NVIDIA PG506-232 vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data delivers a decisive verdict in this comparison. In the only recorded head-to-head test, Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA PG506-232 scores 225,124 against the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile's 124,287. That is a delta of 81.1% in favor of the PG506-232, a commanding margin that leaves no ambiguity about raw compute performance.

Context from the database's nearest rival lists reinforces how significant this gap is. The PG506-232's score places it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A5500 Mobile sits in the 94th percentile. The PG506-232 outperforms the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D by 2.4% (219,827 versus 225,124), beats the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB by 8.7% (207,124 versus 225,124), and leads the NVIDIA RTX 6000D by 14.9% (195,964 versus 225,124). Only the NVIDIA L20 tops it among its nearest rivals, with a 10.4% advantage (251,147 versus 225,124).

The RTX A5500 Mobile, by contrast, sits in a much lower performance tier. Its average benchmark score across OpenCL and Vulkan is 113,944, which is roughly half of the PG506-232's average of 225,124. The mobile GPU's nearest rivals cluster tightly around its score: the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB trails by just 0.4% (114,395), the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation leads by 2.7% (117,088), the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 trails by 2.9% (110,725), and the NVIDIA GB10 leads by 2.9% (117,393). This tight grouping indicates the RTX A5500 Mobile is a mid-pack performer in its segment, whereas the PG506-232 is a top-tier compute device.

The delta between the two is not merely a matter of a few percentage points. The PG506-232 holds an 81.1% lead in the single recorded benchmark. The database records zero wins for the RTX A5500 Mobile in head-to-head comparisons. The verdict from raw numbers is unambiguous: the PG506-232 is the substantially faster GPU.

The Verdict

The data points to one clear conclusion: the NVIDIA PG506-232 is the superior choice for anyone prioritizing raw compute performance. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 225,124 against 124,287 represents an 81.1% advantage, and its 99th percentile ranking versus the RTX A5500 Mobile's 94th percentile confirms that this is not a marginal difference but a fundamental performance tier gap.

The RTX A5500 Mobile cannot compete on raw throughput. Its average benchmark score of 113,944 is less than half of the PG506-232's average of 225,124. Even its best recorded result, 124,287 in OpenCL, falls far short of the PG506-232's worst recorded result, which is the same 225,124 figure since it has only one benchmark entry.

However, the RTX A5500 Mobile is not without merit. It brings features the PG506-232 lacks entirely, notably 58 ray tracing cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The PG506-232 has no recorded API support for any of these. For workloads that leverage ray tracing or modern graphics APIs, the RTX A5500 Mobile is the only viable option between the two.

The PG506-232 is a server compute card with no display outputs. The RTX A5500 Mobile is a portable device-dependent solution with display outputs tied to the host system. The use cases are almost entirely disjoint, and the data suggests they should be chosen based on workload type, not raw score alone.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA PG506-232 wins decisively in compute-heavy, server-oriented tasks. Its 81.1% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and its 99th percentile ranking demonstrate dominance in general-purpose GPU compute. The data shows it outperforms the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D by 2.4%, the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB by 8.7%, and the NVIDIA RTX 6000D by 14.9%, placing it among the fastest accelerators in the database. Its 24 GB of HBM2 memory with 933.1 GB/s bandwidth, compared to the RTX A5500 Mobile's 16 GB GDDR6 with 512.0 GB/s, further cements its position for memory-bandwidth-sensitive workloads such as large model inference or scientific simulations.

The RTX A5500 Mobile wins in graphics-oriented and portable scenarios. Its ray tracing cores (58) and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 give it a feature set the PG506-232 cannot match. The PG506-232 has no recorded API support, no display outputs, and a dual-slot form factor with an 8-pin EPS power connector. The RTX A5500 Mobile has no power connectors, is portable device dependent, and supports modern graphics APIs. For workstation mobility, rendering with ray tracing, or any application requiring display output, the RTX A5500 Mobile is the only choice.

The RTX A5500 Mobile also offers a higher raw shading unit count (7,424 versus 3,584) and higher FP32 throughput (22.27 TFLOPS versus 10.32 TFLOPS). Yet the PG506-232 still wins the OpenCL benchmark by a wide margin, indicating that memory bandwidth and architecture efficiency can outweigh raw shader counts in compute workloads. The PG506-232's HBM2 memory with 3072-bit bus width delivers 933.1 GB/s, nearly double the RTX A5500 Mobile's 512.0 GB/s, which likely explains its compute dominance.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA PG506-232 scores 225,124 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile scores 124,287 in the same test, a delta of 81.1% in favor of the PG506-232.

Q: How do these GPUs compare in performance percentiles?

A: The PG506-232 ranks in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A5500 Mobile ranks in the 94th percentile, based on the database's recorded benchmarks.

Q: Does the RTX A5500 Mobile have any advantages over the PG506-232?

A: Yes, the RTX A5500 Mobile has 58 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, none of which are recorded for the PG506-232.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each GPU?

A: The PG506-232 has 24 GB of HBM2 memory with a 3072-bit bus and 933.1 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX A5500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The RTX A5500 Mobile has 22.27 TFLOPS FP32, while the PG506-232 has 10.32 TFLOPS, despite the PG506-232 winning the OpenCL benchmark.

Q: What are the power requirements for each GPU?

A: Both GPUs have a TDP of 165 W. The PG506-232 uses an 8-pin EPS power connector and suggests a 450 W PSU, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has no power connectors recorded.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs share the Ampere architecture but are built on fundamentally different chips and processes. The PG506-232 uses the GA100 chip fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with 54,200 million transistors on a 826 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 65.6 million per mm². The RTX A5500 Mobile uses the GA103 chip fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung, with 22,000 million transistors on a 496 mm² die, yielding a density of 44.4 million per mm².

These architectural differences translate into divergent feature sets. The PG506-232 has 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, 96 render output units, and 224 tensor cores, but no ray tracing cores. The RTX A5500 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, 96 render output units, 232 tensor cores, and 58 ray tracing cores. The mobile GPU clearly targets a broader workload range, including ray-traced graphics.

The generation labels differ as well. The PG506-232 belongs to the Server Ampere (Axx) generation, with a predecessor of Tesla Turing and a successor of Server Ada. The RTX A5500 Mobile belongs to the Ampere-MW (Ax000) generation, with a predecessor of Quadro Turing-M and a successor of Ada-MW. These lineage differences reflect their intended markets: server compute versus mobile workstation.

The PG506-232 is an end-of-life product released on April 11, 2021. The RTX A5500 Mobile is also end-of-life but released nearly a year later, on March 21, 2022. Both are discontinued, but their architectural priorities remain clear from the data.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification category. The PG506-232 uses a GA100 chip, while the RTX A5500 Mobile uses GA103. The process node differs: 7 nm TSMC for the PG506-232 versus 8 nm Samsung for the RTX A5500 Mobile. Transistor counts are 54,200 million versus 22,000 million, and die sizes are 826 mm² versus 496 mm².

Clock speeds differ modestly. The PG506-232 has a base clock of 930 MHz and a boost clock of 1440 MHz, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has a base of 975 MHz and a boost of 1500 MHz. Memory clocks differ more substantially: the PG506-232 runs at 1215 MHz with 2.4 Gbps effective, while the RTX A5500 Mobile runs at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective.

Memory configurations are starkly different. The PG506-232 offers 24 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus with 933.1 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX A5500 Mobile offers 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute resources diverge significantly. The PG506-232 has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 224 tensor cores, with no ray tracing cores. The RTX A5500 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 232 tensor cores, and 58 ray tracing cores. FP32 and FP16 throughput are both 10.32 TFLOPS for the PG506-232 and 22.27 TFLOPS for the RTX A5500 Mobile.

Pixel and texture rates favor the RTX A5500 Mobile slightly: 144.0 GPixel/s versus 138.2 GPixel/s, and 348.0 GTexel/s versus 322.6 GTexel/s. Both have a TDP of 165 W, but the PG506-232 is dual-slot with an 8-pin EPS connector and a suggested 450 W PSU, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has no slot width, no power connectors, and no suggested PSU recorded.

Display outputs differ completely. The PG506-232 has no outputs, while the RTX A5500 Mobile is portable device dependent. API support is absent for the PG506-232, while the RTX A5500 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Both use PCIe 4.0 x16 interfaces. The PG506-232 measures 267 mm in length and 112 mm in height, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has no dimensions recorded.