NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z vs NVIDIA P106-100 Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z vs NVIDIA P106-100

The data presents a curious generational clash: a 2014 dual-GPU flagship from the Kepler era against a 2017 Pascal-based mining card with no display outputs. The benchmark results are unequivocal — the P106-100 wins both head-to-head tests, yet the GTX TITAN Z holds a near-identical average score when all benchmarks are considered. The TITAN Z's average benchmark score is 23,736, while the P106-100 sits at 23,249, a difference of only 487 points, or roughly 2%. This near-parity in overall standing, despite the P106-100's decisive wins in the two shared tests, suggests the TITAN Z's remaining benchmark data (not shared here) carries significant weight. The percentile rankings reinforce the closeness: the TITAN Z lands in the 69th percentile of all GPUs, while the P106-100 sits at the 68th.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two Geekbench tests tell a consistent story, and it is not favorable to the older flagship. In Geekbench OpenCL, the P106-100 scores 35,951 against the TITAN Z's 25,465. That is a 29.2% margin in favor of the Pascal card. The Vulkan test is even more lopsided: the P106-100 posts 32,897, while the TITAN Z manages 22,006, a 33.1% deficit. Both results are substantial, double-digit gaps that cannot be dismissed as mere benchmark variance.

What makes these numbers striking is the hardware behind them. The TITAN Z carries 2,880 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, while the P106-100 has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The TITAN Z has more than double the shading units and triple the TMUs, yet it loses decisively. The P106-100's advantage appears to stem from its architecture and clocks. Its base clock of 1,506 MHz and boost of 1,709 MHz dwarf the TITAN Z's 705 MHz base and 876 MHz boost. Even with fewer cores, the P106-100's raw compute in FP32 is 4.375 TFLOPS versus the TITAN Z's 5.046 TFLOPS — the TITAN Z still leads in theoretical floating-point throughput, yet the benchmark results show the opposite in practice.

The pixel rate offers a clue: the P106-100 achieves 82.03 GPixel/s versus the TITAN Z's 52.56 GPixel/s, a 56% advantage. The texture rate, however, reverses: the TITAN Z hits 210.2 GTexel/s against the P106-100's 136.7 GTexel/s. The Vulkan test, which often stresses driver efficiency and architecture-level parallelism, shows a 33.1% gap. This hints that the Kepler architecture, despite its raw core count, cannot efficiently feed its shading units in modern workloads. The Pascal design, with its higher clocks and better instruction-level parallelism, extracts more real-world performance per transistor.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the benchmark data, the P106-100 is the faster card in the two tests both share. The 29.2% OpenCL win and the 33.1% Vulkan win are unambiguous. Any user choosing between these two solely on measured performance would pick the P106-100. However, the TITAN Z's average benchmark score of 23,736 is actually higher than the P106-100's 23,249, meaning the TITAN Z performs better in benchmarks not covered by the head-to-head comparison. The percentile rankings are nearly identical — 69th versus 68th — placing both in the same performance tier.

The TITAN Z also offers features the P106-100 simply does not have. It has display outputs (2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x DisplayPort 1.2), while the P106-100 has no outputs at all. The TITAN Z supports PCIe 3.0 x16, while the P106-100 is limited to PCIe 1.0 x16. For any task requiring a visual output, the P106-100 is disqualified outright. The TITAN Z's 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, compared to the P106-100's 6 GB on a 192-bit bus at 192.2 GB/s. That 75% bandwidth advantage is significant for memory-heavy workloads. The data suggests: if you need compute performance in the two shared APIs, take the P106-100; if you need a functional graphics card that can also compute, the TITAN Z is the only option.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras and process nodes. The TITAN Z uses the GK110B chip, built on Kepler architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 28 nm process. It packs 7,080 million transistors into a 561 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.6 million per square millimeter. The P106-100 uses the GP106 chip, built on Pascal architecture, also on TSMC but at 16 nm. It holds 4,400 million transistors in a 200 mm² die, achieving a density of 22.0 million per square millimeter — a 75% improvement in density.

The clock speeds reflect the architectural shift. The TITAN Z runs at 705 MHz base and 876 MHz boost, while the P106-100 runs at 1,506 MHz base and 1,709 MHz boost — more than double. Memory clocks also differ: the TITAN Z uses 1,750 MHz (7 Gbps effective), while the P106-100 uses 2,002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The memory type is GDDR5 for both, and both have 6 GB capacity, but the bus widths differ dramatically: 384-bit for the TITAN Z versus 192-bit for the P106-100.

Feature support also diverges. The TITAN Z supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.175, while the P106-100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The P106-100 has a listed FP16 performance of 68.36 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio, while the TITAN Z has no FP16 figure listed, implying it may not have dedicated FP16 hardware. The TITAN Z has no RT cores or tensor cores, and neither does the P106-100 — both are pre-ray-tracing architectures. The P106-100's PCIe 1.0 x16 interface is a notable downgrade from the TITAN Z's PCIe 3.0 x16, which could bottleneck data transfer in some workloads, though the benchmark results do not show this as a limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z has an average benchmark score of 23,736, which is higher than the NVIDIA P106-100's 23,249. The TITAN Z also holds a slightly higher percentile ranking at 69% versus 68%.

Q: Why does the P106-100 win the head-to-head tests despite having fewer shading units?

A: The P106-100's advantage comes from its much higher clock speeds — 1,506 MHz base and 1,709 MHz boost versus the TITAN Z's 705 MHz base and 876 MHz boost. The Pascal architecture also supports newer API versions, with DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4 versus the TITAN Z's DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: Can the P106-100 be used for display output?

A: No. The P106-100 has no display outputs listed — it is a mining-focused card. The TITAN Z, by contrast, offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs.

Q: How do the memory bandwidths compare?

A: The TITAN Z has a 384-bit memory bus providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the P106-100 has a 192-bit bus providing 192.2 GB/s. Both have 6 GB of GDDR5 memory, but the TITAN Z's wider bus gives it a 75% bandwidth advantage.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The TITAN Z has a TDP of 375 W, requires a 750 W suggested PSU, and uses 2x 8-pin power connectors. The P106-100 has a TDP of 120 W, requires a 300 W suggested PSU, and uses a single 6-pin connector.

Q: Which card has better raw pixel throughput?

A: The P106-100 achieves 82.03 GPixel/s, significantly higher than the TITAN Z's 52.56 GPixel/s. However, the TITAN Z leads in texture rate at 210.2 GTexel/s versus the P106-100's 136.7 GTexel/s.

Where Each One Wins

The P106-100 wins in every head-to-head benchmark category available. It is 29.2% faster in Geekbench OpenCL and 33.1% faster in Geekbench Vulkan. It also has a higher pixel rate (82.03 GPixel/s versus 52.56 GPixel/s), higher clock speeds, better transistor density (22.0M/mm² versus 12.6M/mm²), and a newer architecture with better API support. It is also far more power-efficient on paper, with a 120 W TDP versus the TITAN Z's 375 W, and it requires only a 300 W PSU versus 750 W. For compute workloads that can leverage its architecture, the P106-100 is the clear winner.

The TITAN Z wins in areas the benchmark scores do not capture directly. It has a higher average benchmark score (23,736 versus 23,249), indicating superior performance in other tests. It has more shading units (2,880 versus 1,280), more TMUs (240 versus 80), and a much wider memory bus (384-bit versus 192-bit) with higher bandwidth (336.0 GB/s versus 192.2 GB/s). It also has display outputs, which the P106-100 completely lacks. The TITAN Z supports PCIe 3.0 x16, while the P106-100 is stuck on PCIe 1.0 x16. For gaming, content creation, or any task requiring a monitor connection, the TITAN Z is the only functional choice.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification category. The TITAN Z uses the GK110B chip on Kepler architecture with a 28 nm process, while the P106-100 uses GP106 on Pascal with a 16 nm process. Transistor counts are 7,080 million versus 4,400 million, and die sizes are 561 mm² versus 200 mm². Clocks: the TITAN Z runs at 705 MHz base and 876 MHz boost, while the P106-100 runs at 1,506 MHz base and 1,709 MHz boost. Memory: both have 6 GB GDDR5, but the TITAN Z uses a 384-bit bus at 1,750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) for 336.0 GB/s, while the P106-100 uses a 192-bit bus at 2,002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) for 192.2 GB/s.

Compute resources: the TITAN Z has 2,880 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, while the P106-100 has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Pixel rates are 52.56 GPixel/s for the TITAN Z and 82.03 GPixel/s for the P106-100; texture rates are 210.2 GTexel/s versus 136.7 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 5.046 TFLOPS versus 4.375 TFLOPS. The TITAN Z has no listed FP16 figure, while the P106-100 has 68.36 GFLOPS at 1:64 ratio. Power: the TITAN Z draws 375 W, needs a 750 W PSU, uses 2x 8-pin connectors, and is triple-slot; the P106-100 draws 120 W, needs a 300 W PSU, uses 1x 6-pin, and is dual-slot. Interface and outputs: the TITAN Z uses PCIe 3.0 x16 with 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2; the P106-100 uses PCIe 1.0 x16 with no outputs. API support: the TITAN Z has DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.175, while the P106-100 has DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4. Physical dimensions: the TITAN Z is 267 mm long, 111 mm tall, and 62 mm wide; the P106-100 is 250 mm long with no listed height or width. The TITAN Z launched on 2014-05-27 with a launch MSRP of 2,999 USD; the P106-100 launched on 2017-06-18 with no listed MSRP. Both are end-of-life production status.