AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM vs NVIDIA P102-100 Comparison

The NVIDIA P102-100 and AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM are separated by a single point in average benchmark score, 57601 to 57599, a delta of 0%. This statistical tie, however, masks a stark divergence in workload-specific performance. The data indicates that the P102-100 excels in Vulkan compute tasks, while the RX 5600 OEM dominates OpenCL, making the choice between them entirely dependent on the intended application.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two GPUs split their two head-to-head benchmark victories exactly, with each card claiming a decisive win in a different API. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM takes the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 61660, defeating the NVIDIA P102-100’s 49602 by a substantial 19.6% margin. This is not a marginal victory; the RX 5600 OEM’s OpenCL score is roughly a quarter higher than its rival’s, suggesting a significant architectural advantage in this specific compute environment.

Conversely, the NVIDIA P102-100 strikes back decisively in the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark. It scores 65600, which is 22.5% higher than the RX 5600 OEM’s 53538. The 12062-point gap in Vulkan is even larger in absolute terms than the 12058-point gap in OpenCL, though the percentage difference favors the NVIDIA card slightly. The P102-100’s Vulkan performance is its clear strong suit, and the data shows it is not merely competitive but categorically superior in this area.

These results explain the near-identical average benchmark scores. The two cards’ strengths and weaknesses are almost perfectly complementary. The RX 5600 OEM’s OpenCL lead is offset by its Vulkan deficit, and the P102-100’s Vulkan dominance is cancelled by its OpenCL shortfall. The average score of 57601 for the P102-100 and 57599 for the RX 5600 OEM reflects this equilibrium, with the deltaPct against other rivals showing a tight cluster: the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X trails by 0.1%, the Intel Arc A580 by 0.3%, and the Intel Arc A570M by 1.1%. Both cards sit in the 88th to 89th percentile of all GPUs, confirming that while they are not top-tier, they are firmly above average in overall compute capability.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data suggests a clear use-case split. The NVIDIA P102-100 is the superior choice for any workload that leverages the Vulkan API. Its 22.5% lead in the Geekbench Vulkan test is the single largest performance differential in the head-to-head comparison. For applications, renderers, or compute tasks that are built on Vulkan, the P102-100 provides a substantial performance advantage that would translate directly to faster completion times or higher throughput. This makes it the logical pick for Vulkan-centric compute environments.

The AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM, conversely, is the winner for OpenCL-based workloads. Its 19.6% advantage in the Geekbench OpenCL test is nearly as large as the P102-100’s Vulkan lead. Many scientific, engineering, and data-processing applications still rely heavily on OpenCL, and in those scenarios, the RX 5600 OEM is clearly the faster card. The data shows that the RX 5600 OEM’s OpenCL score of 61660 is its stronger result, while its Vulkan score of 53538 is comparatively weak. This indicates that AMD’s architecture is better optimized for the OpenCL execution model, whereas NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture appears to be more efficient under Vulkan.

Furthermore, the RX 5600 OEM’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory versus the P102-100’s 5 GB of GDDR5X could be a deciding factor for memory-intensive workloads that are on the edge of capacity, though neither card offers a massive framebuffer. The P102-100’s higher bandwidth of 440.3 GB/s compared to 288.0 GB/s for the RX 5600 OEM, however, suggests that the NVIDIA card has a theoretical advantage in raw memory throughput, which may help in bandwidth-bound tasks despite its smaller capacity.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent fundamentally different GPU architectures from their respective manufacturers. The NVIDIA P102-100 is built on the Pascal architecture, using the GP102 chip fabricated on TSMC’s 16 nm process node. In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM is based on the RDNA 1.0 architecture, using the Navi 10 chip on TSMC’s more advanced 7 nm node. This process difference is significant: the 7 nm node allows AMD to pack 10,300 million transistors into a 251 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 41.0M / mm². The NVIDIA chip, on the 16 nm node, contains 11,800 million transistors on a much larger 471 mm² die, with a lower density of 25.1M / mm². This makes the Navi 10 die roughly 47% smaller than the GP102 die, even though it has fewer transistors.

The compute configurations diverge sharply. The P102-100 has a higher raw shader count with 3200 shading units, 200 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 80 render output units (ROPs). The RX 5600 OEM has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Despite the lower count, the RX 5600 OEM’s RDNA architecture is designed for higher instructions per clock in certain workloads. The clock speeds also differ: the P102-100 runs at a base of 1582 MHz and boosts to 1683 MHz, while the RX 5600 OEM has a lower base of 1130 MHz but a boost of 1560 MHz, with a game clock of 1375 MHz. The NVIDIA card’s higher clocks and wider 320-bit memory bus contribute to its superior pixel rate of 134.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 336.6 GTexel/s, compared to 99.84 GPixel/s and 199.7 GTexel/s for the AMD card.

The memory subsystems are entirely different. The P102-100 uses 5 GB of GDDR5X across a 320-bit bus, delivering 440.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 5600 OEM uses 6 GB of GDDR6 on a narrower 192-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card’s memory clock is 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective), while the AMD card’s memory runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). The FP32 compute throughput also favors NVIDIA: the P102-100 delivers 10.77 TFLOPS versus 6.390 TFLOPS for the RX 5600 OEM. However, in FP16, the AMD card is dramatically faster, delivering 12.78 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the NVIDIA card manages only 168.3 GFLOPS with a 1:64 ratio, a negligible amount.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the data, the choice between these two cards hinges entirely on the target API. The NVIDIA P102-100 is the clear winner for Vulkan-based applications, offering a 22.5% performance lead. Its higher FP32 throughput, larger texture and pixel rates, and greater memory bandwidth also make it a stronger candidate for traditional graphics and compute workloads that are not API-specific. The P102-100’s 89th percentile ranking, one point above the RX 5600 OEM’s 88th, reflects its slight edge in aggregate.

The AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM is the superior choice for OpenCL workloads, where its 19.6% advantage is decisive. Its FP16 throughput is orders of magnitude higher, which could be a boon for applications that support mixed-precision compute. The RX 5600 OEM also offers 1 GB more memory, which may be critical for certain data sets. The card’s lower TDP of 125 W and single 8-pin connector, versus the P102-100’s 250 W TDP and dual 8-pin connectors, make it a far more power-efficient option. The P102-100’s requirement for a 600 W PSU versus the RX 5600 OEM’s 300 W recommendation further underscores this difference. Additionally, the RX 5600 OEM has display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a), while the P102-100 has no outputs, making it a headless compute card only. For a system that needs to drive a display, the AMD card is the only viable option. For a dedicated compute node, the P102-100’s performance in Vulkan and higher raw throughput metrics make it the more powerful compute engine, despite its higher power draw. The data shows a tie in wins, but the nature of those wins points to different buyers.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA P102-100 is significantly faster, scoring 65600 compared to the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM’s 53538, a 22.5% advantage.

Q: How much slower is the NVIDIA P102-100 in OpenCL?

A: The P102-100 scores 49602 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 19.6% lower than the RX 5600 OEM’s 61660.

Q: Do the two cards have the same average benchmark score?

A: They are effectively tied. The NVIDIA P102-100 has an average benchmark score of 57601, while the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM scores 57599, a difference of 0.0%.

Q: What is the difference in their memory configurations?

A: The P102-100 has 5 GB of GDDR5X on a 320-bit bus with 440.3 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 5600 OEM has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has higher FP32 performance?

A: The NVIDIA P102-100 has 10.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM has 6.390 TFLOPS.

Q: Are there differences in their power requirements?

A: Yes, the P102-100 has a 250 W TDP and requires two 8-pin power connectors with a 600 W suggested PSU, while the RX 5600 OEM has a 125 W TDP, one 8-pin connector, and a 300 W suggested PSU.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA P102-100 | AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Chip | GP102 | Navi 10 |

| Architecture | Pascal | RDNA 1.0 |

| Process Node | 16 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 11,800 million | 10,300 million |

| Die Size | 471 mm² | 251 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 25.1M / mm² | 41.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1582 MHz | 1130 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1683 MHz | 1560 MHz |

| Game Clock | N/A | 1375 MHz |

| Memory Size | 5 GB | 6 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5X | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 320 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 440.3 GB/s | 288.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3200 | 2048 |

| TMUs | 200 | 128 |

| ROPs | 80 | 64 |

| Pixel Rate | 134.6 GPixel/s | 99.84 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 336.6 GTexel/s | 199.7 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 10.77 TFLOPS | 6.390 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 168.3 GFLOPS (1:64) | 12.78 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 125 W |

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

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 1.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

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

| Release Date | 2018-02-11 | 2020-01-20 |