Gaming takes a backseat as Nvidia overhauls the RTX 5090 for maximum AI margins — RTX Pro 5500 delivers 2.6X VRAM at matching specs

The GeForce RTX 5090 is undeniably one of the best graphics cards money can buy. Banking on the fact that many already use it for AI, Nvidia has bolstered it with even more memory and launched it as the new RTX 5500 Pro Blackwell Workstation Edition. It offers comparable specifications to the GeForce RTX 5090 but distinguishes itself with 84GB of GDDR7 memory, 2.6X more than the Blackwell gaming flagship.

The RTX Pro 5500 features the GB202 silicon, the powerhouse die that powers other high-end mainstream and professional Blackwell graphics cards, including the GeForce RTX 5090, RTX Pro 6000, and RTX Pro 5000. In fact, the RTX Pro 5500 uses the same die as the GeForce RTX 5090, which means 170 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs) are enabled out of a possible 192. As a result, the RTX Pro 5500 has 21,760 CUDA cores and offers performance comparable to the GeForce RTX 5090. The differentiator is the memory subsystem, where the RTX Pro 5500 excels.

Nvidia equipped the RTX Pro 5500 with 84GB of GDDR7 memory. This is the second time Nvidia has launched a graphics card with 84GB of memory, with the first being the China-exclusive RTX Pro 6000D. The RTX Pro 5500's memory capacity lets the Blackwell graphics card sit comfortably between the RTX Pro 5000 and the upgraded RTX Pro 6000, with 72GB and 96GB of GDDR7 memory, respectively.

Nvidia RTX Pro 5500 Workstation Edition Specifications

Nvidia achieved the 84GB memory capacity by outfitting the RTX Pro 5500 with 28 GDDR7 memory chips in a clamshell configuration. Each side of the PCB houses 14 24Gb (3GB) GDDR7 memory modules. They run at 25 Gb/s across a 448-bit memory interface, delivering up to 1,400 GB/s of bandwidth, which aligns with Nvidia’s official specification of 1,398 GB/s. In other words, the RTX Pro 5500 shares the same memory subsystem as the RTX Pro 6000D.

Samsung, Micron, and SK hynix only produce standard 28 Gb/s memory packages. Therefore, Nvidia downclocks the RTX Pro 5500's GDDR7 chips for its own reasons, whether to meet thermal and power targets or avoid cannibalizing higher-tier SKUs. From a memory-bandwidth perspective, the RTX Pro 5500 is not particularly impressive. Its bandwidth is only 4% ahead of the RTX Pro 5000, and it lags 22% behind both the flagship RTX Pro 6000 and the GeForce RTX 5090, which fully leverage 28 Gb/s GDDR7 memory chips.

To sum it all up, if RTX Pro 6000D and GeForce RTX 5090 had a child, it would be the RTX Pro 5500. Nvidia's main motivation was to launch the RTX Pro 5500 to fill the large performance and pricing gap between the RTX Pro 6000 and RTX Pro 5000. Also, the chipmaker makes substantially more profit by putting recycled GB202 into an RTX Pro 5500 than into a GeForce RTX 5090. By giving the former more memory with similar core specifications as the latter, Nvidia seemingly hopes to win more customers over to the RTX Pro 5500.

We reached out to both Nvidia and PNY for official pricing on the RTX Pro 5500, but neither company has responded. For reference, the flagship RTX Pro 6000 retails for $15,599, while an RTX Pro 5000 72GB starts at $9,209. Given the RTX Pro 5500's role as a bridge between the two models, it is reasonable to expect its launch price to fall somewhere within this range.

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