NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation vs NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark data splits cleanly between these two accelerators. The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation wins both recorded tests, and the margins are not subtle. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 6000 Ada scores 311,629 against 87,454 for the Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB, a 256.3% advantage. That is not an incremental gain; it is a generational leap expressed in raw compute throughput. The Vulkan result tells a similar story, with the RTX 6000 Ada posting 262,845 versus 141,336, a 86% lead.

The Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB does not win any of the recorded head-to-head tests. Its strength lies elsewhere in the database: it sits at the 95th percentile of all GPUs, which is respectable for a card from the Volta era. But the RTX 6000 Ada sits at the 99th percentile, and its average benchmark score of 287,237 dwarfs the V100's 114,395. The practical interpretation is straightforward: for any workload captured by these two tests, the RTX 6000 Ada is the faster part by a wide margin. The V100's remaining relevance comes from its memory subsystem and its place in the broader Tesla product stack, not from raw compute wins in these benchmarks.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural eras. The RTX 6000 Ada uses the AD102 chip on the Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB uses the GV100 chip on the Volta architecture, built on a 12 nm process, also at TSMC. The transistor counts reflect the process gap: the RTX 6000 Ada packs 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die, while the V100 fits 21,100 million transistors on a larger 815 mm² die. That makes the RTX 6000 Ada's transistor density 125.3M per mm², versus 25.9M per mm² for the V100. The Ada part is doing far more with far less silicon area.

The compute resources differ massively. The RTX 6000 Ada has 18,176 shading units, 568 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. The V100 has 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 128 ROPs. The RTX 6000 Ada also brings 142 ray tracing cores, which the V100 lacks entirely. Tensor core counts are 568 on the Ada part versus 640 on the V100, an interesting reversal where the older card actually has more tensor cores, though the newer card's tensor cores are architecturally much more capable. The FP32 throughput tells the real story: 91.06 TFLOPS on the RTX 6000 Ada versus 15.67 TFLOPS on the V100. FP16 on the V100 runs at 31.33 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio relative to FP32, while the RTX 6000 Ada does 91.06 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio.

Memory architecture is also a different universe. The RTX 6000 Ada ships with 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384 bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The V100 has 16 GB of HBM2 on a 4096 bit bus, delivering 897.0 GB/s. The V100's HBM2 gives it a wide but shallow memory pool, while the Ada card triples the capacity and still edges ahead in bandwidth. The V100's memory clock is 876 MHz with 1752 Mbps effective, while the RTX 6000 Ada runs at 2500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective. The Ada card also uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the V100 is on PCIe 3.0 x16. The V100 is an SXM module with no display outputs; the RTX 6000 Ada is a dual-slot card with four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

The Verdict

The data points to a simple conclusion for most buyers: the RTX 6000 Ada Generation is the faster, more capable card in every recorded benchmark, and it offers triple the memory capacity. The 256.3% lead in OpenCL and the 86% lead in Vulkan are not close calls. The RTX 6000 Ada also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the V100 tops out at DirectX 12 (12_1) with Vulkan 1.4. For any modern compute or rendering workload that uses these APIs, the Ada card is the obvious choice.

The Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB still has a niche. Its 640 tensor cores and 897.0 GB/s of HBM2 bandwidth make it a plausible option for certain legacy workloads, and its 95th percentile standing shows it is not obsolete in absolute terms. But the RTX 6000 Ada is 99th percentile, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA L40S at 295,763 average score (2.9% above the Ada part) and the AMD Instinct MI300X at 317,994 (9.7% above). The V100's nearest rivals, by contrast, are much closer to its own level: the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation at 117,088 and the NVIDIA GB10 at 117,393. That positioning makes the V100 a mid-pack compute card today, not a top-tier one. Anyone choosing between these two specific cards should pick the RTX 6000 Ada unless the V100's specific HBM2 characteristics or its SXM form factor are hard requirements.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation scores 311,629, which is 256.3% higher than the Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB's 87,454.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The RTX 6000 Ada Generation has 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384 bit bus, while the Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB has 16 GB of HBM2 on a 4096 bit bus.

Q: Does the Tesla V100 have ray tracing cores?

A: No, the V100 has no ray tracing cores. The RTX 6000 Ada Generation has 142 ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the FP32 compute difference?

A: The RTX 6000 Ada Generation delivers 91.06 TFLOPS of FP32, while the Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB delivers 15.67 TFLOPS.

Q: Which card has a higher memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 6000 Ada Generation has 960.0 GB/s, slightly higher than the Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB's 897.0 GB/s, despite the V100's much wider 4096 bit bus.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No, both are end-of-life. The RTX 6000 Ada Generation was released on 2022-12-02, and the Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB was released on 2017-06-20.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most important recorded comparison is Geekbench OpenCL. The RTX 6000 Ada Generation scores 311,629, exactly 256.3% above the V100's 87,454. This is the largest delta in the head-to-head data, and it reflects the fundamental compute gap between a 5 nm Ada Lovelace part with 18,176 shading units and a 12 nm Volta part with 5,120 shading units. In real-world terms, a workload that takes three hours on the V100 would take under an hour on the RTX 6000 Ada, assuming linear scaling.

The Vulkan test is closer but still decisive. The RTX 6000 Ada scores 262,845 against the V100's 141,336, a 86% lead. Vulkan is a lower-level API, and the V100's older architecture holds up better here than in OpenCL, but it still trails by a wide margin. The RTX 6000 Ada's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus the V100's DirectX 12 (12_1) also matters for modern graphics workloads, even if the V100 was never designed as a display card.

The average benchmark scores in the database reinforce the head-to-head results. The RTX 6000 Ada has an average score of 287,237, placing it at the 99th percentile of all GPUs. The V100's average is 114,395, at the 95th percentile. The RTX 6000 Ada's nearest rival is the NVIDIA L40 at 284,111 average score, a 1.1% gap, followed by the L40S at 295,763, which is 2.9% faster. The AMD Instinct MI300X leads the Ada part by 9.7% at 317,994, while the NVIDIA L20 trails by 14.4% at 251,147. The V100's nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile at 113,944, just 0.4% behind, and the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation at 117,088, which is 2.3% faster. The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 trails the V100 by 3.3% at 110,725.

The pixel and texture rates tell a similar story. The RTX 6000 Ada produces 481.0 GPixel/s and 1,422.8 GTexel/s, while the V100 manages 195.8 GPixel/s and 489.6 GTexel/s. These are not directly comparable across architectures, but they show the Ada part's rasterization throughput is roughly double the V100's in pixel rate and nearly triple in texture rate. For any workload that touches shaders, textures, or compute kernels, the RTX 6000 Ada is the stronger card.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 6000 Ada uses the AD102 chip on Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, while the V100 uses the GV100 chip on Volta architecture with a 12 nm process. The RTX 6000 Ada has 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die, and the V100 has 21,100 million on an 815 mm² die. Transistor density is 125.3M per mm² versus 25.9M per mm².

Clock speeds differ substantially. The RTX 6000 Ada has a 915 MHz base and 2505 MHz boost, while the V100 has a 1312 MHz base and 1530 MHz boost. The V100's higher base clock is a minor curiosity, but the Ada part's boost clock is 975 MHz higher. Memory clocks are 2500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective on the Ada card versus 876 MHz with 1752 Mbps effective on the V100.

Shading units are 18,176 on the RTX 6000 Ada versus 5,120 on the V100. TMUs are 568 versus 320. ROPs are 192 versus 128. The RTX 6000 Ada has 142 ray tracing cores; the V100 has none. Tensor cores are 568 on the Ada part versus 640 on the V100. FP32 is 91.06 TFLOPS versus 15.67 TFLOPS. FP16 is 91.06 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 31.33 TFLOPS (2:1).

Memory capacity is 48 GB of GDDR6 versus 16 GB of HBM2. Bus width is 384 bit versus 4096 bit. Bandwidth is 960.0 GB/s versus 897.0 GB/s. Power draw is 300 W versus 250 W. The RTX 6000 Ada is a dual-slot card with a 16-pin power connector and a recommended 700 W PSU. The V100 is an SXM module with no power connectors and a 600 W recommended PSU. The Ada card uses PCIe 4.0 x16 and has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The V100 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and has no display outputs. API support: the Ada card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The V100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 6000 Ada has a launch MSRP of 6,799 USD; the V100 has no recorded launch MSRP.