NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB vs NVIDIA A10G Comparison

The NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB and the NVIDIA A10G are both server-grade Ampere accelerators, but the benchmark data positions them in distinct tiers. The A100 PCIe 80 GB achieves a Geekbench OpenCL score of 207,124, placing it in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, while the A10G scores 158,063 in the same test, landing in the 97th percentile. The head-to-head comparison shows a single benchmark win for the A100 PCIe 80 GB, with a delta of 31% over the A10G. This gap is substantial, though the A10G’s own standing among its peers reveals a different competitive context.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the result is decisive. The NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB scores 207,124, while the NVIDIA A10G scores 158,063. That is a 31% advantage for the A100 PCIe 80 GB, which is a significant margin in compute workloads. The A100 PCIe 80 GB’s average benchmark score matches its OpenCL result at 207,124, since it has only one benchmark entry. The A10G, with two benchmarks, has an average score of 151,963, which is lower than its OpenCL score because its Vulkan score of 145,863 pulls the average down.

Looking at the rival landscape, the A100 PCIe 80 GB’s lead over the A10G is consistent with its position relative to other competitors. The A100 PCIe 80 GB is 5.7% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX 6000D (195,964) and 6.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla V100S PCIe 32 GB (194,415). However, it trails the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D by 5.8% (219,827) and the NVIDIA PG506-232 by 8% (225,124). The A10G, by contrast, is only 1.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 32 GB (150,305) and 9.3% ahead of the AMD Instinct MI100 (139,035). It falls behind the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X by 5.4% (160,671) and the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB by 6.5% (162,504).

The data suggests that the A100 PCIe 80 GB’s 31% margin over the A10G is not an outlier but a reflection of its higher tier. The A100 PCIe 80 GB sits comfortably above the A10G in raw compute, and its closest rivals are within a single-digit percentage either way. The A10G, on the other hand, is clustered with older or lower-tier accelerators like the Tesla V100 PCIe 32 GB, where the margin is slim. The 31% delta between the two cards is roughly five times larger than the A10G’s own lead over its nearest rival, which underscores the performance gulf.

The Verdict

From the data, the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB is the clear choice for workloads where raw compute throughput is the primary requirement. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 207,124 is 31% higher than the A10G’s 158,063, and it ranks in the 99th percentile of all GPUs versus the A10G’s 97th. If a workload is bound by OpenCL performance, the A100 PCIe 80 GB delivers a decisive advantage that no amount of tuning on the A10G is likely to close.

The NVIDIA A10G, however, is not without merit. Its 97th percentile ranking means it is still a high performer relative to the broader GPU market. Its average score of 151,963 places it just 1.1% above the Tesla V100 PCIe 32 GB, which suggests it is a viable option for tasks that are compatible with its architecture but do not require the absolute peak of the A100 PCIe 80 GB. The A10G’s Vulkan score of 145,863 also indicates API-specific strengths that the A100 PCIe 80 GB does not have a direct benchmark for, though this is not a substitute for the A100’s raw OpenCL lead.

For a buyer deciding strictly on benchmark data, the A100 PCIe 80 GB is the superior compute part. The 31% delta in the only head-to-head test is the single most telling number in this comparison. The A10G should be considered only if the workload is known to favor its specific feature set or if the 97th percentile performance is sufficient, but the data does not support choosing it over the A100 PCIe 80 GB on performance grounds alone.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB wins the only benchmark where both are tested, and it wins by a wide margin. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 207,124 against the A10G’s 158,063, a 31% advantage. This makes the A100 PCIe 80 GB the better choice for general-purpose compute tasks that rely on OpenCL, such as scientific simulation, data analytics, or any workload that scales with raw FP32 or FP16 throughput. Its 99th percentile ranking reinforces that it is near the top of the performance hierarchy.

The NVIDIA A10G does not win any head-to-head benchmark, but it does have a Vulkan score of 145,863 that the A100 PCIe 80 GB lacks. This suggests the A10G has a functional advantage in Vulkan-based rendering or compute workloads, though there is no direct comparison to quantify it. The A10G’s 97th percentile ranking and its 1.1% lead over the Tesla V100 PCIe 32 GB indicate it is competitive with that older but still capable card. For users with Vulkan-specific requirements or those who need a lower-tier option that still ranks in the 97th percentile, the A10G is a reasonable fit.

In terms of memory, the A100 PCIe 80 GB offers 80 GB of HBM2e with a bandwidth of 1.94 TB/s, while the A10G provides 24 GB of GDDR6 at 600.2 GB/s. The A100’s memory bandwidth is over three times higher, which is critical for memory-bound workloads. The A10G’s smaller memory pool and lower bandwidth will limit its performance on large datasets, but its higher boost clock of 1710 MHz versus the A100’s 1410 MHz suggests it may have an edge in latency-sensitive, low-occupancy tasks that do not saturate memory bandwidth.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB scores 207,124, which is 31% higher than the NVIDIA A10G’s 158,063.

Q: How does the A10G compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The A10G is 1.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 32 GB (150,305) and 9.3% ahead of the AMD Instinct MI100 (139,035), but it trails the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X by 5.4% (160,671) and the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB by 6.5% (162,504).

Q: What is the A100 PCIe 80 GB’s percentile ranking?

A: The A100 PCIe 80 GB ranks in the 99th percentile of all GPUs, while the A10G ranks in the 97th percentile.

Q: Does the A10G have any benchmark advantage over the A100 PCIe 80 GB?

A: The A10G has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 145,863, but the A100 PCIe 80 GB has no Vulkan benchmark entry, so no direct comparison is available.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each GPU?

A: The A100 PCIe 80 GB has 80 GB of HBM2e memory with a 5120-bit bus and 1.94 TB/s bandwidth. The A10G has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 384-bit bus and 600.2 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher FP32 throughput?

A: The A10G has 31.52 TFLOPS FP32, while the A100 PCIe 80 GB has 19.49 TFLOPS FP32, making the A10G approximately 62% higher in this specific metric.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on different chips within the same Ampere architecture. The A100 PCIe 80 GB uses the GA100 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with 54,200 million transistors on an 826 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 65.6 million per mm². The A10G uses the GA102 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung, with 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, yielding a density of 45.1 million per mm². The A100’s smaller process node and larger transistor count give it a denser design, which correlates with its higher compute performance.

The A100 PCIe 80 GB has 6912 shading units, 432 TMUs, and 160 ROPs, along with 432 tensor cores. The A10G has 9216 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with 72 RT cores and 288 tensor cores. The A10G has more shading units, which explains its higher FP32 throughput of 31.52 TFLOPS versus the A100’s 19.49 TFLOPS. However, the A100’s FP16 performance is 77.97 TFLOPS (4:1 ratio), while the A10G’s FP16 is 31.52 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), meaning the A100 excels in mixed-precision workloads that leverage its tensor cores.

Memory architecture differs fundamentally. The A100 PCIe 80 GB uses HBM2e with a 5120-bit bus width and 1.94 TB/s bandwidth, while the A10G uses GDDR6 with a 384-bit bus and 600.2 GB/s bandwidth. The A100’s memory bandwidth is more than three times higher, which is essential for large-scale data processing. The A100 also has a higher pixel rate of 225.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 609.1 GTexel/s, compared to the A10G’s 164.2 GPixel/s and 492.5 GTexel/s, respectively.

Both cards are PCIe 4.0 x16 and have no display outputs. The A100 PCIe 80 GB is dual-slot with a 300 W TDP and requires a 700 W suggested PSU, while the A10G is single-slot with a 150 W TDP and a 450 W suggested PSU. The A10G supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the A100 PCIe 80 GB has no listed API support. Both use an 8-pin EPS power connector and are end-of-life products, released in 2021.

Specification Differences

The most obvious difference is memory capacity and bandwidth. The A100 PCIe 80 GB has 80 GB of HBM2e with a 5120-bit bus and 1.94 TB/s bandwidth, while the A10G has 24 GB of GDDR6 with a 384-bit bus and 600.2 GB/s bandwidth. The A100’s memory bandwidth is 1.94 TB/s versus 600.2 GB/s, a difference of roughly 3.2 times.

Clock speeds differ as well. The A100 PCIe 80 GB has a base clock of 1065 MHz and a boost clock of 1410 MHz, with memory running at 1512 MHz (3 Gbps effective). The A10G has a base clock of 1320 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, with memory at 1563 MHz (12.5 Gbps effective). The A10G’s higher clocks contribute to its higher FP32 throughput, but the A100’s memory bandwidth compensates in memory-bound tasks.

Compute unit counts vary. The A100 PCIe 80 GB has 6912 shading units, 432 TMUs, 160 ROPs, and 432 tensor cores. The A10G has 9216 shading units, 288 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 72 RT cores, and 288 tensor cores. The A10G has more shading units and RT cores, while the A100 has more TMUs, ROPs, and tensor cores. FP32 performance favors the A10G at 31.52 TFLOPS versus 19.49 TFLOPS, but FP16 performance favors the A100 at 77.97 TFLOPS (4:1) versus 31.52 TFLOPS (1:1).

Physical and power characteristics differ. The A100 PCIe 80 GB is dual-slot with a 300 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU, while the A10G is single-slot with a 150 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU. Both are 267 mm long and 111-112 mm high. The A100’s process node is 7 nm at TSMC, while the A10G’s is 8 nm at Samsung. Transistor counts are 54,200 million for the A100 and 28,300 million for the A10G, with die sizes of 826 mm² and 628 mm², respectively. The A100 PCIe 80 GB has no API listings, while the A10G supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.