NVIDIA Quadro 5000 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher transistor count?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell contains 92,200 million transistors, while the NVIDIA Quadro 5000 contains 3,100 million transistors. This makes the Blackwell chip roughly 29.7 times denser in transistor count, and the transistor density figures confirm this gap: 122.9M per mm² versus 5.9M per mm².

Q: What are the memory capacities and types of these two cards?

A: The Quadro 5000 uses 2.5 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 120.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell uses 72 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.34 TB/s of bandwidth.

Q: How do their benchmark scores compare in the database?

A: The Quadro 5000 has a single recorded benchmark score of 7289 in Geekbench OpenCL. The RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell has multiple recorded scores, including 24310 in Passmark G3D and 15667 in Passmark GPU Compute. However, the average benchmark score for the Quadro 5000 is 7289, while the average for the RTX PRO 5000 is 6407, driven by low DirectX scores in some Passmark subtests.

Q: What are the release dates and production statuses?

A: The Quadro 5000 was released on 2011-02-22 and is end-of-life. The RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell was released on 2025-10-20 and is active in production.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing and tensor cores?

A: The RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell includes 110 RT cores and 440 tensor cores. The Quadro 5000 has no RT cores and no tensor cores recorded in the database.

Q: What are the power connector requirements?

A: The Quadro 5000 uses a single 6-pin power connector with a suggested PSU of 450 W. The RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell uses a single 16-pin power connector with a suggested PSU of 700 W.

Architecture Differences

The two NVIDIA workstation cards come from entirely different eras of the company's GPU design. The Quadro 5000 is built on the Fermi architecture using the GF100 chip, manufactured on a 40 nm process at TSMC. The RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell uses the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip, also fabricated by TSMC but on a 5 nm process. The node shrink is substantial, and the die size reflects the different design goals: the GF100 measures 529 mm², while the GB202 measures 750 mm².

Transistor integration shows the scale of architectural change. The Fermi chip packs 3,100 million transistors into its 529 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 5.9M per mm². The Blackwell chip integrates 92,200 million transistors into 750 mm², which translates to 122.9M per mm². That density difference drives nearly every performance gap between the two cards.

The memory subsystems are from different generations. The Quadro 5000 uses GDDR5 with a 320-bit bus, 2.5 GB capacity, and 120.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX PRO 5000 uses GDDR7 with a 384-bit bus, 72 GB capacity, and 1.34 TB/s bandwidth. The bandwidth advantage is roughly 11.2 times, which matters for large data sets and compute workloads.

Compute resources differ dramatically. The Quadro 5000 has 352 shading units, 44 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. The RTX PRO 5000 has 14,080 shading units, 440 TMUs, and 160 ROPs. The Blackwell card also adds dedicated hardware that the Fermi card lacks entirely: 110 RT cores for ray tracing and 440 tensor cores for AI acceleration. The FP32 throughput tells the story: 722.3 GFLOPS for the Quadro 5000 versus 66.94 TFLOPS for the RTX PRO 5000, a roughly 92.7 times difference.

The interface and display capabilities also reflect their eras. The Quadro 5000 uses PCIe 2.0 x16 and outputs 1x DVI and 2x DisplayPort. The RTX PRO 5000 uses PCIe 5.0 x16 and outputs 4x DisplayPort 2.1b. API support differs as well: the Quadro 5000 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, while the Blackwell card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits cleanly along workload type. The Quadro 5000 wins in the single OpenCL test recorded for it, scoring 7289 in Geekbench OpenCL. Its nearest rivals in the database are the GeForce GTX 750 at 7222 (0.9% behind), the Radeon Vega 8 Mobile at 7203 (1.2% behind), the GeForce GTX 560 SE at 7171 (1.6% behind), and the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 at 7170 (1.7% behind). For a 2011 workstation card, this shows respectable raw compute performance relative to much newer integrated and entry-level parts.

The RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell wins decisively in modern graphics workloads. Its Passmark G3D score of 24310 dwarfs the older card's single benchmark result. The Passmark GPU Compute score of 15667 also indicates strong compute capability. However, its Passmark DirectX scores are uneven: DirectX 9 at 311, DirectX 10 at 175, DirectX 11 at 219, and DirectX 12 at 78. These low DirectX subtest scores pull its average benchmark score down to 6407, which places its nearest rivals as the GeForce GTX 460 SE at 6389 (0.3% behind), the GeForce GTX 580M at 6389 (0.3% behind), the Radeon Vega 10 Mobile at 6476 (1.1% ahead), and the Quadro M5000M at 6481 (1.1% ahead).

The practical split is clear: the RTX PRO 5000 is built for modern DirectX 12 Ultimate workloads, ray tracing, tensor-based AI processing, and massive memory allocations. The Quadro 5000, despite its age, still posts competitive OpenCL numbers and can handle legacy workstation tasks without the overhead of newer API features.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification category. The process node moves from 40 nm to 5 nm. Transistors jump from 3,100 million to 92,200 million. Die size grows from 529 mm² to 750 mm². Transistor density rises from 5.9M per mm² to 122.9M per mm².

Clock speeds are particularly distinct. The Quadro 5000 has no base or boost clock recorded in the database, but its memory clock is 750 MHz (3 Gbps effective). The RTX PRO 5000 has a base clock of 1740 MHz and a boost clock of 2377 MHz, with memory at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

Memory capacity goes from 2.5 GB to 72 GB, type from GDDR5 to GDDR7, bus width from 320-bit to 384 bit, and bandwidth from 120.0 GB/s to 1.34 TB/s. Shading units grow from 352 to 14,080, TMUs from 44 to 440 and ROPs from 40 to 160. The RTX PRO 5000 adds 110 RT cores and 440 tensor cores. Pixel rate goes from 11.29 GPixel/s to 380.3 GPixel/s, texture rate from 22.22 GTexel/s to 1,045.9 GTexel/s and FP32 from 722.3 GFLOPS to 66.94 TFLOPS. The Blackwell card also has FP16 at 66.94 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio).

Power requirements scale upward. TDP goes from 152 W to 300 W. Slot width stays dual-slot for both. Power connectors change from 1x 6-pin to 1x 16-pin, and suggested PSU recommendation rises from 450 W to 700 W. Length grows from 248 mm (9.8 inches for the Quadro 5000, 267 mm (10.5 inches) for the RTX PRO 5000, and height stays the same at 111 mm (4.4 inches) for both.

The Quadro 5000 has no width recorded, while the RTX PRO 5000 has a width of 40 mm (1.6 inches). The Quadro 5000 was released on 2011-02-22, the RTX PRO 5000 on 2025-10-20. The Quadro 5000 is end-of-life with a launch MSRP of 2,499 USD. The RTX PRO 5000 is active with no launch MSRP recorded.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons are not available in the database. Instead, the recorded scores for each card must be examined separately. The Quadro 5000 has one benchmark entry: Geekbench OpenCL at 7289. The RTX PRO 5000 has eight entries across different test suites.

The most striking individual score is the RTX PRO 5000's Passmark G3D result of 24310. This is the highest single graphics score recorded for either card and indicates strong rasterization performance. The Passmark GPU Compute score of 15667 further confirms the Blackwell card's compute strength.

However, the RTX PRO 5000's Passmark DirectX results are surprisingly low. The DirectX 9 score is 311, DirectX 10 is 175, DirectX 11 is 219, and DirectX 12 is 78. These numbers are far below the G3D and compute scores, and they explain why the card's average benchmark score of 6407 is so much lower than its peak scores. The average is dragged down by these DirectX subtests.

The Quadro 5000's single OpenCL score of 7289 places it just 0.9% above the GeForce GTX 750 and 1.2% above the Radeon Vega 8 Mobile. This suggests the Fermi card retains some relevance in OpenCL compute tasks despite its age. Its percentile rank among all GPUs is 40, while the RTX PRO 5000 ranks at percentile 37. The average benchmark score of the Quadro 5000 (7289) is actually higher than the RTX PRO 5000's average (6407), though this is misleading because the averages are computed over different test sets.

The RTX PRO 5000's nearest rivals by average score are all older or lower-tier parts: the GeForce GTX 460 SE at 6389 (0.3% behind), the GeForce GTX 580M at 6389 (0.3% behind), the Radeon Vega 10 Mobile at 6476 (1.1% ahead), and the Quadro M5000M at 6481 (1.1% ahead). These deltas show the Blackwell card's average score sits in a narrow band around 6400 to 6481.

The Verdict

The data points to two very different products for two very different workloads. The Quadro 5000, despite being end-of-life since its 2011 release, still posts a competitive OpenCL score of 7289. That result places it within a few percentage points of much newer entry-level GPUs like the GeForce GTX 750 and Radeon Vega 8 Mobile. For legacy OpenCL compute tasks or older workstation software that relies on Fermi-era drivers, the Quadro 5000 remains functional.

The RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell is the clear choice for modern graphics and compute workloads. Its Passmark G3D score of 24310 is far beyond anything the Quadro 5000 can produce, and its 72 GB GDDR7 memory with 1.34 TB/s bandwidth enables working sets that would be impossible on the 2.5 GB Quadro 5000. The inclusion of 110 RT cores and 440 tensor cores means ray-traced rendering and AI-accelerated tasks are supported, features entirely absent from the Fermi card.

The average benchmark scores require careful interpretation. The Quadro 5000's average of 7289 is higher than the RTX PRO 5000's average of 6407, but this reflects the different test suites used. The RTX PRO 5000's Passmark DirectX 12 score of 78 and DirectX 11 score of 219 are anomalously low relative to its G3D and compute scores, and these drag down its average. The Quadro 5000 has only one score, so its average is not diluted by subtest variation.

Buyers should choose based on workload requirements. For modern DirectX 12 Ultimate applications, ray tracing, tensor-based processing, or massive GPU memory needs, the RTX PRO 5000 is the only sensible option. For simple OpenCL compute tasks or legacy software compatibility, the Quadro 5000 still holds its own, but its end-of-life status and 2.5 GB memory limit make it a niche choice at best. The RTX PRO 5000's active production status and 2025 release date mean it will continue to receive driver and software support, while the Quadro 5000's support ended long ago.