AMD Radeon HD 7950 vs NVIDIA P104-100 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark database provides no direct head-to-head test results between the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and the NVIDIA P104-100. Instead, the comparison must be constructed from their individual average benchmark scores and the percentile rankings that place them within the broader GPU landscape. The AMD Radeon HD 7950 posts an average benchmark score of 33,951, while the NVIDIA P104-100 posts a slightly lower average of 32,982. That gap of 969 points works out to roughly 2.9% in favor of the older AMD card, a margin that is small enough to be considered a statistical tie in most workloads, yet it is consistent across the available data.

Looking at the percentile rankings, the AMD Radeon HD 7950 sits at the 78th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA P104-100 sits at the 77th percentile. This one-percentile difference reinforces the narrowness of the overall performance gap. The AMD card’s single benchmark entry is a Geekbench Metal score of 33,951, which is its only datapoint and also its average. The NVIDIA card, by contrast, has three benchmark entries: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,413, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 52,368, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 45,165. The fact that the NVIDIA card’s average is pulled down to 32,982 despite those strong OpenCL and Vulkan numbers suggests the 3DMark DX12 result is significantly lower, dragging the mean below what the other two tests would imply.

Examining the nearest rivals for each card provides additional context. The AMD Radeon HD 7950’s closest competitor in the database is the AMD Radeon RX 480, which scores 33,997, a delta of -0.1% relative to the HD 7950. That means the HD 7950 is effectively level with the RX 480, differing by a mere 46 points. The next nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 7700S at 33,849 (delta +0.3%), the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT at 34,133 (delta -0.5%), and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB at 34,154 (delta -0.6%). For the NVIDIA P104-100, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA T600 Mobile at 32,849 (delta +0.4%), followed by the NVIDIA T550 Mobile at 33,161 (delta -0.5%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile at 33,170 (delta -0.6%), and the AMD Radeon Pro 570 at 33,207 (delta -0.7%). These deltas show that both cards sit in a dense cluster of GPUs where a few dozen points separate one model from the next.

The strongest individual benchmark win for the NVIDIA P104-100 is its Geekbench Vulkan score of 45,165, which is substantially higher than the AMD card’s Geekbench Metal score of 33,951. However, those are different APIs, so a direct comparison is not apples-to-apples. The NVIDIA card’s Geekbench OpenCL score of 52,368 is even more impressive in absolute terms, but again, the AMD card has no OpenCL entry to compare against. The only shared test type in the database is Geekbench, but the AMD card uses Metal while the NVIDIA card uses OpenCL and Vulkan, so no identical test links the two. What the data does show is that the NVIDIA P104-100 excels in compute-oriented APIs, while the AMD Radeon HD 7950 holds its own in the Metal test that is reported for it.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the average benchmark scores, the AMD Radeon HD 7950 is the marginally faster card overall, with an average score of 33,951 versus 32,982 for the NVIDIA P104-100. That 2.9% advantage is real but small, and the percentile rankings agree, with the AMD card at the 78th percentile and the NVIDIA card at the 77th percentile. For a user who cares about a single aggregate number, the AMD Radeon HD 7950 comes out ahead, but the margin is thin enough that real-world differences would likely be imperceptible in most tasks.

The NVIDIA P104-100, however, presents a different profile when individual tests are considered. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 52,368 is roughly 54% higher than the AMD card’s Geekbench Metal score of 33,951, and its Vulkan score of 45,165 is about 33% higher. These are different APIs, so the comparison is not direct, but the magnitude of the difference suggests that in compute-heavy workloads using OpenCL or Vulkan, the NVIDIA card has a clear edge. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,413 is the NVIDIA card’s weakest result, and it is this number that drags its average down.

For a user who needs a general-purpose GPU with balanced performance across APIs, the AMD Radeon HD 7950 is the safer choice based on the average score. For a user who knows their workloads rely on OpenCL or Vulkan compute, the NVIDIA P104-100 is the stronger pick, despite its lower average. The NVIDIA card’s lack of display outputs is a critical caveat, as it cannot drive a monitor on its own. The AMD card, by contrast, offers a full set of display outputs including 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. This makes the AMD card the only viable option for a desktop user who wants to see output on a screen.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7950 wins on overall average benchmark score, posting 33,951 against the NVIDIA P104-100’s 32,982. It also wins on percentile ranking, sitting at the 78th percentile versus the 77th percentile. In terms of nearest rivals, the AMD card’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 480 at 33,997, which is only 46 points higher, while the NVIDIA card’s closest competitor is the NVIDIA T600 Mobile at 32,849, which is 133 points lower. This indicates that the AMD card is placed in a slightly higher performance tier among its peers.

The NVIDIA P104-100 wins decisively in raw compute-oriented benchmarks. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 52,368 is the highest single score recorded for either card, and its Geekbench Vulkan score of 45,165 is also well above the AMD card’s Metal result. In terms of memory bandwidth, the NVIDIA card offers 320.3 GB/s versus 240.0 GB/s for the AMD card, a 33% advantage that likely contributes to its compute performance. The NVIDIA card also has a higher pixel rate at 110.9 GPixel/s versus 25.60 GPixel/s, and a higher texture rate at 208.0 GTexel/s versus 89.60 GTexel/s. These are not benchmark scores, but they are specification-level indicators that the NVIDIA card is built for throughput.

The AMD Radeon HD 7950 wins on compatibility and usability. It has display outputs, a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, and a 550 W suggested PSU. The NVIDIA P104-100 has no display outputs and uses a PCIe 1.0 x4 interface, which is a severe bottleneck for data transfer even if the card’s compute capabilities are strong. The AMD card also supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA card’s newer API versions are a point in its favor, but the lack of display outputs is a dealbreaker for most users.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7950 has an average benchmark score of 33,951, while the NVIDIA P104-100 has an average of 32,982. The AMD card leads by 969 points, or approximately 2.9%.

Q: What is the NVIDIA P104-100’s best individual benchmark result?

A: The NVIDIA P104-100’s best individual result is its Geekbench OpenCL score of 52,368. Its Geekbench Vulkan score is 45,165, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1,413.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon HD 7950 support display outputs?

A: Yes, the AMD Radeon HD 7950 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs. The NVIDIA P104-100 has no display outputs.

Q: How do the two cards compare in terms of memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA P104-100 has a memory bandwidth of 320.3 GB/s, while the AMD Radeon HD 7950 has a memory bandwidth of 240.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card’s bandwidth is 33% higher.

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

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7950 ranks at the 78th percentile, while the NVIDIA P104-100 ranks at the 77th percentile.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7950’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 480 with an average score of 33,997 and a delta of -0.1%. The NVIDIA P104-100’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA T600 Mobile with an average score of 32,849 and a delta of +0.4%.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon HD 7950 is built on the Tahiti chip using the GCN 1.0 architecture, part of the Southern Islands generation (HD 7900). It is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3M per mm². The NVIDIA P104-100 is built on the GP104 chip using the Pascal architecture, part of the Mining GPUs generation. It is fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC, with 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 22.9M per mm². The NVIDIA card uses a more advanced process node, packing nearly 67% more transistors into a smaller die.

The AMD card has 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The NVIDIA card has 1,920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. The NVIDIA card has more of each, particularly in raster operations, where it doubles the AMD card’s count. The AMD card’s pixel rate is 25.60 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 89.60 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA card’s pixel rate is 110.9 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 208.0 GTexel/s, both substantially higher. In FP32 compute, the AMD card delivers 2.867 TFLOPS, while the NVIDIA card delivers 6.655 TFLOPS, a 2.3x advantage for the NVIDIA card. The NVIDIA card also has an FP16 rate of 104.0 GFLOPS (1:64), while the AMD card has no listed FP16 capability.

Both cards lack ray tracing cores and tensor cores. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, meaning it has a higher DirectX feature level and a newer Vulkan version. The AMD card is part of the Southern Islands generation, with its predecessor being Northern Islands and its successor being Sea Islands. The NVIDIA card is part of the Mining GPUs generation, with no listed predecessor or successor.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification field. The AMD Radeon HD 7950 uses a Tahiti chip with GCN 1.0 architecture, while the NVIDIA P104-100 uses a GP104 chip with Pascal architecture. The process node differs: 28 nm for AMD versus 16 nm for NVIDIA. Transistor count is 4,313 million for AMD versus 7,200 million for NVIDIA. Die size is 352 mm² for AMD versus 314 mm² for NVIDIA. Transistor density is 12.3M per mm² for AMD versus 22.9M per mm² for NVIDIA.

Memory configurations diverge significantly. The AMD card has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, with a memory clock of 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 240.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has 4 GB of GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus, with a memory clock of 1251 MHz (10 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 320.3 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has more memory, a faster memory type, and higher bandwidth, despite a narrower bus.

Compute unit counts differ: 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs for AMD versus 1,920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs for NVIDIA. Pixel rate is 25.60 GPixel/s for AMD versus 110.9 GPixel/s for NVIDIA. Texture rate is 89.60 GTexel/s for AMD versus 208.0 GTexel/s for NVIDIA. FP32 performance is 2.867 TFLOPS for AMD versus 6.655 TFLOPS for NVIDIA. The NVIDIA card also has an FP16 rate of 104.0 GFLOPS (1:64), which the AMD card lacks.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The AMD card has a TDP of 200 W, uses 2x 6-pin power connectors, and suggests a 550 W PSU. The NVIDIA card has no listed TDP, uses 1x 8-pin power connector, and suggests a 200 W PSU. The AMD card is 278 mm long, 111 mm tall, and 38 mm wide. The NVIDIA card is 267 mm long, with no listed height or width. Both are dual-slot cards. The bus interface differs: PCIe 3.0 x16 for AMD versus PCIe 1.0 x4 for NVIDIA. Display outputs are present on the AMD card (1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2) but absent on the NVIDIA card. The AMD card was released on 2012-01-30, while the NVIDIA card was released on 2017-12-11. The AMD card has a launch MSRP of 449 USD; the NVIDIA card has no listed launch MSRP. Both cards are end-of-life.