NVIDIA Quadro K3100M vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data presents an unusual comparison. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server has a single benchmark entry (3DMark Steel Nomad DX12) with a score of 5996, while the NVIDIA Quadro K3100M has three benchmark entries (Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan) with scores of 3823, 6154, and 5484 respectively. Neither product shares a common benchmark test in the database, so direct head-to-head comparisons are limited to aggregate scores and architectural context.

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server wins outright on raw rendering performance. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5996 places it at the 34th percentile among all GPUs. This is a modern DirectX 12 Ultimate workload that exercises ray tracing, mesh shading, and other contemporary features. The Quadro K3100M has no comparable DirectX 12 benchmark in the database; its best recorded result is the Geekbench OpenCL score of 6154, which is a compute-oriented test rather than a graphics workload. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server is the clear choice for modern graphics workloads, professional rendering, and any application that leverages DirectX 12 Ultimate features.

The Quadro K3100M wins on compute versatility in the recorded benchmarks. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 6154 is the highest single benchmark score recorded for either product. This indicates that for OpenCL compute tasks, the older Kepler architecture still delivers competitive raw compute throughput relative to its era. However, this is a narrow victory: the Quadro K3100M's aggregate average benchmark score is 5154, while the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server's average is 5996. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server holds an 842-point advantage in average score, which translates to roughly 16% higher aggregate performance.

The use-case split is clear. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server is designed for server deployments, AI training, and professional visualization workloads that demand massive memory capacity (96 GB), high bandwidth (1.79 TB/s), and contemporary API support. The Quadro K3100M is a mobile workstation GPU from 2013, built for laptop and portable workstation environments. Its 75 W power envelope, MXM module form factor, and lack of dedicated power connectors make it suitable for portable systems. The data shows that these products serve entirely different market segments.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server has an average benchmark score of 5996, compared to the NVIDIA Quadro K3100M's average of 5154. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server leads by 842 points.

Q: What is the percentile ranking of each GPU among all GPUs?

A: The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server sits at the 34th percentile, while the Quadro K3100M sits at the 30th percentile. Both are near the median, but the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server ranks higher.

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing?

A: Only the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server has dedicated ray tracing cores, with 188 RT cores. The Quadro K3100M has no RT core data recorded in the database.

Q: How do the memory configurations differ?

A: The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server has 96 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The Quadro K3100M has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each GPU?

A: For the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server, the nearest rivals are the GeForce GTX 770M (6000 average score, -0.1% delta), Radeon RX 6400 (6001, -0.1%), FirePro W4100 (5987, 0.2%), and Quadro K4000M (5986, 0.2%). For the Quadro K3100M, the nearest rivals are the Radeon R7 M260X (5161, -0.1%), Quadro 4000M (5211, -1.1%), GeForce GTX 760M (5236, -1.6%), and Radeon R7 240 (5063, 1.8%).

Q: Which GPU has the higher boost clock?

A: The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server has a boost clock of 2617 MHz, while the Quadro K3100M has a boost clock of 706 MHz.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark results between these two GPUs. However, analyzing the available benchmark data reveals the performance gap. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server's sole benchmark, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, scored 5996. This test is a demanding modern workload that stresses ray tracing, DirectX 12 Ultimate features, and high-resolution rendering. The Quadro K3100M's highest recorded benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL at 6154, which is 158 points higher than the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server's 3DMark score. This is a narrow margin of 2.6% and is a compute test rather than a graphics test.

The Quadro K3100M's other benchmarks show significant variance: Geekbench Metal scored 3823, while Geekbench Vulkan scored 5484. The Metal score is notably lower, likely reflecting the age of the Kepler architecture and its driver support for Apple's Metal API. The Vulkan score of 5484 is closer to the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server's 3DMark result but still trails by 512 points, or 8.5%.

When comparing aggregate averages, the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server leads decisively. Its average score of 5996 is 842 points higher than the Quadro K3100M's average of 5154. This is a 16.3% advantage in average performance. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server's percentile ranking of 34 is also superior to the Quadro K3100M's 30th percentile, placing it ahead of a larger share of the GPU population.

The nearest rival data confirms that both GPUs sit in a crowded mid-range performance band. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server's closest rivals are within 0.2% of its score, while the Quadro K3100M's nearest rivals are within 1.8%. This suggests that while the two GPUs are separated by 842 points in average score, both occupy performance tiers where small margins separate competitors.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification category. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server uses a GB202 chip on a 5 nm process, while the Quadro K3100M uses a GK104 chip on a 28 nm process. The transistor counts reflect this: 92,200 million for the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server versus 3,540 million for the Quadro K3100M. The die size is also vastly different at 750 mm² versus 294 mm², and the transistor density is 122.9M per mm² versus 12.0M per mm².

Clock speeds show a similar gap. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server has a base clock of 1590 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz. The Quadro K3100M has a base and boost clock of 706 MHz, with no boost differentiation. Memory clocks are 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) for the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server versus 800 MHz (3.2 Gbps effective) for the Quadro K3100M.

The memory subsystems are incomparable in scale. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server offers 96 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The Quadro K3100M offers 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth. This represents a 24-fold increase in memory capacity and a 17.5-fold increase in bandwidth.

Compute resources differ by an order of magnitude. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server has 24,064 shading units, 752 TMUs, 192 ROPs, 188 RT cores, and 752 tensor cores. The Quadro K3100M has 768 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no RT or tensor cores. Pixel rate is 502.5 GPixel/s versus 11.30 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 1,968.0 GTexel/s versus 45.18 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 126.0 TFLOPS versus 1,084.4 GFLOPS.

Power and form factor also diverge. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server has a TDP of 600 W, is dual-slot, uses a single 16-pin power connector, and requires a 1000 W power supply. The Quadro K3100M has a TDP of 75 W, uses an MXM module form factor, requires no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while the Quadro K3100M uses MXM-B (3.0). Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 2.1b for the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server versus portable device dependent for the Quadro K3100M.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs spans twelve years of NVIDIA design evolution. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB202 chip, part of the Server Blackwell (Bxx) generation. The Quadro K3100M uses the Kepler architecture with a GK104 chip, from the Quadro Kepler-M (Kx100M) generation.

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Quadro K3100M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The DirectX 12 Ultimate specification includes features like ray tracing, mesh shaders, and variable rate shading, none of which are available on the Kepler architecture. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server's 188 RT cores and 752 tensor cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads, capabilities entirely absent from the Quadro K3100M.

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server supports FP16 at 126.0 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio to FP32, enabling efficient mixed-precision compute. The Quadro K3100M has no recorded FP16 capability. This makes the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server suitable for AI training and inference workloads that rely on FP16 tensor operations.

The production status reflects their different lifecycles. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server is active, released on 2025-03-17, with a predecessor of Server Hopper and a successor of Server Rubin. The Quadro K3100M is end-of-life, released on 2013-07-22, with a predecessor of Quadro Fermi-M and a successor of Quadro Maxwell-M.

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server is manufactured by TSMC on a 5 nm process, while the Quadro K3100M is also TSMC but on a 28 nm process. This process node difference is a primary driver of the massive transistor density gap: 122.9M transistors per mm² versus 12.0M per mm². The architectural advancements, combined with the process node improvement, explain the dramatic performance and capability differences.

The Verdict

The data directs a clear verdict. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server is the superior GPU for virtually all modern workloads. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5996 demonstrates contemporary graphics capability that the Quadro K3100M cannot match, as the older GPU has no comparable DirectX 12 benchmark result. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server's average benchmark score of 5996 exceeds the Quadro K3100M's 5154 by 842 points. Its 34th percentile ranking versus the Quadro K3100M's 30th percentile places it ahead in the overall GPU distribution.

For professional and server workloads, the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server offers 96 GB of GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, 188 RT cores, and 752 tensor cores. These features enable ray-traced rendering, AI inference, and large-scale data processing. The Quadro K3100M, with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and no RT or tensor cores, cannot handle these workloads. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server also supports modern APIs including DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, while the Quadro K3100M is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175.

The Quadro K3100M retains relevance only in specific legacy scenarios. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 6154 is its strongest recorded result, indicating adequate compute performance for certain OpenCL workloads. Its 75 W TDP and MXM module form factor make it suitable for portable workstations where power and space are constrained. However, its end-of-life production status and 2013 release date signal that it is obsolete for modern applications.

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server should be chosen for any new deployment requiring high-performance graphics, compute, or AI capabilities. Its active production status, modern architecture, and superior benchmark scores make it the appropriate choice for current and future workloads. The Quadro K3100M should only be considered for maintaining legacy systems that cannot be upgraded, or for applications specifically optimized for the Kepler architecture. In all other cases, the recorded data supports the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server as the superior product.