AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition vs NVIDIA P102-100 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a clear overall winner, but the margin varies significantly depending on the API tested. In the two recorded head-to-head comparisons, the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition wins both, yet the scale of its victory is dramatically different between the OpenCL and Vulkan workloads.

The most decisive result comes from the Geekbench OpenCL test. Here, the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition scores 76,111, while the NVIDIA P102-100 manages only 49,602. This translates to a 53.4% advantage for the AMD card, which is a substantial performance gap. This large delta suggests that the Vega Frontier Edition's compute-oriented architecture is particularly well-suited to the general-purpose GPU computing tasks that OpenCL benchmarks typically exercise.

The Vulkan test tells a closer story. The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition scores 71,937, and the NVIDIA P102-100 is not far behind at 67,454. The resulting delta is a much narrower 6.6% in favor of AMD. This indicates that for lower-level graphics and compute APIs, the two cards are more evenly matched. The NVIDIA P102-100, despite its mining-focused design, can hold its own in this specific workload.

Looking at the broader database picture, the AMD card's average benchmark score is 73,370, placing it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA P102-100, by contrast, has an average score of 58,528, which puts it in the 88th percentile. While both cards sit in the upper echelon of recorded GPUs, the AMD card maintains a significantly higher average across its tested benchmarks.

The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64, which scores 72,379 and trails by just 1.4%. The NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal is also close, with a score of 72,098 and a 1.8% deficit. These comparisons show that the Vega Frontier Edition is performing at the top of its peer group. For the NVIDIA P102-100, its closest competitor is the AMD Radeon PRO V710, which scores 58,657 and is actually 0.2% ahead. The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT is just behind at 58,392, a 0.2% difference in favor of the NVIDIA card.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and manufacturing processes. The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition uses the Vega 10 chip, which is based on the GCN 5.0 architecture. It is fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The NVIDIA P102-100, on the other hand, uses the GP102 chip, based on the older Pascal architecture, and is built on a 16 nm process at TSMC.

The transistor counts are similar, though not identical. The Vega 10 chip contains 12,500 million transistors on a die size of 495 mm². The GP102 contains 11,800 million transistors on a slightly smaller die of 471 mm². This results in a very similar transistor density, with the AMD chip at 25.3 million transistors per mm² and the NVIDIA chip at 25.1 million per mm².

The compute resources are configured differently. The AMD card has 4,096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 64 raster operations pipelines (ROPs). The NVIDIA card has fewer shading units at 3,200, fewer TMUs at 200, but more ROPs at 80. This configuration difference helps explain some of the performance characteristics: the AMD card has more raw shader throughput potential, while the NVIDIA card has a higher pixel fill rate.

Clock speeds also differ. The AMD card has a base clock of 1382 MHz and a boost clock of 1600 MHz. The NVIDIA card runs higher, with a base clock of 1582 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz. Despite the higher clocks, the NVIDIA card's lower shading unit count results in lower overall floating-point performance. The AMD card delivers 13.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the NVIDIA card delivers 10.77 TFLOPS. The difference is even more pronounced in FP16: the AMD card achieves 26.21 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, whereas the NVIDIA card only manages 168.3 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio, a massive difference in half-precision capability.

Memory subsystems are also distinct. The AMD card features 16 GB of HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 483.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card uses 5 GB of GDDR5X on a 320-bit bus, resulting in 440.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD card has more memory and higher bandwidth, which can be advantageous for large datasets and compute workloads. The memory clocks are 945 MHz (1890 Mbps effective) for the AMD card and 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective) for the NVIDIA card.

Power consumption and interface requirements differ as well. The AMD card has a TDP of 300 W and requires a 700 W power supply. The NVIDIA card has a lower TDP of 250 W and needs a 600 W power supply. Both are dual-slot cards and require two 8-pin power connectors. The bus interface is a notable difference: the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the NVIDIA card is limited to PCIe 1.0 x4. This interface limitation could affect data transfer speeds in some scenarios.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is the clear winner in compute-heavy scenarios. Its 53.4% lead in OpenCL performance shows that it can handle general-purpose GPU tasks with significantly more efficiency than the NVIDIA P102-100. The card's 16 GB of HBM2 memory with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth also makes it better suited for workloads that require large memory capacities, such as machine learning training, scientific simulations, and complex rendering tasks. The FP16 performance of 26.21 TFLOPS is particularly notable, as this is a key metric for AI and deep learning applications.

The NVIDIA P102-100, despite losing both head-to-head benchmarks, still has areas where it can be competitive. Its Vulkan performance is only 6.6% behind the AMD card, making it a viable option for Vulkan-based compute or graphics workloads where the gap narrows considerably. The card's higher pixel rate of 134.6 GPixel/s, compared to the AMD card's 102.4 GPixel/s, suggests it may be more efficient at rasterization-heavy tasks. Its lower TDP of 250 W also means it draws less power and requires a smaller power supply, which could be an advantage in systems with less robust power delivery.

The NVIDIA card's higher boost clock of 1683 MHz and its 80 ROPs give it a theoretical edge in certain fill-rate-limited scenarios. However, its lower texture rate of 336.6 GTexel/s, compared to the AMD card's 409.6 GTexel/s, indicates that the AMD card has more texture processing capability.

Specification Differences

The key specification differences between the two cards are as follows:

• Manufacturer: AMD versus NVIDIA
• Chip: Vega 10 versus GP102
• Architecture: GCN 5.0 versus Pascal
• Generation: Radeon Pro Vega (Vega Series) versus Mining GPUs
• Process Node: 14 nm versus 16 nm
• Foundry: GlobalFoundries versus TSMC
• Transistors: 12,500 million versus 11,800 million
• Die Size: 495 mm² versus 471 mm²
• Transistor Density: 25.3M / mm² versus 25.1M / mm²
• Base Clock: 1382 MHz versus 1582 MHz
• Boost Clock: 1600 MHz versus 1683 MHz
• Memory Clock: 945 MHz (1890 Mbps effective) versus 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective)
• Memory Size: 16 GB versus 5 GB
• Memory Type: HBM2 versus GDDR5X
• Memory Bus Width: 2048 bit versus 320 bit
• Memory Bandwidth: 483.8 GB/s versus 440.3 GB/s
• Shading Units: 4096 versus 3200
• TMUs: 256 versus 200
• ROPs: 64 versus 80
• Pixel Rate: 102.4 GPixel/s versus 134.6 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: 409.6 GTexel/s versus 336.6 GTexel/s
• FP32: 13.11 TFLOPS versus 10.77 TFLOPS
• FP16: 26.21 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 168.3 GFLOPS (1:64)
• TDP: 300 W versus 250 W
• Suggested PSU: 700 W versus 600 W
• Bus Interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 1.0 x4
• Display Outputs: 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a versus No outputs
• Vulkan Support: 1.3 versus 1.4
• Release Date: 2017-06-26 versus 2018-02-11

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition has an average benchmark score of 73,370, while the NVIDIA P102-100 has an average score of 58,528.

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

A: The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition scores 76,111 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 53.4% higher than the NVIDIA P102-100's score of 49,602.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition has 16 GB of HBM2 memory, while the NVIDIA P102-100 has 5 GB of GDDR5X memory.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel rate?

A: The NVIDIA P102-100 has a pixel rate of 134.6 GPixel/s, which is higher than the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition's 102.4 GPixel/s.

Q: Does the NVIDIA P102-100 support display outputs?

A: No, the NVIDIA P102-100 has no display outputs, whereas the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Q: What is the FP16 performance difference?

A: The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition achieves 26.21 TFLOPS FP16 performance at a 2:1 ratio, while the NVIDIA P102-100 achieves only 168.3 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio.

The Verdict

The data points to the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition as the superior choice for most compute-centric applications. Its 53.4% OpenCL advantage is a decisive factor for users running general-purpose GPU workloads. The card's larger 16 GB memory pool, higher bandwidth, and vastly superior FP16 performance make it the better option for tasks like machine learning, scientific computing, and any workload that benefits from large memory capacities or half-precision arithmetic.

The NVIDIA P102-100 is a more specialized piece of hardware. Its lack of display outputs makes it unsuitable for any standard graphics use case. However, its Vulkan performance is respectable, trailing the AMD card by only 6.6%. Its higher pixel rate and lower power consumption could make it a reasonable choice in specific scenarios where those attributes are prioritized, such as certain rendering pipelines or power-constrained compute environments. The card's PCIe 1.0 x4 interface is a notable limitation, however, as it could bottleneck data transfers in systems with high I/O demands.

For general-purpose compute, the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is the clear winner based on the recorded benchmark data. For users who specifically need Vulkan workloads and can tolerate the NVIDIA card's limitations, the P102-100 offers a more modest performance deficit and a lower power draw. The AMD card's higher average score and 91st percentile ranking versus the NVIDIA card's 88th percentile further solidify its standing in the database.