AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Comparison

The data presented here contrasts two very different eras and market segments: NVIDIA’s consumer-focused GeForce RTX 3070 Ti against AMD’s mobile-oriented Radeon Pro Vega 20. The benchmark results are stark, with the NVIDIA card delivering overwhelmingly higher raw scores. However, the comparison is not just about speed; it highlights fundamental architectural and design philosophy shifts between a 2021 high-performance desktop part and a 2018 integrated mobile GPU.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two cards share only two direct benchmark comparisons in the data: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. The results are lopsided in favor of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA card scores 119,718 points, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 manages 26,679 points. This represents a delta of 348.7%, meaning the RTX 3070 Ti delivers roughly four and a half times the compute performance in this specific workload.

The Vulkan results are even more divergent. The RTX 3070 Ti posts a score of 139,541, compared to the Pro Vega 20's 26,410. This is a 428.4% advantage for the NVIDIA card. This massive gap in Vulkan performance suggests the newer architecture has a significant edge in low-level API efficiency and modern rendering pipelines. It is notably the Pro Vega 20 has no wins in the head-to-head data; the scoreboard is 2-0 in favor of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti.

Looking at the broader average benchmark scores, the RTX 3070 Ti achieves an average of 29,945 points, placing it in the 75th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, based on average score, include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile (29,928 points, a 0.1% difference) and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (30,095 points, a -0.5% difference). The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20, with an average score of 27,839 points, sits in the 73rd percentile. Its closest competitors are the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (27,973 points, a -0.5% difference) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020 points, a -0.6% difference). The data shows that while the Pro Vega 20 is competitive with older high-end parts, it is in a different performance class than the RTX 3070 Ti.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is immense. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture using a GA104 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. In contrast, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 utilizes the older GCN 5.0 architecture with a Vega 12 chip, produced on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This process node difference alone explains a significant portion of the efficiency and clock speed disparity.

The RTX 3070 Ti packs 17,400 million transistors onto a 392 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The AMD card's transistor count and die size are not listed in the data, but its 14 nm process and older architecture imply a much less dense design. Clock speeds tell a similar story: the NVIDIA card has a base clock of 1575 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, while the AMD card operates at a base of 815 MHz and a boost of 1283 MHz. The NVIDIA GPU also features 48 dedicated RT cores and 192 tensor cores, which are absent from the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20's specification sheet, indicating a lack of hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI processing capabilities.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different as well. The RTX 3070 Ti uses 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The Pro Vega 20 uses 4 GB of HBM2 memory on a much wider 1024-bit bus, but achieves only 189.4 GB/s due to lower memory clocks. The NVIDIA card's memory runs at an effective 19 Gbps, while the AMD card's memory runs at an effective 1480 Mbps. This vast difference in memory bandwidth is a key factor in the NVIDIA card's superior performance in high-resolution and texture-heavy workloads.

The Verdict

From the benchmark data alone, the choice is clear for any application requiring maximum compute performance. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is in a different league. Its 348.7% lead in OpenCL and 428.4% lead in Vulkan are not minor margins; they represent generational leaps in processing power. The data indicates that the RTX 3070 Ti is suited for demanding tasks like 4K gaming, 3D rendering, and complex scientific computations, where its higher FP32 throughput of 21.75 TFLOPS and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s provide a massive advantage.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20, while an older part, still holds relevance in specific contexts. Its 100 W TDP is considerably lower than the RTX 3070 Ti's 290 W, and its "IGP" slot width suggests it is designed for integrated use in portable systems, likely Apple Macs. For users who need a GPU that fits within a tight power envelope and is already embedded in a system, the Pro Vega 20 is a functional, if not fast, option. Its 73rd percentile rank against all GPUs shows it is not a slouch, but it is not a competitor to the RTX 3070 Ti in raw performance. The data suggests a user should pick the RTX 3070 Ti for performance, and the Pro Vega 20 only if constrained by the system form factor.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The most significant differences are:

• Process Node: 8 nm (NVIDIA) vs 14 nm (AMD)
• Shading Units: 6144 (NVIDIA) vs 1280 (AMD)
• TMUs: 192 (NVIDIA) vs 80 (AMD)
• ROPs: 96 (NVIDIA) vs 32 (AMD)
• RT Cores: 48 (NVIDIA) vs None (AMD)
• Tensor Cores: 192 (NVIDIA) vs None (AMD)
• Memory Size: 8 GB GDDR6X (NVIDIA) vs 4 GB HBM2 (AMD)
• Memory Bus Width: 256 bit (NVIDIA) vs 1024 bit (AMD)
• Memory Bandwidth: 608.3 GB/s (NVIDIA) vs 189.4 GB/s (AMD)
• Base Clock: 1575 MHz (NVIDIA) vs 815 MHz (AMD)
• Boost Clock: 1770 MHz (NVIDIA) vs 1283 MHz (AMD)
• FP32 Performance: 21.75 TFLOPS (NVIDIA) vs 3.284 TFLOPS (AMD)
• Pixel Rate: 169.9 GPixel/s (NVIDIA) vs 41.06 GPixel/s (AMD)
• Texture Rate: 339.8 GTexel/s (NVIDIA) vs 102.6 GTexel/s (AMD)
• TDP: 290 W (NVIDIA) vs 100 W (AMD)
• Bus Interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 (NVIDIA) vs PCIe 3.0 x16 (AMD)
• DirectX Support: 12 Ultimate (12_2) (NVIDIA) vs 12 (12_1) (AMD)
• Vulkan Support: 1.4 (NVIDIA) vs 1.3 (AMD)

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti in OpenCL performance?

A: It is 348.7% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20, scoring 119,718 points compared to 26,679 points.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 have any benchmark wins against the RTX 3070 Ti?

A: No. The head-to-head data shows 2 wins for the NVIDIA card and 0 wins for the AMD card.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth between the two cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti has a memory bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 has a bandwidth of 189.4 GB/s. This is a significant difference that affects high-resolution performance.

Q: What is the average benchmark score percentile for each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti sits in the 75th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 is in the 73rd percentile.

Q: Does the AMD card support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The specification list for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 does not include RT cores, whereas the NVIDIA card features 48 RT cores.

Q: What is the TDP difference between these two cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti has a TDP of 290 W, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 has a significantly lower TDP of 100 W.

Where Each One Wins

Based strictly on the data, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is the winner in all measured performance categories. Its strengths lie in its massive compute throughput (21.75 TFLOPS FP32), high memory bandwidth (608.3 GB/s), and modern feature set including RT and tensor cores. This makes it the clear choice for gaming at high refresh rates and resolutions, 3D rendering, video editing, and any GPU-accelerated compute task where raw speed is paramount. Its 75th percentile ranking and proximity to the much newer RTX 5070 Mobile in average score underscore its continued relevance in the high-performance segment.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20's "win" is not in performance, but in efficiency and form factor. Its 100 W TDP is less than half that of the NVIDIA card, and its IGP designation indicates it is designed to be integrated into a portable device. Its wider 1024-bit memory bus is an interesting architectural choice, but its low effective clock speed negates any bandwidth advantage. In its niche, it offers a competent level of performance, as evidenced by its 73rd percentile ranking, which puts it near the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti. Therefore, the Pro Vega 20 wins in scenarios where power consumption is the primary constraint and the GPU is a permanent part of a mobile system, whereas the RTX 3070 Ti wins in every scenario where performance is the primary goal.