AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 vs NVIDIA P104-100 Comparison

# AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 vs NVIDIA P104-100

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and NVIDIA P104-100 occupy very different positions in the database, despite both being end-of-life products. The RX Vega 56 is a consumer gaming card from the Vega generation, while the P104-100 is a mining-oriented GPU with no display outputs. Their average benchmark scores reflect this gap: the RX Vega 56 posts 37,507 points against the P104-100’s 32,982, a difference of roughly 13.7%. The database places the RX Vega 56 in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the P104-100 sits in the 77th percentile. The head-to-head benchmark record shows one win for AMD, with a 6.2% margin in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test.

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data shows a clear split in strengths. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark available, the 3dmark_3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 test, scoring 1,501 against the P104-100’s 1,413. That is a 6.2% advantage, and it aligns with the RX Vega 56’s higher overall average score. In the broader benchmark suite, the RX Vega 56 also delivers a strong Geekbench Metal result of 73,512, which is not available for the P104-100, indicating that the AMD card has driver and hardware support for Apple’s Metal API that the NVIDIA mining card lacks.

The NVIDIA P104-100, however, shows its own strengths in compute-oriented workloads. It records a Geekbench OpenCL score of 52,368 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 45,165, while the RX Vega 56 has no corresponding entries in those tests in the database. The P104-100’s architecture is built for raw throughput in non-graphical tasks, and its Pascal design with 1,920 shading units and a 256-bit memory bus is optimized for parallel compute. The data also shows the P104-100 has a higher pixel rate of 110.9 GPixel/s compared to the RX Vega 56’s 94.14 GPixel/s, even though the AMD card has a higher texture rate and FP32 throughput. The P104-100’s boost clock of 1,733 MHz is also higher than the RX Vega 56’s 1,471 MHz boost, which helps in latency-sensitive compute workloads.

The use-case split is therefore straightforward: the RX Vega 56 is the card for gaming and graphics-centric applications, while the P104-100 is a specialized compute accelerator with no display outputs, meaning it cannot drive a monitor at all. The P104-100 is listed under “Mining GPUs” in the database, and its lack of display outputs confirms it is not intended for interactive use.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different manufacturers and process nodes. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 uses the Vega 10 chip on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the NVIDIA P104-100 uses the GP104 chip on a 16 nm process from TSMC. The AMD chip is larger: 495 mm² die size versus 314 mm², and it packs 12,500 million transistors compared to 7,200 million. That translates to a higher transistor density of 25.3M per mm² for AMD versus 22.9M per mm² for NVIDIA.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The RX Vega 56 uses 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 409.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The P104-100 uses 4 GB of GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 320.3 GB/s. The AMD card’s memory bandwidth advantage is substantial, 27.9% higher, which helps in texture-heavy and high-resolution workloads. The P104-100’s memory clock is listed at 1251 MHz (10 Gbps effective), while the RX Vega 56’s memory runs at 800 MHz (1600 Mbps effective), but the HBM2’s wider bus more than compensates for the lower clock speed.

Compute resources also differ sharply. The RX Vega 56 has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The P104-100 has 1,920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The AMD card’s FP32 throughput is 10.54 TFLOPS versus 6.655 TFLOPS for NVIDIA, a 58.4% advantage. FP16 performance is even more lopsided: the RX Vega 56 delivers 21.09 TFLOPS at 2:1 ratio, while the P104-100 manages only 104.0 GFLOPS at 1:64 ratio, making the AMD card roughly 200 times faster in half-precision compute. Texture rate favors AMD as well, 329.5 GTexel/s versus 208.0 GTexel/s, though the P104-100 leads in pixel rate as noted earlier.

Power and interface differences are notable. The RX Vega 56 has a TDP of 210 W and requires two 8-pin power connectors, with a suggested PSU of 550 W. The P104-100 has no TDP listed in the database but requires only one 8-pin connector and a 200 W suggested PSU. The bus interface also differs: the RX Vega 56 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the P104-100 uses PCIe 1.0 x4, a severe bandwidth limitation for a mining card that was likely designed for dense multi-GPU rigs rather than single-card performance.

The RX Vega 56 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, and has display outputs: 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The P104-100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, but has no display outputs. The AMD card is 280 mm long, 111 mm tall, and 40 mm wide, while the P104-100 is 267 mm long with no listed height or width. Both are dual-slot cards. The RX Vega 56 launched on 2017-08-13 with a launch MSRP of 399 USD, while the P104-100 launched on 2017-12-11 with no listed MSRP.

The Verdict

Based on the recorded data, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is the clear choice for any user needing a functional graphics card. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark, has a higher average score, higher percentile ranking, and includes display outputs for connecting monitors. Its 8 GB HBM2 memory with 409.6 GB/s bandwidth and 10.54 TFLOPS FP32 performance make it suitable for gaming and general-purpose GPU compute. The database shows it is 6.2% faster than the P104-100 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.3% slower), GeForce RTX 4070 (0.4% slower), and AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (0.9% faster), placing it in a competitive mid-range segment.

The NVIDIA P104-100 is a different beast entirely. With no display outputs, it cannot be used as a standard graphics card. Its strengths lie in compute tasks where its higher boost clock (1,733 MHz) and pixel rate (110.9 GPixel/s) matter. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 52,368 and Vulkan score of 45,165 show it is capable in those APIs, but the lack of a Metal score and the absence of any head-to-head win against the RX Vega 56 make it a niche product. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA T600 Mobile (0.4% faster), T550 Mobile (0.5% slower), and GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile (0.6% slower), indicating it performs near entry-level mobile GPUs.

For a buyer choosing between these two, the RX Vega 56 is the only sensible option for a desktop system. The P104-100 is a specialized mining or compute card that requires a separate display adapter and offers less memory (4 GB vs 8 GB) and lower bandwidth. The data does not support any scenario where the P104-100 would be preferable for general use.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 has an average benchmark score of 37,507, while the NVIDIA P104-100 scores 32,982. That is a difference of approximately 13.7%.

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

A: No. The database lists the P104-100 as having no display outputs, making it unsuitable for connecting monitors directly.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 has 409.6 GB/s of bandwidth from its 8 GB HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus. The NVIDIA P104-100 has 320.3 GB/s from 4 GB GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What is the result of the head-to-head 3DMark benchmark?

A: In the 3dmark_3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 test, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 1,501 versus the NVIDIA P104-100’s 1,413, giving AMD a 6.2% win.

Q: Which GPU has higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 delivers 10.54 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the NVIDIA P104-100 delivers 6.655 TFLOPS. The AMD card is 58.4% higher.

Q: What is the process node for each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 uses a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the NVIDIA P104-100 uses a 16 nm process from TSMC.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database includes a single direct comparison between these two GPUs, and it tells a clear story. In the 3dmark_3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 test, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 1,501 points, while the NVIDIA P104-100 scores 1,413 points. The AMD card wins by 6.2%, a modest but consistent margin. This benchmark is a DX12 workload that stresses modern graphics features, and the RX Vega 56’s GCN 5.0 architecture with 3,584 shading units and 224 TMUs appears better suited to it than the P104-100’s Pascal design with 1,920 shading units and 120 TMUs.

Beyond the direct head-to-head, the broader benchmark data reinforces the gap. The RX Vega 56’s Geekbench Metal score of 73,512 is a strong result, though no comparable Metal score exists for the P104-100. The P104-100 counters with Geekbench OpenCL at 52,368 and Geekbench Vulkan at 45,165, but the RX Vega 56 has no entries in those tests, so a direct comparison is impossible. The average benchmark scores, however, capture the overall picture: 37,507 for AMD versus 32,982 for NVIDIA, a 13.7% difference.

The nearest rival data puts both cards in context. The RX Vega 56’s closest competitor is the NVIDIA Tesla P4, which is only 0.3% slower, followed by the GeForce RTX 4070 at 0.4% slower and the Radeon PRO W6400 at 0.9% faster. The P104-100’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA T600 Mobile at 0.4% faster, with the T550 Mobile at 0.5% slower and the GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile at 0.6% slower. These figures suggest that while the RX Vega 56 trades blows with modern mid-range cards, the P104-100 is closer to entry-level mobile performance.

In terms of raw specifications, the RX Vega 56’s advantages are decisive. Its FP32 throughput of 10.54 TFLOPS dwarfs the P104-100’s 6.655 TFLOPS. Its texture rate of 329.5 GTexel/s is 58.4% higher than the P104-100’s 208.0 GTexel/s. The memory bandwidth gap is also significant: 409.6 GB/s versus 320.3 GB/s, a 27.9% difference. The P104-100 does lead in pixel rate, 110.9 GPixel/s versus 94.14 GPixel/s, and in boost clock, 1,733 MHz versus 1,471 MHz, but these advantages do not translate into a benchmark win.

The conclusion from the head-to-head data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 wins the only direct comparison and holds substantial leads in compute throughput, texture rate, and memory bandwidth. The NVIDIA P104-100 is a specialized mining GPU with no display outputs and a narrower feature set, and the recorded measurements show it trailing in every category that matters for graphics performance.