What can the full Ampere do? NVIDIA Quadro RTX A6000 with 48 GB VRAM as a 8K and 5K card in a first gaming test – pure decadence and a small victory against the GeForce RTX 3090

1 - Introduction, Technical Data, Test System 2 - Gaming in 8K, 5K and 4K in World War Z (Vulkan) 3 - 8K Benchmarks with different TGP classes in Chernobylite 4 - Summary and Conclusion

Of course, what I’m doing today is just a first taste of what’s to come later in full glory. But large workloads also take time to prepare, because it’s supposed to add real value. And that’s where I’ll be bringing a larger review, which will then include the usual things like teardown, power consumption, power supply tests, acoustic chambers, etc. in addition to benchmarks from production use. So that you (and I) don’t have to wait too long until then, here is an early part with games in higher resolutions and first impressions of the new, large Ampere card.

The GA102 used in the Quadro RTX A6000 has all 7 GPC (Graphics Processor Cluster) with 12 SM (Streaming Multiprocessor) each in the uncut maximum configuration, which then means 10,752 CUDA cores. As is known, two SM are deactivated in the GeForce RTX 3090, which results in “only” 10,496 ALUs and thus corresponds to 97.6%. So it is rather unlikely that a consumer card could be added here in the full version. Jensen Huang’s codename “BFGPU” for the GeForce RTX 3090, which ultimately means nothing more than “Big Ferocious GPU”, will probably remain the maximum version for consumers. But today is about more, because today I want everything. Can it run Crysis? Yes, that too, but much more.

You already know it from the tools, because everything that you have to earn money with, costs the same and not too little. The target group is actually complete, because the specialist in visualization is addressed as well as the creator, for whom a Quadro RTX is not too expensive. It is the desired object of all those who need graphics and computing power in one, who want to have a lot of ECC memory and who depend on the certified drivers. Whereby the price is put into perspective when you consider what you can do with such cards in the production area and ultimately also earn.

Theory, well, it’s nice to take along, but now it’s straight down to the nitty gritty. The case of the card is a visually appealing mix of light metal, plastic and hardware, which feels quite valuable and also lives from the nice look. The design with the slim 3.5 cm installation depth including the 4 mm backplate makes this card a true dual-slot design with all known advantages and hardly any disadvantages.

It implies performance and good cooling all in one, and I may spoil now that it is the quietest radial fan on a 300 watt card I have ever run next to. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. NVIDIA has a few tricks up its sleeve here, but you can only see them by looking inside and at the radial fan used. Incidentally, the new type of fan may suck from both sides, also a very interesting variant.

With 1168 grams, the card isn’t even that extremely heavy, but it’s not ultra-light either, which is due to the cooler and the very massive, squat construction. The length of just under 27 cm is standard for the class and also the installation height of 10.5 cm from the upper edge of the PCIe slot with the card installed to the top of the cover is fully within the standard. Nvidia has hidden the NVLINK port behind a cap.

Interestingly, the card’s 8-pin EPS connector is analogous to the motherboard’s 8-pin EPS. Here you could either connect a suitable EPS cable directly or 2x 6+2-pin PCIe via the included adapter. NVIDIA has it with Ampere thus really with new ways with the connection of the power supply.

The four DisplayPort 1.4 ports deliver up to 7680 x 4320 pixels at 60 Hz and can handle a maximum of 4 displays. The rest of the slot bezel is for hot air removal and yes, it even works as a hair dryer. But more on that another time.

The data of the Quadro RTX A6000 is shown in the latest GPU-Z screenshot, the rest I already mentioned above. The 1410 MHz base and 1800 MHz boost clocks aren’t bad, and the GDDR6 memory runs at a full 2000 MHz. By the way, Resizeable BAR is also on board.

On the basis of the extract we also see that a TBP of 300 watts is deposited and also cannot be exceeded.

Again, I have a table for all statisticians among you, before it really gets going from the next page on.

Test system and evaluation software

The benchmark system is new and is now no longer in the lab, but back in the editorial office. I now also use PCIe 4.0, the matching X570 motherboard in the form of an MSI MEG X570 Godlike and a Ryzen 9 5950X that has been overclocked with water cooling. Add to that the matching DDR4 3800 RAM, as well as several fast NVMe SSDs. For direct logging during all games and applications I also use NVIDIA’s PCAD, which increases the comfort immensely.

The measurement of the power consumption and other things takes place here in the special laboratory on a redundant and in detail identical test system then double-tracked by means of high-resolution oscillograph technology…

…and the self-created MCU-based measurement setup for motherboards graphics cards (pictures below), where at the end in the air-conditioned room also the thermographic infrared images are created with a high-resolution industrial camera. The audio measurements are done outside in my chamber.

I have also summarized the individual components of the test system in a table: