AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP vs NVIDIA P102-100 Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP and the NVIDIA P102-100 occupy opposite ends of the hardware spectrum, yet their benchmark results reveal a surprising split. The data shows a clear division: AMD’s card dominates in OpenCL compute, while NVIDIA’s mining-oriented part takes a decisive lead in Vulkan performance. With each card claiming one benchmark win, the choice between them hinges entirely on the target workload.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result in the head-to-head comparison is the Geekbench OpenCL score. Here, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP posts 88,183 points against the NVIDIA P102-100’s 49,602 points. That is a delta of 77.8% in AMD’s favor, making it the single largest performance gap between the two cards. The RX 9060 XT LP’s advantage in this test is not marginal — it nearly doubles the NVIDIA card’s output. This suggests a fundamental difference in compute throughput, likely tied to the architectural generation gap between RDNA 4.0 and Pascal.

However, the Vulkan benchmark flips the narrative completely. The NVIDIA P102-100 scores 67,454 points, while the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP manages only 39,476 points. This gives NVIDIA a 41.5% lead, a substantial margin that cannot be dismissed as a minor API quirk. The Vulkan result is particularly notable because it runs counter to the expectation that a newer architecture with higher raw TFLOPS would automatically win. The P102-100’s 10.77 TFLOPS FP32 output is less than half of the RX 9060 XT LP’s 24.99 TFLOPS, yet it still wins decisively in this test.

When looking at the average benchmark scores, the AMD card holds a narrower advantage. The RX 9060 XT LP averages 63,830 points across both tests, while the P102-100 averages 58,528 points — a difference of roughly 9%. This places the AMD card in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, versus the 88th percentile for NVIDIA’s part. The percentile gap is small, but the average score gap is meaningful, indicating that the AMD card is more consistent across different API workloads.

The rival comparisons reinforce this mixed picture. The RX 9060 XT LP’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA CMP 30HX, scores 63,842 points — essentially a tie with a delta of 0%. The P102-100’s closest competitor, the AMD Radeon PRO V710, scores 58,657 points, which is 0.2% higher. These tight deltas suggest that both cards are well-positioned within their respective performance tiers, but neither is an outlier in its class.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two cards is vast, reflecting nearly eight years of GPU development. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP is built on the Navi 44 chip using RDNA 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It packs 29,700 million transistors into a 199 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 149.2 million per square millimeter. In contrast, the NVIDIA P102-100 uses the GP102 chip with the older Pascal architecture, made on a 16 nm process. It contains 11,800 million transistors spread across a much larger 471 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 25.1 million per square millimeter.

These process and density differences explain much of the performance gap. The AMD card’s 4 nm node allows for significantly more transistors in a smaller area, enabling higher clock speeds and greater compute throughput. The RX 9060 XT LP boosts to 3050 MHz, while the P102-100 maxes out at 1683 MHz. Even the base clocks differ dramatically: 1380 MHz for AMD versus 1582 MHz for NVIDIA. The AMD card’s game clock is listed at 2450 MHz, a figure the Pascal part has no equivalent for.

Memory configurations also diverge sharply. The RX 9060 XT LP comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 322.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The P102-100 has just 5 GB of GDDR5X on a 320-bit bus, but achieves higher bandwidth at 440.3 GB/s. This is a rare case where the older card has a bandwidth advantage, thanks to its wider bus and faster memory clock. The AMD card runs memory at 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective), while NVIDIA’s memory operates at 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective). The wider bus compensates for the slower speed, giving the Pascal card more raw bandwidth.

Compute unit configurations tell a more complex story. The RX 9060 XT LP has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, 64 ROPs, and 32 ray tracing cores. The P102-100 has 3200 shading units, 200 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, but no ray tracing cores or tensor cores. Despite having fewer shading units, the AMD card achieves higher pixel and texture rates: 195.2 GPixel/s and 390.4 GTexel/s, versus 134.6 GPixel/s and 336.6 GTexel/s for NVIDIA. The FP32 throughput gap is even more pronounced: 24.99 TFLOPS for AMD versus 10.77 TFLOPS for NVIDIA. FP16 performance is a major differentiator, with AMD offering 24.99 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio) and NVIDIA limping along at 168.3 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio).

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP is the clear choice for OpenCL-based workloads. Its 77.8% lead in that benchmark suggests strong general-purpose compute performance, which could benefit tasks like scientific simulation, machine learning inference, or rendering workloads that rely on OpenCL. The card’s higher FP32 and FP16 throughput, combined with its 16 GB memory capacity, make it suitable for large datasets that exceed the P102-100’s 5 GB frame buffer. Additionally, the AMD card has display outputs — 1x HDMI 2.1b and 2x DisplayPort 2.1a — making it usable for standard desktop and gaming applications.

The NVIDIA P102-100 wins decisively in Vulkan, with a 41.5% advantage. This makes it the better option for Vulkan-based gaming or compute applications, despite its mining-oriented design. The card’s higher memory bandwidth (440.3 GB/s) likely contributes to this result, as Vulkan workloads often benefit from faster memory access. However, the P102-100 has no display outputs, meaning it cannot be used as a primary graphics card without a secondary GPU. Its PCIe 1.0 x4 interface is also severely limited compared to the RX 9060 XT LP’s PCIe 5.0 x16 connection, which could bottleneck data transfer in bandwidth-sensitive tasks.

For raw compute density, the AMD card’s 149.2M transistors per mm² versus NVIDIA’s 25.1M per mm² indicates far greater efficiency per unit of silicon. The RX 9060 XT LP also consumes less power, with a 140 W TDP versus 250 W for the P102-100, and requires a smaller power supply (300 W suggested versus 600 W). The AMD card uses a single 8-pin connector, while NVIDIA needs two 8-pin connectors.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP averages 63,830 points, which is 5,302 points higher than the NVIDIA P102-100’s 58,528 points.

Q: Does the NVIDIA card win any benchmark?

A: Yes, the P102-100 wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with 67,454 points, beating the AMD card’s 39,476 points by 41.5%.

Q: How much faster is the AMD card in OpenCL?

A: The RX 9060 XT LP scores 88,183 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 77.8% higher than the P102-100’s 49,602.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA P102-100 has higher bandwidth at 440.3 GB/s, compared to 322.3 GB/s for the AMD card, despite having a smaller 5 GB frame buffer versus 16 GB.

Q: Can the NVIDIA card be used for display output?

A: No, the P102-100 has no display outputs, while the RX 9060 XT LP offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 2x DisplayPort 2.1a.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient?

A: The AMD card has a 140 W TDP and requires a 300 W power supply, while the NVIDIA card has a 250 W TDP and requires a 600 W power supply.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP uses a 4 nm process with 29,700 million transistors on a 199 mm² die, while the NVIDIA P102-100 uses a 16 nm process with 11,800 million transistors on a 471 mm² die. The AMD card has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, versus 3200 shading units, 200 TMUs, and 80 ROPs for NVIDIA. The RX 9060 XT LP has 32 ray tracing cores; the P102-100 has none.

Clock speeds favor AMD: 1380 MHz base and 3050 MHz boost versus 1582 MHz base and 1683 MHz boost. Memory configurations differ: 16 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus versus 5 GB GDDR5X on a 320-bit bus. Bandwidth goes to NVIDIA at 440.3 GB/s versus 322.3 GB/s. Power requirements favor AMD: 140 W TDP with a 300 W PSU and one 8-pin connector, versus 250 W TDP with a 600 W PSU and two 8-pin connectors.

Interface and outputs are radically different. The AMD card uses PCIe 5.0 x16 and has display outputs. The NVIDIA card uses PCIe 1.0 x4 and has no outputs. API support also differs: AMD supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while NVIDIA only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA card is 267 mm long, while the AMD card’s dimensions are not listed. Production status: AMD is Active, NVIDIA is End-of-life.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear but conditional verdict. For any workload that relies on OpenCL, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP is the superior choice by a wide margin. Its 77.8% lead in that benchmark, combined with 16 GB of memory, modern RDNA 4.0 architecture, and active production status, makes it the practical option for general-purpose computing. The card’s display outputs and lower power requirements also make it usable in a standard desktop environment.

For Vulkan-specific applications, the NVIDIA P102-100 is the unexpected winner. Its 41.5% advantage in that test cannot be ignored, even though the card is end-of-life, has no display outputs, and uses a legacy PCIe interface. The higher memory bandwidth appears to give it an edge in Vulkan workloads, but this comes at the cost of higher power consumption (250 W TDP) and a larger physical footprint (267 mm length).

The average benchmark scores favor AMD, but only slightly: 63,830 versus 58,528 points, a 9% difference. The percentile rankings are close as well, with AMD at 89 and NVIDIA at 88. This suggests that for mixed workloads, the AMD card is the safer bet. For pure Vulkan performance, the NVIDIA card holds a specific niche, but its lack of display outputs and end-of-life status make it a difficult recommendation for most users. The data ultimately points to AMD for versatility and NVIDIA for a narrow Vulkan-focused use case.