NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 vs NVIDIA Quadro K6000 Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data presents two graphics cards built more than a decade apart, and the benchmark results reflect that gap in different ways. The NVIDIA Quadro K6000, a Kepler-generation workstation part from 2013, shows a higher average benchmark score of 19,030 across its tested workloads, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs in the database. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2, a Blackwell 2.0 consumer flagship from 2025, has an average score of 16,504 from a single DirectX 12 test, placing it in the 59th percentile. On raw aggregate numbers, the older Quadro leads, but this is a narrow and misleading victory.

The Quadro K6000’s score comes from three tests: Geekbench Metal at 7,932, Geekbench OpenCL at 23,749, and Geekbench Vulkan at 25,409. The RTX 5090 D V2 has only one recorded result: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 16,504. These are different workloads measuring different capabilities. The database shows the Quadro’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600, has an average score of 19,036, a 0% delta, meaning the two perform essentially identically in aggregate. The RTX 5090 D V2’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA T400, scores 16,508, again a 0% delta. Neither card is a class leader in its own benchmark pool.

Who should pick which? The Quadro K6000 suits legacy workstation environments where Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan performance matters, and where the end-of-life status is acceptable. It delivers 12 GB of GDDR5 memory, a 384-bit bus, and 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth, with a 225 W power draw and dual-slot cooling. The RTX 5090 D V2 is the card for modern DirectX 12 workloads, with 24 GB of GDDR7 memory, 1.34 TB/s of bandwidth, and hardware ray tracing and tensor cores. Its single Steel Nomad result of 16,504 is lower than the Quadro’s average, but it targets a different API generation. The verdict is clear: the Quadro wins in aggregate legacy benchmarks, the RTX 5090 D V2 wins in raw modern feature set and memory capacity. Choose based on the software you actually run, not the averages.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are separated by two full GPU generations and a fundamental shift in NVIDIA’s design philosophy. The Quadro K6000 uses the GK110B chip on the Kepler architecture, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The die measures 561 mm² and packs 7,080 million transistors, giving a transistor density of 12.6 million per mm². The RTX 5090 D V2 uses the GB202 chip on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, also built at TSMC but on a 5 nm process. Its die is larger at 750 mm² and holds 92,200 million transistors, resulting in a density of 122.9 million per mm², nearly ten times the Quadro’s density per square millimeter.

The compute core counts differ by an order of magnitude. The Quadro has 2,880 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units. It has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores, as those did not exist in Kepler. The RTX 5090 D V2 has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, plus 170 dedicated ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. The Blackwell chip also doubles as a compute monster: its FP32 throughput is 104.8 TFLOPS, and its FP16 throughput is also 104.8 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio. The Quadro’s FP32 is 5.196 TFLOPS, and it has no listed FP16 capability.

Memory architecture also diverges. The Quadro uses GDDR5 across a 384-bit bus, achieving 288.4 GB/s. The RTX 5090 D V2 uses GDDR7 across the same 384-bit bus width but reaches 1.34 TB/s, a 4.6 times improvement in bandwidth. The Quadro supports PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RTX 5090 D V2 runs PCIe 5.0 x16. API support tells the same story: the Quadro lists DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RTX 5090 D V2 lists DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Quadro’s production status is end-of-life, while the RTX 5090 D V2 is active.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database does not include any shared benchmark tests between the two cards, so a direct apples-to-apples comparison is impossible from the recorded data. Instead, the analysis must rely on their individual results and nearest rivals. The Quadro K6000’s strongest result is Geekbench Vulkan at 25,409, which is notably higher than its Geekbench OpenCL score of 23,749 and its Geekbench Metal score of 7,932. The Metal result is significantly lower, likely reflecting the card’s age and lack of modern API optimizations. The RTX 5090 D V2’s only result, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 16,504, cannot be compared to any Quadro result because the Quadro was never tested in that workload.

Looking at the Quadro’s rivals, its average score of 19,030 places it within 0.4% of the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation, which scores 18,954. It is 0.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19,049) and 0.3% behind the NVIDIA Tesla K20m (19,089). The AMD Radeon RX 6600 matches it exactly at 19,036. This suggests the Quadro, despite its age, is still competitive in OpenCL and Vulkan compute tasks. For the RTX 5090 D V2, its 16,504 average sits 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 (16,415), 0.6% behind the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (16,408), and 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (16,361). The NVIDIA T400 matches it at 16,508.

The biggest win for the Quadro is in aggregate benchmark diversity: it has three recorded scores, and its highest, 25,409 in Vulkan, exceeds the RTX 5090 D V2’s single score by 8,905 points, a 54% advantage. The biggest win for the RTX 5090 D V2 is not in benchmarks but in architectural capability: 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 versus 5.196 TFLOPS, 1.34 TB/s versus 288.4 GB/s, and 24 GB versus 12 GB. In terms of raw compute, the Blackwell card is over 20 times faster on paper, but the recorded benchmark data does not show that because the workloads differ.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The Quadro K6000 has a base clock of 797 MHz and a boost clock of 902 MHz, while the RTX 5090 D V2 runs at 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) for the Quadro versus 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) for the RTX 5090 D V2. Memory size is 12 GB GDDR5 versus 24 GB GDDR7, with the same 384-bit bus width but vastly different bandwidth: 288.4 GB/s versus 1.34 TB/s.

The compute pipeline differs by scale. The Quadro has 2,880 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The RTX 5090 D V2 has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, plus 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores that the Quadro lacks. Pixel rate is 54.12 GPixel/s for the Quadro versus 423.6 GPixel/s for the RTX 5090 D V2. Texture rate is 216.5 GTexel/s versus 1,636.8 GTexel/s. FP32 is 5.196 TFLOPS versus 104.8 TFLOPS. FP16 is not listed for the Quadro, while the RTX 5090 D V2 achieves 104.8 TFLOPS.

Power and physical specs also diverge. The Quadro draws 225 W with two 6-pin power connectors and a suggested 550 W power supply. The RTX 5090 D V2 draws 575 W with a single 16-pin connector and a suggested 950 W power supply. Both are dual-slot cards, but the Quadro is 267 mm long and 111 mm tall, while the RTX 5090 D V2 is 304 mm long, 137 mm tall, and 48 mm wide. Display outputs differ: the Quadro has 2x DVI and 2x DisplayPort 1.2, while the RTX 5090 D V2 has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. The Quadro uses PCIe 3.0 x16, the RTX 5090 D V2 uses PCIe 5.0 x16. Released on 2013-07-22, the Quadro is end-of-life; the RTX 5090 D V2 launched on 2025-08-14 and remains active. The Quadro’s successors are Quadro Maxwell, while the RTX 5090 D V2’s successor is GeForce 60.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score in the database?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K6000 has an average benchmark score of 19,030, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 has an average of 16,504.

Q: Why does the Quadro K6000 score higher on average in the database?

A: The Quadro has three recorded benchmark results: Geekbench Metal at 7,932, Geekbench OpenCL at 23,749, and Geekbench Vulkan at 25,409. The RTX 5090 D V2 has only one recorded result: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 16,504. Different workloads explain the aggregate difference.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D V2 support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RTX 5090 D V2 includes 170 dedicated ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. The Quadro K6000 has neither, as it predates those hardware features.

Q: Which card has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The RTX 5090 D V2 has 24 GB of GDDR7 memory with 1.34 TB/s bandwidth. The Quadro K6000 has 12 GB of GDDR5 with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two cards?

A: The Quadro K6000 has a transistor density of 12.6 million per mm² on a 561 mm² die with 7,080 million transistors. The RTX 5090 D V2 has a density of 122.9 million per mm² on a 750 mm² die with 92,200 million transistors.

Q: Which card is still in production?

A: The RTX 5090 D V2 has an active production status and was released on 2025-08-14. The Quadro K6000 is end-of-life, having been released on 2013-07-22.