AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 vs NVIDIA Quadro P6000 Comparison

# The Verdict

The data presents a tightly contested comparison between two end-of-life professional accelerators. The AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 holds the overall benchmark advantage, winning the single head-to-head test available. In Geekbench OpenCL, the MI25 scores 68,562 against the Quadro P6000's 66,382, a delta of -3.2% from the NVIDIA card's perspective. This means the AMD part leads by roughly 3.2% in that specific workload.

However, the broader picture from the average benchmark scores shows near-parity. The Quadro P6000 averages 69,986 across its two recorded tests, while the MI25 averages 68,562 from a single test. The P6000's Geekbench Vulkan score of 73,590 is its standout result, indicating a substantial advantage in that API. The P6000 also sits at the 90th percentile against all GPUs, matching the MI25's percentile ranking.

For a buyer prioritizing the OpenCL compute performance present in the data, the MI25 is the choice. For anyone needing display outputs, the Quadro P6000 is the only option, as the MI25 has no outputs. The P6000 also offers 24 GB of memory versus the MI25's 16 GB, which is crucial for large datasets. The data suggests the P6000 is the more versatile professional card, while the MI25 is a bare compute accelerator. The P6000's nearest rival in average score is the NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile at 70,140, placing it 0.2% behind that part, while the MI25's closest competitor is the Intel Arc A770 at 68,809, which sits 0.4% ahead of it.

# Architecture Differences

The architectural split between these two cards is fundamental, representing two different design philosophies from their respective manufacturers. The NVIDIA Quadro P6000 is built on the Pascal architecture, specifically the GP102 chip, manufactured on a 16 nm process at TSMC. In contrast, the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 uses the GCN 5.0 architecture with the Vega 10 chip, produced on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The process node difference is minimal, but the underlying designs diverge significantly.

The transistor counts are close but not identical. The MI25 contains 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, yielding a density of 25.3 million transistors per square millimeter. The P6000 has 11,800 million transistors on a smaller 471 mm² die, resulting in a density of 25.1 million per square millimeter. These figures show that AMD packed slightly more transistors into a slightly larger area, though the density is nearly the same.

The memory architectures represent the largest divergence. The P6000 uses 24 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 384-bit bus, while the MI25 uses 16 GB of HBM2 memory on a vastly wider 2048-bit bus. Despite the bus width difference, the resulting bandwidth is nearly identical: 432.8 GB/s for the P6000 and 436.2 GB/s for the MI25. This shows that the GDDR5X implementation on the P6000 achieves comparable bandwidth to HBM2 through higher effective clock speeds, with the memory running at 9 Gbps effective on the NVIDIA card versus 1704 Mbps effective on the AMD card.

Compute unit configurations also differ. The MI25 has more shading units (4,096 versus 3,840), more texture mapping units (256 versus 240), but fewer raster operations pipelines (64 versus 96). The P6000 compensates with higher clock speeds, running at 1506 MHz base and 1645 MHz boost, while the MI25 operates at 1400 MHz base and 1500 MHz boost. These clock advantages help the P6000 achieve a higher pixel rate of 157.9 GPixel/s compared to the MI25's 96.00 GPixel/s, even with fewer ROPs than the AMD card.

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single head-to-head benchmark in the data is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results show a narrow victory for the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25. The MI25 scores 68,562, while the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 scores 66,382. The delta percentage of -3.2% indicates that the P6000 trails by that margin in this particular test. This result is consistent with the average benchmark scores, where the MI25's 68,562 average edges out the P6000's 69,986 only when considering the P6000's Vulkan result.

The Geekbench Vulkan test is where the P6000 demonstrates its strength. With a score of 73,590, the P6000 significantly outperforms its OpenCL result. This Vulkan score is the primary driver of the P6000's higher average benchmark score of 69,986. When comparing the two cards' average scores directly, the P6000 leads the MI25 by 1,424 points, a delta of approximately 2% in favor of the NVIDIA part.

The relative positioning against rivals reinforces this mixed picture. The P6000's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200, scores 69,870, just 0.2% behind the P6000. The NVIDIA CMP 90HX scores 69,000, placing it 1.4% behind the P6000. On the AMD side, the MI25's nearest rival is the Intel Arc A770 at 68,809, which is 0.4% ahead. The NVIDIA CMP 90HX also appears in the MI25's rival list, scoring 69,000, which is 0.6% ahead of the MI25. The P6000 itself appears as a rival to the MI25 with a 2% advantage in average score.

# Specification Differences

The specification table reveals several key differences between the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 and the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25.

Process Node: The P6000 uses a 16 nm process at TSMC, while the MI25 uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries.

Transistors: The MI25 has 12,500 million transistors, exceeding the P6000's 11,800 million.

Die Size: The MI25's die measures 495 mm², while the P6000's is 471 mm².

Base Clock: The P6000 runs at 1506 MHz, higher than the MI25's 1400 MHz.

Boost Clock: The P6000 boosts to 1645 MHz, versus the MI25's 1500 MHz.

Memory Size: The P6000 offers 24 GB, while the MI25 provides 16 GB.

Memory Type: The P6000 uses GDDR5X, while the MI25 uses HBM2.

Memory Bus: The MI25 has a 2048-bit bus, compared to the P6000's 384-bit bus.

Memory Clock: The P6000's memory runs at 1127 MHz (9 Gbps effective), while the MI25's runs at 852 MHz (1704 Mbps effective).

Shading Units: The MI25 has 4,096, exceeding the P6000's 3,840.

TMUs: The MI25 has 256, versus the P6000's 240.

ROPs: The P6000 has 96, while the MI25 has 64.

Pixel Rate: The P6000 achieves 157.9 GPixel/s, more than the MI25's 96.00 GPixel/s.

Texture Rate: The P6000 leads with 394.8 GTexel/s, slightly ahead of the MI25's 384.0 GTexel/s.

FP32 Performance: The P6000 delivers 12.63 TFLOPS, marginally above the MI25's 12.29 TFLOPS.

FP16 Performance: The MI25 is dramatically ahead with 24.58 TFLOPS, while the P6000 manages only 197.4 GFLOPS.

TDP: The MI25 draws 300 W, versus the P6000's 250 W.

Power Connectors: The P6000 uses a single 8-pin connector, while the MI25 requires two 8-pin connectors.

Suggested PSU: The MI25 suggests a 700 W power supply, while the P6000 suggests 600 W.

Display Outputs: The P6000 has 1x DVI and 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the MI25 has no outputs.

Vulkan API Support: The P6000 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the MI25 supports Vulkan 1.3.

Release Date: The P6000 launched on 2016-09-30, while the MI25 launched on 2017-06-26.

Launch MSRP: The P6000 had a launch MSRP of 5,999 USD; the MI25 has no recorded launch MSRP.

# FAQ

Q: Which card performs better in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 wins the OpenCL test with a score of 68,562, while the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 scores 66,382, a 3.2% difference in favor of the AMD card.

Q: Does the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 have any benchmark advantage?

A: Yes, the P6000 achieves a Geekbench Vulkan score of 73,590, which is significantly higher than its OpenCL score and contributes to its higher average benchmark score of 69,986 compared to the MI25's 68,562.

Q: Which card has more memory and what type?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro P6000 has 24 GB of GDDR5X memory, while the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 has 16 GB of HBM2 memory. Despite the difference in size, their memory bandwidths are close: 432.8 GB/s for the P6000 and 436.2 GB/s for the MI25.

Q: Can the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 connect to displays?

A: No, the MI25 has no display outputs. The NVIDIA Quadro P6000 provides 1x DVI and 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, making it the only option for direct display connectivity in this comparison.

Q: What is the FP16 performance difference?

A: The MI25 offers 24.58 TFLOPS of FP16 performance, which is dramatically higher than the P6000's 197.4 GFLOPS. This indicates the MI25 is far better suited for workloads that leverage FP16 compute.

Q: How do these cards compare in terms of power requirements?

A: The MI25 has a TDP of 300 W and requires two 8-pin power connectors with a suggested 700 W power supply. The P6000 has a TDP of 250 W, needs only one 8-pin connector, and suggests a 600 W power supply.