NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Comparison

The Verdict

The data separates these two Ampere workstation GPUs into entirely different performance tiers. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 is the clear winner in every recorded benchmark, with an average benchmark score of 165217 compared to 70140 for the RTX A3000 Mobile, a gap of roughly 135%. The A5500 sits in the 97th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the A3000 Mobile lands in the 91st percentile, meaning both are high performers, but the desktop card operates in a different class entirely.

The RTX A5500 is the choice for users who need maximum compute throughput in a fixed workstation. Its 24 GB of GDDR6 memory, 768.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance make it a serious contender for heavy visualization and simulation workloads. The RTX A3000 Mobile, with 6 GB of memory, 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and 10.08 TFLOPS of FP32, is a capable mobile part, but the recorded data shows it trails the A5500 by wide margins in every test. The mobile card is for portable workstations where the 70 W power envelope and lack of external power connectors are non-negotiable constraints, and where the user accepts lower absolute performance.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the Ampere architecture and are built on Samsung's 8 nm process node, but they use different chips. The RTX A5500 uses the GA102 chip with 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, while the RTX A3000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. The transistor density is nearly identical at 45.1M per mm² for the A5500 and 44.4M per mm² for the A3000 Mobile, confirming they are cut from the same process generation, but the A5500's larger die gives it far more resources to work with.

The shading unit count tells the story plainly: 10240 shading units on the A5500 versus 4096 on the A3000 Mobile. Texture mapping units follow the same pattern at 320 versus 128, and render output units at 96 versus 64. The ray tracing and tensor core counts scale accordingly, with 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores on the A5500, compared to 32 RT cores and 128 tensor cores on the mobile part.

The A5500 is a dual-slot desktop card with a 1x 8-pin power connector and a suggested PSU of 550 W, while the A3000 Mobile has no power connectors and is portable device dependent for its display outputs. Both support PCIe 4.0 x16, DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API-level features do not differentiate them. The A5500's production status is end-of-life, and it was released on 2022-03-21, while the A3000 Mobile is also end-of-life with a release date of 2021-04-11, roughly 11 months earlier.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

In the OpenCL benchmark, the RTX A5500 scores 174637 against 79091 for the A3000 Mobile, a delta of 120.8%. This is more than a doubling of raw compute throughput, and it aligns with the FP32 figures: 34.10 TFLOPS versus 10.08 TFLOPS, roughly 3.4 times the raw floating-point capability. The OpenCL test tends to stress general compute and memory bandwidth, and the A5500's 768.0 GB/s versus 264.0 GB/s gives it a massive advantage in data movement.

The Vulkan benchmark shows an even larger relative gap. The A5500 scores 155797, while the A3000 Mobile scores 61189, a delta of 154.6%. The difference suggests the desktop card's higher boost clock of 1665 MHz versus 1230 MHz, combined with its larger memory bus and higher shading unit count, translates into outsized gains in graphics-heavy workloads. The pixel rate of 159.8 GPixel/s on the A5500 versus 78.72 GPixel/s on the mobile part, and the texture rate of 532.8 GTexel/s versus 157.4 GTexel/s, both point in the same direction.

The A5500 wins both recorded head-to-head tests, giving it 2 wins and the A3000 Mobile 0 wins. The average benchmark scores reinforce the trend: 165217 for the A5500 versus 70140 for the mobile part. The A5500's nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation at 166094, which is only 0.5% ahead, and the AMD Radeon PRO W7800 at 164894, which is 0.2% behind. The A3000 Mobile sits close to the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 at 69986, a 0.2% difference, and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200 at 69870, a 0.4% difference. This means the A3000 Mobile is competitive with older desktop workstation flagships, while the A5500 trades blows with current-generation Ada parts.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has more memory?

A: The RTX A5500 has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus with 768.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX A3000 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The RTX A5500 has a TDP of 230 W and requires a 1x 8-pin power connector with a suggested PSU of 550 W. The RTX A3000 Mobile has a TDP of 70 W and uses no power connectors, drawing power entirely from the portable device it is installed in.

Q: Are these GPUs still in production?

A: No. Both are end-of-life products. The A3000 Mobile was released on 2021-04-11, and the A5500 was released on 2022-03-21.

Q: What is the performance difference in the recorded benchmarks?

A: The A5500 leads by 120.8% in OpenCL and 154.6% in Vulkan. Its average benchmark score is 165217 versus 70140 for the A3000 Mobile.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same graphics APIs?

A: Yes. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and both use a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface.

Q: What is the closest competitor to each GPU in the database?

A: The A5500's nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation with an average score of 166094, which is 0.5% higher. The A3000 Mobile's nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 with an average score of 69986, which is 0.2% lower.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX A5500 wins in every measured category, but the nature of the wins matters for specific use cases. In compute-heavy workloads that stress OpenCL, the A5500's 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 768.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth put it in a different league. This makes it suited for rendering farms, simulation work, and any task where a fixed desktop workstation can house a dual-slot card with a 230 W TDP. The 24 GB memory capacity allows large datasets to reside on the GPU without spilling to system memory, which is critical for complex 3D scenes or machine learning inference workloads.

The RTX A3000 Mobile wins in a different sense: it exists where the A5500 cannot. With a 70 W TDP and no external power connectors, it fits into portable workstations. The Vulkan delta of 154.6% shows the A5500 is far ahead in graphics throughput, but the mobile part still delivers 10.08 TFLOPS of FP32 and 6 GB of GDDR6 memory in a package that requires no additional power cabling. For mobile users who need workstation-grade reliability and driver support rather than maximum absolute performance, the A3000 Mobile is the only viable option between these two.

The data also shows where each sits relative to its own market tier. The A5500 is competitive with the RTX 4500 Ada Generation, only 0.5% behind in average score, and it edges out the AMD Radeon PRO W7800 by 0.2%. The A3000 Mobile, by contrast, matches the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 within 0.2%, meaning it delivers roughly the performance of a previous-generation desktop workstation flagship while consuming a fraction of the power. The 91st percentile ranking for the mobile card and the 97th percentile for the desktop card indicate both are strong performers, but the absolute gap in scores is what a buyer should weigh.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA RTX A5500 | NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile |

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

| Chip | GA102 | GA104 |

| Transistors | 28,300 million | 17,400 million |

| Die size | 628 mm² | 392 mm² |

| Base clock | 1080 MHz | 600 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1665 MHz | 1230 MHz |

| Memory clock | 2000 MHz, 16 Gbps effective | 1375 MHz, 11 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 24 GB | 6 GB |

| Memory bus | 384 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 768.0 GB/s | 264.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 10240 | 4096 |

| TMUs | 320 | 128 |

| ROPs | 96 | 64 |

| RT cores | 80 | 32 |

| Tensor cores | 320 | 128 |

| Pixel rate | 159.8 GPixel/s | 78.72 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 532.8 GTexel/s | 157.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 34.10 TFLOPS | 10.08 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 34.10 TFLOPS (1:1) | 10.08 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 230 W | 70 W |

| Slot width | Dual-slot | Not specified |

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

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | Not specified |

| Display outputs | 4x DisplayPort 1.4a | Portable Device Dependent |

| Length | 267 mm (10.5 inches) | Not specified |

| Height | 112 mm (4.4 inches) | Not specified |

| Release date | 2022-03-21 | 2021-04-11 |

| Generation | Workstation Ampere (Ax000) | Ampere-MW (Ax000) |

| Predecessor | Quadro Turing | Quadro Turing-M |

| Successor | Workstation Ada | Ada-MW |

| Transistor density | 45.1M / mm² | 44.4M / mm² |

The two cards share the same architecture, process node, foundry, bus interface, and API support. The differences are entirely in scale and physical design. The A5500 is a desktop card with a 230 W TDP and a dual-slot cooler, while the A3000 Mobile is a 70 W mobile part with no external power requirement. The A5500's larger die, higher clocks, and wider memory bus produce roughly 3.4 times the FP32 throughput and 2.9 times the memory bandwidth. The mobile card's lower clocks, 600 MHz base and 1230 MHz boost, reflect its thermal constraints, while the desktop card runs at 1080 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost. Neither card has a listed launch MSRP in the database, and both are end-of-life products with successors already named: Workstation Ada for the A5500 and Ada-MW for the A3000 Mobile.