AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 represent two vastly different eras of mobile graphics, separated by nearly seven years of architectural evolution. Benchmark data shows the RTX 5070 Mobile dominates in every shared test, but the Radeon Pro Vega 20 holds a unique position with its Metal API support and HBM2 memory. This analysis compares their measured performance, architectural foundations, and specification differences using only the provided data.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two GPUs share only two common benchmark results, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile wins both decisively. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5070 Mobile scores 122,238 against the Radeon Pro Vega 20's 26,679, a staggering 358.2% delta. This is not a marginal improvement; it represents a generational leap where the newer architecture delivers over four times the raw compute throughput in this workload. The Vulkan test tells a similar story, with the RTX 5070 Mobile scoring 116,960 versus 26,410 for the AMD part, a 342.9% advantage.

The average benchmark scores reinforce this gap, though the delta narrows considerably. The RTX 5070 Mobile averages 29,928 across all its benchmarks, while the Radeon Pro Vega 20 averages 27,839. This 2,089-point difference (roughly 7.5%) is far smaller than the OpenCL or Vulkan deltas, indicating that the AMD card performs relatively better in its native Metal workload. Indeed, the Radeon Pro Vega 20's Geekbench Metal score of 30,427 exceeds its OpenCL and Vulkan results substantially, suggesting that Apple's Metal API is where this GPU is most efficient.

Looking at the nearest rivals, the RTX 5070 Mobile's average score places it within 0.1% of the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (29,945) and 0.5% above the RTX 2080 Ti (29,783). It trails the AMD Radeon RX 6800 by 0.6% and the RX 6700 by 1.7%. These are remarkably tight margins, positioning the RTX 5070 Mobile as a high-end performer that trades blows with desktop-class GPUs from previous generations. The Radeon Pro Vega 20, meanwhile, sits within 1% of the RTX 3090 (27,565) and RTX 980 Ti (28,020), with a 0.2% gap to the RX 7800M and 0.5% to the Pro W5500X. Its percentile ranking of 73rd versus the RTX 5070 Mobile's 75th shows both cards are above the median, but the NVIDIA part is clearly the stronger overall performer.

The wins tally is straightforward: the RTX 5070 Mobile wins 2 head-to-head tests, the Radeon Pro Vega 20 wins 0. However, this binary count obscures the nuance that the AMD card only competes in tests where it has a data point; the absence of a DirectX or Passmark result for the Vega 20 means the comparison is incomplete. Still, in the tests both cards share, the NVIDIA GPU is faster by a factor of 3.4 to 3.6.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two GPUs is immense. The RTX 5070 Mobile uses the GB206 chip built on NVIDIA's Blackwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 21,900 million transistors into a 181 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.0 million per square millimeter. The Radeon Pro Vega 20, by contrast, uses the Vega 12 chip with GCN 5.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. Its transistor count and die size are not listed in the data, but the process node difference alone suggests a significant efficiency gap.

The RTX 5070 Mobile features 4,608 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, along with dedicated ray tracing cores (36) and tensor cores (144). The Radeon Pro Vega 20 has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing or tensor core hardware listed. This 3.6x difference in shading units directly explains the OpenCL performance gap. The NVIDIA card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD card is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1), and the Vulkan support differs (1.4 versus 1.3). Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Memory architecture is another major differentiator. The RTX 5070 Mobile uses 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus, but only achieves 189.4 GB/s. The NVIDIA card's bandwidth advantage is substantial despite the narrower bus, thanks to faster memory clocks. The RTX 5070 Mobile's memory runs at 1500 MHz (24 Gbps effective), while the Vega 20's runs at 740 MHz (1480 Mbps effective). This explains why the newer GPU can feed its much larger shader array more effectively.

Power and interface differences are stark. The RTX 5070 Mobile has a 50 W TDP and no power connectors (it is an IGP), while the Radeon Pro Vega 20 has a 100 W TDP. The NVIDIA card uses PCIe 5.0 x16, whereas the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Both are classified as IGP slot width, and both have portable device dependent display outputs. The RTX 5070 Mobile was released in April 2025 and is still active in production, while the Vega 20 launched in November 2018 and is end-of-life.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile scores 122,238 versus 26,679 for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20, a 358.2% advantage.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro Vega 20 have any benchmark where it wins?

A: No. In the two shared head-to-head tests (OpenCL and Vulkan), the RTX 5070 Mobile wins both. The Vega 20 has a strong Metal score of 30,427, but the RTX 5070 Mobile has no Metal benchmark data for comparison.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Mobile compare to its nearest rivals?

A: Its average score of 29,928 is nearly identical to the RTX 3070 Ti (29,945, -0.1% delta), slightly above the RTX 2080 Ti (29,783, +0.5%), and slightly below the RX 6800 (30,095, -0.6%) and RX 6700 (30,433, -1.7%).

Q: What is the process node difference?

A: The RTX 5070 Mobile uses a 5 nm process at TSMC, while the Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 5070 Mobile delivers 384.0 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus. The Vega 20 delivers 189.4 GB/s from 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus.

Q: What are the power consumption figures?

A: The RTX 5070 Mobile has a 50 W TDP with no power connectors, while the Radeon Pro Vega 20 has a 100 W TDP. The Vega 20's power connector configuration is not listed.

The Verdict

The data makes one conclusion unavoidable: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile is the superior performer in every measurable shared metric. Its OpenCL score is 358.2% higher and its Vulkan score is 342.9% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20. The NVIDIA card also offers more than double the memory capacity (8 GB versus 4 GB), nearly double the bandwidth (384.0 GB/s versus 189.4 GB/s), and a 50 W lower TDP. For any user prioritizing raw compute, modern API support, or efficiency, the RTX 5070 Mobile is the clear choice.

The Radeon Pro Vega 20 is not without merit, however. Its Geekbench Metal score of 30,427 is its strongest result, and its average benchmark score of 27,839 places it within 1% of the RTX 3090, a high-end desktop GPU. Its 1024-bit HBM2 bus is a unique feature that provides respectable bandwidth for its era, and its 73rd percentile ranking shows it remains competitive even against newer hardware. The 100 W TDP is notable for an IGP, but the card's end-of-life status and lack of ray tracing or tensor cores limit its modern relevance.

Picking between them depends entirely on the use case. A user running Metal-based applications on a Mac platform would find the Radeon Pro Vega 20's 30,427 Metal score highly relevant, and its 73rd percentile ranking suggests it can still handle many workloads. However, for Windows or Linux users running OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX 5070 Mobile is categorically faster, with scores that rival desktop GPUs like the RTX 3070 Ti (within 0.1%) and RTX 2080 Ti (0.5% ahead). The NVIDIA card's active production status and Blackwell 2.0 architecture also suggest better long-term driver support and feature compatibility.

Ultimately, the RTX 5070 Mobile wins on performance, efficiency, and modernity. The Vega 20 wins only on the basis of its Metal-specific strength and historical context. For a new purchase, the data overwhelmingly favors the NVIDIA GPU.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 |

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

| Architecture | Blackwell 2.0 | GCN 5.0 |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | GlobalFoundries |

| Transistors | 21,900 million | Not listed |

| Die Size | 181 mm² | Not listed |

| Shading Units | 4608 | 1280 |

| TMUs | 144 | 80 |

| ROPs | 48 | 32 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 36 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 144 | None |

| Base Clock | 907 MHz | 815 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1425 MHz | 1283 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR7 | HBM2 |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 1024 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 384.0 GB/s | 189.4 GB/s |

| Pixel Rate | 68.40 GPixel/s | 41.06 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 205.2 GTexel/s | 102.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 13.13 TFLOPS | 3.284 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 13.13 TFLOPS (1:1) | 6.569 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 50 W | 100 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Production Status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release Date | 2025-04-14 | 2018-11-13 |