NVIDIA H200 NVL vs NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the NVIDIA H200 NVL compare to the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB in raw compute performance?

A: The recorded Geekbench OpenCL score for the H200 NVL is 334,891, while the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396. This represents a 321.8% advantage for the H200 NVL in the head-to-head benchmark.

Q: What is the performance percentile ranking of each GPU in the database?

A: The H200 NVL sits at the 100th percentile among all GPUs, meaning it outperforms virtually every other recorded device. The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB ranks at the 92nd percentile, placing it well within the top tier but below the absolute leaders.

Q: Which rivals are closest to the H200 NVL in average benchmark score?

A: The nearest rival is the NVIDIA B200 with an average score of 345,482, which is 3.1% higher than the H200 NVL. The AMD Instinct MI300X trails by 5.3% with a score of 317,994, while the NVIDIA B300 SXM6 AC leads by 9.4% at 369,831. The NVIDIA L40S is 13.2% behind at 295,763.

Q: Which GPUs are closest to the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB in performance?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79,605, a mere 0.3% higher. The GeForce RTX 5090 is 0.6% ahead at 79,842, while the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 0.6% behind at 78,940. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X leads by 1.9% with a score of 80,959.

Q: What are the major architectural differences between the two cards?

A: The H200 NVL uses the Hopper architecture with a GH100 chip built on a 5 nm process, while the Tesla P100 uses the Pascal architecture with a GP100 chip on a 16 nm process. The H200 NVL has no API support listed, whereas the P100 supports DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two?

A: The H200 NVL offers 141 GB of HBM3e memory on a 6144-bit bus with 4.89 TB/s bandwidth. The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB provides 12 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus with 549.1 GB/s bandwidth.

Where Each One Wins

The H200 NVL wins decisively in every measured benchmark category. The sole recorded test, Geekbench OpenCL, shows a 321.8% performance advantage over the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB. This is not a marginal victory; it is a generational leap that reflects fundamental differences in compute resources, memory architecture, and process technology.

For workloads that depend on raw floating-point throughput, the H200 NVL delivers 60.32 TFLOPS FP32 versus 9.526 TFLOPS for the Tesla P100. That is a 6.3x difference in raw shader compute. FP16 performance follows a similar pattern: 120.6 TFLOPS for the H200 versus 19.05 TFLOPS for the P100. Any application that can leverage tensor cores or high-throughput matrix operations will strongly favor the H200 NVL.

Memory bandwidth is another decisive win for the H200 NVL. At 4.89 TB/s, it offers nearly 9x the bandwidth of the Tesla P100's 549.1 GB/s. Combined with 141 GB of capacity versus 12 GB, the H200 NVL can hold far larger datasets and feed them to the compute units at a much higher rate. Memory-bound workloads such as large language model inference, scientific simulations, and data analytics will see outsized gains.

The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB does retain some advantages. Its 96 ROPs versus 24 on the H200 NVL means it can rasterize at a higher pixel rate: 127.6 GPixel/s versus 42.84 GPixel/s. However, neither card has display outputs, so this metric has limited practical relevance for typical server workloads. The P100 also supports standard graphics APIs, while the H200 NVL lists none, but again, these are compute accelerators without display connectivity.

The P100's lower 250 W TDP makes it easier to cool and power in legacy systems, while the H200 NVL requires 600 W and a suggested 1000 W PSU. For organizations with existing infrastructure built around PCIe 3.0, the P100 is a drop-in solution. The H200 NVL needs PCIe 5.0 to reach its full potential.

Architecture Differences

The H200 NVL is built on the Hopper architecture using the GH100 chip, fabricated at TSMC on a 5 nm process. The die contains 80,000 million transistors across 814 mm², yielding a transistor density of 98.3M per mm². This is a modern, data-center-focused design optimized for AI and high-performance computing.

The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB uses the Pascal architecture with the GP100 chip, also from TSMC but on a 16 nm process. It packs 15,300 million transistors on a 610 mm² die, giving a density of 25.1M per mm². Pascal was a significant architecture in its era, introducing features like unified memory and improved FP16 throughput, but it predates the tensor core revolution.

The H200 NVL includes 528 tensor cores, which are absent entirely from the Tesla P100. This is a critical architectural difference: tensor cores accelerate matrix multiplication operations that underpin modern AI workloads. The P100 has no such dedicated hardware, relying entirely on its CUDA cores for compute.

Shader resources differ substantially. The H200 NVL has 16,896 shading units, 528 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. The Tesla P100 has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The H200's 4.7x advantage in shading units and 2.4x advantage in TMUs explain most of its compute superiority. The P100's higher ROP count is an outlier, reflecting a design that prioritized pixel throughput.

Both cards lack dedicated ray tracing cores. The H200 NVL lists no RT core count, and the P100 also has none. These are compute accelerators, not graphics cards, despite the P100's API support.

The H200 NVL supports PCIe 5.0 x16, while the Tesla P100 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. This affects data transfer speeds between the GPU and host system, which is important for workloads that stream data frequently. The H200's newer interface also aligns with modern server platforms.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge on nearly every specification that matters for compute performance.

| Specification | NVIDIA H200 NVL | NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB |

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

| Architecture | Hopper | Pascal |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 16 nm |

| Transistors | 80,000 million | 15,300 million |

| Die Size | 814 mm² | 610 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 98.3M / mm² | 25.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1365 MHz | 1190 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1785 MHz | 1329 MHz |

| Memory Size | 141 GB | 12 GB |

| Memory Type | HBM3e | HBM2 |

| Memory Bus Width | 6144 bit | 3072 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 4.89 TB/s | 549.1 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 16896 | 3584 |

| TMUs | 528 | 224 |

| ROPs | 24 | 96 |

| Tensor Cores | 528 | None |

| FP32 Performance | 60.32 TFLOPS | 9.526 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 120.6 TFLOPS | 19.05 TFLOPS |

| Pixel Rate | 42.84 GPixel/s | 127.6 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 942.5 GTexel/s | 297.7 GTexel/s |

| TDP | 600 W | 250 W |

| Power Connectors | 8-pin EPS | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 1000 W | 600 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| API Support | N/A | DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.3 |

| Production Status | Active | End-of-life |

The H200 NVL also lists a 267 mm length (10.5 inches) and 111 mm height (4.4 inches), while the P100 shares the same length but no recorded height. Both are dual-slot cards. The H200 NVL was released in November 2024, while the P100 launched in June 2016. The P100 has a launch MSRP of 4,599 USD, while the H200 NVL has no recorded MSRP.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is unambiguous. The NVIDIA H200 NVL scores 334,891 against the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB's 79,396, producing a delta of 321.8% in favor of the H200 NVL.

This score gap is consistent with the underlying hardware differences. The H200 NVL has 4.7x more shading units, 2.4x more TMUs, 6.3x higher FP32 throughput, and 6.3x higher FP16 throughput. The memory subsystem amplifies this advantage: 4.89 TB/s versus 549.1 GB/s is a 8.9x bandwidth increase, and the H200 carries 11.75x more memory capacity.

The delta percentage of 321.8% means the H200 NVL achieves more than four times the raw OpenCL performance of the P100. This is not a close contest by any metric. The P100's nearest rivals cluster within 2% of its score, indicating it is well-matched to other GPUs from its generation. The H200 NVL's nearest rivals are the B200 (3.1% higher), MI300X (5.3% lower), B300 SXM6 AC (9.4% higher), and L40S (13.2% lower). The H200 sits in a competitive field of modern accelerators, while the P100 is clearly a product of an earlier era.

For the Tesla P100, the benchmark data shows it remains a capable compute card relative to its peers. Its 92nd percentile rank means it outperforms most GPUs in the database, and its nearest rivals show performance deltas of less than 2%. Organizations still running P100s can expect performance comparable to a GeForce RTX 5090 in OpenCL workloads, based on the 0.6% score difference.

The H200 NVL's 100th percentile rank means it ties or exceeds every other GPU in the database for this benchmark. Its 321.8% win over the P100 is the largest recorded delta for this comparison. The data indicates that the H200 NVL is not merely an incremental improvement over the P100; it is a fundamentally different class of compute accelerator, designed for workloads that the P100 cannot realistically handle.