Which RTX PRO 6000 should I buy?

There are three RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell cards. Inside, they are the same GPU with the same 96GB of memory. What differs is how each one is powered and cooled, and that decides where it can go. Choose by where the card will live, then by how many you need.

The short answer

• One card in a desktop workstation, as fast as possible: the Workstation Edition.
• Two to four cards in one desktop, or lower power and heat: the Max-Q Workstation Edition.
• A rack server in a server room or data centre: the Server Edition.

Side by side

	Workstation Edition	Max-Q	Server Edition
Goes in	A desktop workstation	A desktop workstation	A rack server
GPU memory	96GB	96GB	96GB
Max power	600W	300W	Up to 600W, adjustable
Cooling	Its own fans blow heat into the case	A blower fan pushes heat out the back	No fans of its own; relies on the server's airflow
Cards per machine	One	Up to four	As many as the server supports
FP32 performance	125 TFLOPS	110 TFLOPS	120 TFLOPS
Memory bandwidth	1,792 GB/s	1,792 GB/s	1,597 GB/s

All three can be split into up to four isolated GPUs (NVIDIA calls this MIG) and have four DisplayPort outputs.

Workstation Edition: the fastest single card

Choose it for:

• AI development and fine-tuning on one machine
• 3D rendering, simulation, video and CAD, where one fast card matters most
• Adding one top-end card to a workstation you already own

Check first: the card needs a power supply with headroom for 600W on its own, plus good case airflow. It is not designed to run alongside a second card.

Max-Q: built to be used in multiples

Choose it for:

• Multi-GPU AI training and inference in a single tower
• Models bigger than 96GB: two cards give you 192GB, four give you 384GB
• Offices where power, heat or noise is limited. At 300W, two Max-Q cards draw the same as one Workstation Edition.

Check first: it is about 12% slower than the Workstation Edition card for card, and using several needs a workstation built for multi-GPU. See One RTX PRO 6000 or several Max-Q cards?

Server Edition: for the server room

Choose it for:

• Running models for users or apps around the clock
• Sharing GPUs across a team or virtual desktops from one server
• Adding GPUs to an existing rack

Check first: it has no fans of its own, so it must go in a server designed for it. In a desktop it will overheat. See Serve models in production.

Common mistakes

• Putting a Server Edition in a desktop. It needs the strong, steady airflow of a server.
• Stacking two Workstation Editions. Each one blows hot air at the other. For more than one card, choose Max-Q.
• Forgetting the power supply. Add up every card plus the rest of the system before you buy.

Not sure which fits? Tell us where it will go and what you are running, and we will point you to the right one.