AMD Instinct MI100 vs AMD Radeon PRO W6600 Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL workloads?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100 delivers a Geekbench OpenCL score of 139035, which is 89.1% higher than the Radeon PRO W6600's score of 73514. This is a decisive margin in compute-heavy tasks.

Q: How do these cards compare in overall benchmark percentile?

A: The Instinct MI100 sits in the 96th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the Radeon PRO W6600 sits in the 92nd percentile. Despite the gap, both are high-ranking performers in their respective roles.

Q: Does the Radeon PRO W6600 support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes. The Radeon PRO W6600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Instinct MI100 reports N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan, reflecting its compute-only design with no display outputs.

Q: What are the memory capacities and types?

A: The Instinct MI100 has 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus with 1.23 TB/s bandwidth. The Radeon PRO W6600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The Radeon PRO W6600 achieves 165.1 GPixel/s, while the Instinct MI100 achieves 96.13 GPixel/s. The W6600 leads by a wide margin in rasterization throughput.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. Both the AMD Instinct MI100 and the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 are marked as end-of-life in the database.

Architecture Differences

The two AMD GPUs are built on entirely different architectures, reflecting their divergent purposes. The Instinct MI100 uses the Arcturus chip based on CDNA 1.0, AMD's compute-focused architecture. It is manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC with 25,600 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 34.1M per mm². The Radeon PRO W6600 uses the Navi 23 chip based on RDNA 2.0, a graphics-first architecture. It is also on TSMC's 7 nm node but packs 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die, achieving a higher density of 46.7M per mm².

The compute resource allocation differs sharply. The MI100 has 7680 shading units, 480 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The W6600 has 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, but adds 28 ray accelerators (RT cores), which the MI100 lacks entirely. This makes the W6600 the only one of the pair with hardware support for ray tracing.

Clock behavior also separates the two. The MI100 runs at a base of 1000 MHz and boosts to 1502 MHz, while the W6600 runs at a base of 2331 MHz and boosts to 2580 MHz. The W6600's much higher clocks are typical of a graphics-oriented GPU, while the MI100 emphasizes raw width and memory bandwidth.

Memory architecture is fundamentally different. The MI100 uses 32 GB of HBM2 across a 4096-bit bus, yielding 1.23 TB/s of bandwidth. The W6600 uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s. The MI100's memory system provides roughly 5.5 times the bandwidth, which is critical for large compute workloads.

The MI100 has no display outputs and reports N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan, confirming it is a compute accelerator. The W6600 has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs and full graphics API support. The MI100 is a dual-slot card with 2x 8-pin power connectors and a 300 W TDP, while the W6600 is single-slot with a single 6-pin connector and a 100 W TDP.

The Verdict

The data paints a clear picture: the AMD Instinct MI100 is a compute accelerator with a massive lead in OpenCL performance, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 is a workstation graphics card with modern API support and display outputs.

For users running OpenCL compute workloads, the MI100 is the obvious choice. Its score of 139035 is 89.1% higher than the W6600's 73514 in the same test. It also sits in the 96th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the W6600's 92nd percentile. The 32 GB of HBM2 memory with 1.23 TB/s bandwidth is suited for large datasets that would not fit in the W6600's 8 GB GDDR6 pool.

However, the MI100 cannot output video. It has no display outputs and no graphics API support. If the workload involves rendering to a screen, or if ray tracing is required, the MI100 is not viable. The W6600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and includes 28 RT cores. Its pixel rate of 165.1 GPixel/s is 71.7% higher than the MI100's 96.13 GPixel/s, making it the stronger choice for rasterization-heavy tasks.

The W6600 is also far more efficient in practical terms. Its 100 W TDP and single 6-pin connector contrast with the MI100's 300 W TDP and 2x 8-pin connectors. The suggested PSU for the W6600 is 300 W versus 700 W for the MI100. The W6600 is a single-slot card at 241 mm in length, while the MI100 is dual-slot at 267 mm.

In short: pick the MI100 for raw compute throughput and massive memory bandwidth. Pick the W6600 for graphics work, display output, ray tracing, and a much lighter power footprint. There is no overlap in their intended use cases.

Specification Differences

The table below lists only the fields where the two cards differ, based on recorded database specifications.

| Field | AMD Instinct MI100 | AMD Radeon PRO W6600 |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | Arcturus | Navi 23 |

| Architecture | CDNA 1.0 | RDNA 2.0 |

| Generation | Instinct (MIx) | Radeon Pro Navi (Navi II Series) |

| Transistors | 25,600 million | 11,060 million |

| Die Size | 750 mm² | 237 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 34.1M / mm² | 46.7M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1000 MHz | 2331 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1502 MHz | 2580 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1200 MHz 2.4 Gbps effective | 1750 MHz 14 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 32 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | HBM2 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 4096 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 1.23 TB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 7680 | 1792 |

| TMUs | 480 | 112 |

| RT Cores | No data | 28 |

| Pixel Rate | 96.13 GPixel/s | 165.1 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 721.0 GTexel/s | 289.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 23.07 TFLOPS | 9.247 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 46.14 TFLOPS (2:1) | 18.49 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 300 W | 100 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | Single-slot |

| Power Connectors | 2x 8-pin | 1x 6-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 700 W | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | 4x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX | N/A | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| OpenGL | N/A | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | N/A | 1.4 |

| Length | 267 mm 10.5 inches | 241 mm 9.5 inches |

| Height | 111 mm 4.4 inches | No data |

| Release Date | 2020-11-15 | 2021-06-07 |

| Predecessor | Radeon Instinct | Radeon Pro Vega |

| Launch MSRP | No data | 649 USD |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single direct head-to-head benchmark between these two cards: Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Instinct MI100 scored 139035, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 scored 73514. The MI100 wins by 89.1%, a margin that dwarfs the gaps seen in either card's nearest rival comparisons.

For context, the MI100's nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB at 138063 (0.7% behind), the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB at 137731 (0.9% behind), the AMD Radeon PRO V620 at 136472 (1.9% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo at 135774 (2.4% behind). The MI100 leads this group by less than 3% across the board, meaning its OpenCL performance is essentially at parity with the fastest Tesla V100 variants.

The W6600's nearest rivals are a different class entirely. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80959 (1.3% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 scores 79842 (2.7% behind), the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79605 (3% behind), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79396 (3.3% behind). The W6600's average benchmark score of 81995 places it slightly ahead of the RTX 5090 in this particular database metric, an interesting result given the consumer positioning of that card.

The 89.1% delta between the MI100 and W6600 is far larger than any delta among their respective rival groups. This indicates that the two cards are not competing in the same performance tier at all. The MI100's score places it in the 96th percentile of all GPUs, while the W6600's score lands in the 92nd percentile, but the raw gap in OpenCL is the dominant story.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Instinct MI100 wins in compute throughput. Its OpenCL score of 139035 is 89.1% ahead of the W6600. It delivers 23.07 TFLOPS FP32 and 46.14 TFLOPS FP16, versus 9.247 TFLOPS and 18.49 TFLOPS for the W6600. Texture rate is 721.0 GTexel/s versus 289.0 GTexel/s. The 32 GB HBM2 memory with 1.23 TB/s bandwidth provides 5.5 times the bandwidth of the W6600's 8 GB GDDR6, making it the clear choice for large compute datasets.

AMD Radeon PRO W6600 wins in graphics and display workloads. It has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the MI100 has none. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, all of which are N/A on the MI100. The W6600's pixel rate of 165.1 GPixel/s exceeds the MI100's 96.13 GPixel/s by 71.7%. It also includes 28 RT cores for ray-traced workloads, which the MI100 lacks entirely.

AMD Radeon PRO W6600 wins in power and physical footprint. The W6600 has a 100 W TDP and requires a single 6-pin connector with a 300 W suggested PSU. The MI100 has a 300 W TDP, requires 2x 8-pin connectors, and a 700 W suggested PSU. The W6600 is single-slot at 241 mm length, while the MI100 is dual-slot at 267 mm length and 111 mm height.

AMD Instinct MI100 wins in raw memory capacity. 32 GB of HBM2 versus 8 GB of GDDR6 is a fourfold difference in capacity. For workloads that spill past 8 GB, the MI100 is the only viable option between the two.

AMD Radeon PRO W6600 wins in clock speed. Its boost clock of 2580 MHz is 71.8% higher than the MI100's 1502 MHz boost. Its base clock of 2331 MHz is more than double the MI100's 1000 MHz base. These clocks drive the W6600's higher pixel rate despite its smaller shader count.

AMD Instinct MI100 wins in API-agnostic compute leadership. Its percentile rank of 96 versus the W6600's 92, combined with its position ahead of Tesla V100 variants in the nearest rival list, shows it belongs to a higher performance class in compute benchmarks.