NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 vs NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark comparison between the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 and the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile shows a clear overall winner, but with one notable exception. Across the nine recorded tests, the Quadro RTX 8000 secures eight victories, while the RTX A5000 Mobile takes a single win. The average benchmark score for the Quadro RTX 8000 is 28,421, placing it at the 74th percentile among all GPUs, while the RTX A5000 Mobile averages 24,763 and sits at the 70th percentile.

The largest margin of victory for the Quadro RTX 8000 comes in the passmark_gpu_compute test, where it scores 9,992 against the RTX A5000 Mobile's 6,945, a difference of 43.9 percent. This is followed closely by the passmark_directx_11 result, where the Quadro scores 188 versus 133, a 41.4 percent advantage. In the geekbench_vulkan test, the Quadro RTX 8000 scores 122,637 against 88,144, which translates to a 39.1 percent lead. The passmark_g2d test shows a 37.7 percent gap, with scores of 866 and 629 respectively.

The Quadro RTX 8000 also demonstrates strong performance in the passmark_directx_9 test, scoring 211 versus 169, a 24.9 percent difference. The passmark_g3d test shows a 25.5 percent advantage, with scores of 19,799 and 15,779. In the passmark_directx_10 test, the Quadro leads with 137 against 115, a 19.1 percent margin. The smallest win for the Quadro RTX 8000 comes in the passmark_directx_12 test, where it scores 79 versus 72, a 9.7 percent difference.

The single victory for the RTX A5000 Mobile occurs in the geekbench_opencl test. Here, the RTX A5000 Mobile scores 110,877 against the Quadro RTX 8000's 101,883, an 8.1 percent advantage. This result is notable because it reverses the trend seen in the Vulkan test, where the Quadro RTX 8000 holds a substantial lead. The OpenCL result suggests that the RTX A5000 Mobile has a particular strength in this compute workload, even though it lags behind across the DirectX and Vulkan benchmarks.

Relative to their nearest rivals in the database, both cards sit in similar competitive positions. The Quadro RTX 8000's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 570, scores 28,766, which is 1.2 percent higher than the Quadro's average. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti scores 28,020, which is 1.4 percent lower. The RTX A5000 Mobile's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 590, scores 24,744, just 0.1 percent higher. The Intel Arc A350M scores 24,647, 0.5 percent lower, and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT scores 24,442, 1.3 percent lower. These comparisons indicate that the Quadro RTX 8000 and RTX A5000 Mobile both perform near the top of their respective peer groups.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is significant and explains many of the benchmark results. The Quadro RTX 8000 is built on the Turing architecture, using the TU102 chip manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC. The die size is 754 mm², and it contains 18,600 million transistors, resulting in a transistor density of 24.7 million per mm². The RTX A5000 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with the GA104 chip, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. Its die size is 392 mm², containing 17,400 million transistors, which yields a transistor density of 44.4 million per mm². The Ampere chip is more than twice as dense despite having fewer total transistors, which reflects the more modern process node.

The core configurations differ substantially as well. The Quadro RTX 8000 has 4,608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. It also carries 72 ray tracing cores and 576 tensor cores. In contrast, the RTX A5000 Mobile has 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. It has 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores. The higher shading unit count in the RTX A5000 Mobile suggests a different balance of compute resources, while the Quadro RTX 8000 has a clear advantage in ray tracing and tensor core counts.

Memory configurations also diverge sharply. The Quadro RTX 8000 comes with 48 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384 bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. The RTX A5000 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256 bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Both cards run their memory at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective transfer rates, but the wider bus on the Quadro gives it a significant bandwidth advantage.

Clock speeds show a different story. The Quadro RTX 8000 operates at a base clock of 1395 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz. The RTX A5000 Mobile has a lower base clock of 900 MHz but a boost clock of 1575 MHz. Despite the lower clocks, the RTX A5000 Mobile achieves a higher FP32 compute figure of 19.35 TFLOPS compared to the Quadro's 16.31 TFLOPS, thanks to its larger number of shading units. The FP16 numbers also differ: the Quadro RTX 8000 reaches 32.62 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the RTX A5000 Mobile delivers 19.35 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio.

The power envelopes are notably different. The Quadro RTX 8000 has a TDP of 260 W, requires a dual-slot cooler, and draws power through a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connector setup, with a suggested power supply of 600 W. The RTX A5000 Mobile has a TDP of 150 W, uses no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU, reflecting its mobile design. The bus interface also differs: the Quadro uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RTX A5000 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data points to distinct use cases for each GPU. The Quadro RTX 8000 dominates in graphics-oriented workloads. Its wins across the DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests, along with the Vulkan and G3D results, make it the clear choice for traditional rendering pipelines, game development, and DirectX-based applications. The 41.4 percent lead in DirectX 11 and the 39.1 percent lead in Vulkan are particularly strong indicators for these workloads.

The RTX A5000 Mobile's single win in OpenCL suggests it has a specific strength in compute tasks that leverage OpenCL. This could be relevant for certain scientific computing, image processing, or machine learning workloads that rely on OpenCL rather than CUDA or DirectX. However, the passmark_gpu_compute test shows the Quadro RTX 8000 ahead by 43.9 percent, so the OpenCL result does not indicate a general compute advantage.

For memory-intensive applications, the Quadro RTX 8000 is the clear winner based on its 48 GB capacity and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is 50 percent higher than the RTX A5000 Mobile's 448.0 GB/s. The Quadro also leads in texture rate, with 509.8 GTexel/s versus 302.4 GTexel/s, and in pixel rate, with 169.9 GPixel/s versus 151.2 GPixel/s. These figures favor the Quadro for high-resolution rendering and texture-heavy scenes.

The RTX A5000 Mobile, despite its lower overall scores, offers a higher FP32 compute throughput of 19.35 TFLOPS compared to 16.31 TFLOPS for the Quadro. This makes it a stronger candidate for raw FP32 compute workloads that do not depend on the API-specific optimizations measured in the benchmark suite. The mobile form factor also makes it suitable for laptop deployments where the 260 W TDP of the Quadro would be impractical.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 has an average benchmark score of 28,421, while the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile has an average score of 24,763. The Quadro RTX 8000 also sits at the 74th percentile among all GPUs, compared to the 70th percentile for the RTX A5000 Mobile.

Q: In which benchmark does the RTX A5000 Mobile outperform the Quadro RTX 8000?

A: The RTX A5000 Mobile wins the geekbench_opencl test, scoring 110,877 against the Quadro RTX 8000's 101,883, an 8.1 percent advantage. This is the only test among the nine recorded where the RTX A5000 Mobile comes out ahead.

Q: How do the memory capacities compare?

A: The Quadro RTX 8000 has 48 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384 bit bus with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX A5000 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256 bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro's memory bandwidth is 50 percent higher.

Q: What are the shading unit counts for each GPU?

A: The Quadro RTX 8000 has 4,608 shading units, while the RTX A5000 Mobile has 6,144 shading units. Despite having fewer shading units, the Quadro RTX 8000 achieves higher scores in most benchmarks, suggesting other factors such as memory bandwidth and ray tracing cores play a significant role.

Q: Which GPU has more ray tracing cores?

A: The Quadro RTX 8000 has 72 ray tracing cores, while the RTX A5000 Mobile has 48. The Quadro also has 576 tensor cores compared to 192 on the RTX A5000 Mobile.

Q: What are the TDP figures for these two cards?

A: The Quadro RTX 8000 has a TDP of 260 W, while the RTX A5000 Mobile has a TDP of 150 W. The Quadro also requires a dual-slot cooler and a 600 W suggested power supply, while the RTX A5000 Mobile uses no power connectors.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification category. The process node is 12 nm for the Quadro RTX 8000 and 8 nm for the RTX A5000 Mobile. The Quadro uses a TU102 chip with 18,600 million transistors on a 754 mm² die, while the RTX A5000 Mobile uses a GA104 chip with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. Transistor density is 24.7 million per mm² for the Quadro and 44.4 million per mm² for the RTX A5000 Mobile.

The core counts differ in shading units (4,608 versus 6,144), texture mapping units (288 versus 192), and ray tracing cores (72 versus 48). Raster operation units are equal at 96, but tensor cores differ significantly at 576 versus 192. Clock speeds show a base of 1395 MHz and boost of 1770 MHz for the Quadro, against a base of 900 MHz and boost of 1575 MHz for the RTX A5000 Mobile.

Memory specifications differ in size (48 GB versus 16 GB), bus width (384 bit versus 256 bit), and bandwidth (672.0 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s). The memory type is GDDR6 for both, with the same 1750 MHz clock and 14 Gbps effective rate. The pixel rate is 169.9 GPixel/s for the Quadro and 151.2 GPixel/s for the RTX A5000 Mobile. Texture rates are 509.8 GTexel/s and 302.4 GTexel/s respectively. FP32 compute is 16.31 TFLOPS versus 19.35 TFLOPS, while FP16 is 32.62 TFLOPS (2:1) for the Quadro and 19.35 TFLOPS (1:1) for the RTX A5000 Mobile.

Power requirements are starkly different: 260 W TDP with a dual-slot cooler and 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin connectors for the Quadro, versus 150 W TDP with no power connectors for the RTX A5000 Mobile. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 for the Quadro and PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RTX A5000 Mobile. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 1.4a plus 1x USB Type-C for the Quadro, while the RTX A5000 Mobile is portable device dependent. The Quadro has dimensions of 267 mm length and 111 mm height, while the RTX A5000 Mobile has no recorded dimensions.

The Verdict

The data points clearly to the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 as the stronger performer in nearly every measured benchmark. With eight wins out of nine tests and an average score of 28,421 versus 24,763, it holds a 14.8 percent overall advantage. The largest gaps appear in compute and DirectX workloads, where margins range from 9.7 percent to 43.9 percent. Users who prioritize graphics rendering, DirectX applications, or Vulkan-based workloads should choose the Quadro RTX 8000 based on these results.

The RTX A5000 Mobile does have a place. Its OpenCL win, though narrow at 8.1 percent, indicates an advantage in that specific compute API. Its higher FP32 throughput of 19.35 TFLOPS also suggests it can handle raw compute tasks efficiently. For mobile deployments where the 260 W TDP of the Quadro is not feasible, the 150 W TDP of the RTX A5000 Mobile makes it the only viable option between the two. The RTX A5000 Mobile also supports PCIe 4.0, which is a generation ahead of the Quadro's PCIe 3.0 interface.

For desktop workstations with power budget available, the Quadro RTX 8000 is the clear choice based on the recorded data. Its 48 GB memory capacity, 672.0 GB/s bandwidth, and dominant benchmark scores make it suitable for large-scale rendering, complex scenes, and memory-intensive workloads. The RTX A5000 Mobile, while less powerful overall, offers a specific OpenCL advantage and a compute profile that may appeal to users with API-specific requirements. The choice ultimately depends on whether the workload aligns with the Quadro's graphics strengths or the RTX A5000 Mobile's OpenCL and FP32 capabilities.