NVIDIA Quadro P6000 vs NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile and NVIDIA Quadro P6000 represent two very different eras of NVIDIA’s professional GPU lineup. The A4500 Mobile is an Ampere-generation laptop part built on an 8 nm Samsung process, while the P6000 is a Pascal-generation desktop card from 2016 on TSMC’s 16 nm node. Benchmark data shows the mobile card is not just competitive with the older flagship — it beats it outright in the tested workloads. The RTX A4500 Mobile takes 2 wins out of 2 head-to-head tests, with the largest margin in OpenCL compute. Below is a breakdown of how these two GPUs compare across architecture, specifications, and practical use cases.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive result comes from the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the RTX A4500 Mobile scores 105307 against the Quadro P6000’s 66382. That is a 58.6% advantage for the mobile part, a huge margin that reflects the generational leap in compute throughput. The A4500 Mobile’s FP32 rate of 17.66 TFLOPS versus the P6000’s 12.63 TFLOPS explains much of this gap, but the OpenCL score suggests the gap is even larger than raw FLOPs would imply — likely due to architectural efficiency and driver optimizations for newer APIs.

The Vulkan test is much closer. The RTX A4500 Mobile scores 76960, while the Quadro P6000 trails at 73590 — a 4.6% difference. This smaller margin indicates that the P6000’s older Pascal architecture still holds up well in graphics-oriented workloads, where its higher base clock (1506 MHz vs 930 MHz) and larger texture unit count (240 TMUs vs 184) help offset its lower shader count. Still, the A4500 Mobile wins this test too, meaning it leads in both compute and graphics APIs.

Looking at average benchmark scores, the RTX A4500 Mobile posts 91134 across all tests, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all GPUs. The Quadro P6000 averages 69986, which lands in the 90th percentile. The A4500 Mobile sits 30.2% higher in average score, and its nearest rivals include the desktop RTX A4500 (within 0.6%) and AMD’s Radeon Instinct MI60 (within 1.4%). The P6000’s nearest rivals are much closer in performance — the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200 is within 0.2%, and the NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile is within 0.2% — showing that the P6000 is essentially matched by mid-range modern parts.

The deltaPct values in the head-to-head table tell the story: 58.6% in OpenCL, 4.6% in Vulkan. If you rely on OpenCL compute — common in rendering, simulation, and scientific workloads — the A4500 Mobile is the clear winner. For Vulkan-based tasks like real-time visualization, the two are nearly interchangeable, with the A4500 Mobile still edging out the older card.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has more memory, and does that matter?

A: The Quadro P6000 has 24 GB of GDDR5X memory, while the RTX A4500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6. The P6000’s larger capacity helps with datasets that exceed 16 GB, but the A4500 Mobile’s memory runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) versus the P6000’s 1127 MHz (9 Gbps effective), giving the A4500 Mobile higher bandwidth at 512.0 GB/s compared to 432.8 GB/s. For most workloads, the A4500 Mobile’s bandwidth advantage outweighs the P6000’s capacity lead, unless you specifically need to fit larger models in VRAM.

Q: Is the RTX A4500 Mobile faster than the Quadro P6000 in every benchmark?

A: Yes. In the two head-to-head tests available (Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan), the RTX A4500 Mobile wins both. The OpenCL margin is 58.6%, while the Vulkan margin is 4.6%. The A4500 Mobile also has a higher average benchmark score (91134 vs 69986) and a higher percentile ranking (93rd vs 90th).

Q: What is the power draw difference between these two cards?

A: The RTX A4500 Mobile has a TDP of 140 W and uses no external power connectors, as it is a mobile part. The Quadro P6000 has a 250 W TDP, requires a dual-slot cooler, and needs one 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 600 W. This makes the A4500 Mobile far easier to integrate into compact or mobile systems.

Q: Does the Quadro P6000 support ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The Quadro P6000 is based on Pascal architecture and has no RT cores and no tensor cores listed. The RTX A4500 Mobile, based on Ampere, includes 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads that the P6000 cannot handle natively.

Q: Which card is newer and still in production?

A: The RTX A4500 Mobile was released on 2022-03-21, while the Quadro P6000 was released on 2016-09-30. Both are listed as end-of-life, but the A4500 Mobile is the more recent product and its successor is listed as Ada-MW, whereas the P6000’s successor is Quadro Volta.

Q: How does the RTX A4500 Mobile compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX A4500 Mobile’s average score of 91134 is within 0.6% of the desktop RTX A4500 (91671) and 1.4% below the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 (92466). It is 4.2% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro GP100 and 4.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7600. This places it in the upper tier of professional GPUs, close to desktop parts despite being a mobile chip.

Architecture Differences

The RTX A4500 Mobile uses the GA104 chip built on Samsung’s 8 nm process, packing 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die. That works out to a transistor density of 44.4 million per mm². The Quadro P6000 uses the GP102 chip on TSMC’s 16 nm process, with 11,800 million transistors on a larger 471 mm² die, giving a density of just 25.1 million per mm². The A4500 Mobile’s more advanced node allows nearly 50% more transistors in a smaller area, which explains its higher compute throughput despite lower clocks.

The architecture generation split is stark: Ampere (A4500 Mobile) versus Pascal (P6000). Ampere brings hardware ray tracing via 46 RT cores and AI acceleration through 184 tensor cores — features entirely absent from the Pascal-based P6000, which lists no RT cores and no tensor cores. This makes the A4500 Mobile capable of DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support, while the P6000 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, so API compatibility is not a differentiator beyond DirectX.

Shader configuration also differs significantly. The A4500 Mobile has 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The P6000 has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The A4500 Mobile has more shaders and more ROPs (tied), but the P6000 has more texture units, which helps in texture-heavy workloads. The A4500 Mobile’s FP16 performance matches its FP32 at 17.66 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), while the P6000’s FP16 is a paltry 197.4 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio) — a 89.4x difference in half-precision throughput, making the A4500 Mobile vastly superior for AI and mixed-precision tasks.

Memory architecture is another divergence. The A4500 Mobile uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, while the P6000 uses 24 GB of GDDR5X on a 384-bit bus. The A4500 Mobile’s faster memory clocks (2000 MHz vs 1127 MHz) result in higher bandwidth (512.0 GB/s vs 432.8 GB/s) despite a narrower bus. The P6000’s larger capacity remains its only memory advantage.

The Verdict

The data points to one clear conclusion: the NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile is the superior GPU in almost every measurable way. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks, has a higher average score, higher percentile ranking, newer architecture, more shaders, ray tracing support, tensor cores, and significantly higher FP32 and FP16 throughput. The only areas where the Quadro P6000 leads are memory capacity (24 GB vs 16 GB), texture units (240 vs 184), pixel rate (157.9 GPixel/s vs 144.0 GPixel/s), and texture rate (394.8 GTexel/s vs 276.0 GTexel/s). If your work is purely texture-bound and you need more than 16 GB of VRAM, the P6000 has a narrow niche. For everything else — compute, ray tracing, AI, modern API support, and efficiency — the RTX A4500 Mobile is the better choice.

The P6000’s launch MSRP was 5,999 USD, a figure that reflects its 2016 flagship status, but benchmark results show it now trades blows with mid-range modern cards like the RTX A3000 Mobile (within 0.2%). The A4500 Mobile, meanwhile, performs within 0.6% of its desktop namesake, which is remarkable for a mobile part. If you are building a new system, the A4500 Mobile is the rational pick. If you already own a P6000, the upgrade to Ampere is justified by the 58.6% OpenCL lead alone.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile | NVIDIA Quadro P6000 |

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

| Architecture | Ampere | Pascal |

| Process Node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 16 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 17,400 million | 11,800 million |

| Die Size | 392 mm² | 471 mm² |

| Base Clock | 930 MHz | 1506 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1500 MHz | 1645 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) | 1127 MHz (9 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 16 GB GDDR6 | 24 GB GDDR5X |

| Memory Bus | 256 bit | 384 bit |

| Bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 432.8 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 5888 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 184 | 240 |

| ROPs | 96 | 96 |

| RT Cores | 46 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 184 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 144.0 GPixel/s | 157.9 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 276.0 GTexel/s | 394.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 17.66 TFLOPS | 12.63 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 17.66 TFLOPS (1:1) | 197.4 GFLOPS (1:64) |

| TDP | 140 W | 250 W |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | None listed | 600 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x DVI, 4x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Release Date | 2022-03-21 | 2016-09-30 |

| Predecessor | Quadro Turing-M | Quadro Maxwell |

| Successor | Ada-MW | Quadro Volta |

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile wins in:

• OpenCL compute (58.6% ahead) — ideal for rendering, simulation, and scientific computing.
• Vulkan graphics (4.6% ahead) — better for real-time visualization and game engines.
• FP32 throughput (17.66 TFLOPS vs 12.63 TFLOPS) — faster general compute.
• FP16 throughput (17.66 TFLOPS vs 197.4 GFLOPS) — essential for AI inference and training.
• Ray tracing and tensor workloads — exclusive to Ampere architecture.
• Power efficiency — 140 W TDP versus 250 W, with no external power connectors needed.
• Bandwidth — 512.0 GB/s versus 432.8 GB/s, despite a narrower bus.
• PCIe 4.0 support — double the bandwidth of the P6000’s PCIe 3.0 interface.
• DirectX 12 Ultimate — newer API support for the latest features.

NVIDIA Quadro P6000 wins in:

• Memory capacity — 24 GB versus 16 GB, useful for datasets that must reside entirely in VRAM.
• Texture throughput — 394.8 GTexel/s versus 276.0 GTexel/s, benefiting texture-heavy workloads.
• Pixel rate — 157.9 GPixel/s versus 144.0 GPixel/s, marginally faster fill-rate-bound tasks.
• Base and boost clocks — 1506 MHz / 1645 MHz versus 930 MHz / 1500 MHz, helping in latency-sensitive single-threaded scenarios.
• Physical connectivity — has dedicated DVI and DisplayPort outputs, whereas the mobile part’s outputs are dependent on the portable device.

In practice, the P6000’s wins are narrow and tied to specific legacy workloads. The A4500 Mobile’s wins are broad and decisive, especially in modern compute and AI use cases. If you need the P6000’s 24 GB frame buffer for a specific in-memory dataset, it still has a role. Otherwise, the RTX A4500 Mobile is the stronger all-around professional GPU.