GPU Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation and RTX 6000 Ada Generation are both built on the same AD102 die, TSMC 5 nm process, and 76,300 million transistors, but they diverge in configuration and market position. In the single head-to-head benchmark available, the RTX 5880 scores 327,829 in Geekbench OpenCL against the RTX 6000's 311,629, a 5.2% lead. Yet the RTX 6000 offers more shading units, higher boost clocks, and faster memory bandwidth. The data also shows the RTX 5880 is still in production while the RTX 6000 is end-of-life, and the RTX 6000 carries a launch MSRP of 6,799 USD. This comparison sticks strictly to the supplied facts.

The Verdict

The benchmark data points to the RTX 5880 as the faster card in the one test that directly compares them. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 327,829 beats the RTX 6000's 311,629 by 5.2%, and its average benchmark score of 327,829 is 16.3% higher than the RTX 6000's average of 281,932. That average difference is inflated because the RTX 6000's average includes a Vulkan score of 252,235, which pulls its mean down, but the OpenCL result remains a clear win for the RTX 5880.

For buyers choosing between the two, the RTX 5880 is the only one with active production status, while the RTX 6000 is listed as end-of-life. If your workload relies on OpenCL compute, the RTX 5880 is the data-backed pick. However, the RTX 6000 has a theoretical compute advantage that the supplied benchmarks do not capture: it packs 18,176 shading units versus 14,080, and its FP32 throughput is 91.06 TFLOPS against 69.27 TFLOPS. The RTX 6000 also has a higher boost clock (2505 MHz vs 2460 MHz) and more memory bandwidth (960 GB/s vs 864 GB/s). Those specs suggest the RTX 6000 could win in tasks that scale with raw core count or memory throughput, but no direct benchmark confirms that. Strictly from the data, the RTX 5880 wins the only measurable head-to-head, and it remains available for purchase. The RTX 6000 is a legacy part with a higher theoretical ceiling but no matching benchmark proof.

Architecture Differences

Both cards use the AD102 chip on TSMC's 5 nm process, with a die size of 609 mm² and a transistor count of 76,300 million. They share the same PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, dual-slot design, 267 mm length, 112 mm height, and 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The fundamental difference lies in how the silicon is enabled. The RTX 6000 has more of everything: 18,176 shading units, 568 TMUs, 192 ROPs, 142 RT cores, and 568 tensor cores. The RTX 5880 cuts those down to 14,080 shading units, 440 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 110 RT cores, and 440 tensor cores. Clock behaviour also differs: the RTX 5880 has a higher base clock (975 MHz vs 915 MHz) but a lower boost clock (2460 MHz vs 2505 MHz). Memory is identical in size (48 GB GDDR6, 384-bit bus) but not in speed: the RTX 6000 runs at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) versus the RTX 5880's 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), giving the RTX 6000 960 GB/s of bandwidth versus 864 GB/s. The RTX 6000 also draws more power (300 W TDP, 700 W suggested PSU) than the RTX 5880 (285 W TDP, 600 W suggested PSU). Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Production status separates them: the RTX 5880 is Active, released 2024-01-04; the RTX 6000 is End-of-life, released 2022-12-02. The RTX 6000 has a launch MSRP of 6,799 USD; the RTX 5880 has no listed launch MSRP.

Where Each One Wins

The only benchmark where both cards have a score is Geekbench OpenCL, and the RTX 5880 wins that outright with 327,829 versus 311,629, a 5.2% margin. That is the sole direct victory in the data. The RTX 6000 does have a Geekbench Vulkan score of 252,235, but the RTX 5880 has no Vulkan score to compare, so we cannot assign a win there. Looking beyond the head-to-head, the RTX 6000's higher shading unit count (18,176 vs 14,080), higher boost clock (2505 MHz vs 2460 MHz), and higher memory bandwidth (960 GB/s vs 864 GB/s) indicate it would likely dominate workloads that are limited by raw compute throughput or memory bandwidth, but no benchmark in the pack confirms that. The RTX 5880, with its higher base clock (975 MHz vs 915 MHz) and lower TDP (285 W vs 300 W), might be more efficient in sustained compute, but again, no efficiency benchmark is supplied. In terms of production status, the RTX 5880 wins because it is still Active while the RTX 6000 is End-of-life. For a builder looking at longevity and current availability, the RTX 5880 is the practical choice; for raw specification superiority, the RTX 6000 has the numbers, but they are not backed by a direct test.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The RTX 5880 scores 327,829, while the RTX 6000 scores 311,629, giving the RTX 5880 a 5.2% lead.

Q: How do the shading unit counts compare?

A: The RTX 6000 has 18,176 shading units, while the RTX 5880 has 14,080, a difference of 4,096 units in favour of the RTX 6000.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 6000 offers 960 GB/s of bandwidth, whereas the RTX 5880 provides 864 GB/s. Both use 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, but the RTX 6000 runs at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) versus 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective).

Q: Is the RTX 6000 still in production?

A: No. The RTX 6000 is listed as End-of-life, while the RTX 5880 is Active. The RTX 5880 was released on 2024-01-04, and the RTX 6000 on 2022-12-02.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the RTX 6000?

A: The RTX 6000 has a launch MSRP of 6,799 USD. The RTX 5880 has no listed launch MSRP in the data.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The RTX 6000 boosts to 2505 MHz, while the RTX 5880 boosts to 2460 MHz. The RTX 5880 has a higher base clock at 975 MHz versus 915 MHz.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison in the data is Geekbench OpenCL. The RTX 5880 scores 327,829, and the RTX 6000 scores 311,629. That works out to a delta of 5.2% in favour of the RTX 5880. This is a significant margin for a workstation GPU, and it holds even though the RTX 6000 has more shading units (18,176 vs 14,080) and higher memory bandwidth (960 GB/s vs 864 GB/s). The RTX 5880's higher base clock (975 MHz vs 915 MHz) might contribute to its OpenCL performance, but the data does not isolate clock effects.

Looking at the broader benchmark picture, the RTX 5880's average benchmark score is 327,829, which is 16.3% higher than the RTX 6000's average of 281,932. That 16.3% figure comes from the nearestRivals table for the RTX 5880, where the RTX 6000 is listed with an average score of 281,932. The RTX 6000's own average is dragged down by its Vulkan score of 252,235, which is lower than its OpenCL score. If we consider only OpenCL, the gap narrows to 5.2%. Still, the RTX 5880 wins that test. The RTX 6000 has no other head-to-head data to counterbalance the loss. In the supplied benchmarks, the RTX 5880 has 1 win and the RTX 6000 has 0 wins.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two cards, based on the FACT PACK:

• Base clock: RTX 5880 975 MHz vs RTX 6000 915 MHz
• Boost clock: RTX 5880 2460 MHz vs RTX 6000 2505 MHz
• Memory clock: RTX 5880 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) vs RTX 6000 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective)
• Memory bandwidth: RTX 5880 864.0 GB/s vs RTX 6000 960.0 GB/s
• Shading units: RTX 5880 14,080 vs RTX 6000 18,176
• TMUs: RTX 5880 440 vs RTX 6000 568
• ROPs: RTX 5880 176 vs RTX 6000 192
• RT cores: RTX 5880 110 vs RTX 6000 142
• Tensor cores: RTX 5880 440 vs RTX 6000 568
• Pixel rate: RTX 5880 433.0 GPixel/s vs RTX 6000 481.0 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: RTX 5880 1,082.4 GTexel/s vs RTX 6000 1,422.8 GTexel/s
• FP32 performance: RTX 5880 69.27 TFLOPS vs RTX 6000 91.06 TFLOPS
• FP16 performance: RTX 5880 69.27 TFLOPS (1:1) vs RTX 6000 91.06 TFLOPS (1:1)
• TDP: RTX 5880 285 W vs RTX 6000 300 W
• Suggested PSU: RTX 5880 600 W vs RTX 6000 700 W
• Production status: RTX 5880 Active vs RTX 6000 End-of-life
• Release date: RTX 5880 2024-01-04 vs RTX 6000 2022-12-02
• Launch MSRP: RTX 5880 null vs RTX 6000 6,799 USD (stated once)
• Geekbench OpenCL score: RTX 5880 327,829 vs RTX 6000 311,629
• Geekbench Vulkan score: RTX 5880 not listed vs RTX 6000 252,235
• Average benchmark score: RTX 5880 327,829 vs RTX 6000 281,932

All other specifications, chip, architecture, process node, foundry, transistor count, die size, memory size, memory type, bus width, slot width, power connector, bus interface, display outputs, API support, and physical dimensions, are identical between the two. The data shows two cards that share a silicon foundation but are tuned for different positions: the RTX 5880 is the leaner, actively produced option that wins the only measurable test, while the RTX 6000 is the spec-heavy, end-of-life part with a higher theoretical ceiling.