTX 5090 adds 170 ray tracing cores. Pixel rate rises from 138.2 GPixel/s to 423.6 GPixel/s, texture rate from 322.6 GTexel/s to 1,636.8 GTexel/s, FP32 from 10.32 to 104.8 TFLOPS, and FP16 from 10.32 to 104.8 TFLOPS. TDP goes from 165 W to 575 W, power connector from 8-pin EPS to 1x 16-pin, suggested PSU from 450 W to 950 W, and bus interface from PCIe 4.0 to PCIe 5.0. Display outputs go from none to 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. API support goes from none to DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Physical dimensions change from 267 mm length and 112 mm height to 304 mm length, 137 mm height, and 40 mm width. Production status changes from end-of-life to active.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 wins in every raw compute benchmark category recorded in the database, including the shared Geekbench OpenCL test. It is the choice for anyone who needs high frame rates, ray tracing, modern graphics API support, or a GPU that can also drive multiple displays. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth make it suitable for large model inference and high-resolution texture workloads, and its 680 tensor cores provide substantial AI acceleration. The 575 W TDP and 950 W suggested PSU mean it requires a substantial power supply, but the performance per clock is far higher.

The PG506-232 wins in the context of power efficiency and server deployment. At 165 W TDP, it draws less than a third of the RTX 5090's power, which matters in multi-GPU server racks with strict cooling and power budgets. Its HBM2 memory, while slower in aggregate bandwidth, offers a 3072-bit bus that is typical of enterprise memory architectures. The 99th percentile ranking in the database indicates that, within its own generation and server compute class, it remains a top performer. It has no display outputs, which is expected for a compute-only accelerator. For headless AI training, scientific simulation, or data center workloads where the card is not expected to render to a screen, the PG506-232's lower power draw and proven server pedigree are the advantages. The RTX 5090 wins on absolute performance, but the PG506-232 wins on operational efficiency in a server context.