NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 vs NVIDIA P106-100 Comparison

The NVIDIA P106-100 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 are two GPUs separated by a technological chasm, despite their identical 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The RTX 3080 wins every benchmark comparison in the data, decisively outperforming the P106-100 in raw compute and modern API workloads, while the P106-100 serves as a legacy mining part with no display outputs. Benchmark results indicate the RTX 3080 is the superior performer across the board, with the only close contest being in Vulkan compute where the gap narrows to just 2.2%.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The P106-100 has an average benchmark score of 23,249, while the RTX 3080 scores 23,172. The difference is negligible, with the RTX 3080 sitting 0.3% behind the P106-100 in average score, placing both cards at the same 68th percentile.

Q: How do the two cards compare in DirectX 12 performance?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX 3080 scores 4,407 versus the P106-100's 899, representing a 79.6% advantage for the RTX 3080. This is the largest performance gap between the two cards in any benchmark.

Q: What is the most significant architectural difference?

A: The RTX 3080 uses the Ampere architecture on an 8nm Samsung process with 28,300 million transistors, while the P106-100 uses Pascal on a 16nm TSMC process with 4,400 million transistors. The RTX 3080 also features dedicated ray tracing cores and tensor cores, which the P106-100 completely lacks.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3080 has 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth from 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, compared to the P106-100's 192.2 GB/s from 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus. The RTX 3080 provides roughly four times the memory bandwidth.

Q: Do both cards support Vulkan?

A: Yes, both support Vulkan 1.4. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RTX 3080 scores 33,620 versus the P106-100's 32,897, a modest 2.2% difference, making it the closest benchmark between the two.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The P106-100 has a TDP of 120 W with a suggested 300 W power supply, while the RTX 3080 has a TDP of 320 W and requires a suggested 700 W PSU. The RTX 3080 also uses a 1x 12-pin power connector versus the P106-100's 1x 6-pin.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two NVIDIA parts is vast. The P106-100 is built on the Pascal architecture using the GP106 chip manufactured on a 16nm TSMC process, containing 4,400 million transistors on a 200 mm² die. The RTX 3080 uses the Ampere architecture with the GA102 chip, fabricated on an 8nm Samsung process, packing 28,300 million transistors into a 628 mm² die. Transistor density more than doubles from 22.0M per mm² on the P106-100 to 45.1M per mm² on the RTX 3080.

Compute resources differ dramatically. The P106-100 has 1,280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The RTX 3080 scales this up to 8,704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. Critically, the RTX 3080 introduces 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the P106-100, which has no RT or tensor hardware. This makes the RTX 3080 capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads, while the P106-100 is limited to traditional rasterization.

Clock speeds are surprisingly similar, with the P106-100 boosting to 1,709 MHz and the RTX 3080 boosting to 1,710 MHz. However, the FP32 compute output tells the real story: the RTX 3080 delivers 29.77 TFLOPS versus the P106-100's 4.375 TFLOPS. The FP16 capability is even more divergent — the RTX 3080 achieves 29.77 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, while the P106-100 manages only 68.36 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio. Memory technology also differs fundamentally: the P106-100 uses GDDR5 while the RTX 3080 uses GDDR6X, and the bus interface moves from PCIe 1.0 x16 on the P106-100 to PCIe 4.0 x16 on the RTX 3080.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3080 wins every head-to-head benchmark in the data, making it the clear choice for any performance-oriented workload. In DirectX 12 gaming scenarios, the RTX 3080's 79.6% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad is decisive. For OpenCL compute tasks, the RTX 3080's 76.4% advantage in Geekbench demonstrates its superiority in general-purpose GPU computing. The RTX 3080 also wins the Vulkan test, though by a narrower 2.2% margin, indicating that the P106-100 is relatively competitive in Vulkan compute workloads.

The P106-100 does not win any benchmark category. However, its niche is defined by its specifications rather than benchmark victories. With no display outputs, the P106-100 is designed exclusively for mining operations, where its 120 W TDP and 6-pin power connector make it a low-power compute workhorse. The RTX 3080, with its 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, is a full-featured consumer graphics card. For users needing display output, gaming features, or ray tracing, the RTX 3080 is the only viable option. For pure compute tasks that don't require display output and fit within the P106-100's 6 GB GDDR5 memory capacity, the P106-100 could serve as a low-power alternative, though its performance is significantly lower.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA P106-100 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Pascal | Ampere |

| Process Node | 16 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 4,400 million | 28,300 million |

| Die Size | 200 mm² | 628 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 22.0M / mm² | 45.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1506 MHz | 1440 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1709 MHz | 1710 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) | 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 6 GB | 10 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6X |

| Memory Bus Width | 192 bit | 320 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 192.2 GB/s | 760.3 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1280 | 8704 |

| TMUs | 80 | 272 |

| ROPs | 48 | 96 |

| RT Cores | None | 68 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 272 |

| Pixel Rate | 82.03 GPixel/s | 164.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 136.7 GTexel/s | 465.1 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 4.375 TFLOPS | 29.77 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 68.36 GFLOPS (1:64) | 29.77 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 120 W | 320 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin | 1x 12-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 300 W | 700 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 1.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Length | 250 mm (9.8 inches) | 285 mm (11.2 inches) |

| Height | Not specified | 112 mm (4.4 inches) |

| Width | Not specified | 40 mm (1.6 inches) |

| Release Date | 2017-06-18 | 2020-08-31 |

| Launch MSRP | None | 699 USD |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test provides the starkest contrast. The RTX 3080 scores 4,407 against the P106-100's 899, a 79.6% deficit for the Pascal card. This benchmark reflects the RTX 3080's modern architecture with DirectX 12 Ultimate support, hardware ray tracing, and vastly higher shading unit count. The P106-100's DirectX 12_1 support and 1,280 shading units simply cannot compete with the 8,704 shading units and 68 RT cores of the Ampere GPU.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3080 scores 152,423 versus 35,951 for the P106-100, a 76.4% gap. This compute benchmark leverages the RTX 3080's 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 272 tensor cores. The P106-100's 4.375 TFLOPS FP32 output and complete lack of tensor hardware place it at a massive disadvantage in general-purpose compute tasks. The OpenCL result also reflects the memory bandwidth difference — 760.3 GB/s versus 192.2 GB/s — which heavily impacts memory-bound compute workloads.

The Geekbench Vulkan test is the only close contest. The RTX 3080 scores 33,620, just 2.2% ahead of the P106-100's 32,897. This narrow margin is notable because it suggests that in Vulkan compute workloads, the architectural advantages of the RTX 3080 are less pronounced. The P106-100's Pascal architecture, despite its age, delivers competitive Vulkan performance. This could be relevant for users running Vulkan-based compute applications where the P106-100's lower power draw of 120 W might be attractive.

Across all three benchmarks, the RTX 3080 wins 3-0. The average delta of roughly 52.7% across the tests shows consistent dominance, but the varying margins — from 2.2% to 79.6% — indicate that workload type significantly affects the performance relationship. Vulkan tasks minimize the gap, while DX12 and OpenCL expose the full performance disparity.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the superior GPU in every measured benchmark. For users needing display output, modern gaming features, or any form of ray tracing, the RTX 3080 is the only choice. Its 79.6% lead in DX12 and 76.4% lead in OpenCL make it the clear pick for gaming and compute workloads. The RTX 3080's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory with 760.3 GB/s bandwidth also provides four times the memory throughput of the P106-100, enabling higher resolutions and larger datasets.

The P106-100's only comparative strengths are its lower power requirements — 120 W TDP versus 320 W — and its smaller physical footprint at 250 mm versus 285 mm. Its lack of display outputs makes it unsuitable as a primary graphics card, but in its intended mining role, the P106-100 offers a low-power compute solution. The 2.2% Vulkan performance gap suggests that in Vulkan-specific compute tasks, the P106-100 provides surprisingly competitive performance per watt.

The RTX 3080's launch MSRP was 699 USD, which reflects its positioning as a high-end consumer card. The P106-100 has no launch MSRP, consistent with its mining-focused design. Given the RTX 3080's complete benchmark sweep and feature set including RT cores, tensor cores, and display outputs, it is the clear winner for virtually all use cases. The P106-100 should only be considered for niche compute applications where its low power draw and mining heritage are assets, and where the user accepts its lack of display output and significantly lower performance.