NVIDIA P106-100 vs NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile and the NVIDIA P106-100 occupy opposite ends of the GPU spectrum, separated by a hardware generation and a fundamental design philosophy. The A5000 Mobile is a professional Ampere-based mobile workstation part, while the P106-100 is a Pascal-era mining-specific card with no video outputs. Benchmark data confirms a massive performance gulf, but the story is more nuanced than a simple score comparison. The A5000 Mobile dominates in raw compute, but the P106-100 holds distinct architectural and physical characteristics that define its niche.

Where Each One Wins

The data presents a clear split: the RTX A5000 Mobile wins every single benchmark it shares with the P106-100. In the two head-to-head tests available, the A5000 Mobile's Geekbench OpenCL score of 110,877 more than triples the P106-100's 35,951, a delta of 208.4%. Similarly, in Geekbench Vulkan, the A5000 Mobile's 88,144 score eclipses the P106-100's 32,897 by 167.9%.

This dominance is rooted in the A5000 Mobile's positioning. It sits at the 70th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24,763. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 590 and the Intel Arc A350M, with deltaPct values of just 0.1% and 0.5% respectively. This indicates that while it leads its immediate competitors, the margin is razor-thin. In contrast, the P106-100 sits at the 68th percentile with an average score of 23,249, placing it in a cluster with the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 and the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, where the deltaPct is effectively zero (0% and -0.1%).

Where each one wins is therefore a matter of context. The A5000 Mobile wins on absolute performance and compute capability, making it suitable for tasks that demand high FP32 throughput and advanced feature support. The P106-100, despite losing all head-to-head tests, wins in the context of its intended purpose: a mining card that needs no display outputs and operates at a lower 120 W TDP. Its wins are functional, not performance-based. It is a specialized tool, and its lack of display outputs is a deliberate design choice that eliminates an entire subsystem.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural eras. The RTX A5000 Mobile is built on the Ampere architecture, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It uses the GA104 chip, which contains 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The P106-100, on the other hand, is a Pascal-era part, fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. Its GP106 chip packs 4,400 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, for a density of 22.0M per mm².

This generational leap introduces fundamental capability differences. The A5000 Mobile includes 48 dedicated RT cores and 192 Tensor cores, hardware features that are entirely absent from the P106-100. Consequently, the A5000 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the P106-100 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the A5000 Mobile's feature set is clearly future-proofed for ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads.

The memory subsystems also reflect the architectural divide. The A5000 Mobile uses 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The P106-100 is equipped with 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, resulting in a bandwidth of 192.2 GB/s. The A5000 Mobile's memory clock is listed at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the P106-100's memory runs at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The higher effective speed and wider bus of the A5000 Mobile give it a decisive bandwidth advantage.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two shared benchmarks are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and the results are lopsided. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A5000 Mobile scores 110,877 against the P106-100's 35,951, a 208.4% advantage. This is more than a threefold improvement and reflects the A5000 Mobile's 6,144 shading units versus the P106-100's 1,280, as well as its 19.35 TFLOPS FP32 compute versus the P106-100's 4.375 TFLOPS.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap narrows slightly but remains decisive. The A5000 Mobile's 88,144 score is 167.9% higher than the P106-100's 32,897. Vulkan is a lower-level API, which can sometimes reduce driver overhead and allow older architectures to perform closer to their theoretical limits. Even so, the A5000 Mobile's 48 RT cores and 192 Tensor cores provide a structural advantage in workloads that leverage these units.

The A5000 Mobile also has a broader benchmark portfolio. Its Passmark G3D score is 15,779, with a GPU Compute score of 6,945. The P106-100 has no Passmark results listed, only the two Geekbench tests and a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 899. This lack of data points makes a full comparison impossible, but the available evidence points to a consistent, overwhelming advantage for the A5000 Mobile.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal stark contrasts beyond performance. The process node is a primary divider: 8 nm for the A5000 Mobile versus 16 nm for the P106-100. This directly impacts transistor count (17,400 million vs. 4,400 million), die size (392 mm² vs. 200 mm²), and density (44.4M / mm² vs. 22.0M / mm²).

Core counts are equally divergent. The A5000 Mobile features 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The P106-100 is far smaller, with 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The A5000 Mobile's pixel rate is 151.2 GPixel/s and texture rate is 302.4 GTexel/s, compared to the P106-100's 82.03 GPixel/s and 136.7 GTexel/s.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The P106-100 has a higher base clock (1506 MHz vs. 900 MHz) and boost clock (1709 MHz vs. 1575 MHz). This is typical of a smaller, lower-power chip that can run at higher frequencies. However, the A5000 Mobile's architectural efficiency and massive core count more than compensate. Its FP32 output is 19.35 TFLOPS, while the P106-100 manages only 4.375 TFLOPS. The FP16 comparison is even more extreme: the A5000 Mobile achieves 19.35 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), while the P106-100 is limited to 68.36 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio).

Power and physical specifications also differ. The A5000 Mobile has a TDP of 150 W and uses no external power connectors, as it is a mobile part. The P106-100 has a 120 W TDP, requires a single 6-pin power connector, and is a dual-slot card measuring 250 mm (9.8 inches) in length. The P106-100 supports PCIe 1.0 x16, while the A5000 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Finally, the P106-100 has no display outputs, while the A5000 Mobile's outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent."

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile is decisively faster, scoring 110,877 compared to the P106-100's 35,951, a 208.4% advantage.

Q: Does the P106-100 support ray tracing?

A: No. The P106-100 has no RT cores listed, while the RTX A5000 Mobile includes 48 RT cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Q: What is the memory configuration of each card?

A: The RTX A5000 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The P106-100 has 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus with 192.2 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Can the P106-100 be used for display output?

A: No. The P106-100's display outputs are listed as "No outputs," making it unsuitable for standard graphics tasks. The RTX A5000 Mobile's outputs are "Portable Device Dependent."

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RTX A5000 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 24,763, placing it at the 70th percentile. The P106-100 averages 23,249, at the 68th percentile. This puts them in similar overall performance tiers, despite the A5000 Mobile's dominance in specific compute tests.

Q: What are the TDP requirements for each card?

A: The RTX A5000 Mobile has a TDP of 150 W and requires no external power connectors. The P106-100 has a 120 W TDP and needs a single 6-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 300 W.