NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile decisively outperforms the NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile in every benchmark recorded, establishing itself as the superior mobile workstation GPU based on raw compute and graphics throughput. The data shows a consistent and significant performance gap, with the A5500 Mobile leading by 18% in OpenCL compute and a substantial 34.6% in Vulkan graphics workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking difference between the two mobile GPUs emerges in the Vulkan graphics test. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile scored 103,601 points, while the NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile managed 76,960 points. This translates to a 34.6% advantage for the A5500 Mobile, a massive margin that indicates a fundamental difference in graphics processing capability. This gap is not marginal; it represents a clear tier separation in real-world rendering and graphics-intensive tasks.

In the Geekbench OpenCL compute benchmark, the A5500 Mobile again takes the lead, scoring 124,287 against the A4500 Mobile's 105,307. The 18% delta is substantial, though less dramatic than the Vulkan gap. This result suggests that while both GPUs are capable of handling demanding compute workloads, the A5500 Mobile processes them with considerably more efficiency and speed.

The average benchmark score reinforces this narrative. The A5500 Mobile averages 113,944 points, placing it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. The A4500 Mobile, while still a strong performer at the 93rd percentile, averages just 91,134 points. This 22,810-point difference in average scores highlights a consistent, not isolated, performance advantage for the A5500 Mobile across different testing methodologies.

The A5500 Mobile's performance positioning against its rivals provides additional context. Its average score of 113,944 places it 2.9% above the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 and just 2.7% below the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation. It sits nearly neck-and-neck with the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB, trailing by a mere 0.4%. In contrast, the A4500 Mobile's average of 91,134 places it 4.2% above the NVIDIA Quadro GP100 and 4.6% above the AMD Radeon PRO W7600, but it trails the NVIDIA RTX A4500 by 0.6% and the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 by 1.4%. The data clearly shows the A5500 Mobile competes in a higher performance bracket than the A4500 Mobile.

The Verdict

The verdict is unambiguous: the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile is the faster GPU. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks, achieving a 2-0 sweep. For any application where raw graphics performance or compute throughput is the primary concern, the A5500 Mobile is the clear choice based on the data.

The A4500 Mobile is not a weak GPU; its 93rd percentile ranking proves it is a capable performer. However, it is outclassed by the A5500 Mobile in every measured metric. The 34.6% deficit in Vulkan performance is particularly telling, as it suggests the A4500 Mobile will struggle to keep pace in scenarios that heavily utilize the graphics pipeline.

Users should select the A5500 Mobile when maximum performance is non-negotiable. The data does not support choosing the A4500 Mobile for performance reasons. The A4500 Mobile's only potential advantage would be in scenarios where its lower power draw is a critical factor, though the performance trade-off is severe. The benchmark results indicate that the A5500 Mobile is the definitive choice for users who prioritize speed and responsiveness in professional applications.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile wins in all measured categories. Its dominance is most pronounced in Vulkan graphics, where the 34.6% lead suggests superior geometry processing, rasterization, and driver-level optimization. This makes it the preferred option for real-time rendering, 3D modeling viewports, and any application that leverages the Vulkan API.

In OpenCL compute, the A5500 Mobile's 18% advantage indicates stronger raw compute throughput. This benefits workloads such as GPU-accelerated simulation, data processing, and general-purpose computing tasks that utilize the OpenCL framework. The higher shading unit count and texture mapping unit count in the A5500 Mobile contribute directly to this compute advantage.

The A4500 Mobile has no benchmark wins in this data set. While it retains a high percentile ranking, it is consistently behind the A5500 Mobile. Its performance is closer to desktop-class GPUs like the NVIDIA RTX A4500 and the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60, but it does not reach the performance tier of the A5500 Mobile. The A4500 Mobile's wins, if any, would be in power efficiency, as it is rated for a lower TDP, but this is not a performance metric.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Vulkan graphics benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile is significantly faster, scoring 103,601 compared to the RTX A4500 Mobile's 76,960, a 34.6% advantage.

Q: How large is the performance gap in OpenCL compute?

A: The RTX A5500 Mobile leads with a score of 124,287 versus the RTX A4500 Mobile's 105,307, resulting in an 18% performance delta.

Q: What are the average benchmark scores for both GPUs?

A: The RTX A5500 Mobile averages 113,944 points, while the RTX A4500 Mobile averages 91,134 points.

Q: How does the RTX A5500 Mobile compare to its nearest rivals?

A: It is 2.9% faster than the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 and just 2.7% slower than the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation and 2.9% slower than the NVIDIA GB10.

Q: How does the RTX A4500 Mobile stack up against its competition?

A: It is 4.2% faster than the NVIDIA Quadro GP100 and 4.6% faster than the AMD Radeon PRO W7600, but it is 0.6% slower than the NVIDIA RTX A4500 and 1.4% slower than the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX A5500 Mobile ranks in the 94th percentile, one point higher than the RTX A4500 Mobile's 93rd percentile.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture and use Samsung's 8 nm process node, giving them identical transistor densities of 44.4M per mm². The key architectural difference lies in the physical silicon. The RTX A5500 Mobile uses the GA103 chip, while the RTX A4500 Mobile uses the GA104 chip. This difference in chip selection accounts for the performance disparity.

The GA103 chip in the A5500 Mobile is a larger and more complex die, measuring 496 mm² and containing 22,000 million transistors. The GA104 chip in the A4500 Mobile is smaller at 392 mm² with 17,400 million transistors. This physical size difference translates directly into a higher resource count for the A5500 Mobile.

The A5500 Mobile features 7,424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, 58 ray tracing cores, and 232 tensor cores. The A4500 Mobile is configured with 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, 46 ray tracing cores, and 184 tensor cores. The A5500 Mobile has 1,536 more shading units, 48 more TMUs, 12 more RT cores, and 48 more tensor cores. Both GPUs maintain 96 raster operation units. This substantial increase in execution resources is the primary driver behind the A5500 Mobile's superior benchmark scores.

The architectural similarity in process node and memory subsystem means the performance difference is purely a function of the larger, more powerful GA103 silicon in the A5500 Mobile. The A4500 Mobile's GA104 is a cut-down version, offering a capable but lower-end implementation of the same fundamental architecture.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal a clear hierarchy, with the RTX A5500 Mobile positioned above the RTX A4500 Mobile in almost every meaningful metric. Both are end-of-life products released on the same date, with the same predecessor and successor generations, but their internal specifications diverge significantly.

Chip & Die: The A5500 Mobile uses the GA103 chip, while the A4500 Mobile uses the GA104. The A5500 Mobile's die is 496 mm², larger than the A4500 Mobile's 392 mm². Transistor count also differs, with the A5500 Mobile packing 22,000 million transistors versus 17,400 million in the A4500 Mobile.

Clock Speeds: The base clock is slightly higher on the A5500 Mobile at 975 MHz compared to 930 MHz on the A4500 Mobile. Both GPUs share the same boost clock of 1500 MHz and the same memory clock of 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective).

Compute Resources: The A5500 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 TMUs, 58 RT cores, and 232 tensor cores. The A4500 Mobile has 5,888 shading units, 184 TMUs, 46 RT cores, and 184 tensor cores. Both have 96 ROPs.

Performance Metrics: The A5500 Mobile achieves a pixel rate of 144.0 GPixel/s, identical to the A4500 Mobile. However, the texture rate differs, with the A5500 Mobile hitting 348.0 GTexel/s compared to 276.0 GTexel/s for the A4500 Mobile. FP32 and FP16 performance are both rated at 22.27 TFLOPS for the A5500 Mobile, while the A4500 Mobile is rated at 17.66 TFLOPS.

Power: The A5500 Mobile is rated for a TDP of 165 W, which is 25 W higher than the A4500 Mobile's 140 W TDP.

Shared Specifications: Both GPUs feature 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. They share the same PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, display outputs, and API support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The memory subsystem is identical, meaning the bandwidth advantage of the A5500 Mobile comes solely from its greater compute throughput, not memory speed.