AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a decisive overall picture: the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head tests against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050. The single NVIDIA victory is substantial, but the breadth and depth of AMD’s wins across every other category establish a clear performance hierarchy.

The largest margin of victory for AMD comes in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where the R9700 scores 7006 against the RTX 5050’s 2502. That is a 180% lead, the most extreme delta in the entire comparison. This test is a strong indicator of modern DirectX 12 gaming and ray tracing workload performance, and the result suggests a massive computational advantage for the Radeon part in this specific scenario.

In compute-oriented workloads, the AMD card continues to dominate. In Geekbench OpenCL, the R9700 scores 118202 versus 90334, a 30.8% advantage. The PassMark GPU Compute test shows a similar pattern: 15300 for AMD against 9184 for NVIDIA, a 66.6% lead. These results indicate that for general-purpose GPU compute, the R9700 is the substantially faster card.

The legacy DirectX results all favor AMD, often by wide margins. In PassMark DirectX 9, the R9700 scores 363 versus 186, a 95.2% lead. DirectX 11 shows 272 versus 150, an 81.3% advantage. Even DirectX 10, a less demanding test, shows a 50.5% lead (155 versus 103). The DirectX 12 PassMark test is closer, with AMD winning 83 to 66, a 25.8% margin, but still a definitive win.

The overall 3D performance metric, PassMark G3D, shows 26979 for AMD versus 17326 for NVIDIA, a 55.7% lead. Even the 2D test, PassMark G2D, goes to AMD at 1236 versus 1113, an 11.1% margin.

The one bright spot for NVIDIA is Geekbench Vulkan. Here, the RTX 5050 scores 89381, beating the R9700’s 63550 by 28.9%. This is a significant reversal and indicates that in Vulkan API workloads, the NVIDIA architecture holds a notable edge. It is the only test where NVIDIA wins, but it is a meaningful one.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and process technologies. The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 uses the Navi 48 chip, based on the RDNA 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 uses the GB207 chip, based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, also at TSMC but on a 5 nm node. This process difference gives AMD a density advantage: 151.0M transistors per mm² versus 113.4M for NVIDIA.

The transistor counts diverge sharply. The AMD chip packs 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die. The NVIDIA chip has 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die. The AMD die is over twice the physical size and holds more than three times the transistors.

The memory subsystems are completely different. The R9700 comes with 32 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256 bit bus, delivering 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 5050 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128 bit bus, providing 320.0 GB/s. The memory clock is nearly identical (2518 MHz effective 20.1 Gbps versus 2500 MHz effective 20 Gbps), but the wider bus gives AMD a 2x bandwidth advantage.

The compute resources reflect the transistor disparity. The AMD card has 4096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 128 ROPs. It also has 64 ray tracing cores. The NVIDIA card has 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores. Note that the R9700 does not list tensor cores, while the RTX 5050 does, indicating a divergence in AI-accelerated workload capabilities.

The resulting throughput numbers are stark. AMD’s pixel rate is 373.8 GPixel/s versus NVIDIA’s 82.30 GPixel/s. The texture rate is 747.5 GTexel/s versus 205.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute is 47.84 TFLOPS for AMD versus 13.17 TFLOPS for NVIDIA, a 3.6x difference. Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Power and connectivity also differ. The R9700 has a TDP of 300 W, requires a 16-pin connector, and suggests a 700 W PSU. The RTX 5050 has a TDP of 130 W, uses a single 8-pin connector, and suggests a 300 W PSU. The AMD card uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while NVIDIA uses PCIe 5.0 x8. Display outputs are identical in count: 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort, though AMD uses DisplayPort 2.1a and NVIDIA uses DisplayPort 2.1b.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 wins in almost every measurable category. For DirectX 12 gaming workloads as measured by 3DMark Steel Nomad, it is in a different league, 180% ahead. For legacy DirectX 9, 10, and 11 applications, it leads by margins ranging from 50.5% to 95.2%. This makes it the clear choice for users running a broad library of games and applications, including older titles where the AMD card shows massive advantages.

In OpenCL compute, the R9700 leads by 30.8%, and in PassMark GPU Compute by 66.6%. For general purpose compute tasks, scientific workloads, or rendering that leverages OpenCL, the AMD card is the stronger performer. The 32 GB memory capacity and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for large datasets that would exceed the RTX 5050’s 8 GB frame buffer.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 wins in the Geekbench Vulkan test, leading by 28.9%. This is the only benchmark where NVIDIA takes the win, but it is a significant one. For Vulkan-based games or applications, the RTX 5050 demonstrates superior API efficiency. Additionally, the presence of 80 tensor cores (which the R9700 does not list) suggests that NVIDIA has dedicated hardware for AI acceleration, which could be relevant for specific workloads despite the overall compute deficit.

The RTX 5050 also has a major efficiency advantage. Its TDP is 130 W versus 300 W for the R9700, and it requires a 300 W PSU versus 700 W. For users with power constraints or smaller form factor builds, the NVIDIA card is the more practical choice, though it sacrifices significant performance.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 is far faster, scoring 7006 compared to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050’s 2502, a 180% lead.

Q: Does the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 win any benchmark?

A: Yes, the RTX 5050 wins the Geekbench Vulkan test. It scores 89381 versus the R9700’s 63550, a 28.9% advantage for NVIDIA.

Q: How do the memory capacities compare?

A: The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 has 32 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256 bit bus with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128 bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The AMD card has a TDP of 300 W and suggests a 700 W PSU. The NVIDIA card has a TDP of 130 W and suggests a 300 W PSU.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 has 4096 shading units, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 has 2560.

Q: Are there any architectural differences in AI acceleration?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 lists 80 tensor cores, while the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 does not list tensor cores. This indicates a difference in dedicated AI processing hardware.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 wins 9 of 10 benchmarks, with an average benchmark score of 23315 versus 21035 for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050. The AMD card’s percentile rank among all GPUs is 69, slightly higher than NVIDIA’s 66. The R9700 is the superior performer in DirectX 12, OpenCL, all legacy DirectX versions, and overall 3D and compute workloads.

The biggest wins for AMD are in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (180% lead), PassMark DirectX 9 (95.2% lead), and PassMark DirectX 11 (81.3% lead). These results show that the R9700 is not just faster in synthetic compute tests; it is dramatically faster in real-world gaming and graphics workloads.

The NVIDIA RTX 5050 wins only in Geekbench Vulkan, with a 28.9% lead. This makes it the better choice for users who exclusively run Vulkan-based applications. Additionally, its lower power draw (130 W versus 300 W) and smaller PSU requirement (300 W versus 700 W) make it the only rational choice for constrained power environments.

For anyone who needs maximum performance, especially in DirectX 12 or compute-heavy tasks, the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 is the clear pick. For Vulkan-centric workloads or low-power builds, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the data-supported choice. The 32 GB memory capacity of the AMD card also makes it the only option for large frame buffer requirements.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | RDNA 4.0 | Blackwell 2.0 |

| Process Node | 4 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 53,900 million | 16,900 million |

| Die Size | 357 mm² | 149 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 151.0M / mm² | 113.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1660 MHz | 2317 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2920 MHz | 2572 MHz |

| Memory Size | 32 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Bus | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 644.6 GB/s | 320.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 4096 | 2560 |

| TMUs | 256 | 80 |

| ROPs | 128 | 32 |

| RT Cores | 64 | 20 |

| Tensor Cores | Not listed | 80 |

| Pixel Rate | 373.8 GPixel/s | 82.30 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 747.5 GTexel/s | 205.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 47.84 TFLOPS | 13.17 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 300 W | 130 W |

| Power Connector | 1x 16-pin | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 700 W | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x8 |

| DisplayPort Version | 2.1a | 2.1b |