AMD FirePro D300 vs NVIDIA P106-100 Comparison

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA P106-100 wins both recorded head-to-head benchmark comparisons, and it wins them by substantial margins. Its average benchmark score of 23,249 places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the AMD FirePro D300 sits at 19,637 and the 64th percentile. For any workload where raw compute throughput matters, the P106-100 is the stronger card.

However, the choice is not purely about performance. The FirePro D300 has a critical feature that the P106-100 completely lacks: display outputs. The P106-100 is a mining-oriented card with no video outputs at all, meaning it cannot drive a monitor. If your use case involves actually seeing a picture on a screen, the FirePro D300 is the only viable option here, despite its lower scores. The P106-100 is strictly for compute tasks, headless rendering, or as a dedicated processing unit where display output is handled by another GPU.

So the verdict splits cleanly. Pick the NVIDIA P106-100 if you need raw compute performance and do not require any display connectivity. Pick the AMD FirePro D300 if you need a single-slot card with four DisplayPort outputs and are willing to sacrifice roughly 50% of the compute performance to get it.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different generations and have fundamentally different internal designs. The NVIDIA P106-100 uses the GP106 chip built on the Pascal architecture, fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. The AMD FirePro D300 uses the Pitcairn chip with the GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC.

The process node gap is significant: 16 nm versus 28 nm. This explains why the P106-100 packs 4,400 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 22.0 million per square millimeter. The FirePro D300 has 2,800 million transistors on a slightly larger 212 mm² die, giving it a density of only 13.2 million per square millimeter. The newer process allows the P106-100 to fit substantially more logic into roughly the same physical space.

Despite the architectural differences, both GPUs have exactly 1,280 shading units and 80 texture mapping units. This is a coincidence of their respective designs, but it means the core count is identical. The differences emerge elsewhere. The P106-100 has 48 raster operation units (ROPs), while the FirePro D300 has 32. The NVIDIA card also runs at much higher clocks: its base is 1,506 MHz with a boost of 1,709 MHz, while the AMD card has no recorded base or boost clock in the database. The memory clocks differ too: the P106-100 runs GDDR5 at 2,002 MHz (8 Gbps effective), and the FirePro D300 runs GDDR5 at 1,270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective).

The API support also differs. The P106-100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The FirePro D300 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA card has a more recent Vulkan implementation and a higher DirectX feature level.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains two direct comparisons between these GPUs, and the NVIDIA P106-100 wins both.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the P106-100 scores 35,951 against the FirePro D300's 19,515. That is a delta of 84.2%, meaning the NVIDIA card is nearly twice as fast in this compute-oriented test. This is the largest performance gap between the two cards in any recorded metric.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the P106-100 scores 32,897 against 19,759 for the FirePro D300. The delta is 66.5%, still a commanding lead. The Vulkan test shows a slightly smaller gap than OpenCL, but the direction is the same: the P106-100 is decisively faster.

It is notably the FirePro D300 has no recorded result in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, while the P106-100 scores 899 in that test. The database does not provide a comparison there, but the single entry suggests the NVIDIA card is capable in modern DirectX 12 workloads. The FirePro D300's lack of a score in this test is itself informative: it indicates either the card was not tested or it could not run the workload.

The average benchmark scores reinforce the head-to-head results. The P106-100 averages 23,249 across all recorded benchmarks, while the FirePro D300 averages 19,637. That is a 18.4% difference in favor of the NVIDIA card, though the exact delta is not listed in the database. The percentile ranks confirm the same story: 68th versus 64th.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two GPUs in the database:

• Process node: 16 nm (NVIDIA) versus 28 nm (AMD)
• Transistors: 4,400 million versus 2,800 million
• Die size: 200 mm² versus 212 mm²
• Transistor density: 22.0M / mm² versus 13.2M / mm²
• Base clock: 1,506 MHz versus none recorded
• Boost clock: 1,709 MHz versus none recorded
• Memory clock: 2,002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) versus 1,270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective)
• Memory size: 6 GB versus 2 GB
• Memory bus width: 192 bit versus 256 bit
• Memory bandwidth: 192.2 GB/s versus 162.6 GB/s
• ROPs: 48 versus 32
• Pixel rate: 82.03 GPixel/s versus 27.20 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 136.7 GTexel/s versus 68.00 GTexel/s
• FP32: 4.375 TFLOPS versus 2.176 TFLOPS
• FP16: 68.36 GFLOPS (1:64) versus none recorded
• TDP: 120 W versus 150 W
• Slot width: Dual-slot versus Single-slot
• Power connectors: 1x 6-pin versus none recorded
• Suggested PSU: 300 W versus 450 W
• Bus interface: PCIe 1.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16
• Display outputs: No outputs versus 4x DisplayPort 1.2
• DirectX support: 12 (12_1) versus 12 (11_1)
• Vulkan support: 1.4 versus 1.2.170
• Dimensions: 250 mm (9.8 inches) versus 242 mm (9.5 inches)
• Release date: 2017-06-18 versus 2014-01-17
• Predecessor: none recorded versus FirePro Terascale
• Successor: none recorded versus Radeon Instinct

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has more memory?

A: The NVIDIA P106-100 has 6 GB of GDDR5, while the AMD FirePro D300 has 2 GB of GDDR5. The NVIDIA card also has higher memory bandwidth at 192.2 GB/s versus 162.6 GB/s, despite using a narrower 192-bit bus compared to the AMD card's 256-bit bus.

Q: Can the NVIDIA P106-100 be used for display output?

A: No. The P106-100 has no display outputs at all. The AMD FirePro D300, by contrast, has 4x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, making it the only one of the two that can directly drive monitors.

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA P106-100 in OpenCL?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the P106-100 scores 35,951 versus 19,515 for the FirePro D300, a delta of 84.2%. That is nearly double the performance.

Q: What is the difference in power consumption?

A: The NVIDIA P106-100 has a TDP of 120 W and requires a 300 W power supply. The AMD FirePro D300 has a TDP of 150 W and requires a 450 W power supply. Despite being the faster card, the P106-100 consumes less power and needs a smaller PSU.

Q: Which card supports a newer version of Vulkan?

A: The NVIDIA P106-100 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD FirePro D300 supports Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA card also has a higher DirectX feature level: 12_1 versus 11_1.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: Both are end-of-life. The NVIDIA P106-100 was released in 2017, and the AMD FirePro D300 was released in 2014.

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA P106-100 wins on: raw compute performance in every recorded benchmark, memory capacity and bandwidth, pixel and texture fill rates, FP32 throughput, power efficiency, and API version support. Its 4.375 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is exactly double the FirePro D300's 2.176 TFLOPS. Its pixel rate of 82.03 GPixel/s is three times higher than the AMD card's 27.20 GPixel/s. The texture rate also favors NVIDIA: 136.7 GTexel/s versus 68.00 GTexel/s. The P106-100 is the clear choice for any workload that is compute-bound, whether that is machine learning inference, scientific simulation, or rendering tasks that do not require a display.

AMD FirePro D300 wins on: display connectivity, physical size, and bus interface. It is a single-slot card with four DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, making it usable as a workstation GPU in a chassis where slot space is limited. It also uses PCIe 3.0 x16, which is a more modern bus interface than the P106-100's PCIe 1.0 x16. The FirePro D300 has a wider 256-bit memory bus, though this does not translate into higher bandwidth due to its lower memory clock. Its predecessor is "FirePro Terascale" and its successor is "Radeon Instinct", indicating a lineage in professional computing.

The practical breakdown: If you need to see a picture, use the FirePro D300. If you need maximum compute throughput and can live without display output, use the P106-100. There is no scenario in the recorded data where the AMD card wins a benchmark, so its advantages are entirely in connectivity and form factor. The P106-100's 68th percentile ranking versus the FirePro D300's 64th percentile confirms that the NVIDIA card is not just faster in direct comparisons but also sits higher in the overall GPU hierarchy in the database.