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AMD Instinct MI210 vs NVIDIA A100 SXM4: Comparison
What is the difference between AMD Instinct MI210 and NVIDIA A100 SXM4?
Start with vram, because it is the widest measured gap between them: AMD Instinct MI210 64 GB against NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80 GB, 20% in favour of NVIDIA A100 SXM4. Add memory bandwidth to that, 1600 GB/s on the AMD Instinct MI210 versus 2039 GB/s on the NVIDIA A100 SXM4, and the pattern holds. Add tdp to that, 300 W on the AMD Instinct MI210 versus 400 W on the NVIDIA A100 SXM4, and the pattern holds. AMD Instinct MI210 also leads on boost clock, 1700 MHz on the AMD Instinct MI210 versus 1410 MHz on the NVIDIA A100 SXM4. Add memory bus width to that, 4096 bit on the AMD Instinct MI210 versus 5120 bit on the NVIDIA A100 SXM4, and the pattern holds.
AMD Instinct MI210 vs NVIDIA A100 SXM4: which one fits your build
The AMD Instinct MI210 is the one to take for double-precision workloads that don't need MI250X-level throughput, though it is not built for any desktop or workstation build - compute-only, no display output and maximum-throughput HPC nodes (use MI250X instead). The same goes for HPC and AI deployments in standard PCIe-slot servers without OAM sled support. Buy the NVIDIA A100 SXM4 for Multi-GPU AI training clusters (existing HGX/DGX A100 systems) and large-scale AI training and inference at proven, mature scale. It is not the one for gaming or any graphics workload - no display output, no RT cores.
Frequently asked questions
Do the AMD Instinct MI210 and NVIDIA A100 SXM4 differ on gpu brand?
Yes. GPU Brand reads AMD on the AMD Instinct MI210 versus NVIDIA on the NVIDIA A100 SXM4.
Is the Tier the same on the AMD Instinct MI210 and NVIDIA A100 SXM4?
It is. Both are listed at Datacenter / AI Accelerator, so it is not a reason to pick one over the other.
Specs and benchmarks
GPU Brand
- AMD Instinct MI210
- AMD
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- NVIDIA
Series
- AMD Instinct MI210
- Instinct MI200
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- Ampere A-Series
Board Partner
- AMD Instinct MI210
- AMD Reference (PCIe dual-slot card, data center/OEM only)
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- NVIDIA Reference - HGX A100 4-GPU or 8-GPU baseboard module, not a standalone card
VRAM
- AMD Instinct MI210
- 64 GB-20%
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- 80 GBBest
Tier
- AMD Instinct MI210
- Datacenter / AI Accelerator
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- Datacenter / AI Accelerator
Memory Type
- AMD Instinct MI210
- HBM2E
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- HBM2E
Boost Clock
- AMD Instinct MI210
- 1700 MHzBest
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- 1410 MHz-17%
Ray Tracing Support
- AMD Instinct MI210
- No
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- No
TDP
- AMD Instinct MI210
- 300 WBest
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- 400 W-33%
Architecture
- AMD Instinct MI210
- CDNA 2 (single Graphics Compute Die)
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- Ampere (GA100)
Process Node
- AMD Instinct MI210
- TSMC 6nm
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- TSMC 7N
Slot Width
- AMD Instinct MI210
- 2
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- N/A (SXM module, not a PCIe card)
Memory Bus Width
- AMD Instinct MI210
- 4096 bit-20%
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- 5120 bitBest
Memory Bandwidth
- AMD Instinct MI210
- 1600 GB/s-22%
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- 2039 GB/sBest
PCIe Generation
- AMD Instinct MI210
- PCIe 4.0 x16
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- N/A - SXM4 socket connects to the HGX baseboard, not a PCIe slot
Launch Date
- AMD Instinct MI210
- 2022-03
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- 2020-11 (80GB SXM4 variant; 40GB variant launched 2020-05)
Display Outputs
- AMD Instinct MI210
- N/A - compute-only, no display output
- NVIDIA A100 SXM4
- None - headless compute module
Which one should you pick?
Choose AMD Instinct MI210 if you want the higher boost clock (1700 MHz vs 1410 MHz) and the lower TDP (300 W vs 400 W).
Choose NVIDIA A100 SXM4 if you want the higher VRAM (80 GB vs 64 GB), the higher memory bus width (5120 bit vs 4096 bit) and the higher memory bandwidth (2039 GB/s vs 1600 GB/s).
Verdict
AMD Instinct MI210
7.3 / 10 Expert Rating
A practical, PCIe-slot-friendly way to get CDNA 2 compute into a standard server, useful for smaller HPC and AI deployments, but clearly the entry point of its generation next to the dual-die MI250X and now well behind the MI300 series.
NVIDIA A100 SXM4
8.6 / 10 Expert Rating
The GPU that trained a huge share of today's deployed AI models - still a capable multi-GPU training platform, though clearly surpassed by Hopper and Blackwell for new builds.