NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada Generation vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits cleanly between these two workstation-class NVIDIA GPUs, with the RTX 5000 Ada Generation taking both recorded wins. The RTX A5500 Mobile does not win any of the measured tests. The RTX 5000 Ada Generation posts a decisive advantage in both OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, making it the stronger choice for general compute acceleration and graphics API performance. The RTX A5500 Mobile, while competitive in its own right, sits firmly in second place across every metric recorded in the database.

The RTX 5000 Ada Generation shows its biggest edge in Vulkan, where it leads by 87.3%. That gap is massive and suggests the architecture handles modern graphics APIs with far greater efficiency. The OpenCL margin, while still substantial at 41%, is narrower in relative terms, indicating that raw compute scaling is strong but not as lopsided as the Vulkan result. For users running OpenCL-based rendering, simulation, or data processing, the RTX 5000 Ada Generation still wins clearly, but the A5500 Mobile is closer there than in Vulkan.

The RTX A5500 Mobile, being a mobile part with a 165 W TDP, is not without merit. Its 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs means it outperforms the vast majority of graphics hardware in the database. It sits within 2.9% of the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 and within 2.7% of the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation, making it a capable performer in its segment. However, against the RTX 5000 Ada Generation, the data shows no scenario where the mobile part takes the lead. The desktop-oriented Ada card simply outclasses it in every recorded workload.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and manufacturing processes. The RTX 5000 Ada Generation uses the AD102 chip built on TSMC's 5 nm node, housing 76,300 million transistors across a 609 mm² die. That works out to a transistor density of 125.3 million per square millimeter. In contrast, the RTX A5500 Mobile uses the GA103 chip fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm process, with 22,000 million transistors on a 496 mm² die, giving a density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. The density gap is stark, and it directly translates into the performance differences seen in benchmarks.

The RTX 5000 Ada Generation features 12,800 shading units, 400 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units. It also packs 100 ray tracing cores and 400 tensor cores. The RTX A5500 Mobile, by comparison, has 7,424 shading units, 232 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, along with 58 ray tracing cores and 232 tensor cores. These numbers explain the raw throughput differences. The Ada card's FP32 compute is rated at 65.28 TFLOPS, while the Ampere mobile part delivers 22.27 TFLOPS. Both support 1:1 FP16/FP32 ratios.

Memory configurations differ as well. The RTX 5000 Ada Generation carries 32 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX A5500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 on the same 256-bit bus, but bandwidth drops to 512.0 GB/s. Clock speeds also favor the desktop card, with a base of 1155 MHz and boost of 2550 MHz versus 975 MHz base and 1500 MHz boost on the mobile part. Effective memory speed is 18 Gbps on the Ada card versus 16 Gbps on the Ampere mobile GPU.

Power and physical characteristics separate them further. The RTX 5000 Ada Generation is a dual-slot card with a 250 W TDP, requiring a single 16-pin power connector and a 600 W suggested PSU. It measures 267 mm in length and 112 mm in height. The RTX A5500 Mobile has no slot width, no power connectors listed, and a 165 W TDP. Its display outputs are listed as portable device dependent, whereas the Ada card offers 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. Both support PCIe 4.0 x16, DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The production status also diverges. The RTX 5000 Ada Generation is marked as Active, released on August 8, 2023, with a predecessor of Workstation Ampere and a successor of Blackwell PRO W. The RTX A5500 Mobile is End-of-life, released on March 21, 2022, with a predecessor of Quadro Turing-M and a successor of Ada-MW.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows the RTX 5000 Ada Generation scoring 175,286 against 124,287 for the RTX A5500 Mobile. That is a 41% advantage for the Ada card. This result aligns with the compute resource disparity, given the 65.28 TFLOPS versus 22.27 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and the 576 GB/s versus 512 GB/s memory bandwidth. The OpenCL gap is significant but not overwhelming, suggesting that the mobile Ampere part still scales reasonably in compute-heavy workloads.

The Geekbench Vulkan test reveals a far larger separation. The RTX 5000 Ada Generation scores 194,041, while the RTX A5500 Mobile manages 103,601. That is an 87.3% lead for the Ada card. Vulkan performance depends heavily on architectural efficiency, driver overhead, and ray tracing capabilities. The Ada card's 100 ray tracing cores versus 58 on the Ampere part, combined with the newer architecture and higher clock speeds, explain much of this disparity. The pixel rate of 448.8 GPixel/s on the Ada card versus 144.0 GPixel/s on the mobile part also contributes to the Vulkan gap.

The average benchmark score in the database tells a similar story. The RTX 5000 Ada Generation averages 184,664 across its recorded tests, placing it in the 98th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80 GB (183,725, 0.5% lower), the A100 SXM4 40 GB (187,147, 1.3% higher), the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell (182,109, 1.4% lower), and the GeForce RTX 4090 D (178,050, 3.7% lower). The RTX A5500 Mobile averages 113,944, putting it in the 94th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB (114,395, 0.4% higher), the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation (117,088, 2.7% higher), the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 (110,725, 2.9% lower), and the NVIDIA GB10 (117,393, 2.9% higher).

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada Generation averages 184,664, while the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile averages 113,944. That is a difference of roughly 62% in favor of the Ada card.

Q: How large is the Vulkan performance gap?

A: In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RTX 5000 Ada Generation scores 194,041 versus 103,601 for the RTX A5500 Mobile, a lead of 87.3% for the Ada card.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The RTX 5000 Ada Generation has 32 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the RTX A5500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6. Both use a 256-bit bus, but memory bandwidth differs at 576.0 GB/s versus 512.0 GB/s.

Q: How do the TDPs compare?

A: The RTX 5000 Ada Generation has a TDP of 250 W, and the RTX A5500 Mobile has a TDP of 165 W. The mobile part is designed for lower power consumption in portable systems.

Q: Which GPU has more ray tracing cores?

A: The RTX 5000 Ada Generation has 100 ray tracing cores, compared to 58 on the RTX A5500 Mobile. This contributes to the large Vulkan benchmark difference.

Q: What are the percentile rankings?

A: The RTX 5000 Ada Generation is in the 98th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A5500 Mobile is in the 94th percentile.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear hierarchy. The NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada Generation wins both recorded benchmarks, with a 41% lead in OpenCL and an 87.3% lead in Vulkan. Its average score of 184,664 places it in the 98th percentile, within a few percentage points of the A100 SXM4 variants and the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell. For users who need maximum compute throughput, higher memory capacity at 32 GB, and the architectural benefits of Ada Lovelace on a 5 nm process, the RTX 5000 Ada Generation is the stronger pick. It also carries the advantage of active production status, meaning continued availability and support.

The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile, despite losing every head-to-head test, should not be dismissed. It sits in the 94th percentile and competes closely with the Tesla V100 SXM2, RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation, and AMD Radeon PRO W7900, all within a 2.9% margin. Its 16 GB memory and 512 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for many workstation tasks, and its 165 W TDP makes it suitable for mobile workstations where power and thermal constraints matter. For professionals who require mobility, the RTX A5500 Mobile remains a viable option. For those who can accommodate a dual-slot desktop card with a 250 W TDP, the RTX 5000 Ada Generation offers substantially better performance in every recorded metric. The choice comes down to form factor and power budget. The data does not suggest any scenario where the mobile part outperforms the desktop Ada card.