AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT vs NVIDIA P104-100 Comparison

The benchmark data places the NVIDIA P104-100 and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT in the same performance percentile (76th), yet their average scores tell a story of near-parity that the individual tests completely overturn. The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT wins every single head-to-head benchmark by a massive margin, making the overall average score gap of only 0.4% misleading. In direct competition, the RX 7800 XT is not merely faster; it is in a different performance class, delivering roughly three times the frame throughput in the most demanding workloads. The P104-100, a mining-specific card with no display outputs, is fundamentally outclassed by the modern RDNA 3.0 architecture.

Where Each One Wins

The data shows no ambiguity in the use-case split: the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT wins every benchmark category, making it the only viable choice for any graphics-intensive task. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RX 7800 XT scores 4157 against the P104-100’s 1413, a delta of -66% for the NVIDIA card. This is a decisive victory in a modern DirectX 12 workload, indicating the RX 7800 XT is built for current gaming and rendering APIs.

The P104-100’s only theoretical advantages are its legacy positioning and its lower system requirements. It carries a suggested PSU of 200 W compared to the RX 7800 XT’s 600 W, and it uses a single 8-pin power connector versus the RX 7800 XT’s dual 8-pin setup. However, these are not performance wins; they are operational constraints. The NVIDIA card also has no display outputs, meaning it cannot function as a primary graphics solution, whereas the RX 7800 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1 outputs. For any workload involving rendering to a screen, the P104-100 is disqualified entirely. The RX 7800 XT also wins in compute, with Geekbench OpenCL scores of 139381 versus 51663 (a -62.9% delta) and Vulkan scores of 143060 versus 45165 (a -68.4% delta), reinforcing its dominance in both graphics and general-purpose compute.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational. The NVIDIA P104-100 is built on the Pascal architecture using TSMC’s 16 nm process node, packing 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die. In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture on a 5 nm process node, fitting 28,100 million transistors onto a slightly larger 346 mm² die. This translates to a transistor density of 81.2M / mm² for the AMD card versus 22.9M / mm² for the NVIDIA card, highlighting the efficiency leap of the newer node.

The RX 7800 XT also features a fundamentally different compute layout. It has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, compared to the P104-100’s 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Furthermore, the AMD card includes 60 dedicated ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the Pascal-based P104-100. The memory subsystem is equally divergent: the RX 7800 XT uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, while the P104-100 has only 4 GB of GDDR5X on the same 256-bit bus, yielding 320.3 GB/s. The RX 7800 XT also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the P104-100 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Finally, the P104-100’s bus interface is a severely limited PCIe 1.0 x4, while the RX 7800 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16, a massive difference in host communication bandwidth.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher average benchmark scores?

A: The NVIDIA P104-100 has an average benchmark score of 32747, while the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT scores 32619. The delta between them is only 0.4% in favor of the NVIDIA card, placing them in the same 76th percentile.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT wins decisively with a score of 4157, compared to the NVIDIA P104-100’s 1413. This represents a -66% delta for the NVIDIA card, indicating the RX 7800 XT is roughly three times faster in this workload.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the NVIDIA P104-100 has only 4 GB of GDDR5X. Both use a 256-bit bus, but the RX 7800 XT achieves 624.1 GB/s bandwidth versus 320.3 GB/s for the P104-100.

Q: Does the NVIDIA P104-100 support display outputs?

A: No, the P104-100 has no display outputs. It is a mining-specific card, while the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT provides 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1 connections.

Q: Which card has ray tracing capabilities?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT includes 60 ray tracing cores, whereas the NVIDIA P104-100 has no ray tracing cores listed. The RX 7800 XT also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the P104-100 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How do the power requirements differ?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT has a TDP of 263 W and requires a 600 W suggested PSU, using two 8-pin connectors. The NVIDIA P104-100 has no listed TDP but only needs a 200 W suggested PSU and a single 8-pin connector.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA P104-100 | AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Pascal | RDNA 3.0 |

| Process Node | 16 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 7,200 million | 28,100 million |

| Die Size | 314 mm² | 346 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 22.9M / mm² | 81.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1607 MHz | 1295 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1733 MHz | 2430 MHz |

| Game Clock | — | 2124 MHz |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5X | GDDR6 |

| Memory Clock | 1251 MHz (10 Gbps effective) | 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Bandwidth | 320.3 GB/s | 624.1 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1920 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 120 | 240 |

| ROPs | 64 | 96 |

| RT Cores | — | 60 |

| Pixel Rate | 110.9 GPixel/s | 233.3 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 208.0 GTexel/s | 583.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 6.655 TFLOPS | 37.32 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 104.0 GFLOPS (1:64) | 74.65 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | — | 263 W |

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

| Suggested PSU | 200 W | 600 W |

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

| Display Outputs | No outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1a, 3x DisplayPort 2.1 |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Release Date | 2017-12-11 | 2023-08-24 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results are a clean sweep for the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RX 7800 XT posts a score of 4157 against the P104-100’s 1413. The -66% delta is the smallest margin of victory in the three tests, yet it still represents a near-tripling of performance. This is the most modern test in the suite, and it shows the P104-100 struggling to keep up with DirectX 12 features that the RX 7800 XT handles natively.

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows an even larger gap. The RX 7800 XT scores 139381, while the P104-100 manages only 51663, a -62.9% delta. This test is compute-focused, and the RX 7800 XT’s 37.32 TFLOPS of FP32 performance dwarfs the P104-100’s 6.655 TFLOPS. The Vulkan test follows the same pattern, with the RX 7800 XT scoring 143060 versus 45165, a -68.4% delta. The RX 7800 XT’s FP16 performance is also dramatically higher at 74.65 TFLOPS (2:1) compared to the P104-100’s 104.0 GFLOPS (1:64), explaining the massive compute advantage. Across all three benchmarks, the RX 7800 XT’s lowest win margin is 62.9%, and its highest is 68.4%, making it the unequivocal performance leader.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the superior GPU in every measurable benchmark, and the NVIDIA P104-100 should only be considered by systems that cannot accommodate the AMD card’s power or interface requirements. The RX 7800 XT wins all three head-to-head tests by margins between 62.9% and 68.4%, and it offers 16 GB of memory versus 4 GB, ray tracing cores, modern display outputs, and a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. The P104-100’s only advantages are its lower power draw (200 W suggested PSU versus 600 W) and its smaller physical footprint, but these are moot given its lack of display outputs and its end-of-life status.

For any user building a system for gaming, content creation, or compute workloads that require a visual output, the RX 7800 XT is the only rational choice. Its 76th percentile ranking is matched by the P104-100, but that ranking masks the true performance gap in direct comparison. The RX 7800 XT is also an active product with a launch MSRP of 499 USD, while the P104-100 is end-of-life. The verdict is simple: the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT wins on every front that matters, and the NVIDIA P104-100 is a relic of the mining era that cannot compete with modern RDNA 3.0 architecture.