NVIDIA RTX A4500 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell Comparison

The Verdict

The data separates these two workstation cards cleanly. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell is the clear performance leader, winning all three head-to-head benchmarks with massive margins. Its average benchmark score of 182,109 places it in the 98th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A4500's average of 91,671 sits in the 93rd percentile. The Blackwell card delivers roughly 2x the performance in the recorded tests, and it does so with newer architecture, more memory, and faster memory technology.

The RTX A4500 is an end-of-life product with a 2021 release date, and it shows in the numbers. It is not a bad card, it is simply from a previous generation. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell should be the choice for anyone needing maximum compute throughput, larger memory capacity for complex scenes, or the latest connectivity. The RTX A4500 remains relevant only for workloads where its 20 GB memory and 23.65 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are sufficient, and where the user is comfortable with an older platform. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell is the default recommendation from this data, with its 98th percentile standing and 300 W power envelope.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different generations and foundries. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell uses the GB202 chip built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, while the RTX A4500 uses the GA102 chip on an 8 nm process at Samsung. This process gap is a major factor in the performance difference. The Blackwell chip packs 92,200 million transistors into a 750 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 122.9 million per mm². The Ampere chip has 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, a density of 45.1 million per mm². The Blackwell chip has more than three times the transistor count on a die that is only about 19% larger.

The Blackwell architecture also brings faster memory. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell uses 48 GB of GDDR7 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.34 TB/s of bandwidth. The RTX A4500 uses 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus, with 640.0 GB/s of bandwidth. That is more than double the memory capacity and roughly double the bandwidth. The memory clock also differs: 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) on the Blackwell card versus 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) on the A4500.

Compute resources differ substantially. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell has 14,080 shading units, 440 TMUs, 160 ROPs, 110 RT cores, and 440 tensor cores. The RTX A4500 has 7,168 shading units, 224 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 56 RT cores, and 224 tensor cores. The Blackwell card roughly doubles every compute category. Pixel rate is 380.3 GPixel/s versus 158.4 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 1,045.9 GTexel/s versus 369.6 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 66.94 TFLOPS versus 23.65 TFLOPS, a near tripling.

Connectivity and display outputs also differ. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell uses PCIe 5.0 x16 and four DisplayPort 2.1b outputs. The RTX A4500 uses PCIe 4.0 x16 and four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. Both cards are dual-slot, and both use a single power connector, but the Blackwell card uses a 16-pin connector while the A4500 uses an 8-pin. The suggested PSU is 700 W for the Blackwell card and 550 W for the A4500. Power draw is 300 W versus 200 W. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell is longer in height at 111 mm versus 112 mm, though both share the same 267 mm length. The Blackwell card has a specified width of 40 mm, while the A4500's width is not recorded.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the recorded benchmarks?

A: The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell wins all three head-to-head tests. It scores 9,579.5 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 254,116 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 282,631 in Geekbench Vulkan. The RTX A4500 scores 3,196, 141,837, and 129,980 respectively.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell has 48 GB of GDDR7 on a 384-bit bus with 1.34 TB/s bandwidth. The RTX A4500 has 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus with 640.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the power requirement for each card?

A: The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell has a 300 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 700 W. The RTX A4500 has a 200 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 550 W.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell is listed as Active, released on 2025-03-17. The RTX A4500 is listed as End-of-life, released on 2021-11-22.

Q: Which card has more RT and tensor cores?

A: The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell has 110 RT cores and 440 tensor cores. The RTX A4500 has 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores. The Blackwell card doubles both counts.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell?

A: The launch MSRP is 5,099 USD. The RTX A4500 has no recorded launch MSRP in the database.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every recorded specification. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell uses the GB202 chip with Blackwell 2.0 architecture on a 5 nm TSMC process. The RTX A4500 uses the GA102 chip with Ampere architecture on an 8 nm Samsung process. Transistor count is 92,200 million versus 28,300 million, and die size is 750 mm² versus 628 mm². Transistor density is 122.9M per mm² versus 45.1M per mm².

Clock speeds differ: base clock is 1740 MHz versus 1050 MHz, boost clock is 2377 MHz versus 1650 MHz. Memory clocks are 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) versus 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective). Memory configuration: 48 GB GDDR7 on 384-bit versus 20 GB GDDR6 on 320-bit. Bandwidth is 1.34 TB/s versus 640.0 GB/s.

Compute resources: 14,080 shading units versus 7,168, 440 TMUs versus 224, 160 ROPs versus 96, 110 RT cores versus 56, and 440 tensor cores versus 224. Pixel rate is 380.3 GPixel/s versus 158.4 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 1,045.9 GTexel/s versus 369.6 GTexel/s. FP32 is 66.94 TFLOPS versus 23.65 TFLOPS. FP16 is also 66.94 TFLOPS on the Blackwell card versus 23.65 TFLOPS on the A4500.

Power and physical specs: TDP is 300 W versus 200 W. Power connectors are 1x 16-pin versus 1x 8-pin. Suggested PSU is 700 W versus 550 W. Bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 2.1b versus 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both are dual-slot, both are 267 mm long, and both are roughly 111-112 mm tall. The Blackwell card has a 40 mm width; the A4500 width is not recorded.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell wins all three recorded head-to-head tests. The largest margin is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the Blackwell card scores 9,579.5 against the A4500's 3,196. That is a 199.7% advantage, meaning the Blackwell card delivers roughly three times the performance in this DirectX 12 workload. This is a synthetic test that stresses the full GPU pipeline, and the result reflects the massive compute and memory bandwidth gap between the two cards.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the Blackwell card scores 282,631 versus 129,980 for the A4500, a 117.4% lead. This test benefits from the Blackwell card's higher shading unit count and faster memory subsystem. The margin here is more than double, which aligns with the core count differences between the two architectures.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the Blackwell card scores 254,116 versus 141,837, a 79.2% lead. This is the smallest margin of the three tests, but still a decisive win. OpenCL workloads often scale with raw compute throughput, and the Blackwell card's 66.94 TFLOPS FP32 output versus 23.65 TFLOPS explains the advantage. The narrower margin compared to the other tests may reflect memory bandwidth sensitivity in OpenCL workloads, where the A4500's 640.0 GB/s is less of a bottleneck relative to its compute capacity.

The overall average benchmark score tells the same story. The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell averages 182,109, while the RTX A4500 averages 91,671. That is almost exactly double the score. In the percentile rankings, the Blackwell card sits at the 98th percentile of all GPUs, while the A4500 sits at the 93rd. The nearest rivals for the Blackwell card are the NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80 GB at 183,725 (-0.9%), the RTX 5000 Ada Generation at 184,664 (-1.4%), the GeForce RTX 4090 D at 178,050 (2.3%), and the A100 SXM4 40 GB at 187,147 (-2.7%). The A4500's nearest rivals are the RTX A4500 Mobile at 91,134 (0.6%), the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 at 92,466 (-0.9%), the Quadro GP100 at 87,445 (4.8%), and the Radeon PRO W7600 at 87,108 (5.2%). The Blackwell card competes in a much higher performance class, while the A4500 sits among mid-range workstation parts.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell wins everywhere in the recorded data. It has no losing benchmark. Its 48 GB of GDDR7 memory makes it suitable for large datasets, complex 3D scenes, and workloads that exceed the A4500's 20 GB capacity. The 1.34 TB/s bandwidth versus 640.0 GB/s means memory-intensive tasks will complete faster. The 66.94 TFLOPS FP32 compute versus 23.65 TFLOPS gives it a strong advantage in simulation, rendering, and compute workloads. The 110 RT cores versus 56 suggest better ray tracing performance, and the 440 tensor cores versus 224 indicate stronger AI and deep learning throughput. The PCIe 5.0 x16 interface and DisplayPort 2.1b outputs make it the more future-proof option for modern systems and high-resolution displays.

The RTX A4500 has no benchmark wins, but it does have practical advantages. Its 200 W TDP is lower than the Blackwell card's 300 W, and its suggested PSU of 550 W versus 700 W means it can fit into systems with smaller power supplies. It uses a single 8-pin power connector, which is more common in existing workstations than the 16-pin connector on the Blackwell card. Its 20 GB memory is still substantial for many professional workloads, and its 23.65 TFLOPS FP32 is respectable for an older generation. The A4500 also occupies the same dual-slot form factor and similar physical dimensions, so it can be a drop-in replacement in systems designed for dual-slot workstation cards. For users with an existing Ampere workstation, the A4500 remains a viable option if the workload fits within its memory and compute limits. For anyone building new or upgrading for performance, the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell is the clear choice from the data.