Quadro RTX A6000 vs Quadro RTX 3000 Max-Q

Place in the ranking	255	38
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	10.30
Power efficiency	24.83	13.52
Architecture	Turing (2018−2022)	Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code name	TU106	GA102
Market segment	Mobile workstation	Workstation
Release date	27 May 2019 (5 years ago)	5 October 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$4,649

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	2304	10752
Core clock speed	600 MHz	1410 MHz
Boost clock speed	1215 MHz	1800 MHz
Number of transistors	10,800 million	28,300 million
Manufacturing process technology	12 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	60 Watt	300 Watt
Texture fill rate	175.0	604.8
Floating-point processing power	5.599 TFLOPS	38.71 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	112
TMUs	144	336
Tensor Cores	288	336
Ray Tracing Cores	36	84

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop size	large	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	no data	267 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	8-pin EPS

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR6	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	48 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	1750 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	448.0 GB/s	768.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	No outputs	4x DisplayPort 1.4a
G-SYNC support	+	-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

VR Ready

no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 Ultimate (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.5	6.7
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	3.0
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.3
CUDA	7.5	8.6

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

RTX 3000 Max-Q 21.40

RTX A6000 58.28
+172%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

RTX 3000 Max-Q 8255

RTX A6000 22482
+172%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

RTX 3000 Max-Q 17523

RTX A6000 50957
+191%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

RTX 3000 Max-Q 13617

RTX A6000 27511
+102%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

RTX 3000 Max-Q 66284

RTX A6000 113167
+70.7%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	74 −138%	176 +138%
1440p	46 −185%	131 +185%
4K	32 −281%	122 +281%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	no data	26.41
1440p	no data	35.49
4K	no data	38.11

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

30−35

−118%

70−75
+118%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50 −87.2%	85−90 +87.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	60 −20%	70−75 +20%
Battlefield 5	70−75 −90%	130−140 +90%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	65 −29.2%	80−85 +29.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 −118%	70−75 +118%
Far Cry 5	50−55 −78%	85−90 +78%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 −78.9%	100−110 +78.9%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 −51.5%	190−200 +51.5%
Hitman 3	88 −1.1%	85−90 +1.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−110 −67.6%	170−180 +67.6%
Metro Exodus	70−75 −77%	130−140 +77%
Red Dead Redemption 2	77 −23.4%	95−100 +23.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	70−75 −117%	150−160 +117%
Watch Dogs: Legion	95−100 −38.9%	130−140 +38.9%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50 −87.2%	85−90 +87.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	50 −44%	70−75 +44%
Battlefield 5	70−75 −90%	130−140 +90%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	59 −42.4%	80−85 +42.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 −118%	70−75 +118%
Far Cry 5	50−55 −78%	85−90 +78%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 −78.9%	100−110 +78.9%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 −51.5%	190−200 +51.5%
Hitman 3	66 −34.8%	85−90 +34.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−110 −67.6%	170−180 +67.6%
Metro Exodus	70−75 −77%	130−140 +77%
Red Dead Redemption 2	67 −41.8%	95−100 +41.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	70−75 −313%	293 +313%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	45−50 −83%	85−90 +83%
Watch Dogs: Legion	95−100 −38.9%	130−140 +38.9%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50 −87.2%	85−90 +87.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	44 −63.6%	70−75 +63.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45 −86.7%	80−85 +86.7%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−35 −118%	70−75 +118%
Far Cry 5	50−55 −78%	85−90 +78%
Forza Horizon 4	130−140 −51.5%	190−200 +51.5%
Hitman 3	59 −50.8%	85−90 +50.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn	100−110 −120%	224 +120%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	70−75 −306%	288 +306%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	52 −246%	180 +246%
Watch Dogs: Legion	33 −300%	130−140 +300%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−43.9%

95−100
+43.9%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	40−45 −97.6%	80−85 +97.6%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 −93.9%	60−65 +93.9%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	21−24 −105%	45−50 +105%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	20−22 −130%	45−50 +130%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	32 −53.1%	45−50 +53.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 −162%	30−35 +162%
Far Cry 5	24−27 −92%	45−50 +92%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 −91.7%	230−240 +91.7%
Hitman 3	24−27 −120%	55−60 +120%
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45 −377%	210 +377%
Metro Exodus	40−45 −57.5%	63 +57.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50 −449%	247 +449%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 −148%	60−65 +148%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 −58.4%	190−200 +58.4%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−53.2%

70−75
+53.2%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −100%	40−45 +100%
Far Cry New Dawn	16−18 −119%	35−40 +119%
Hitman 3	24 −41.7%	30−35 +41.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	110−120 −69.4%	180−190 +69.4%
Metro Exodus	21−24 −135%	50−55 +135%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	34 −329%	146 +329%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	12−14 −123%	27−30 +123%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	19 −42.1%	27−30 +42.1%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	16 −68.8%	27−30 +68.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −200%	14−16 +200%
Far Cry 5	12−14 −108%	24−27 +108%
Forza Horizon 4	27−30 −100%	55−60 +100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 −496%	149 +496%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12 −75%	21−24 +75%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

−54.2%

35−40
+54.2%

This is how RTX 3000 Max-Q and RTX A6000 compete in popular games:

RTX A6000 is 138% faster in 1080p
RTX A6000 is 185% faster in 1440p
RTX A6000 is 281% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RTX A6000 is 496% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Without exception, RTX A6000 surpassed RTX 3000 Max-Q in all 72 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	21.40	58.28
Recency	27 May 2019	5 October 2020
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	48 GB
Chip lithography	12 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	60 Watt	300 Watt

RTX 3000 Max-Q has 400% lower power consumption.

RTX A6000, on the other hand, has a 172.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 700% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 50% more advanced lithography process.

The Quadro RTX A6000 is our recommended choice as it beats the Quadro RTX 3000 Max-Q in performance tests.

Be aware that Quadro RTX 3000 Max-Q is a mobile workstation card while Quadro RTX A6000 is a workstation one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.