AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 vs NVIDIA P102-100 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 and NVIDIA P102-100 are both end-of-life, dual-slot accelerator cards with no display outputs, but they were built for different purposes and their benchmark data reflects that split. In the only shared benchmark test available, the Geekbench OpenCL workload, the MI25 scores 68,562 points compared to the P102-100’s 49,602 points, giving AMD a decisive 38.2% advantage. This single data point drives the entire comparison, though the cards’ underlying architectures and specifications tell a more nuanced story about where each might still find a role.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results are stark: the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 wins the sole available benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, by a 38.2% margin. The MI25’s score of 68,562 places it in the 90th percentile of all GPUs, a position that aligns it closely with rivals like the Intel Arc A770 (68,809, just 0.4% higher) and the NVIDIA CMP 90HX (69,000, 0.6% higher). It even edges out the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200 (69,870) by 1.9% and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (69,986) by 2%. These are tight margins at the top of the stack, suggesting the MI25 is operating in a performance tier that is highly competitive with much newer workstation and mining-oriented hardware.

The NVIDIA P102-100, by contrast, scores 49,602 in the same OpenCL test, which puts it in the 88th percentile. Its average benchmark score across all tests is 58,528, a figure that includes a much stronger Vulkan result of 67,454. In terms of its nearest rivals, the P102-100 sits very close to the AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58,657, just 0.2% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (58,392, 0.2% lower), with the Intel Arc A570M (58,239) and AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM (58,085) trailing by 0.5% and 0.8% respectively. This clustering indicates the P102-100’s average performance is solidly mid-pack, neither a standout nor a laggard.

The 38.2% delta between the two cards in OpenCL is substantial, but it is worth remembering the P102-100’s Vulkan score of 67,454 is not part of the head-to-head comparison because no corresponding MI25 Vulkan result exists in the data. If the Vulkan score were considered, the P102-100 would be much closer to the MI25’s OpenCL number, though still behind it. The absence of a comparative Vulkan test means the MI25’s dominance is measured only in OpenCL, and the P102-100’s higher Vulkan performance hints at a card that may be better suited to certain API-specific workloads.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 has an average benchmark score of 68,562, while the NVIDIA P102-100 has an average of 58,528. The MI25 also holds a higher percentile ranking at 90% versus the P102-100’s 88%.

Q: How much faster is the MI25 in OpenCL?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the MI25 scores 68,562 against the P102-100’s 49,602, which translates to a 38.2% performance advantage for AMD.

Q: Does the P102-100 have any benchmark where it outperforms the MI25?

A: The data shows no head-to-head wins for the P102-100. However, the P102-100 does have a Geekbench Vulkan score of 67,454, which is not compared directly against the MI25, as no Vulkan score exists for the AMD card.

Q: How do these cards compare to their nearest competitors?

A: The MI25 is within 2% of the Intel Arc A770, NVIDIA CMP 90HX, AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200, and NVIDIA Quadro P6000. The P102-100 is within 1% of the AMD Radeon PRO V710, AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT, Intel Arc A570M, and AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM.

Q: What are the memory capacities and types?

A: The MI25 features 16 GB of HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus, while the P102-100 has 5 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 320-bit bus. Their memory bandwidths are nearly identical, with the MI25 at 436.2 GB/s and the P102-100 at 440.3 GB/s.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count?

A: The MI25 uses 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, whereas the P102-100 uses 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die. The transistor densities are similar, at 25.3M per mm² for AMD and 25.1M per mm² for NVIDIA.

The Verdict

The benchmark data clearly favors the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 for general compute performance. Its 68,562 OpenCL score is 38.2% higher than the P102-100’s 49,602, and its 90th percentile ranking places it among the top tier of all GPUs, while the P102-100 sits at the 88th percentile. For any workload that relies on OpenCL, the MI25 is the stronger choice by a wide margin.

However, the P102-100 is not without merit. Its Vulkan score of 67,454 is close to the MI25’s OpenCL result, suggesting that in Vulkan-specific applications, the NVIDIA card may be nearly as fast as the AMD card is in OpenCL. Additionally, the P102-100’s lower 250 W TDP (versus 300 W for the MI25) and lower suggested PSU requirement of 600 W (versus 700 W) make it a more power-efficient option for systems with tighter power budgets. The MI25 counters with double the FP32 throughput at 12.29 TFLOPS versus 10.77 TFLOPS, and vastly superior FP16 performance at 24.58 TFLOPS versus the P102-100’s 168.3 GFLOPS.

For users prioritizing raw compute throughput, memory capacity, or FP16 performance, the MI25 is the clear winner. For those needing Vulkan performance, lower power draw, or a smaller memory footprint, the P102-100 may be the better fit. The data does not support a universal recommendation; it supports a workload-specific decision.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge significantly in their core specifications. The MI25 has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, while the P102-100 has 3,200 shading units, 200 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. Despite fewer ROPs, the MI25 achieves a lower pixel rate of 96.00 GPixel/s compared to the P102-100’s 134.6 GPixel/s. In texture rate, the MI25 leads slightly at 384.0 GTexel/s versus 336.6 GTexel/s.

Clock speeds also differ notably. The MI25 runs at a base of 1400 MHz and boost of 1500 MHz, whereas the P102-100 has a higher base of 1582 MHz and boost of 1683 MHz. Memory clocks are also different, with the MI25 at 852 MHz (1704 Mbps effective) and the P102-100 at 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective). The MI25’s memory is 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, while the P102-100 has 5 GB of GDDR5X on a 320-bit bus, resulting in nearly identical bandwidths of 436.2 GB/s and 440.3 GB/s respectively.

Power and physical specifications show the MI25 draws 300 W and requires a 700 W PSU, while the P102-100 draws 250 W and requires a 600 W PSU. Both are dual-slot cards with 2x 8-pin power connectors and a length of 267 mm (10.5 inches). The MI25 has a height of 111 mm (4.4 inches), while the P102-100’s height is not listed. The bus interface differs significantly: the MI25 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the P102-100 uses PCIe 1.0 x4, a considerable bottleneck for the NVIDIA card in many systems.

Architecture Differences

Architecturally, these are very different chips. The MI25 is built on AMD’s GCN 5.0 architecture using the Vega 10 chip, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The P102-100 uses NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture with the GP102 chip, built on a 16 nm process at TSMC. The MI25’s die is 495 mm² with 12,500 million transistors, while the P102-100’s die is 471 mm² with 11,800 million transistors. Transistor density is nearly identical at 25.3M per mm² for AMD and 25.1M per mm² for NVIDIA.

The MI25 was released on 2017-06-26, while the P102-100 followed on 2018-02-11. The MI25 belongs to the Radeon Instinct (MIx) generation and lists its predecessor as FirePro Data Center, whereas the P102-100 is part of the Mining GPUs generation with no listed predecessor. Both cards support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6, but the MI25 supports Vulkan 1.3 while the P102-100 supports Vulkan 1.4.

FP16 performance is a major architectural differentiator. The MI25 delivers 24.58 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 2:1 ratio relative to its FP32 throughput of 12.29 TFLOPS. The P102-100, in contrast, offers only 168.3 GFLOPS of FP16, a 1:64 ratio, making it dramatically less capable for half-precision workloads. Neither card has dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, so both rely on traditional shader-based rendering.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 wins in OpenCL compute, FP32 and FP16 throughput, memory capacity, and memory bus width. Its 16 GB of HBM2 memory provides four times the capacity of the P102-100’s 5 GB, which is critical for large datasets in scientific computing, machine learning inference, or rendering workloads that exceed 5 GB. The MI25’s 24.58 TFLOPS FP16 performance is particularly notable for AI and deep learning tasks, where half-precision calculations are common. Its 90th percentile ranking and 38.2% OpenCL lead make it the superior choice for any application that uses OpenCL as its primary compute API.

The NVIDIA P102-100 wins in rasterization-oriented metrics like pixel rate (134.6 GPixel/s versus 96.00 GPixel/s) and has a higher memory bandwidth at 440.3 GB/s, though the difference over the MI25’s 436.2 GB/s is negligible. The P102-100 also has a lower TDP of 250 W and a lower suggested PSU of 600 W, making it easier to integrate into existing systems without a PSU upgrade. Its Vulkan score of 67,454 is a strong point, suggesting it may perform near the MI25’s level in Vulkan-based workloads, and its higher base and boost clocks (1582 MHz and 1683 MHz versus 1400 MHz and 1500 MHz) give it an edge in clock-bound scenarios.

For use cases like high-throughput FP16 compute, large memory footprints, or OpenCL-heavy workloads, the MI25 is the data-supported pick. For Vulkan-centric applications, lower power consumption, or scenarios where the PCIe 1.0 x4 interface is not a bottleneck, the P102-100 offers competitive performance at a lower power cost. The choice ultimately hinges on the API and precision requirements of the workload, not on overall superiority.