NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile vs NVIDIA P106-090 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits these two NVIDIA parts along very clear lines. The NVIDIA P106-090 takes a narrow win in the modern 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, scoring 509 against the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 469, a margin of 8.5%. That is a single test, but it is the most demanding and recent workload in the set, and it suggests the older Pascal card holds its own in raw rasterization when the API is kept constant.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile dominates the compute-oriented benchmarks, and it does so by massive margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the mobile Ampere part scores 57,915, which is 63.2% higher than the P106-090's 21,304. The Vulkan result is even more lopsided: 55,812 versus 18,596, a 66.7% advantage. These are not close calls. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is in a different league for general-purpose GPU compute and API-agnostic workloads.

Looking at the broader benchmark picture, the P106-090's average benchmark score is 13,470, placing it in the 54th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile averages 12,940, which lands in the 53rd percentile. The average scores are close, but the distribution of wins is not. The P106-090 wins one test; the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile wins two. However, the magnitude of the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's wins in OpenCL and Vulkan far outweighs the P106-090's slim 8.5% lead in Steel Nomad.

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also has a much richer benchmark profile in the data, with results across PassMark DX9, DX10, DX11, DX12, G2D, G3D, and GPU compute. Its PassMark G3D score is 10,093, and its GPU compute score is 4,305. The P106-090 has no PassMark entries at all, so the comparison there is one-sided. For users who rely on those specific DirectX legacy tests, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the only one of the two with usable data.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split decision. If the workload is modern DX12 gaming or anything that stresses traditional rasterization pipelines, the P106-090 is the better choice. Its 8.5% lead in Steel Nomad is meaningful, and its average benchmark score of 13,470 is slightly higher than the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 12,940. The P106-090 also sits at the 54th percentile versus the 53rd for its rival, a marginal but consistent edge.

If the workload involves compute, OpenCL, Vulkan, or any general-purpose GPU acceleration, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the overwhelming winner. The 63.2% lead in OpenCL and 66.7% lead in Vulkan are enormous. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also brings a full suite of PassMark results, including DirectX 9 through 12, which the P106-090 simply does not have. For any user running those legacy DirectX tests, the choice is obvious.

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also has architectural advantages that are visible in the specs: 2,560 shading units versus 768, 80 TMUs versus 48, 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores where the P106-090 has none, and 5.299 TFLOPS FP32 versus 2.352 TFLOPS. The P106-090 does counter with 48 ROPs versus 32 and a 192-bit memory bus versus 128-bit, but those are narrow advantages in a much older design.

Who should pick which? Strictly from the data, a user targeting modern DX12 gaming should pick the P106-090. A user targeting compute, Vulkan, or legacy DirectX workloads should pick the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. The P106-090 is also the only one with a dual-slot form factor and a 6-pin power connector, which matters for desktop integration. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is an IGP with no power connectors, making it a laptop-only part.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three direct head-to-head tests tell a consistent story. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the P106-090 scores 509 against 469, winning by 8.5%. This is the only test the P106-090 wins, and it is importantly this is a DX12 test, not a compute test. The P106-090's Pascal architecture, despite being older, manages a higher score here.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 57,915, which is 63.2% higher than the P106-090's 21,304. This is a massive margin. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 5.299 TFLOPS FP32 and 1:1 FP16 ratio (also 5.299 TFLOPS) explain why. The P106-090's FP32 is 2.352 TFLOPS, and its FP16 is a tiny 36.74 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio. The compute gap is structural, not incidental.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 55,812, which is 66.7% higher than the P106-090's 18,596. This is the largest delta in the entire comparison. Vulkan performance benefits from the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's newer Ampere architecture, its 80 tensor cores, and its 12 Gbps effective memory speed. The P106-090 has no tensor cores, no RT cores, and runs 8 Gbps effective memory.

The deltaPct values in the nearestRivals data put these scores in context. The P106-090's average score of 13,470 is only 0.3% below the GTX 570 (13,515) and 0.5% above the Radeon Pro 555 (13,407). The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's average of 12,940 is 0.1% above the RX 580 (12,928) and 0.4% below the GTX 1660 SUPER (12,986). Both cards sit in a tightly packed mid-range cluster, but the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's compute benchmarks are what separate it.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The NVIDIA P106-090 wins with a score of 509, which is 8.5% higher than the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 469.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 57,915, which is 63.2% higher than the P106-090's 21,304.

Q: Does the P106-090 support ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The P106-090 has zero RT cores and zero tensor cores. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The P106-090 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus with 192.2 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The P106-090 has an average benchmark score of 13,470, slightly above the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 12,940. The P106-090 sits in the 54th percentile, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile in the 53rd.

Q: Are there any DirectX 9-12 PassMark results for the P106-090?

A: No. The P106-090 has no PassMark entries in the data. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has PassMark scores for DX9 (120), DX10 (60), DX11 (76), and DX12 (49).

Architecture Differences

The P106-090 is built on NVIDIA's Pascal architecture using a GP106 chip fabricated on a 16 nm TSMC process. The die contains 4,400 million transistors on a 200 mm² area, giving a transistor density of 22.0 million per mm². The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with a GA106 chip on Samsung's 8 nm process. Its die is larger at 276 mm² and packs 12,000 million transistors, achieving a density of 43.5 million per mm². The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has more than double the transistor density and nearly three times the transistor count.

The compute resources differ dramatically. The P106-090 has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 2,560 shading units, 80 TMUs, but only 32 ROPs. The P106-090's higher ROP count gives it a pixel rate of 73.49 GPixel/s versus 33.12 GPixel/s for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. However, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's texture rate is higher at 82.80 GTexel/s versus 73.49 GTexel/s.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The P106-090 runs at a 1354 MHz base and 1531 MHz boost. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile runs much lower at 735 MHz base and 1035 MHz boost. Despite the lower clocks, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's FP32 throughput of 5.299 TFLOPS is more than double the P106-090's 2.352 TFLOPS. The FP16 numbers are even more divergent: the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile delivers 5.299 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, while the P106-090 manages only 36.74 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio.

Memory differs in capacity and type but not in bandwidth. The P106-090 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 192.2 GB/s. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 192.0 GB/s. The effective memory speed is 8 Gbps for the P106-090 and 12 Gbps for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. The P106-090's wider bus compensates for the slower memory, resulting in near-identical bandwidth.

The feature sets are generationally distinct. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the P106-090 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile adds 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores, enabling ray tracing and AI acceleration that the P106-090 cannot offer. The P106-090 has no display outputs, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is listed as portable device dependent. The P106-090 uses a PCIe 1.0 x1 interface, a dual-slot form factor, and draws 75 W via a 6-pin connector. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16 with no power connectors and is an IGP.