AMD Instinct MI100 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D vs AMD Instinct MI100

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D and AMD Instinct MI100 occupy fundamentally different positions in the GPU landscape, despite both being end-of-life products. The RTX 4090 D is a consumer-oriented Ada Lovelace part with a 98th percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the MI100 is a CDNA 1.0 compute accelerator sitting at the 96th percentile. Their average benchmark scores diverge sharply: the RTX 4090 D posts 178,050, while the MI100 manages 139,035 — a gap of roughly 28% in aggregate performance. The data available for direct comparison is limited to a single shared workload, Geekbench OpenCL, where the NVIDIA card leads by 100.4%. This review walks through what each card does best, where the benchmarks place them relative to their peers, and which specific specifications explain the performance chasm.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4090 D wins the only head-to-head benchmark available in the dataset, and it does so decisively. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA card scores 278,621 against the MI100's 139,035, a 100.4% advantage that effectively doubles the AMD card's output. This single data point sets the tone: the RTX 4090 D is the clear winner in raw compute workloads that leverage OpenCL, which is the only common test both cards ran. The NVIDIA card also carries three benchmark entries in total — Steel Nomad DX12 at 8,587 and Vulkan at 246,941 — whereas the MI100 has only the one OpenCL result. That absence of Vulkan and DirectX data for the MI100 reflects its lack of display outputs and its N/A API support for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan; the card is not designed for graphics workloads at all.

The MI100's wins, if any, must be inferred from its specification sheet rather than benchmark results. It offers 32 GB of HBM2 memory on a 4096-bit bus, yielding 1.23 TB/s of bandwidth, compared to the RTX 4090 D's 24 GB GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus at 1.01 TB/s. The AMD card also draws 300 W versus 425 W, and fits in a dual-slot form factor with 2x 8-pin connectors, making it a more modest power footprint. However, in terms of raw benchmark scores, the MI100 does not win any of the tests where both have data. Its 139,035 OpenCL score sits just 0.7% above the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB, which is its closest rival, while the RTX 4090 D's 178,050 average is 2.2% below the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell. The data shows the MI100's advantage is in memory capacity and bandwidth, not in benchmark victories.

The Verdict

For anyone choosing between these two based strictly on benchmark data, the RTX 4090 D is the overwhelming pick. It doubles the MI100's OpenCL score, holds a 98th percentile rank versus 96th, and supports a full suite of graphics APIs including DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The MI100, by contrast, has no display outputs and lists N/A for all three major graphics APIs, making it unsuitable for any interactive or rendering workload that relies on standard graphics pipelines. The RTX 4090 D also delivers 73.54 TFLOPS of FP32 performance against the MI100's 23.07 TFLOPS, a 3.2x gap in single-precision compute.

The MI100 does offer a meaningful advantage in memory configuration: 32 GB versus 24 GB, and 1.23 TB/s versus 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. For workloads that are memory-capacity-bound or bandwidth-limited, such as large inference batches or scientific simulations with massive datasets, the MI100's HBM2 stack could be the deciding factor. However, the benchmark data does not capture any such workload — the only shared test shows the NVIDIA card winning outright. The verdict from the numbers: the RTX 4090 D is the superior all-round performer, while the MI100 is a specialized memory-rich compute card that loses the only measured comparison. Pick the RTX 4090 D for general compute and graphics, or the MI100 only if you specifically need its 32 GB HBM2 capacity and can live with a 41% lower average benchmark score.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole direct comparison in the dataset is Geekbench OpenCL, which is a compute-centric workload that exercises the GPU's raw processing capabilities across a range of operations. The RTX 4090 D scores 278,621, while the MI100 scores 139,035. The delta percentage is 100.4%, meaning the NVIDIA card is more than twice as fast in this test. To put that in context, the MI100's score places it just 0.7% above the Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB and 0.9% above the Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB, which are older NVIDIA compute cards. The RTX 4090 D's score, meanwhile, sits 2.2% below the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell and 3.1% below the A100 SXM4 80 GB, indicating it is in a much higher performance tier.

Why is the gap so large? The RTX 4090 D has 14,592 shading units, 456 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, compared to the MI100's 7,680 shading units, 480 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The NVIDIA card's pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s versus 96.13 GPixel/s for the AMD part, and its texture rate is 1,149.1 GTexel/s against 721.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput difference — 73.54 TFLOPS to 23.07 TFLOPS — is the most direct explanation for the OpenCL result. Additionally, the RTX 4090 D's boost clock of 2520 MHz is far above the MI100's 1502 MHz boost, and while the MI100 has more memory bandwidth, that advantage does not compensate for the 3.2x FP32 deficit in this particular workload.

The MI100 does have one specification that could help in memory-bound scenarios: 1.23 TB/s of bandwidth versus 1.01 TB/s, a 22% advantage. But the benchmark data shows no test where that bandwidth translates into a win. The closest the MI100 comes to a rival is its 0.7% edge over the Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB, which itself is an older architecture. In every measured comparison, the RTX 4090 D is the faster card by a wide margin.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D has an average benchmark score of 178,050, while the AMD Instinct MI100 has an average of 139,035. The RTX 4090 D is roughly 28% higher.

Q: What is the performance difference in the only head-to-head test?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4090 D scores 278,621 versus 139,035 for the MI100, a delta of 100.4% in favor of NVIDIA.

Q: Does the MI100 support standard graphics APIs?

A: No. The MI100 lists DirectX as N/A, OpenGL as N/A, and Vulkan as N/A, and it has no display outputs. The RTX 4090 D supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: Which card has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The MI100 has 32 GB of HBM2 memory on a 4096-bit bus with 1.23 TB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4090 D has 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do the cards rank relative to their closest rivals?

A: The RTX 4090 D is 2.2% below the RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell and 3.1% below the A100 SXM4 80 GB. The MI100 is 0.7% above the Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB and 0.9% above the Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB.

Q: What is the FP32 compute difference?

A: The RTX 4090 D delivers 73.54 TFLOPS of FP32, while the MI100 delivers 23.07 TFLOPS — a 3.2x advantage for NVIDIA.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on entirely different architectures from different eras. The RTX 4090 D uses the AD102 chip with the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. The MI100 uses the Arcturus chip with the CDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC with 25,600 million transistors on a larger 750 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: the NVIDIA chip packs 125.3 million transistors per mm², while the AMD chip manages just 34.1 million per mm². This density advantage is a direct result of the newer process node.

The RTX 4090 D includes 114 ray-tracing cores and 456 tensor cores, while the MI100 has no RT cores and no tensor cores listed. The NVIDIA card also has 14,592 shading units, 456 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, whereas the MI100 has 7,680 shading units, 480 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The MI100's higher TMU count is notable but does not translate into texture rate dominance — the RTX 4090 D achieves 1,149.1 GTexel/s against 721.0 GTexel/s because of its much higher clock speeds. The boost clock difference is stark: 2520 MHz for NVIDIA versus 1502 MHz for AMD.

Memory architecture also diverges fundamentally. The RTX 4090 D uses GDDR6X with a 384-bit bus, while the MI100 uses HBM2 with a 4096-bit bus. The MI100's memory runs at 1200 MHz with 2.4 Gbps effective, yielding 1.23 TB/s, while the RTX 4090 D's memory runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective, yielding 1.01 TB/s. The MI100's wider bus and HBM2 stacking give it more bandwidth, but the NVIDIA card's GDDR6X achieves respectable bandwidth with far fewer memory pins.

Specification Differences

The key specification differences are as follows. The RTX 4090 D has a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, while the MI100 has a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost clock of 1502 MHz. The NVIDIA card's memory operates at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective, versus 1200 MHz with 2.4 Gbps effective for the AMD card. Memory size differs: 24 GB GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus for NVIDIA, 32 GB HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus for AMD. Bandwidth is 1.01 TB/s versus 1.23 TB/s.

Compute resources differ substantially: the RTX 4090 D has 14,592 shading units, 456 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 114 RT cores, and 456 tensor cores. The MI100 has 7,680 shading units, 480 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with no RT or tensor cores. Pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s for NVIDIA versus 96.13 GPixel/s for AMD, and texture rate is 1,149.1 GTexel/s versus 721.0 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 73.54 TFLOPS versus 23.07 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 73.54 TFLOPS (1:1) for NVIDIA versus 46.14 TFLOPS (2:1) for AMD.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The RTX 4090 D has a TDP of 425 W, is triple-slot, uses a 1x 16-pin connector, and recommends an 800 W PSU. The MI100 has a TDP of 300 W, is dual-slot, uses 2x 8-pin connectors, and recommends a 700 W PSU. The NVIDIA card measures 304 mm in length, 137 mm in height, and 61 mm in width, while the AMD card measures 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height with no width listed. The RTX 4090 D has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the MI100 has no display outputs. The launch MSRP for the RTX 4090 D is 1,599 USD; the MI100 has no launch MSRP listed. Both cards use PCIe 4.0 x16 interfaces, and both are end-of-life products.