NVIDIA RTX A5000 vs NVIDIA Tesla M60 Comparison

# NVIDIA RTX A5000 vs NVIDIA Tesla M60

The NVIDIA RTX A5000 and NVIDIA Tesla M60 represent two very different eras of NVIDIA professional hardware. The A5000, built on the Ampere architecture, is a modern workstation GPU with 24 GB of GDDR6 memory and full ray tracing support. The Tesla M60, a Maxwell-based accelerator from 2015, targets datacenter virtualization workloads with 8 GB of GDDR5. The benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap, with the A5000 winning both recorded head-to-head tests by margins exceeding 300%. However, the M60 still holds relevance in specific legacy use cases, as its 75th percentile ranking among all GPUs demonstrates.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX A5000 dominates in every recorded benchmark category. In Geekbench OpenCL, the A5000 scores 157,905 points versus the Tesla M60's 29,506, a 435.2% advantage. The Vulkan test tells a similar story: 137,828 against 31,473, which is 337.9% higher. These are not marginal improvements; they represent a generational leap in raw compute throughput.

The A5000's win conditions extend across multiple benchmark suites. Its Passmark G3D score of 22,541 and GPU compute score of 12,455 place it firmly in the upper tier of workstation graphics. The card also achieves 78th percentile performance among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 33,622. This puts it in direct competition with consumer cards like the GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB (average score 33,694, only 0.2% higher) and the Radeon RX 7700S (33,849, 0.7% higher).

The Tesla M60, despite its age, wins in one specific context: it is a dual-chip datacenter accelerator with no display outputs, designed for server environments where rendering is offloaded. Its average benchmark score of 30,490 places it at the 75th percentile, which is surprisingly close to the A5000's 78th percentile given the massive per-test deltas. The M60's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA CMP 70HX (30,476, 0% difference) and the Radeon RX 6700 (30,433, 0.2% lower), suggesting it still holds its own in aggregate compute workloads.

The data implies that the A5000 wins for any task requiring modern graphics features, high memory bandwidth, or ray tracing. The M60 wins only in scenarios where legacy driver support or specific virtualization features are mandatory, and even then, its performance ceiling is far lower.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is substantial. The RTX A5000 uses the GA102 chip on Samsung's 8 nm process, packing 28,300 million transistors into a 628 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 45.1 million per mm². The Tesla M60 relies on the GM204 chip from TSMC's 28 nm node, with 5,200 million transistors across 398 mm², giving a density of 13.1 million per mm². The A5000's process advantage allows for more than five times the transistor count in a die that is only 58% larger.

Clock speeds differ dramatically. The A5000 runs at 1170 MHz base and 1695 MHz boost, while the M60 operates at 557 MHz base and 1178 MHz boost. The memory systems are equally divergent: the A5000 uses 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus with 2000 MHz memory clock (16 Gbps effective), delivering 768.0 GB/s bandwidth. The M60 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 1253 MHz memory clock (5 Gbps effective), yielding only 160.4 GB/s. This 4.8x bandwidth difference heavily influences compute-heavy workloads.

The compute unit counts tell the story of architectural evolution. The A5000 features 8192 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, 96 raster output units, 64 RT cores, and 256 tensor cores. The M60 has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with no RT or tensor cores. This absence of dedicated ray tracing and AI hardware is a fundamental limitation for modern workloads. The A5000 achieves 27.77 TFLOPS FP32 and 27.77 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio), while the M60 manages only 4.825 TFLOPS FP32 with no FP16 support listed.

Power requirements also differ. The A5000 draws 230 W TDP with a suggested 550 W PSU, while the M60 consumes 300 W and recommends a 700 W PSU. Both are dual-slot cards with a single 8-pin connector and identical 267 mm length. The A5000 offers four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the M60 has no display outputs at all, confirming its server-only orientation.

The Verdict

The data unequivocally favors the RTX A5000 for any interactive or graphics-intensive workload. Its 435.2% lead in OpenCL and 337.9% lead in Vulkan are not contestable. The A5000's 24 GB memory capacity, 768.0 GB/s bandwidth, and 27.77 TFLOPS FP32 performance make it suitable for modern rendering, simulation, and AI tasks. Its 78th percentile ranking and average score of 33,622 place it alongside capable consumer GPUs, meaning it is not a niche product but a broadly competitive one.

The Tesla M60 should only be chosen by organizations with existing Maxwell-based infrastructure or specific virtualization requirements that preclude newer hardware. Its 75th percentile ranking is respectable for a 2015 product, but the absolute performance is 5.8x lower in OpenCL. The M60's 8 GB memory and 160.4 GB/s bandwidth will bottleneck any large dataset. Its lack of RT and tensor cores means no hardware acceleration for modern graphics features.

For most buyers, the A5000 is the clear choice. It is newer, faster, more power-efficient per unit of performance, and has display outputs for workstation use. The M60 is a legacy part, and the data shows no scenario where it outperforms the A5000. The only reason to consider the M60 is if software compatibility forces a Maxwell-era device, but that is a narrowing use case.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX A5000 has 768.0 GB/s bandwidth from 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus. The Tesla M60 has 160.4 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus.

Q: Does the Tesla M60 support ray tracing?

A: No. The M60 has no RT cores listed, while the A5000 includes 64 RT cores. The A5000 also has 256 tensor cores, which the M60 lacks.

Q: How do the two compare in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The A5000 scores 137,828, which is 337.9% higher than the M60's 31,473. This is the smaller of the two head-to-head deltas, but still a massive margin.

Q: What is the process node difference?

A: The A5000 uses Samsung's 8 nm process, while the M60 uses TSMC's 28 nm node. This enables the A5000 to pack 28,300 million transistors versus 5,200 million.

Q: Are both cards dual-slot?

A: Yes, both are dual-slot designs with a single 8-pin power connector. The A5000 has a 230 W TDP, while the M60 has a 300 W TDP.

Q: Which card has display outputs?

A: The RTX A5000 has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The Tesla M60 has no display outputs, indicating its datacenter-only design.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two recorded direct comparisons show overwhelming A5000 dominance. In Geekbench OpenCL, the A5000 scores 157,905 against the M60's 29,506. This 435.2% delta is the largest margin in the dataset. The OpenCL test exercises general-purpose compute, and the A5000's 8192 shading units and 27.77 TFLOPS FP32 simply overwhelm the M60's 2048 shading units and 4.825 TFLOPS.

The Geekbench Vulkan result is closer but still decisive: 137,828 for the A5000 versus 31,473 for the M60, a 337.9% advantage. Vulkan is a modern graphics API, and the M60's lack of RT cores and tensor cores likely contributes to the gap. Even without ray tracing workloads, the A5000's higher clock speeds (1695 MHz boost vs 1178 MHz) and memory bandwidth (768.0 GB/s vs 160.4 GB/s) provide a fundamental advantage.

These two wins account for all head-to-head tests in the database. The A5000 wins 2, the M60 wins 0. The average benchmark scores reinforce this: 33,622 for the A5000 versus 30,490 for the M60. While the average gap is only 10.3%, this is misleading because the averages include different test suites. The direct comparisons are the most reliable indicators, and they show a 4x to 5x performance difference.

Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the two GPUs:

• Chip: GA102 (A5000) vs GM204 (M60)
• Architecture: Ampere vs Maxwell 2.0
• Generation: Workstation Ampere (Ax000) vs Tesla Maxwell (Mxx)
• Process node: 8 nm Samsung vs 28 nm TSMC
• Transistors: 28,300 million vs 5,200 million
• Die size: 628 mm² vs 398 mm²
• Transistor density: 45.1M per mm² vs 13.1M per mm²
• Base clock: 1170 MHz vs 557 MHz
• Boost clock: 1695 MHz vs 1178 MHz
• Memory clock: 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) vs 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective)
• Memory size: 24 GB vs 8 GB
• Memory type: GDDR6 vs GDDR5
• Memory bus: 384 bit vs 256 bit
• Memory bandwidth: 768.0 GB/s vs 160.4 GB/s
• Shading units: 8192 vs 2048
• Texture mapping units: 256 vs 128
• Raster output units: 96 vs 64
• RT cores: 64 vs none
• Tensor cores: 256 vs none
• Pixel rate: 162.7 GPixel/s vs 75.39 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 433.9 GTexel/s vs 150.8 GTexel/s
• FP32 performance: 27.77 TFLOPS vs 4.825 TFLOPS
• FP16 performance: 27.77 TFLOPS (1:1) vs not listed
• TDP: 230 W vs 300 W
• Suggested PSU: 550 W vs 700 W
• Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 vs PCIe 3.0 x16
• Display outputs: 4x DisplayPort 1.4a vs no outputs
• DirectX support: 12 Ultimate (12_2) vs 12 (12_1)
• Release date: April 2021 vs August 2015
• Predecessor: Quadro Turing vs Tesla Kepler
• Successor: Workstation Ada vs Tesla Pascal
• Card height: 112 mm (A5000) vs not listed
• Average benchmark score: 33,622 vs 30,490
• Percentile vs all GPUs: 78 vs 75