NVIDIA PG506-232 vs NVIDIA RTX A4500 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the two cards compare in overall OpenCL performance?

A: The NVIDIA PG506-232 scores 225,124 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 58.7% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A4500's score of 141,837. This is the only direct head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database.

Q: Which card ranks higher relative to all other GPUs?

A: The PG506-232 sits in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A4500 sits in the 93rd percentile. The PG506-232 also has an average benchmark score of 225,124, compared to 91,671 for the RTX A4500.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The PG506-232 uses 24 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus, delivering 933.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX A4500 uses 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus, delivering 640.0 GB/s. The PG506-232 has 46% more memory bandwidth.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RTX A4500 has 7,168 shading units, exactly double the PG506-232's 3,584. This gives the RTX A4500 a much higher FP32 throughput of 23.65 TFLOPS versus 10.32 TFLOPS for the PG506-232.

Q: Do both cards support real-time ray tracing?

A: No. The RTX A4500 includes 56 RT cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The PG506-232 lists no RT cores and no API support in the database.

Q: Are there display outputs on both cards?

A: No. The RTX A4500 features 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the PG506-232 has no display outputs at all.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split based on workload. For compute-heavy tasks that leverage memory bandwidth and raw OpenCL throughput, the PG506-232 is the dominant choice. Its 225,124 OpenCL score dwarfs the RTX A4500's 141,837, a 58.7% advantage. It also ranks in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, compared to 93rd for the RTX A4500. The HBM2 memory subsystem with 933.1 GB/s bandwidth is the key differentiator for large datasets and scientific computing.

For workstation users who need display output, graphics APIs, or ray tracing, the RTX A4500 is the only option between the two. It has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a, supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and includes 56 RT cores. Its 7,168 shading units and 23.65 TFLOPS FP32 performance make it more suited for 3D rendering and traditional graphics workloads. The PG506-232, with no outputs and no listed API support, is clearly a compute accelerator.

The RTX A4500's nearest rivals include the RTX A4500 Mobile at 0.6% behind, the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 at 0.9% ahead, and the Quadro GP100 at 4.8% behind. The PG506-232's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D at 2.4% behind, the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB at 8.7% behind, and the NVIDIA L20 at 10.4% ahead. The PG506-232 also beats the NVIDIA RTX 6000D by 14.9%.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is decisive. The PG506-232 scores 225,124 against 141,837 for the RTX A4500, a margin of 58.7%. This is not a close contest. The PG506-232's HBM2 memory and 933.1 GB/s bandwidth allow it to sustain far higher compute throughput in OpenCL workloads.

To contextualize, the PG506-232's nearest rivals in the database help explain its standing. The AMD Radeon PRO W7900D scores 219,827, which is 2.4% lower. The NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB scores 207,124, 8.7% lower. The NVIDIA L20 scores 251,147, which beats the PG506-232 by 10.4%. The RTX 6000D trails at 195,964, 14.9% behind. The PG506-232 is firmly in the upper tier of compute accelerators.

The RTX A4500's nearest rivals paint a different picture. The RTX A4500 Mobile scores 91,134, just 0.6% lower. The AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 scores 92,466, 0.9% higher. The Quadro GP100 scores 87,445, 4.8% lower. The Radeon PRO W7600 scores 87,108, 5.2% lower. The RTX A4500's average benchmark score of 91,671 puts it in a much lower performance class than the PG506-232.

The single head-to-head result aligns with the broader percentile rankings. The PG506-232's 99th percentile placement is consistent with its 58.7% OpenCL advantage. The RTX A4500's 93rd percentile placement reflects its more modest compute performance. In pure compute, the PG506-232 is the clear winner, with a lead that exceeds 50%.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ significantly across nearly every specification category. The PG506-232 uses a GA100 chip on a 7 nm TSMC process, while the RTX A4500 uses a GA102 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process. Transistor counts differ dramatically: 54,200 million for the PG506-232 versus 28,300 million for the RTX A4500. Die size is 826 mm² versus 628 mm², and transistor density is 65.6M per mm² versus 45.1M per mm².

Clock speeds favor the RTX A4500. Its base clock is 1050 MHz versus 930 MHz, and its boost clock is 1650 MHz versus 1440 MHz. Memory clocks also differ: the PG506-232 runs at 1215 MHz (2.4 Gbps effective), while the RTX A4500 runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective). Despite the higher memory clock, the RTX A4500's GDDR6 memory delivers less total bandwidth due to the narrower 320-bit bus.

Memory capacity and type are major divergences. The PG506-232 has 24 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus, while the RTX A4500 has 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus. Bandwidth is 933.1 GB/s for the PG506-232 versus 640.0 GB/s for the RTX A4500. Shading units are 3,584 versus 7,168, while TMUs and ROPs are identical at 224 and 96 respectively. Tensor cores are also identical at 224.

Pixel and texture rates favor the RTX A4500. It achieves 158.4 GPixel/s versus 138.2 GPixel/s, and 369.6 GTexel/s versus 322.6 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 23.65 TFLOPS versus 10.32 TFLOPS, and FP16 is also 23.65 TFLOPS versus 10.32 TFLOPS. Power draw differs: the RTX A4500 has a 200 W TDP with a 550 W suggested PSU, while the PG506-232 has a 165 W TDP with a 450 W suggested PSU. Power connectors are 1x 8-pin for the RTX A4500 versus 8-pin EPS for the PG506-232.

The RTX A4500 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the PG506-232 lists no API support. Display outputs are present only on the RTX A4500 with 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. Physical dimensions are identical at 267 mm length and 112 mm height. Both are dual-slot cards with PCIe 4.0 x16 interfaces. Release dates differ by about seven months: the PG506-232 shipped in April 2021, while the RTX A4500 shipped in November 2021. Both are end-of-life products.

Architecture Differences

The architecture gap is fundamental. The PG506-232 is built on the GA100 die, which serves the server segment under the "Server Ampere" generation. The RTX A4500 uses the GA102 die, aimed at workstations under the "Workstation Ampere" generation. Both share the Ampere architecture, but they implement it differently.

The GA100 chip is a compute-first design. It uses a 7 nm TSMC process with 54,200 million transistors packed into an 826 mm² die. The GA102 is a graphics-first design on an 8 nm Samsung process with 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die. The transistor density gap, 65.6M per mm² versus 45.1M per mm², reflects the process node advantage of the GA100.

The memory architecture is a major architectural divergence. The PG506-232 uses HBM2 with a 3072-bit bus, which is typical for compute accelerators that need massive bandwidth for data movement. The RTX A4500 uses GDDR6 with a 320-bit bus, a configuration suited for graphics workloads. The PG506-232's 933.1 GB/s bandwidth is 46% higher, which explains its OpenCL dominance.

Compute resources are distributed differently. The PG506-232 has 3,584 shading units and 224 tensor cores. The RTX A4500 has double the shading units at 7,168, but the same 224 tensor cores. The RTX A4500 also includes 56 RT cores, which are absent from the PG506-232's specification list. This indicates the RTX A4500 is designed for ray-traced rendering, while the PG506-232 skips that hardware entirely.

The clock strategy also differs. The RTX A4500 runs higher clocks: 1050 MHz base and 1650 MHz boost, compared to 930 MHz and 1440 MHz for the PG506-232. This, combined with double the shading units, gives the RTX A4500 a 2.29x advantage in FP32 throughput. However, the PG506-232 compensates with its memory subsystem and higher overall compute efficiency in the OpenCL benchmark.

The feature sets reflect their target markets. The RTX A4500 exposes display outputs and full graphics API support. The PG506-232 has no outputs and no listed API support, making it a headless compute accelerator. The generation labels confirm this: "Server Ampere" for the PG506-232 and "Workstation Ampere" for the RTX A4500. The PG506-232's predecessor is "Tesla Turing" and successor is "Server Ada," while the RTX A4500's predecessor is "Quadro Turing" and successor is "Workstation Ada." The data shows two different interpretations of the Ampere architecture, optimized for different workloads.