NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 vs NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB represent two distinct eras of GPU design, separated by nearly a decade of architectural evolution. The RTX 5090 is a current, active consumer flagship built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, while the Tesla P100 is an end-of-life datacenter compute card from the Pascal generation. The benchmark data shows a single head-to-head comparison where the RTX 5090 dominates, but the average benchmark scores across their respective test suites place them within a surprisingly narrow margin of each other, with the RTX 5090 holding a 0.6% lead over the Tesla P100 in average score. This contrast between the individual benchmark result and the aggregate average score highlights the importance of workload selection when evaluating these two very different processors.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark available, the Geekbench OpenCL test, with a score of 334,370 against the Tesla P100’s 79,396. This represents a 321.1% advantage, a massive gap that underscores the generational leap in compute performance. The RTX 5090’s wins extend across the broader benchmark suite it was tested on, including a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18,355, a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376,728, and a Passmark G3D score of 39,650. These results indicate a card designed for high-end graphics rendering and modern API workloads.

The Tesla P100’s win condition is more subtle and is not reflected in any individual benchmark victory. Its only benchmark entry is the Geekbench OpenCL score of 79,396, which it loses decisively. However, its average benchmark score of 79,396 is nearly identical to the RTX 5090’s average of 79,842, with a delta of just 0.6%. This suggests that in aggregate, across a hypothetical mixed workload suite, the two cards perform comparably, likely because the P100’s specialized compute strengths in its era are balanced against the RTX 5090’s broader feature set. The Tesla P100’s win is therefore a statistical tie in average score, not a performance victory in any specific test.

The architectural split is clear: the RTX 5090 wins in every measurable benchmark and is built for graphics and modern compute, while the Tesla P100, with no display outputs and a focus on datacenter deployment, is designed for raw compute tasks that may not be captured in the available benchmarks. The data indicates the RTX 5090 is the superior performer in the tested scenarios, but the P100’s near-equal average score suggests it remains competitive in specific, untested compute workloads.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different process nodes and architectures. The RTX 5090 uses a 5 nm process at TSMC, housing 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 122.9M per mm². The Tesla P100, in contrast, uses a 16 nm process, also at TSMC, with 15,300 million transistors on a 610 mm² die, resulting in a density of 25.1M per mm². This difference alone explains the RTX 5090’s ability to pack far more logic into a similar physical footprint.

The core configurations diverge sharply. The RTX 5090 features 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, alongside 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. The Tesla P100 has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with no RT or tensor cores at all, reflecting its pre-ray-tracing Pascal design. Clock speeds also differ: the RTX 5090 boosts to 2407 MHz, while the P100 boosts to 1329 MHz. Memory subsystems are equally distinct, with the RTX 5090 using 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus delivering 1.79 TB/s, compared to the P100’s 12 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus at 549.1 GB/s.

Feature support marks a clear generational boundary. The RTX 5090 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and includes display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1b). The Tesla P100 only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3, and has no display outputs, confirming its compute-only role. Power and interface also differ: the RTX 5090 draws 575 W with a 1x 16-pin connector and PCIe 5.0 x16, while the P100 is rated at 250 W with a 1x 8-pin connector and PCIe 3.0 x16. The RTX 5090’s FP32 throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS and FP16 at the same rate (1:1) dwarf the P100’s 9.526 TFLOPS FP32 and 19.05 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 5090 scores 334,370 against the Tesla P100’s 79,396. The delta of 321.1% is the largest margin in the data, and it illustrates the scale of the RTX 5090’s compute advantage. This result is consistent with the raw specifications: the RTX 5090’s FP32 throughput is roughly 11 times higher than the P100’s, and its memory bandwidth is over three times greater.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides context for this single result. The RTX 5090’s average score of 79,842 is only 0.3% above the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605) and 0.6% above the 12 GB model (79,396). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X by 1.4% (80,959). The Tesla P100 12 GB’s average of 79,396 is 0.3% below the P100 16 GB, 0.6% below the RTX 5090, and 1.9% below the Radeon Pro Vega 64X. These deltas show that in average terms, all four cards are clustered within a 2% band, despite the RTX 5090’s overwhelming victory in the OpenCL test.

The discrepancy between the head-to-head result and the average scores suggests that the RTX 5090’s benchmark suite includes tests where its advantage is less pronounced, or that the Tesla P100’s OpenCL score is not representative of its performance in other compute workloads. The RTX 5090’s other benchmark scores, such as Passmark G3D at 39,650, are not available for the P100, so a full comparison is impossible. The data supports a clear verdict: in the one test where both GPUs were measured, the RTX 5090 is the unequivocal winner.

The Verdict

From the data, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the superior performer for any workload represented in the benchmark suite. It wins the only direct comparison by 321.1% and offers a full complement of modern features, including ray tracing cores, tensor cores, and display outputs, making it suitable for gaming, content creation, and general-purpose compute. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provide ample capacity and speed for large datasets and high-resolution textures.

The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB is an end-of-life product from 2016, designed for datacenter compute without any display capability. Its 12 GB of HBM2 and 549.1 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards, and its lack of RT and tensor cores limits its utility for AI and ray-traced workloads. However, its average benchmark score is statistically tied with the RTX 5090, suggesting that in specific compute-heavy tasks that are not captured in the available benchmarks, it may still hold its own, likely due to its specialized HBM2 memory architecture and Pascal’s efficiency in certain scientific workloads.

For a buyer today, the RTX 5090 is the clear choice for any graphics or modern compute task. The Tesla P100 is only relevant for legacy datacenter deployments or niche compute applications where its specific architecture is optimized, and even then, its end-of-life status makes it a risky investment. The data shows no scenario in the provided benchmarks where the P100 wins, so the verdict is unambiguous: the RTX 5090 is the better GPU for all tested and foreseeable use cases. Its launch MSRP is 1,999 USD, while the Tesla P100 launched at 4,599 USD, though neither price is a factor in the performance analysis.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 79,842, which is 0.6% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB’s average of 79,396.

Q: What is the performance difference in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The RTX 5090 scores 334,370 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the Tesla P100 scores 79,396, giving the RTX 5090 a 321.1% advantage.

Q: Does the Tesla P100 have any display outputs?

A: No, the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB has no display outputs, whereas the RTX 5090 includes 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: The RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The Tesla P100 has 12 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus with 549.1 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor count?

A: The RTX 5090 has 92,200 million transistors, compared to the Tesla P100’s 15,300 million transistors.

Q: Is the Tesla P100 still in production?

A: No, the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB is marked as end-of-life, while the RTX 5090 is listed as active production.