GPU Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A4500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D occupy vastly different positions in the GPU landscape. The A4500 is an end-of-life workstation part built on the Ampere architecture, while the 5090 D is an active Blackwell 2.0 flagship. Across the three benchmark tests where both cards appear, the RTX 5090 D wins outright, with the A4500 failing to secure a single victory. However, the A4500’s average benchmark score of 91,671 is actually higher than the 5090 D’s 77,712, a discrepancy driven by the 5090 D’s inclusion of lower-scoring Passmark tests. This creates a nuanced picture where raw compute wins and aggregate averages tell different stories.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 D dominates in every head-to-head benchmark available. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 14,326 against the A4500’s 3,196, a delta of -77.7% from the A4500’s perspective. This is a synthetic DirectX 12 test that stresses modern gaming workloads, and the 5090 D’s 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 170 RT cores simply overwhelm the A4500’s 23.65 TFLOPS and 56 RT cores. The 5090 D also leads in Geekbench OpenCL, posting 310,674 versus 141,837, and in Geekbench Vulkan, with 376,915 versus 129,980. These are general-purpose compute tests, indicating the 5090 D is not just a gaming card but also a compute monster.

The A4500’s only competitive edge is in aggregate score stability. Its average benchmark score of 91,671 places it in the 93rd percentile of all GPUs, while the 5090 D, despite its raw speed, sits at the 92nd percentile with an average of 77,712. This is because the 5090 D’s benchmark suite includes Passmark DX9, DX10, DX11, and DX12 tests with scores ranging from 219 to 434, which drag down its average. The A4500 has no Passmark entries, so its average is computed solely from its three high-scoring Geekbench and 3DMark results. For users who rely on average scores as a proxy for consistent performance across diverse workloads, the A4500 looks more balanced, but the 5090 D wins on any single modern test.

The Verdict

Pick the RTX 5090 D if you need maximum performance in DirectX 12, OpenCL, or Vulkan workloads. The data is unambiguous: it is 77.7% ahead in Steel Nomad, 54.3% ahead in OpenCL, and 65.5% ahead in Vulkan. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, versus the A4500’s 20 GB GDDR6 at 640.0 GB/s. For rendering, AI inference, or high-end gaming, the 5090 D is the faster card by a wide margin.

Pick the A4500 only if your workload is legacy-bound or you specifically need a dual-slot card with a single 8-pin connector. The A4500’s 200 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU are far more modest than the 5090 D’s 575 W TDP and 950 W PSU requirement. It also has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs versus the 5090 D’s single HDMI 2.1b and three DisplayPort 2.1b. The A4500 is end-of-life, so it may be available in used markets, but its performance is simply not in the same league. The 5090 D is the clear choice for anyone prioritizing benchmark scores, with the A4500 reserved for niche compatibility scenarios.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest gap is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The 5090 D scores 14,326, which is 4.5 times the A4500’s 3,196. This test leverages ray tracing and mesh shaders, where the 5090 D’s 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores provide a massive advantage. The A4500’s 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores are not remotely competitive. The delta of -77.7% means the A4500 is operating at less than a quarter of the 5090 D’s performance in this workload.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the 5090 D scores 376,915, a 65.5% improvement over the A4500’s 129,980. Vulkan is a low-level API that scales well with raw compute resources, and the 5090 D’s 21,760 shading units dwarf the A4500’s 7,168. The 5090 D also benefits from a 5 nm TSMC process versus the A4500’s 8 nm Samsung node, allowing higher clocks at 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, compared to 1050 MHz and 1650 MHz respectively.

Geekbench OpenCL shows a 54.3% lead for the 5090 D, with scores of 310,674 versus 141,837. OpenCL is often memory-bound, and the 5090 D’s 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is nearly three times the A4500’s 640.0 GB/s. The 5090 D also has a wider 512-bit bus versus 320-bit, and faster GDDR7 memory at 28 Gbps effective versus 16 Gbps. Even the 5090 D’s texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s is over four times the A4500’s 369.6 GTexel/s, reinforcing its dominance across all measured dimensions.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 has a higher average benchmark score of 91,671, compared to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D’s 77,712. However, the 5090 D’s average is lowered by its inclusion of Passmark DX9-12 tests, which score between 219 and 434.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest gap is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the RTX 5090 D scores 14,326 versus the RTX A4500’s 3,196, a delta of -77.7% in favor of the 5090 D.

Q: How do their memory systems compare?

A: The RTX 5090 D has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The RTX A4500 has 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus with 640.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 5090 D’s memory is also clocked at 28 Gbps effective versus 16 Gbps.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the A4500 wins?

A: No. In the head-to-head data, the RTX 5090 D wins all three tests: 3DMark Steel Nomad, Geekbench OpenCL, and Geekbench Vulkan. The A4500 records zero wins.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX A4500 has a 200 W TDP and requires a 550 W suggested PSU with a single 8-pin connector. The RTX 5090 D has a 575 W TDP and requires a 950 W suggested PSU with a single 16-pin connector.

Q: Which card has better display output options?

A: The RTX A4500 offers four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The RTX 5090 D offers one HDMI 2.1b and three DisplayPort 2.1b outputs. The 5090 D supports newer standards, but the A4500 has more total DisplayPort connections.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on entirely different architectures and process nodes. The RTX A4500 uses the GA102 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process, featuring 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die. The RTX 5090 D uses the GB202 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process, packing 92,200 million transistors into a 750 mm² die. The transistor density difference is stark: 45.1M per mm² for the A4500 versus 122.9M per mm² for the 5090 D, a 2.7x improvement in density.

Core configurations diverge significantly. The A4500 has 7,168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The 5090 D has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Ray tracing and tensor cores also scale up: the A4500 offers 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, while the 5090 D has 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. This translates to 23.65 TFLOPS FP32 for the A4500 versus 104.8 TFLOPS for the 5090 D. Pixel and texture rates follow suit, with the 5090 D hitting 423.6 GPixel/s and 1,636.8 GTexel/s versus the A4500’s 158.4 GPixel/s and 369.6 GTexel/s.

The A4500 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm long and 112 mm high, while the 5090 D is also dual-slot but larger at 304 mm long, 137 mm high, and 48 mm wide. The A4500 uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the 5090 D uses PCIe 5.0 x16. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, but the 5090 D is from the GeForce 50-series generation, whereas the A4500 is from the Workstation Ampere generation. The A4500 is end-of-life and succeeded by Workstation Ada, while the 5090 D is active and preceded by GeForce 40. The 5090 D’s launch MSRP is 2,299 USD.