AMD Radeon 680M vs NVIDIA P106-090 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear split between the AMD Radeon 680M and NVIDIA P106-090 depending on the workload. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the NVIDIA P106-090 takes a decisive victory, scoring 509 against the AMD Radeon 680M's 378, a delta of 25.7% in favor of NVIDIA. This is the only benchmark where the NVIDIA part wins, but it wins by a substantial margin. The AMD Radeon 680M, however, dominates the compute-oriented Geekbench tests.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon 680M scores 23,468, which is 10.2% higher than the NVIDIA P106-090's 21,304. The gap widens in Geekbench Vulkan, where the AMD part scores 21,965 versus 18,596, giving it an 18.1% lead. Overall, the AMD Radeon 680M claims 2 out of 3 benchmark wins, while the NVIDIA P106-090 takes 1.

The average benchmark score across all recorded tests favors the AMD Radeon 680M at 15,270, compared to the NVIDIA P106-090's 13,470. This places the AMD part in the 57th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA part sits in the 54th percentile. The aggregate picture is clear: the AMD Radeon 680M has the higher average performance, but the NVIDIA P106-090 holds a distinct advantage in DirectX 12 workloads as measured by 3DMark Steel Nomad.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA P106-090 wins decisively, scoring 509 against the AMD Radeon 680M's 378, a 25.7% lead.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon 680M has an average benchmark score of 15,270, while the NVIDIA P106-090 averages 13,470.

Q: How do the two compare in Geekbench Vulkan performance?

A: The AMD Radeon 680M scores 21,965 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 18.1% higher than the NVIDIA P106-090's 18,596.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon 680M is in the 57th percentile, while the NVIDIA P106-090 is in the 54th percentile.

Q: What is the nearest rival for each GPU based on average score?

A: For the AMD Radeon 680M, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 with an average score of 15,283, a delta of -0.1%. For the NVIDIA P106-090, the nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 555 with an average score of 13,407, a delta of 0.5%.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon 680M is built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, using the Rembrandt+ chip, and represents the Navi II IGP generation. It is fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC, with 13,100 million transistors packed into a 208 mm² die. This results in a transistor density of 63.0 million per mm².

The NVIDIA P106-090, in contrast, uses the older Pascal architecture with the GP106 chip, falling under the Mining GPUs generation. It is built on a 16 nm process at TSMC, with 4,400 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 22.0 million per mm². The node advantage is significant: the AMD part uses a much smaller process, which contributes to its higher density and likely better power characteristics.

The AMD Radeon 680M includes 12 ray tracing cores, a feature the NVIDIA P106-090 completely lacks. This enables the AMD part to support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the NVIDIA part only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The NVIDIA P106-090 has a dual-slot form factor with a 250 mm length, no display outputs, and requires a 6-pin power connector. The AMD Radeon 680M is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no power connectors and portable device dependent display outputs. The NVIDIA part was released in 2017 and is now end-of-life, while the AMD part was released in 2023 and remains active.

Specification Differences

The most obvious difference is the memory configuration. The NVIDIA P106-090 has a dedicated 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 192.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD Radeon 680M uses system shared memory, with its bus width and bandwidth being system dependent. This gives the NVIDIA part a dedicated memory advantage, while the AMD part relies on system RAM.

Clock speeds differ notably. The NVIDIA P106-090 has a base clock of 1354 MHz and a boost clock of 1531 MHz, with memory clocked at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The AMD Radeon 680M runs a base clock of 2000 MHz and a boost clock of 2200 MHz, which is considerably higher, though its memory speed is system dependent.

Shader and texture units are similar in count: both have 768 shading units and 48 texture mapping units. However, the NVIDIA P106-090 has 48 raster operations units (ROPs), while the AMD Radeon 680M has 32. The NVIDIA part also has a higher pixel rate at 73.49 GPixel/s, versus the AMD part's 70.40 GPixel/s. In texture rate, the AMD part leads at 105.6 GTexel/s versus the NVIDIA part's 73.49 GTexel/s.

Compute throughput shows a clear difference. The AMD Radeon 680M reaches 3.379 TFLOPS FP32, compared to the NVIDIA's 2.352 TFLOPS. In FP16, the AMD part delivers 6.758 TFLOPS (2:1 rate), while the NVIDIA part is limited to 36.74 GFLOPS (1:64 rate), a massive difference. Power consumption also differs: the AMD Radeon 680M is rated at 50 W TDP, while the NVIDIA P106-090 is rated at 75 W and suggests a 250 W power supply. The bus interface is another distinction, with the AMD part using PCIe 4.0 x8 and the NVIDIA part using PCIe 1.0 x1.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon 680M is the clear winner in compute-heavy and API-variant workloads. Its 10.2% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and 18.1% lead in Geekbench Vulkan show it handles general compute and modern API calls more efficiently. The 18.1% victory in Vulkan is particularly relevant for modern games and applications that leverage this API, and the AMD part's 12 ray cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support make it a more future-proof choice for gaming and graphics work.

The NVIDIA P106-090 wins in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, scoring 25.7% higher than the AMD Radeon 680M. This suggests that in a dedicated DirectX 12 gaming benchmark, the NVIDIA part has an advantage, likely due to its dedicated GDDR5 memory and higher ROP count. The NVIDIA part also has a higher pixel rate (73.49 GPixel/s), which could benefit certain rendering scenarios.

For users prioritizing compute applications, the AMD Radeon 680M is the better choice, with higher FP32 and FP16 throughput and a much faster average benchmark score (15,270 vs 13,470). Its 57th percentile ranking versus the NVIDIA's 54th percentile also indicates a stronger overall position in the GPU landscape.

For those focused on a specific DirectX 12 gaming scenario, the NVIDIA P106-090 offers a specific advantage, despite having no display outputs. This suggests it is aimed at mining or other non-display tasks, whereas the AMD Radeon 680M, as an IGP, is designed for portable devices. The AMD part is also more efficient, with a 50 W TDP versus the NVIDIA's 75 W, and it is built on a much smaller 6 nm process versus a 16 nm process. In summary, the AMD Radeon 680M wins on overall performance and efficiency, while the NVIDIA P106-090 wins on a specific DX12 test and memory bandwidth.