NVIDIA H200 NVL vs NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA H200 NVL wins the only recorded comparison, the Geekbench OpenCL test, by a decisive margin. The H200 NVL records a score of 334,891, while the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79,605. That is a 320.7% difference in favor of the H200 NVL. In this particular test, the H200 NVL wins 1 out of 1 comparisons, while the Tesla P100 wins none.

Looking at the field of nearest rivals, the H200 NVL sits at the 100th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 334,891 places it ahead of the AMD Instinct MI300X, which scores 317,994 (a 5.3% gap in favor of the H200), and ahead of the NVIDIA L40S, which scores 295,763 (a 13.2% gap). The H200 NVL trails the NVIDIA B200 (345,482, a -3.1% delta) and the NVIDIA B300 SXM6 AC (369,831, a -9.4% delta), but those are newer and larger accelerators. In the context of its competitive set, the H200 NVL is a top-tier performer.

The Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, by contrast, sits at the 92nd percentile. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396 (a 0.3% delta in favor of the 16 GB model), the GeForce RTX 5090 scores 79,842 (a -0.3% delta, meaning the RTX 5090 is slightly faster), the Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940 (a 0.8% delta), and the Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80,959 (a -1.7% delta). The P100 is competitive within its own bracket, but that bracket is orders of magnitude below the H200 NVL.

The practical implication is clear: the H200 NVL is built for modern, compute-heavy workloads where raw OpenCL throughput is the bottleneck. The Tesla P100 remains a functional accelerator for older or lighter tasks, but its performance class is several generations removed from the Hopper part. The data shows no scenario where the P100 wins a recorded benchmark against the H200 NVL.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs spans three generations of NVIDIA server designs. The H200 NVL uses the GH100 chip on the Hopper architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 5 nm process. It integrates 80,000 million transistors on a die size of 814 mm², yielding a transistor density of 98.3M per mm². The Tesla P100 uses the GP100 chip on the Pascal architecture, also fabricated by TSMC but on a 16 nm process. It contains 15,300 million transistors on a 610 mm² die, for a density of 25.1M per mm². The H200 NVL packs more than five times the transistor count into a die that is only about one-third larger.

Clock speeds also differ substantially. The H200 NVL runs at a base clock of 1365 MHz and boosts to 1785 MHz. The P100 runs at 1190 MHz base and 1329 MHz boost. Memory clocks are even more divergent: the H200 NVL's memory operates at 1593 MHz (6.4 Gbps effective), while the P100's memory runs at 715 MHz (1430 Mbps effective, which is 1.43 Gbps). The H200 NVL memory clock is roughly four and a half times faster in effective data rate.

Memory capacity and type reinforce the separation. The H200 NVL features 141 GB of HBM3e on a 6144-bit bus, delivering 4.89 TB/s of bandwidth. The P100 offers 16 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, delivering 732.2 GB/s. The H200 NVL's memory bandwidth is about 6.7 times higher, and its bus width is 50% larger. The P100's pixel rate of 127.6 GPixel/s is actually higher than the H200 NVL's 42.84 GPixel/s, because the P100 has 96 ROPs versus only 24 on the H200 NVL. Texture rate favors the H200 NVL: 942.5 GTexel/s versus 297.7 GTexel/s.

Compute resources are heavily skewed toward the H200 NVL. It has 16,896 shading units, 528 TMUs, and 528 tensor cores. The P100 has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and no tensor cores at all. Floating point throughput follows: FP32 is 60.32 TFLOPS on the H200 NVL versus 9.526 TFLOPS on the P100. FP16 is 120.6 TFLOPS (2:1) on the H200 NVL versus 19.05 TFLOPS (2:1) on the P100.

Power and interface details also differ. The H200 NVL has a TDP of 600 W, a dual-slot form factor, and uses an 8-pin EPS power connector with a suggested PSU of 1000 W. The P100 has a TDP of 250 W, dual-slot form factor, a single 8-pin power connector, and a suggested PSU of 600 W. The H200 NVL is PCIe 5.0 x16; the P100 is PCIe 3.0 x16. Both cards have no display outputs. API support differs: the H200 NVL reports N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan, while the P100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The P100 is end-of-life, released in June 2016, with the H200 NVL active and released in November 2024. The P100 had a launch MSRP of 5,699 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only head-to-head benchmark recorded is Geekbench OpenCL. The H200 NVL scores 334,891, the P100 scores 79,605, with a delta of 320.7% in favor of the H200 NVL. To put that in perspective, the H200 NVL is over four times faster in this test. The H200 NVL's score is also higher than any of its nearest rivals except the B200 and B300 SXM6 AC. The AMD Instinct MI300X trails by 5.3%, and the L40S trails by 13.2%. The P100's score, meanwhile, is within a few percent of its direct peers: the 12 GB version, the RTX 5090, the RX 6850M XT, and the Pro Vega 64X all sit within roughly 2% of the P100.

The delta between the two cards is so large that it dwarfs any normal generational step. For context, the P100's nearest rival gap is at most 1.7% (against the Pro Vega 64X), while the gap between the H200 NVL and the P100 is 320.7%. This is not a close contest; it is a reflection of three generations of architectural advancement plus a massive increase in memory capacity and bandwidth.

The recorded data shows the H200 NVL winning the sole benchmark with absolute dominance. No other benchmark results are available in the database, so the analysis rests on this single metric, but the magnitude of the difference makes the outcome robust.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the recorded data, the NVIDIA H200 NVL is the clear choice for any workload that benefits from high OpenCL compute throughput. It is at the 100th percentile of all GPUs in the database, outperforms the AMD Instinct MI300X by 5.3% and the NVIDIA L40S by 13.2%, and is only behind the newer B200 and B300 SXM6 AC in its immediate competitive set. Its 141 GB of HBM3e memory and 4.89 TB/s of bandwidth make it suitable for large models and data-intensive tasks. Its 600 W TDP and PCIe 5.0 interface suggest it is designed for modern server platforms with adequate power delivery.

The Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, at the 92nd percentile, is a much older part. Its 16 GB of HBM2 and 732.2 GB/s of bandwidth are a fraction of the H200 NVL's. Its nearest rivals are all within about 2% of its score, which means it is competitive with other mid-range accelerators from its era, but it cannot compete with the H200 NVL. The P100 does have one advantage in the data: it supports DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, whereas the H200 NVL reports no API support. For workloads that require those graphics APIs, the P100 is the only option of the two. The P100 also draws 250 W, which is less than half the H200 NVL's 600 W, and it requires a 600 W PSU versus 1000 W.

Who should pick the H200 NVL: anyone running compute-heavy server workloads, particularly those that can use tensor cores (the H200 NVL has 528, the P100 has none) or need large memory capacity. The data shows it is the faster card by a wide margin.

Who should pick the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB: someone with legacy software that requires graphics API support (DirectX, OpenGL, Vulkan), a lower power budget, or a PCIe 3.0 platform that cannot take advantage of PCIe 5.0. The P100 is end-of-life, so availability may be limited, but its performance class is adequate for older or lighter tasks.

The verdict is not close: the H200 NVL wins the compute comparison decisively, while the P100 retains niche relevance only through its API support and lower power envelope.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA H200 NVL than the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The H200 NVL scores 334,891, while the P100 scores 79,605, a 320.7% difference in favor of the H200 NVL.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between the two cards?

A: The H200 NVL has 141 GB of HBM3e, while the P100 has 16 GB of HBM2. The H200 NVL's bandwidth is 4.89 TB/s versus 732.2 GB/s for the P100.

Q: Do both cards support graphics APIs?

A: No. The H200 NVL reports N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan. The P100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

Q: Which card is more power-hungry?

A: The H200 NVL has a TDP of 600 W and a suggested PSU of 1000 W. The P100 has a TDP of 250 W and a suggested PSU of 600 W.

Q: How does the H200 NVL compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The H200 NVL ranks at the 100th percentile. It is 5.3% ahead of the AMD Instinct MI300X (317,994) and 13.2% ahead of the NVIDIA L40S (295,763), but 3.1% behind the NVIDIA B200 (345,482) and 9.4% behind the NVIDIA B300 SXM6 AC (369,831).

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The H200 NVL is listed as Active and was released in November 2024. The P100 is End-of-life and was released in June 2016.