NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile vs NVIDIA P106-100 Comparison

The NVIDIA P106-100 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile represent two vastly different eras and purposes in NVIDIA’s lineup. The P106-100 is a mining-specific Pascal part from 2017, stripped of display outputs, while the RTX 4060 Mobile is a modern Ada Lovelace laptop GPU from 2023. Benchmark data reveals a decisive generational gap: the RTX 4060 Mobile leads by 59.8% in Geekbench OpenCL and 63.3% in Geekbench Vulkan, yet the P106-100 holds a marginal edge in aggregate percentile ranking. This analysis breaks down the architectural chasm, specification differences, and what the numbers mean for potential users.

The Verdict

The data paints a clear picture: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile is the superior performer in raw compute tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 89,420 versus the P106-100’s 35,951, a 59.8% advantage. The Vulkan gap is even wider, with the RTX 4060 Mobile scoring 89,569 against 32,897, a 63.3% lead. For any workload leveraging modern APIs or parallel compute, the RTX 4060 Mobile is the definitive choice.

However, the aggregate benchmark picture is surprisingly close. The P106-100 has an average benchmark score of 23,249 and sits in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 4060 Mobile averages 22,729 and sits in the 67th percentile. This suggests the P106-100 holds its own in legacy or DirectX-based workloads, likely due to its higher memory bandwidth per bus width and desktop-class power envelope. The P106-100’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 with a delta of 0%, while the RTX 4060 Mobile sits near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with a -0.7% delta.

Who should pick which? If you need a modern, active GPU with ray tracing, tensor cores, and portable device support, the RTX 4060 Mobile is the only option. If you are dealing with specialized mining or compute tasks that favor Pascal-era efficiency and don’t require display outputs, the P106-100’s 68th percentile ranking and end-of-life status might still be serviceable, but the performance data shows it is outclassed in every head-to-head test.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in compute benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile wins both head-to-head tests. It scores 89,420 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 35,951 for the P106-100 (a 59.8% lead), and 89,569 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 32,897 (a 63.3% lead).

Q: Does the P106-100 have any performance advantage?

A: The P106-100 has a higher average benchmark score (23,249 vs. 22,729) and a higher percentile ranking (68th vs. 67th). Its nearest rival delta is 0% against the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, while the RTX 4060 Mobile’s best delta is -0.7% against the RTX 2080.

Q: What are the memory specifications?

A: The P106-100 has 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus with 192.2 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4060 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Are these GPUs compatible with modern APIs?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the P106-100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the production status of each?

A: The P106-100 is end-of-life, released in 2017. The RTX 4060 Mobile is active, released in 2023, with a predecessor (GeForce 30 Mobile) and successor (GeForce 50 Mobile) listed.

Q: Do these GPUs have display outputs?

A: The P106-100 has no display outputs, as it was designed for mining. The RTX 4060 Mobile’s display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent."

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is profound. The P106-100 is built on the Pascal architecture using the GP106 chip, fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. It packs 4,400 million transistors onto a 200 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 22.0M / mm². In contrast, the RTX 4060 Mobile uses the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD107 chip, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It houses 18,900 million transistors on a smaller 159 mm² die, achieving a density of 118.9M / mm².

The RTX 4060 Mobile introduces hardware features that the P106-100 completely lacks: 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores. These enable DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support, versus the P106-100’s DirectX 12 (12_1). The Pascal part has no RT or tensor core counts listed. The FP16 performance also diverges starkly: the P106-100 delivers 68.36 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio), while the RTX 4060 Mobile delivers 11.61 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), indicating full-rate FP16 execution on the Ada part.

The bus interface differs too. The P106-100 uses PCIe 1.0 x16 (a strange limitation for a 2017 part), while the RTX 4060 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x8, offering far greater bandwidth for data transfer. Power delivery is another differentiator: the P106-100 requires a dual-slot cooler, a 1x 6-pin power connector, and a suggested 300 W PSU, while the RTX 4060 Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors listed.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet reveals several key divergences. Process node: 16 nm (P106-100) vs. 5 nm (RTX 4060 Mobile). Transistor count: 4,400 million vs. 18,900 million. Die size: 200 mm² vs. 159 mm². Base clock: 1506 MHz vs. 1545 MHz. Boost clock: 1709 MHz vs. 1890 MHz. Memory clock: 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) vs. 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective).

Memory capacity: 6 GB GDDR5 vs. 8 GB GDDR6. Bus width: 192-bit vs. 128-bit. Bandwidth: 192.2 GB/s vs. 256.0 GB/s. Shading units: 1280 vs. 3072. TMUs: 80 vs. 96. ROPs are equal at 48. Pixel rate: 82.03 GPixel/s vs. 90.72 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 136.7 GTexel/s vs. 181.4 GTexel/s. FP32 performance: 4.375 TFLOPS vs. 11.61 TFLOPS.

TDP: 120 W vs. 115 W. Slot width: Dual-slot vs. IGP. Power connectors: 1x 6-pin vs. None. Suggested PSU: 300 W vs. null. Bus interface: PCIe 1.0 x16 vs. PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs: No outputs vs. Portable Device Dependent. The P106-100 has a defined physical length of 250 mm (9.8 inches), while the RTX 4060 Mobile has no listed dimensions.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data contains only two tests, and the RTX 4060 Mobile dominates both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4060 Mobile scores 89,420 against the P106-100’s 35,951. The delta is -59.8%, indicating the P106-100 trails by nearly two-thirds. This is a massive margin that reflects the architectural leap: the RTX 4060 Mobile has 3072 shading units versus 1280, and its FP32 throughput of 11.61 TFLOPS is 2.65 times higher than the P106-100’s 4.375 TFLOPS.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens further. The RTX 4060 Mobile scores 89,569, while the P106-100 manages 32,897, a delta of -63.3%. This suggests the Pascal part struggles even more with Vulkan’s modern driver overhead and parallel execution model. The RTX 4060 Mobile’s Vulkan score is nearly triple that of the P106-100.

The aggregate benchmark scores tell a slightly different story. The P106-100 has an average score of 23,249 across its benchmark suite (including 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 899, Geekbench OpenCL at 35,951, and Geekbench Vulkan at 32,897). The RTX 4060 Mobile averages 22,729, but this includes a broad set of Passmark tests (DirectX 9 through 12, G2D, G3D, and compute) that may weight differently. The RTX 4060 Mobile’s Passmark G3D score is 17,469, while its G2D is 730.

The percentile rankings are close: 68th for the P106-100 vs. 67th for the RTX 4060 Mobile. This indicates that despite the RTX 4060 Mobile’s overwhelming lead in the two head-to-head tests, the P106-100’s other benchmark results (likely the 3DMark Steel Nomad score) keep it competitive in the broader database. The P106-100’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, matches its average score exactly (23,250 vs. 23,249, delta 0%), while the RTX 4060 Mobile’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, is actually slightly ahead (22,895 vs. 22,729, delta -0.7%). This suggests the P106-100 is more consistently positioned among its peers, even if it loses the direct comparison.