AMD Instinct MI100 vs NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Instinct MI100 compare to the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal in raw compute performance?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, the AMD Instinct MI100 scores 139,035 points, which is 108.5% higher than the TITAN X Pascal's 66,696 points. The MI100 also ranks at the 96th percentile among all GPUs, while the TITAN X Pascal sits at the 91st percentile.

Q: What are the memory specifications of these two cards?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100 features 32 GB of HBM2 memory with a 4096-bit bus and 1.23 TB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal has 12 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 384-bit bus with 480.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal has a boost clock of 1531 MHz, while the AMD Instinct MI100 boosts to 1502 MHz. The TITAN X Pascal also has a higher base clock at 1417 MHz versus 1000 MHz for the MI100.

Q: Are there any display outputs on the AMD Instinct MI100?

A: No, the AMD Instinct MI100 has no display outputs. The NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal includes 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Q: What is the power consumption difference between the two cards?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100 has a TDP of 300 W and requires a 700 W suggested power supply. The NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal has a TDP of 250 W and a 600 W suggested power supply.

Q: What is the manufacturing process for each GPU?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100 is built on TSMC's 7 nm process, while the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal uses TSMC's 16 nm process. The MI100 packs 25,600 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, compared to 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die for the TITAN X Pascal.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Instinct MI100 is built on the CDNA 1.0 architecture with the Arcturus chip, representing AMD's dedicated compute-focused design. The NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal uses the Pascal architecture with the GP102 chip, a derivative of the GeForce 10 generation. This fundamental architectural split explains the vast performance and feature differences between the two cards.

The manufacturing process tells a clear story of generational advancement. The MI100 is fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm node with 25,600 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 34.1M per mm². The TITAN X Pascal uses the older 16 nm process with 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die, resulting in 25.1M transistors per mm². The smaller node allows the MI100 to pack more than twice the transistor count into a larger physical area.

Compute resources differ dramatically. The MI100 fields 7,680 shading units, 480 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The TITAN X Pascal counters with 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. This means the MI100 has more than double the shader count and TMU count, though the TITAN X Pascal has 50% more ROPs, which contributes to its higher pixel throughput.

Memory architecture is another key differentiator. The MI100 uses 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit interface with 1.23 TB/s bandwidth. The TITAN X Pascal relies on 12 GB of GDDR5X across a 384-bit bus with 480.4 GB/s bandwidth. The MI100's HBM2 stack provides roughly 2.5 times the memory bandwidth, a critical advantage for data-intensive workloads.

The MI100 supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the TITAN X Pascal uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The TITAN X Pascal retains display outputs and full graphics API support with DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The MI100 is a compute-only accelerator with no display outputs and no graphics API support listed.

Power delivery also differs: the MI100 draws 300 W TDP through dual 8-pin power connectors, while the TITAN X Pascal consumes 250 W via a 6-pin and 8-pin combination. Both cards are dual-slot designs with nearly identical physical dimensions, the MI100 at 267 mm in length and the TITAN X Pascal at 267 mm as well.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single head-to-head benchmark between these two cards: Geekbench OpenCL. The results are decisive. The AMD Instinct MI100 scores 139,035 points against the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal's 66,696 points, a delta of 108.5% in favor of the MI100. This means the MI100 more than doubles the TITAN X Pascal's raw compute score.

Context from the nearest rivals reinforces the MI100's position. The MI100's closest competitor is the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB with an average score of 138,063, a mere 0.7% behind. The Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB trails by 0.9% with 137,731 points. This places the MI100 in elite accelerator territory, slightly ahead of one of NVIDIA's most respected data center GPUs.

The TITAN X Pascal's nearest rivals tell a different story. It sits within 1.8% of several AMD cards, including the Radeon Pro Vega 64 at 72,379 points (0.4% behind) and the Radeon RX 6650M at 71,768 points (0.5% behind). The TITAN X Pascal's average benchmark score of 72,098 places it in the mid-range of the database, a stark contrast to the MI100's 139,035 average.

The FP32 compute figures align with the benchmark results. The MI100 delivers 23.07 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the TITAN X Pascal manages 10.97 TFLOPS. The MI100's FP16 throughput is 46.14 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, whereas the TITAN X Pascal achieves only 171.5 GFLOPS with a 1:64 ratio, making it essentially unusable for half-precision workloads.

Pixel and texture rates show a more nuanced picture. The TITAN X Pascal leads in pixel throughput at 147.0 GPixel/s versus the MI100's 96.13 GPixel/s, thanks to its 96 ROPs. However, the MI100 dominates texture throughput at 721.0 GTexel/s versus 342.9 GTexel/s, reflecting its 480 TMUs. The MI100's advantage in texture work is roughly 2.1 times, while the TITAN X Pascal's pixel rate advantage is about 1.5 times.

The MI100 also holds a significant memory bandwidth advantage at 1.23 TB/s compared to 480.4 GB/s for the TITAN X Pascal. This bandwidth gap, combined with the 32 GB versus 12 GB capacity difference, makes the MI100 substantially better suited for large datasets and memory-bound computations.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Instinct MI100 | NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal |

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

| Architecture | CDNA 1.0 | Pascal |

| Chip | Arcturus | GP102 |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 16 nm |

| Transistors | 25,600 million | 11,800 million |

| Die Size | 750 mm² | 471 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 34.1M / mm² | 25.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1000 MHz | 1417 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1502 MHz | 1531 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1200 MHz 2.4 Gbps effective | 1251 MHz 10 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 32 GB | 12 GB |

| Memory Type | HBM2 | GDDR5X |

| Memory Bus | 4096 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 1.23 TB/s | 480.4 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 7680 | 3584 |

| TMUs | 480 | 224 |

| ROPs | 64 | 96 |

| Pixel Rate | 96.13 GPixel/s | 147.0 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 721.0 GTexel/s | 342.9 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 23.07 TFLOPS | 10.97 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 46.14 TFLOPS (2:1) | 171.5 GFLOPS (1:64) |

| TDP | 300 W | 250 W |

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

| Suggested PSU | 700 W | 600 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX | N/A | 12 (12_1) |

| OpenGL | N/A | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | N/A | 1.4 |

| Width | Not specified | 40 mm 1.6 inches |

| Release Date | 2020-11-15 | 2016-08-01 |

| Predecessor | Radeon Instinct | GeForce 900 |

| Successor | None listed | GeForce 20 |

The Verdict

The AMD Instinct MI100 is the clear compute winner. Its 108.5% lead in Geekbench OpenCL over the TITAN X Pascal is backed by a 2.1 times advantage in FP32 throughput, a 2.1 times advantage in texture rate, and a 2.5 times advantage in memory bandwidth. The MI100's 32 GB of HBM2 memory and 46.14 TFLOPS of FP16 performance make it a purpose-built accelerator for compute-heavy environments, and its placement at the 96th percentile, just ahead of the Tesla V100 family, confirms its standing among elite data center GPUs.

The NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal appeals to a different use case. It is a graphics-capable card with display outputs, full DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 support. Its higher base and boost clocks, 1417 MHz and 1531 MHz respectively, reflect a design tuned for consumer workloads. Its 96 ROPs deliver a 147.0 GPixel/s pixel rate, 1.5 times higher than the MI100. For tasks that require rasterization, display connectivity, or traditional graphics APIs, the TITAN X Pascal is the functional choice. Its 91st percentile ranking and proximity to cards like the Radeon Pro Vega 64 and Radeon RX 6650M show it remains competitive in its class despite its 2016 release.

The choice comes down to workload type. The MI100 is for compute acceleration without any display output, requiring a system with a separate graphics solution. The TITAN X Pascal is a self-contained graphics card that can also handle compute duties, but with less than half the FP32 throughput and a fraction of the memory bandwidth. The MI100's 300 W TDP and dual 8-pin power requirement are modest for the performance on offer, while the TITAN X Pascal's 250 W draw and single 8-pin plus 6-pin connectors make it easier to integrate into consumer systems.

The TITAN X Pascal's GPU is also well behind in transistor count at 11,800 million versus 25,600 million, and its 16 nm process is two generations removed from the MI100's 7 nm node. While the TITAN X Pascal retains a pixel rate advantage and full graphics API support, the MI100's dominance in memory capacity, bandwidth, FP32, FP16, and texture throughput makes it the superior accelerator for computation. Users prioritizing raw compute should select the MI100; users needing a display-capable card with graphics API support should consider the TITAN X Pascal.