NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile vs NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB are both end-of-life NVIDIA parts aimed at very different segments, one a mobile workstation GPU built on Ampere, the other a Pascal-era datacenter accelerator. The recorded data makes this one of the clearest cross-generational comparisons in the database: a single shared benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, decisively favors the newer mobile part, with a margin of 56.5 percent. What follows is a step-by-step walk through the numbers, the architectural gaps behind them, and where each card still makes sense.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two GPUs share exactly one common test in the database, so the head-to-head picture rests on a single but decisive data point.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A5500 Mobile scores 124287 against 79396 for the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB, a delta of 56.5 percent in favor of the A5500 Mobile. That is not a marginal generational step, it is a crushing gap, and it is consistent with the raw spec differences: 22.27 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput versus 9.526 TFLOPS, more than double the compute capacity.

Context from each card's rival set sharpens the picture. The A5500 Mobile's average benchmark score of 113944 places it within striking distance of the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB, which averages 114395, just 0.4 percent ahead. It sits 2.7 percent behind the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation (117088), 2.9 percent behind the NVIDIA GB10 (117393), and 2.9 percent ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 (110725). In other words, the A5500 Mobile competes in a modern professional tier.

The Tesla P100's average score of 79396 tells a different story. Its nearest rivals include the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79605 (0.3 percent ahead), the GeForce RTX 5090 at 79842 (0.6 percent ahead) in this database's scoring, the Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78940 (0.6 percent behind it), and the Radeon Pro Vega 64X at 80959 (1.9 percent ahead). The P100 holds its own in that cluster but cannot reach the tier the A5500 Mobile occupies.

The A5500 Mobile also carries a second recorded result the P100 lacks: a Geekbench Vulkan score of 103601, which alone exceeds the P100's OpenCL average by roughly 30 percent, and it does so through a different API path. The head-to-head record stands at one win for the A5500 Mobile and zero for the P100.

The Verdict

For any workload measured by this database, the RTX A5500 Mobile is the stronger choice. It wins the only shared benchmark by 56.5 percent, offers more than twice the FP32 throughput, doubles the memory capacity (16 GB versus 12 GB), and includes hardware the P100 simply does not have: 58 RT cores and 232 tensor cores. It also does so at a lower power draw, 165 W against the P100's 250 W TDP, and over a newer PCIe 4.0 x16 interface.

The P100's case is narrower but real. Its HBM2 memory on a 3072-bit bus delivers 549.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which actually exceeds the A5500 Mobile's 512.0 GB/s, and its FP16 throughput of 19.05 TFLOPS runs at a 2:1 ratio that narrows the gap to the A5500 Mobile's 22.27 TFLOPS FP16. For bandwidth-bound or FP16-heavy compute in a fixed datacenter dual-slot form factor, the P100 retains relevance. Note that its launch MSRP was 4,599 USD.

Everything else points to the A5500 Mobile.

Architecture Differences

The generational gap is wide. The A5500 Mobile uses the GA103 chip on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, fabbed by Samsung on an 8 nm process, with 22,000 million transistors on a 496 mm² die for a density of 44.4M per mm². The Tesla P100 uses the GP100 chip on Pascal, fabbed by TSMC on 16 nm, with 15,300 million transistors on a much larger 610 mm² die, yielding only 25.1M per mm². The A5500 Mobile packs more transistors into a smaller die on a denser node, and it shows in every throughput figure.

Core counts diverge sharply. The A5500 Mobile has 7424 shading units against 3584, 232 texture units against 224, and 96 ROPs on both sides. The A5500 Mobile adds 58 RT cores and 232 tensor cores; the P100 has neither. Clocking differs in character: the P100 runs a tighter base-to-boost range (1190 MHz to 1329 MHz), while the A5500 Mobile boosts higher, from a 975 MHz base to 1500 MHz.

Memory philosophy is the sharpest contrast. The A5500 Mobile uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus at 16 Gbps effective, for 512.0 GB/s. The P100 uses 12 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus at 1430 Mbps effective, for 549.1 GB/s. The P100's wider, slower, high-bandwidth approach edges out the A5500 Mobile on bandwidth while ceding capacity.

The A5500 Mobile belongs to the Ampere-MW (Ax000) generation, succeeded by Ada-MW, with Quadro Turing-M as its predecessor. The P100 belongs to the Tesla Pascal (Pxx) generation, preceded by Tesla Maxwell and succeeded by Tesla Volta. Release dates are far apart: 2022-03-21 for the A5500 Mobile and 2016-06-19 for the P100.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster overall?

A: The RTX A5500 Mobile. It wins the shared Geekbench OpenCL benchmark 124287 to 79396, a 56.5 percent advantage, and its 94th percentile ranking against all GPUs in the database edges the P100's 92nd percentile.

Q: Does the Tesla P100 have any advantage?

A: Yes, memory bandwidth: 549.1 GB/s from its HBM2 memory versus 512.0 GB/s for the A5500 Mobile's GDDR6. Its FP16 throughput of 19.05 TFLOPS is also closer to the A5500 Mobile's 22.27 TFLOPS than the FP32 comparison suggests.

Q: Can either GPU do ray tracing or AI acceleration in hardware?

A: Only the RTX A5500 Mobile, which has 58 RT cores and 232 tensor cores. The Tesla P100 has neither.

Q: Which supports newer graphics APIs?

A: The A5500 Mobile: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, versus DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3 on the P100. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: How do power requirements compare?

A: The A5500 Mobile has a 165 W TDP with no external power connectors, while the P100 draws 250 W, needs one 8-pin connector, and carries a suggested 600 W PSU.

Q: Are these still in production?

A: No, both are listed as end-of-life.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX A5500 Mobile wins on general GPU compute, OpenCL throughput, pixel fill (144.0 GPixel/s versus 127.6), texture throughput (348.0 GTexel/s versus 297.7), ray-traced and AI-accelerated workloads via its RT and tensor cores, FP32-heavy compute, memory capacity, and platform modernity (PCIe 4.0 x16, newer API levels, Vulkan results recorded at 103601). It is also the pick where power efficiency matters, delivering its wins at 165 W versus 250 W.

The Tesla P100 wins on memory bandwidth, at 549.1 GB/s versus 512.0 GB/s, and on FP16 efficiency relative to its FP32 (a 2:1 ratio producing 19.05 TFLOPS). It also wins on form-factor clarity for rack integration: it is a dual-slot card with a defined 267 mm length and an 8-pin connector, whereas the A5500 Mobile's dimensions and outputs depend on the portable device it ships in.

Specification Differences

• Chip: GA103 (A5500 Mobile) versus GP100 (P100)
• Architecture: Ampere versus Pascal
• Generation: Ampere-MW (Ax000) versus Tesla Pascal (Pxx)
• Process node: 8 nm at Samsung versus 16 nm at TSMC
• Transistors: 22,000 million versus 15,300 million
• Die size: 496 mm² versus 610 mm²
• Transistor density: 44.4M/mm² versus 25.1M/mm²
• Clocks: 975 MHz base / 1500 MHz boost versus 1190 MHz base / 1329 MHz boost
• Memory: 16 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, 512.0 GB/s versus 12 GB HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus, 549.1 GB/s
• Shading units: 7424 versus 3584
• TMUs: 232 versus 224
• RT cores: 58 versus none
• Tensor cores: 232 versus none
• Pixel rate: 144.0 GPixel/s versus 127.6 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 348.0 GTexel/s versus 297.7 GTexel/s
• FP32: 22.27 TFLOPS versus 9.526 TFLOPS
• FP16: 22.27 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 19.05 TFLOPS (2:1)
• TDP: 165 W versus 250 W
• Power connectors: none versus one 8-pin; suggested PSU of 600 W applies to the P100 only
• Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16
• Display outputs: portable device dependent versus none
• DirectX: 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus 12 (12_1); Vulkan 1.4 versus 1.3
• Slot width: unspecified versus dual-slot; length 267 mm versus unspecified
• Release date: 2022-03-21 versus 2016-06-19
• Predecessor/successor: Quadro Turing-M to Ada-MW versus Tesla Maxwell to Tesla Volta
• Launch MSRP: not recorded for the A5500 Mobile; 4,599 USD for the P100