P106-100 vs Radeon R9 285

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, raw graphics performance, VRAM, feature set, power efficiency, pricing context, and long-term value so you can see which GPU actually makes more sense.

P106-100

2017

Why buy it

✅Costs $25 less on MSRP ($224 MSRP vs $249 MSRP).
✅Delivers 10.3% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 29.6 vs 26.8 G3D/$ ($224 MSRP vs $249 MSRP).
✅Draws 75W instead of 190W, a 115W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2017-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌13.1% longer card at 250mm vs 221mm.

Radeon R9 285

2014

Why buy it

✅Measures 221mm instead of 250mm, a 29mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2014-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
11.2% HIGHER MSRP
$249 MSRPvs$224 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 26.8 vs 29.6 G3D/$ ($249 MSRP vs $224 MSRP).
❌153.3% higher power demand at 190W vs 75W.

P106-100

2017

Radeon R9 285

2014

Why buy it

✅Costs $25 less on MSRP ($224 MSRP vs $249 MSRP).
✅Delivers 10.3% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 29.6 vs 26.8 G3D/$ ($224 MSRP vs $249 MSRP).
✅Draws 75W instead of 190W, a 115W reduction.

Why buy it

✅Measures 221mm instead of 250mm, a 29mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2017-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌13.1% longer card at 250mm vs 221mm.

Trade-offs

❌Poor future-proofing: 2014-era hardware with 4 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
11.2% HIGHER MSRP
$249 MSRPvs$224 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 26.8 vs 29.6 G3D/$ ($249 MSRP vs $224 MSRP).
❌153.3% higher power demand at 190W vs 75W.

Quick Answers

So, is Radeon R9 285 better than P106-100?

Yes, but this is not really about a huge raw performance gap. The broader synthetic picture is also very close at 6,628 vs 6,680 in G3D Mark. The bigger reason to prefer Radeon R9 285 is the overall package: you are getting FSR upscaling.

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

P106-100 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer 2017 generation instead of 2014, the stronger feature stack with no meaningful modern upscaling stack instead of FSR upscaling, and a 16nm process instead of 28nm. That broader feature stack should age better as more games lean on modern upscaling and frame-generation support.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper card?

Radeon R9 285 is the smarter buy by a wide margin. Radeon R9 285 is about 11.2% more expensive on MSRP at $249 MSRP versus $224 MSRP, and you are getting 0.8% higher G3D Mark. P106-100 really only makes sense now as a very cheap stopgap or a used-market placeholder.

When does P106-100 make more sense than Radeon R9 285?

Yes. P106-100 is still an excellent gaming GPU in 2026: it is still comfortable for 1080p and decent for 1440p, though 4K is more situational. It makes more sense if your priority is newer architecture, lower power draw (75W vs 190W), future-proofing, and staying closer to $224 MSRP more than squeezing out the extra headroom of Radeon R9 285. The trade-off is that Radeon R9 285 currently gives you 0.8% higher G3D Mark. P106-100 still holds the G3D-per-dollar lead, so the performance win comes with a real value premium.

Games Benchmarks

Real-world benchmarks and performance projections based on comprehensive hardware analysis and comparative metrics. Values represent expected performance on High/Ultra settings at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. Modeled using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D reference profile to minimize specific CPU bottlenecks.

Note: Performance behavior can vary per game. Specific architectures may perform better or worse depending on game engine optimizations and API implementation.

P106-100 Benchmark Check

Radeon R9 285 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	P106-100	Radeon R9 285
1080p
low	138 FPS	104 FPS
medium	127 FPS	89 FPS
high	108 FPS	72 FPS
ultra	81 FPS	43 FPS
1440p
low	123 FPS	90 FPS
medium	107 FPS	79 FPS
high	91 FPS	57 FPS
ultra	70 FPS	33 FPS
4K
low	51 FPS	29 FPS
medium	47 FPS	27 FPS
high	35 FPS	18 FPS
ultra	31 FPS	16 FPS

Open P106-100 Open Radeon R9 285

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	P106-100	Radeon R9 285
1080p
low	262 FPS	138 FPS
medium	216 FPS	105 FPS
high	160 FPS	83 FPS
ultra	128 FPS	56 FPS
1440p
low	173 FPS	78 FPS
medium	143 FPS	55 FPS
high	114 FPS	41 FPS
ultra	90 FPS	29 FPS
4K
low	99 FPS	28 FPS
medium	80 FPS	20 FPS
high	66 FPS	16 FPS
ultra	51 FPS	11 FPS

Open P106-100 Open Radeon R9 285

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	P106-100	Radeon R9 285
1080p
low	298 FPS	301 FPS
medium	239 FPS	240 FPS
high	199 FPS	200 FPS
ultra	149 FPS	150 FPS
1440p
low	224 FPS	225 FPS
medium	179 FPS	180 FPS
high	149 FPS	150 FPS
ultra	112 FPS	113 FPS
4K
low	149 FPS	150 FPS
medium	119 FPS	120 FPS
high	99 FPS	100 FPS
ultra	75 FPS	75 FPS

Open P106-100 Open Radeon R9 285

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	P106-100	Radeon R9 285
1080p
low	298 FPS	173 FPS
medium	239 FPS	142 FPS
high	199 FPS	125 FPS
ultra	149 FPS	98 FPS
1440p
low	224 FPS	123 FPS
medium	179 FPS	103 FPS
high	149 FPS	91 FPS
ultra	112 FPS	67 FPS
4K
low	130 FPS	72 FPS
medium	100 FPS	56 FPS
high	90 FPS	45 FPS
ultra	72 FPS	31 FPS

Open P106-100 Open Radeon R9 285

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of P106-100 and Radeon R9 285

P106-100

The P106-100 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in December 12 2017. It features the Pascal architecture. The core clock ranges from 1607 MHz to 1733 MHz. It has 1920 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 16 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 6,628 points.

Radeon R9 285

The Radeon R9 285 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in September 2 2014. It features the GCN 3.0 architecture. The core clock speed is 918 MHz. It has 1792 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 190W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 6,680 points. Launch price was $249.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The P106-100 scores 6,628 and the Radeon R9 285 reaches 6,680 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 0.8% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The P106-100 is built on Pascal while the Radeon R9 285 uses GCN 3.0, both on 16 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 1,920 (P106-100) vs 1,792 (Radeon R9 285). Raw compute: 6.655 TFLOPS (P106-100) vs 3.29 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 285).

Feature	P106-100	Radeon R9 285
G3D Mark Score	6,628	6,680
Architecture	Pascal	GCN 3.0
Process Node	16 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	1920+7%	1792
Compute (TFLOPS)	6.655 TFLOPS+102%	3.29 TFLOPS
ROPs	64+100%	32
TMUs	120+7%	112
L1 Cache	720 KB+61%	448 KB
L2 Cache	2 MB+300%	0.5 MB

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	P106-100	Radeon R9 285
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	Standard	AMD Anti-Lag

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards feature 4 GB of video memory. Bus width: 128-bit vs 256-bit. L2 Cache: 2 MB (P106-100) vs 0.5 MB (Radeon R9 285) — the P106-100 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	P106-100	Radeon R9 285
VRAM Capacity	4 GB	4 GB
Memory Type	GDDR6	GDDR5
Bus Width	128-bit	256-bit+100%
L2 Cache	2 MB+300%	0.5 MB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12_1 (P106-100) vs 12.0 (Radeon R9 285). Maximum simultaneous displays: 0 vs 4.

Feature	P106-100	Radeon R9 285
DirectX	12_1	12.0
Max Displays	0	4

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 6th Gen (P106-100) vs VCE 3.0 (Radeon R9 285). Decoder: NVDEC 3rd Gen vs UVD 5.0.

Feature	P106-100	Radeon R9 285
Encoder	NVENC 6th Gen	VCE 3.0
Decoder	NVDEC 3rd Gen	UVD 5.0
Codecs	—	MPEG-2,H.264

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The P106-100 draws 75W versus the Radeon R9 285's 190W — a 86.8% difference. The P106-100 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (P106-100) vs 500W (Radeon R9 285). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs 2x 6-pin. Card length: 250mm vs 221mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots.

Feature	P106-100	Radeon R9 285
TDP	75W-61%	190W
Recommended PSU	350W-30%	500W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	2x 6-pin
Length	250mm	221mm
Height	—	109mm
Slots	2	2
Temp (Load)	—	65°C
Perf/Watt	88.4+151%	35.2

💰

Value Analysis

The P106-100 launched at $224 MSRP, while the Radeon R9 285 launched at $249. The P106-100 costs 10% less ($25 savings) on MSRP. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 29.6 (P106-100) vs 26.8 (Radeon R9 285) — the P106-100 offers 10.4% better value. The P106-100 is the newer GPU (2017 vs 2014).