GPU Comparison

# AMD Instinct MI100 vs NVIDIA GB10

The AMD Instinct MI100 and NVIDIA GB10 serve fundamentally different roles in the computing landscape, and benchmark data reflects this split clearly. In the only head-to-head benchmark available, the MI100 wins decisively, but the GB10 counters with architectural advantages in memory capacity, power efficiency, and newer feature support that the MI100 cannot match. The MI100 is an end-of-life compute accelerator built for raw throughput, while the GB10 is an active, integrated-grade processor designed for dense server deployments with modern AI workloads in mind.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Instinct MI100 wins in raw compute performance as measured by the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark. It scores 139035 points, which places it in the 96th percentile of all GPUs. That is a strong showing for a 2020-era accelerator, and it outperforms the NVIDIA GB10 by 15.7% in this specific test. The MI100’s 23.07 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 46.14 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (2:1 ratio) give it a substantial edge in traditional compute-heavy tasks like scientific simulation, HPC workloads, and large-scale data processing where raw floating-point throughput is the primary bottleneck.

The NVIDIA GB10 wins in everything else that matters for modern deployment scenarios. It has 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory, four times the capacity of the MI100’s 32 GB HBM2, and while its memory bandwidth of 273.2 GB/s is significantly lower than the MI100’s 1.23 TB/s, the sheer capacity allows it to hold much larger datasets and models in memory without spilling to system RAM. The GB10 also has dedicated ray tracing cores (48) and tensor cores (384), which the MI100 lacks entirely. This makes the GB10 the obvious choice for AI inference, machine learning training, and any workload that leverages tensor operations. The GB10 also draws only 140 W TDP compared to the MI100’s 300 W, making it far more power-efficient per unit of performance, and its IGP slot width means it can be integrated directly into a system without dedicated power connectors.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100. It scores 139035 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 15.7% higher than the NVIDIA GB10’s 120137 in the same test. The MI100 delivers 23.07 TFLOPS FP32 and 46.14 TFLOPS FP16, compared to the GB10’s 29.71 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio).

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The GB10 has 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory on a 256-bit bus with 273.2 GB/s bandwidth. The MI100 has 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus with 1.23 TB/s bandwidth. The MI100 offers much higher bandwidth, but the GB10 offers four times the capacity.

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing and tensor operations?

A: Only the NVIDIA GB10. It has 48 ray tracing cores and 384 tensor cores. The AMD Instinct MI100 has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed in its specifications.

Q: What are the power requirements for each?

A: The GB10 has a 140 W TDP and requires no power connectors (it is an IGP), with a suggested PSU of 300 W. The MI100 has a 300 W TDP, requires two 8-pin power connectors, and has a suggested PSU of 700 W.

Q: Which GPU has a higher clock speed?

A: The NVIDIA GB10. Its base clock is 1665 MHz and boost clock is 2418 MHz. The MI100’s base clock is 1000 MHz and boost clock is 1502 MHz.

Q: What is the production status of each GPU?

A: The MI100 is end-of-life and was released on 2020-11-15. The GB10 is active and was released on 2025-10-14, with a successor named "Server Rubin."

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, where the AMD Instinct MI100 achieves 139035 points against the NVIDIA GB10’s 120137 points. That is a 15.7% delta in favor of the MI100. This margin is meaningful but not overwhelming; it places the MI100 in the 96th percentile of all GPUs, while the GB10 sits just one percentile lower at 95th. The MI100’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB, which scores 138063 (0.7% behind), and the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB at 137731 (0.9% behind). The GB10’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon PRO W7700 at 118976 (1.3% ahead of the GB10) and the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation at 117088 (0.3% behind). These proximity scores show that both GPUs are clustered near the top of the performance spectrum, but the MI100 holds a clear edge in OpenCL compute.

The GB10 also has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 114648, which is not directly comparable to the MI100 since the MI100 only has an OpenCL benchmark listed. In terms of pixel and texture throughput, the GB10 actually leads: it produces 116.1 GPixel/s and 928.5 GTexel/s, versus the MI100’s 96.13 GPixel/s and 721.0 GTexel/s. That is a 20.8% advantage in pixel rate and a 28.8% advantage in texture rate for the GB10, despite its lower overall OpenCL score. This suggests the GB10 is better optimized for graphics-style workloads, even though neither GPU supports DirectX, OpenGL, or Vulkan APIs according to the specifications.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification category. The MI100 uses a 7 nm process node, while the GB10 uses a 5 nm node; both are fabricated by TSMC. The MI100 has 25,600 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, with a transistor density of 34.1M per mm². The GB10 has an unknown transistor count on a 382 mm² die, with no density figure provided. The MI100’s die is nearly twice the size of the GB10’s.

Clock speeds differ substantially: the MI100 runs at 1000 MHz base and 1502 MHz boost, while the GB10 runs at 1665 MHz base and 2418 MHz boost. Memory clocks also differ: the MI100 uses 1200 MHz (2.4 Gbps effective), while the GB10 uses 1067 MHz (8.5 Gbps effective). The MI100 has 7680 shading units, 480 TMUs, and 64 ROPs; the GB10 has 6144 shading units, 384 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The MI100 has more of each, but the GB10 adds 48 ray tracing cores and 384 tensor cores that the MI100 lacks.

Power and physical specifications diverge sharply. The MI100 has a 300 W TDP, requires two 8-pin power connectors, and a 700 W suggested PSU, with dual-slot width and dimensions of 267 mm length and 111 mm height. The GB10 has a 140 W TDP, no power connectors, a 300 W suggested PSU, IGP slot width, and dimensions of 150 mm length, 51 mm height, and 150 mm width. The GB10 also has a single HDMI display output, while the MI100 has no display outputs. The bus interface differs as well: the MI100 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the GB10 uses PCIe 5.0 x16.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is stark. The MI100 is built on CDNA 1.0 architecture with the Arcturus chip, part of AMD’s Instinct (MIx) generation. The GB10 is built on Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB20B chip, part of NVIDIA’s Server Blackwell (Bxx) generation. The MI100’s architecture is compute-optimized but lacks any dedicated ray tracing or tensor hardware. The GB10’s Blackwell architecture includes both, with 48 ray tracing cores and 384 tensor cores, making it explicitly designed for AI and accelerated graphics workloads.

The MI100 uses HBM2 memory, which delivers massive bandwidth (1.23 TB/s) on a 4096-bit bus. The GB10 uses LPDDR5X memory on a 256-bit bus, which provides far less bandwidth (273.2 GB/s) but allows for much larger capacity (128 GB) and lower power consumption. The FP16 performance ratio also differs: the MI100 achieves FP16 at a 2:1 ratio relative to FP32 (46.14 TFLOPS vs 23.07 TFLOPS), while the GB10 achieves a 1:1 ratio (29.71 TFLOPS for both). This means the MI100 can double its throughput on FP16 workloads, while the GB10 treats FP16 and FP32 as equivalent.

The production timeline and status are also fundamentally different. The MI100 was released on 2020-11-15, is end-of-life, and its predecessor was Radeon Instinct. The GB10 was released on 2025-10-14, is active, its predecessor was Server Hopper, and its successor is Server Rubin. The GB10 has a launch MSRP of 3,999 USD. The MI100 has no launch MSRP listed.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion: choose the AMD Instinct MI100 if your priority is maximum raw compute throughput in OpenCL-style workloads, and you have the power budget and physical space to accommodate a 300 W dual-slot card with a 700 W PSU requirement. It delivers 15.7% higher OpenCL performance than the GB10, sits in the 96th percentile of all GPUs, and its HBM2 memory provides 1.23 TB/s of bandwidth that is unmatched by the GB10’s 273.2 GB/s. This makes the MI100 better suited for HPC simulation, scientific computing, and any workload where memory bandwidth is the limiting factor.

Choose the NVIDIA GB10 if you need modern AI capabilities, large memory capacity, and power efficiency. Its 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory is four times the MI100’s capacity, its 384 tensor cores enable AI acceleration that the MI100 cannot perform at all, and its 140 W TDP with no power connectors makes it deployable in far more compact and power-constrained environments. The GB10 also has a higher boost clock (2418 MHz vs 1502 MHz), higher pixel and texture rates, and supports PCIe 5.0. Its 95th percentile standing is only one point behind the MI100, and its closest rival, the AMD Radeon PRO W7700, is only 1.3% ahead of it. The GB10’s IGP form factor and active production status make it the more future-proof and versatile option, despite losing the single head-to-head benchmark.