NVIDIA PG506-232 vs NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the recorded Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA PG506-232 scores 225,124, while the NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile scores 105,307. The PG506-232 leads by 113.8% in this test.

Q: How do their overall benchmark averages compare?

A: The PG506-232 has an average benchmark score of 225,124, placing it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX A4500 Mobile averages 91,134, sitting in the 93rd percentile.

Q: Which GPU has more memory and what type is it?

A: The PG506-232 has 24 GB of HBM2 memory with a 3072-bit bus. The RTX A4500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What are their respective chip sizes and process nodes?

A: The PG506-232 uses the GA100 chip on a 7 nm TSMC process, with a die size of 826 mm² and 54,200 million transistors. The RTX A4500 Mobile uses the GA104 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process, with a die size of 392 mm² and 17,400 million transistors.

Q: Does the RTX A4500 Mobile support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The PG506-232 has no recorded API support data in the database.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The RTX A4500 Mobile boosts to 1500 MHz, while the PG506-232 boosts to 1440 MHz. Both share the same 930 MHz base clock.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs share the Ampere architecture but diverge sharply in implementation. The PG506-232 is built on the GA100 chip, the largest die in the Ampere server lineup, fabricated by TSMC on a 7 nm process. Its die measures 826 mm² and packs 54,200 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of 65.6 million per square millimeter. The RTX A4500 Mobile uses the GA104 chip, made by Samsung on an 8 nm process, with a 392 mm² die and 17,400 million transistors, for a density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. The PG506-232 belongs to the Server Ampere (Axx) generation, while the RTX A4500 Mobile is classified under Ampere-MW (Ax000), reflecting its mobile workstation positioning.

The compute resources tell a different story. The RTX A4500 Mobile has 5,888 shading units, substantially more than the PG506-232's 3,584. However, the PG506-232 counters with 224 texture mapping units versus 184, and both GPUs have 96 ROPs. The RTX A4500 Mobile includes 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, while the PG506-232 has 224 tensor cores and no recorded ray tracing cores. The PG506-232's tensor core count is higher, but the RTX A4500 Mobile brings dedicated hardware for ray tracing workloads.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The PG506-232 uses HBM2 with 24 GB capacity, a 3072-bit bus, and bandwidth of 933.1 GB/s. The RTX A4500 Mobile uses GDDR6 with 16 GB capacity, a 256-bit bus, and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The PG506-232's memory bandwidth is 82% higher, which matters for memory-bound workloads. The RTX A4500 Mobile has no display outputs of its own, with outputs listed as portable device dependent, while the PG506-232 has no outputs at all, consistent with a server accelerator.

Power and physical design also differ. The PG506-232 has a 165 W TDP, is dual-slot, uses an 8-pin EPS connector, requires a 450 W suggested PSU, and measures 267 mm in length and 112 mm in height. The RTX A4500 Mobile has a 140 W TDP, no power connector listed, no suggested PSU, and no recorded dimensions, as expected for a mobile part.

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, while the RTX A4500 Mobile scores 105,307. This is a delta of 113.8%, meaning the PG506-232 more than doubles the mobile GPU's score. In terms of the database's percentile rankings, the PG506-232 sits at the 99th percentile while the RTX A4500 Mobile sits at the 93rd, a six-percentile gap that reflects the performance chasm between them.

The PG506-232's nearest rivals in the database include 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 recorded GPU above it is the NVIDIA L20 at 251,147, which is 10.4% faster. This places the PG506-232 firmly in the upper tier of workstation accelerators, within striking distance of the L20 but clearly ahead of the A100.

The RTX A4500 Mobile's nearest rivals are much closer to its own score. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 (desktop version) scores 91,671, which is 0.6% higher, and the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 scores 92,466, which is 1.4% higher. Below it, the NVIDIA Quadro GP100 scores 87,445 (4.2% slower) and the AMD Radeon PRO W7600 scores 87,108 (4.6% slower). The RTX A4500 Mobile's average score of 91,134 is clustered tightly among these peers, indicating that its performance is competitive within its class but nowhere near the PG506-232's league.

The FP32 compute figures reinforce this gap. The RTX A4500 Mobile delivers 17.66 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput, which is actually 71% higher than the PG506-232's 10.32 TFLOPS. Yet the OpenCL benchmark, which is memory and driver dependent, shows the PG506-232 winning by a wide margin. This suggests that the PG506-232's massive memory bandwidth (933.1 GB/s versus 512.0 GB/s) and server-oriented architecture dominate in this particular workload.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification. The process node is 7 nm TSMC for the PG506-232 versus 8 nm Samsung for the RTX A4500 Mobile. Transistor counts are 54,200 million versus 17,400 million, and die sizes are 826 mm² versus 392 mm², giving transistor densities of 65.6M per mm² versus 44.4M per mm².

Memory differs in size, type, bus width, and bandwidth: 24 GB HBM2 with a 3072-bit bus and 933.1 GB/s for the PG506-232, versus 16 GB GDDR6 with a 256-bit bus and 512.0 GB/s for the RTX A4500 Mobile. The memory clock is 1215 MHz (2.4 Gbps effective) for the PG506-232 versus 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for the RTX A4500 Mobile.

Compute units differ: shading units are 3,584 for the PG506-232 versus 5,888 for the RTX A4500 Mobile. TMUs are 224 versus 184. ROPs are equal at 96. Tensor cores are 224 versus 184. Ray tracing cores exist only on the RTX A4500 Mobile, with 46 of them. The PG506-232 has none recorded.

Clocks are close: base is 930 MHz for both, but boost is 1440 MHz for the PG506-232 versus 1500 MHz for the RTX A4500 Mobile. Pixel rates are 138.2 GPixel/s versus 144.0 GPixel/s, while texture rates are 322.6 GTexel/s versus 276.0 GTexel/s. FP32 is 10.32 TFLOPS versus 17.66 TFLOPS, and FP16 is equal to FP32 on both (1:1 ratio).

Power and physical specs differ: TDP is 165 W versus 140 W. The PG506-232 is dual-slot with an 8-pin EPS connector and a 450 W suggested PSU, while the RTX A4500 Mobile has no slot width, no power connector, and no suggested PSU. Display outputs are "No outputs" for the PG506-232 versus "Portable Device Dependent" for the RTX A4500 Mobile.

API support differs: the RTX A4500 Mobile lists DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the PG506-232 has no recorded API values. Release dates differ: April 2021 for the PG506-232 and March 2022 for the RTX A4500 Mobile. Predecessors and successors also differ: the PG506-232 succeeds Tesla Turing and precedes Server Ada, while the RTX A4500 Mobile succeeds Quadro Turing-M and precedes Ada-MW.

The Verdict

The benchmark data is unambiguous. In the recorded Geekbench OpenCL test, the PG506-232 outperforms the RTX A4500 Mobile by 113.8%, a margin that dwarfs any other comparison in their respective rival groups. The PG506-232's average score of 225,124 places it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A4500 Mobile's 91,134 places it in the 93rd percentile. For any workload that resembles the OpenCL benchmark, the PG506-232 is the clear choice.

However, the RTX A4500 Mobile is not without its own advantages. It has 64% more shading units (5,888 versus 3,584), 71% higher FP32 throughput (17.66 TFLOPS versus 10.32 TFLOPS), and a higher boost clock (1500 MHz versus 1440 MHz). It also includes ray tracing cores, which the PG506-232 lacks entirely. For graphics-oriented tasks, particularly those using DirectX 12 Ultimate or Vulkan, the RTX A4500 Mobile's feature set is more complete.

The memory situation favors the PG506-232 overwhelmingly. Its 933.1 GB/s bandwidth is 82% higher than the RTX A4500 Mobile's 512.0 GB/s, and its 24 GB capacity is 50% larger. The PG506-232 also has a higher texture rate (322.6 GTexel/s versus 276.0 GTexel/s) despite having fewer shading units. The PG506-232 is the better accelerator for memory-bound compute tasks.

The power envelopes differ modestly: 165 W for the PG506-232 versus 140 W for the RTX A4500 Mobile. But the PG506-232 requires a dual-slot form factor and an external 8-pin EPS connector, while the RTX A4500 Mobile is a mobile part with no connector requirements. For desktop or server installations with adequate power delivery, the PG506-232 offers far superior benchmark performance. For mobile workstations, the RTX A4500 Mobile is the only viable option of the two.

Where Each One Wins

The PG506-232 wins in raw computational throughput as measured by the OpenCL benchmark, with a 113.8% lead. It also wins on memory capacity (24 GB versus 16 GB), memory bandwidth (933.1 GB/s versus 512.0 GB/s), memory bus width (3072-bit versus 256-bit), texture rate (322.6 GTexel/s versus 276.0 GTexel/s), and tensor core count (224 versus 184). Its 99th percentile ranking versus the 93rd percentile for the RTX A4500 Mobile further cements its position. It is the superior choice for compute-heavy server workloads, large dataset processing, and any application that can exploit HBM2 bandwidth.

The RTX A4500 Mobile wins on shading unit count (5,888 versus 3,584), FP32 throughput (17.66 TFLOPS versus 10.32 TFLOPS), FP16 throughput (17.66 TFLOPS versus 10.32 TFLOPS), boost clock (1500 MHz versus 1440 MHz), and pixel rate (144.0 GPixel/s versus 138.2 GPixel/s). It uniquely offers 46 ray tracing cores, full DirectX 12 Ultimate support, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. It also has a lower TDP of 140 W versus 165 W. For mobile workstations, ray-traced rendering, or applications that rely heavily on shader compute rather than memory bandwidth, the RTX A4500 Mobile has clear advantages.

The release dates show the PG506-232 arrived in April 2021, while the RTX A4500 Mobile came a year later in March 2022. Both are now end-of-life. The PG506-232's lineage runs from Tesla Turing to Server Ada, while the RTX A4500 Mobile's runs from Quadro Turing-M to Ada-MW. Users needing maximum OpenCL performance and memory bandwidth should favor the PG506-232; users needing portability, ray tracing, and modern graphics API support should favor the RTX A4500 Mobile.