Consumercarts is reader-supported. Learn more
AMD Instinct MI250 vs NVIDIA CMP 30HX: Comparison
What is the difference between AMD Instinct MI250 and NVIDIA CMP 30HX?
On tdp the spread is 300%, AMD Instinct MI250 500 W against NVIDIA CMP 30HX 125 W, so NVIDIA CMP 30HX takes it. AMD Instinct MI250 also leads on memory bandwidth, 3200 GB/s on the AMD Instinct MI250 versus 336 GB/s on the NVIDIA CMP 30HX. Add memory bus width to that, 8192 bit on the AMD Instinct MI250 versus 192 bit on the NVIDIA CMP 30HX, and the pattern holds. There is a split on tier as well, Datacenter on the AMD Instinct MI250 versus Entry-Level Mining on the NVIDIA CMP 30HX. They differ on architecture too, CDNA2 on the AMD Instinct MI250 versus Turing on the NVIDIA CMP 30HX.
AMD Instinct MI250 vs NVIDIA CMP 30HX: which one fits your build
Buy the AMD Instinct MI250 for buyers comparing AMD's official reference specifications and researching a chip before choosing a board-partner card, though it is not the pick for overclocking-focused enthusiasts (reference clocks only). It is not the one for buyers wanting a specific retail card with cooler and warranty details. The NVIDIA CMP 30HX is the one to take for secondary-market buyers mining non-Ethereum proof-of-work coins and repurposing as a cheap compute card for non-graphics CUDA workloads. It is the wrong buy for gaming, no display output at all, cannot drive a monitor under any configuration. Our rating of the NVIDIA CMP 30HX (3.5/10): A well-built card for a job that mostly no longer exists. Fine as a cheap secondary-market mining or compute card for non-Ethereum Proof-of-Work coins, but its entire reason for being evaporated with Ethereum's 2022 Merge.
Frequently asked questions
Do the AMD Instinct MI250 and NVIDIA CMP 30HX differ on boost clock?
Yes. Boost Clock reads 1700 MHz on the AMD Instinct MI250 versus 1680 MHz on the NVIDIA CMP 30HX.
Specs and benchmarks
GPU Brand
- AMD Instinct MI250
- AMD
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- NVIDIA
Series
- AMD Instinct MI250
- Instinct
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- CMP (Cryptocurrency Mining Processor)
Board Partner
- AMD Instinct MI250
- Reference
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- ASUS, Colorful, Gigabyte, Inno3D, MSI, Palit, Zotac (reference blower design)
Tier
- AMD Instinct MI250
- Datacenter
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- Entry-Level Mining (2021)
Memory Type
- AMD Instinct MI250
- HBM2E
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- GDDR6Best
Boost Clock
- AMD Instinct MI250
- 1700 MHzBest
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- 1680 MHz-1%
TDP
- AMD Instinct MI250
- 500 W-300%
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- 125 WBest
Architecture
- AMD Instinct MI250
- CDNA2
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- Turing (TU106)
Process Node
- AMD Instinct MI250
- TSMC 6nm FinFET
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- TSMC 12nm FFN
Slot Width
- AMD Instinct MI250
- Not Applicable
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- 2
Shader Units
- AMD Instinct MI250
- 13312
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- 1920
Memory Bus Width
- AMD Instinct MI250
- 8192 bitBest
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- 192 bit-98%
Memory Bandwidth
- AMD Instinct MI250
- 3200 GB/sBest
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- 336 GB/s-89%
PCIe Generation
- AMD Instinct MI250
- PCIe 4.0
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- PCIe 3.0 x4 (deliberately narrow lane count; mining needs almost no host bandwidth)
Launch Date
- AMD Instinct MI250
- 11/08/2021
- NVIDIA CMP 30HX
- 2021-02
Which one should you pick?
Choose AMD Instinct MI250 if you want the higher boost clock (1700 MHz vs 1680 MHz), the higher memory bus width (8192 bit vs 192 bit) and the higher memory bandwidth (3200 GB/s vs 336 GB/s).
Choose NVIDIA CMP 30HX if you want the lower TDP (125 W vs 500 W).
Verdict
NVIDIA CMP 30HX
3.5 / 10 Expert Rating
A well-built card for a job that mostly no longer exists.