AMD Radeon RX 6500M vs NVIDIA Quadro K5100M Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6500M and NVIDIA Quadro K5100M represent two distinct eras of mobile graphics, and the benchmark data shows a decisive victory for the newer AMD part. In the only directly comparable compute benchmark, the RX 6500M delivers a 227.8% higher OpenCL score than the Quadro K5100M, making the performance gap not just a difference but a chasm. This is a matchup where process node, architecture, and memory technology combine to render the older NVIDIA professional card obsolete for raw compute workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole head-to-head benchmark available is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is lopsided. The AMD Radeon RX 6500M scores 38,586, while the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M manages only 11,771. This translates to a deltaPct of 227.8% in favor of the AMD card, meaning it is more than three times faster in this compute test. The scale of this victory is not incremental; it is a generational leap that completely overshadows the Quadro's capabilities.

Beyond the direct comparison, the surrounding benchmark data reinforces this narrative. The RX 6500M's average benchmark score across all tests is 10,362, placing it in the 48th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA Tesla C2075 (avg score 10,400, deltaPct -0.4%) and the AMD Radeon RX 550X (avg score 10,481, deltaPct -1.1%), are all within a narrow 2% band. This indicates that the RX 6500M's overall performance is consistent and competitive within its peer group, even if its single OpenCL score is an outlier in its favor.

In contrast, the Quadro K5100M's average benchmark score is 10,043, also landing in the 48th percentile. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 M375 (avg score 10,070, deltaPct -0.3%) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M (avg score 10,013, deltaPct 0.3%). While both GPUs share the same percentile ranking, the RX 6500M holds a 3.2% advantage in average benchmark score (10,362 vs 10,043). This aggregate lead, combined with the staggering 227.8% OpenCL victory, shows that the AMD part is not just better in one test but has a higher overall performance ceiling.

The Quadro K5100M does have a Geekbench Metal score of 8,315, but the RX 6500M has no corresponding Metal result in the data. This absence means the NVIDIA card has a specific platform advantage in Apple's Metal API, but it does not offset the massive deficit in the cross-platform OpenCL test. When looking at the numbers, the RX 6500M's wins are overwhelming, while the Quadro's only potential edge is in an ecosystem-specific benchmark that cannot be compared directly.

The Verdict

From the data, the AMD Radeon RX 6500M is the clear winner for anyone prioritizing raw compute performance and modern API support. Its 227.8% lead in OpenCL over the Quadro K5100M is the single most defining statistic in this comparison. If your workload relies on OpenCL acceleration, the RX 6500M is not just the better choice; it is the only rational choice. The Quadro K5100M's 2.369 TFLOPS FP32 performance is dwarfed by the RX 6500M's 4.915 TFLOPS, a 107.5% advantage that underpins the benchmark results.

The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M, however, is not without merit if you look strictly at capacity. It offers 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, which is double the 4 GB GDDR6 memory on the RX 6500M's 64-bit bus. For tasks that require large framebuffers or datasets that fit entirely in VRAM, the Quadro could avoid memory swapping that the RX 6500M might encounter. The Quadro also has more shading units (1536 vs 1024) and TMUs (128 vs 64), but these architectural advantages are nullified by its much lower clock speeds (771 MHz base and boost vs 2000 MHz base and 2400 MHz boost on the AMD card).

The verdict is straightforward: the RX 6500M is the superior compute and gaming-oriented GPU, while the Quadro K5100M is a legacy professional card that retains value only for its larger memory pool. For modern software leveraging DirectX 12 Ultimate or Vulkan 1.4, the RX 6500M is the only option with support for these APIs. The Quadro's DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175 support are outdated. Given that both cards are end-of-life, the RX 6500M offers a more future-proof feature set, even if neither is a current-generation product.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is vast, reflecting nearly a decade of semiconductor progress. The AMD Radeon RX 6500M is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture using a 6 nm process node at TSMC, packing 5,400 million transistors into a 107 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 50.5M per mm². In contrast, the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M uses the Kepler architecture on a 28 nm node, also at TSMC, with 3,540 million transistors spread across a much larger 294 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 12.0M per mm². The RX 6500M's process advantage is a primary driver of its efficiency and performance.

The chip designs themselves are fundamentally different in scope. The RX 6500M uses the Navi 24 chip with 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. It also integrates 16 dedicated ray-tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the Quadro K5100M's GK104 chip. The Quadro counters with 1,536 shading units and 128 TMUs, but its 32 ROPs match the AMD part. However, the Quadro's higher unit counts are hamstrung by its clock speeds: 771 MHz base and boost, compared to the RX 6500M's 2000 MHz base and 2400 MHz boost.

Memory architecture also differs significantly. The RX 6500M uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, achieving 144.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro K5100M uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, but only reaches 115.2 GB/s bandwidth due to its lower memory clock of 900 MHz (3.6 Gbps effective). The RX 6500M's memory clock runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), giving it 25% more bandwidth despite a quarter of the bus width. In terms of features, the RX 6500M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the Quadro supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute workloads?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6500M is decisively faster, scoring 38,586 in Geekbench OpenCL compared to the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M's 11,771, a 227.8% difference.

Q: Does the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M have any benchmark advantage?

A: The Quadro K5100M has a Geekbench Metal score of 8,315, but the RX 6500M has no Metal score for comparison, so this cannot be directly measured as an advantage.

Q: Which GPU has more memory?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, which is double the 4 GB of GDDR6 found on the AMD Radeon RX 6500M.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6500M has a TDP of 50 W, while the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M has a TDP of 100 W, making the AMD card significantly more power-efficient.

Q: Which GPU supports newer graphics APIs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6500M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No, both the AMD Radeon RX 6500M and the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M are marked as end-of-life production status.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6500M wins decisively in compute performance, as evidenced by its 38,586 OpenCL score versus the Quadro's 11,771. It also wins on raw throughput metrics: its 4.915 TFLOPS FP32 performance is more than double the Quadro's 2.369 TFLOPS. The RX 6500M's pixel rate of 76.80 GPixel/s and texture rate of 153.6 GTexel/s dwarf the Quadro's 24.67 GPixel/s and 98.69 GTexel/s, making it the clear winner for graphics-intensive tasks. Its support for ray tracing and DirectX 12 Ultimate gives it a feature advantage that the Quadro cannot match.

The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M wins on memory capacity, offering 8 GB versus the RX 6500M's 4 GB. This could be a decisive factor in workloads where large textures or datasets must reside in VRAM, such as certain scientific visualizations or multi-display setups. The Quadro also has a higher shading unit count (1536 vs 1024) and more TMUs (128 vs 64), though these do not translate into real-world performance wins given its low clocks. Its MXM Module form factor and MXM-B (3.0) bus interface differ from the RX 6500M's IGP slot width and PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, which may matter for specific laptop upgrade paths.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6500M | NVIDIA Quadro K5100M |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | Kepler |

| Process Node | 6 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 5,400 million | 3,540 million |

| Die Size | 107 mm² | 294 mm² |

| Base Clock | 2000 MHz | 771 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2400 MHz | 771 MHz |

| Memory Size | 4 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus | 64 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 144.0 GB/s | 115.2 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1024 | 1536 |

| TMUs | 64 | 128 |

| ROPs | 32 | 32 |

| RT Cores | 16 | None |

| FP32 Performance | 4.915 TFLOPS | 2.369 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 50 W | 100 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | MXM Module |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4 | MXM-B (3.0) |

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (11_0) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.4 | 1.2.175 |

| Release Date | 2022-01-03 | 2013-07-22 |