AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data contains two comparable compute API tests, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER wins both decisively. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4070 SUPER records a score of 172,795 against 53,757 for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, a delta of -68.9% from the AMD part's perspective. That translates to the NVIDIA card delivering roughly 3.2 times the OpenCL throughput of the older AMD workstation GPU. The Geekbench Vulkan result is even more lopsided: the RTX 4070 SUPER posts 205,624 versus 57,653, a -72% delta, meaning the NVIDIA card is about 3.6 times faster in this API workload.

These are not subtle margins. The RTX 4070 SUPER's raw FP32 compute is rated at 35.48 TFLOPS, while the Radeon Pro Vega 48 sits at 7.373 TFLOPS. The NVIDIA GPU also carries 56 dedicated RT cores and 224 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the AMD chip, which explains why Vulkan workloads that leverage such hardware see an outsized advantage. The RTX 4070 SUPER's texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s dwarf the Vega 48's 230.4 GTexel/s and 76.80 GPixel/s respectively.

The AMD part does hold a narrow edge in one derived metric: its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 60,140, which places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The RTX 4070 SUPER, despite winning both head-to-head compute tests, has an average score of 43,223 (83rd percentile) because its benchmark suite includes many DirectX and Passmark tests where the Vega 48 has no recorded entries. This is a case where the aggregate average favors the older card, but the direct comparisons available tell the opposite story. The Vega 48's nearest rivals by average score are the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60,326 (-0.3%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 at 60,347 (-0.3%), placing it statistically level with those parts in the database's overall scoring. The RTX 4070 SUPER's nearest rivals include the Quadro M6000 24 GB at 43,262 (-0.1%) and the RTX 5050 Mobile at 43,268 (-0.1%), again showing a tight cluster around its average.

The Verdict

The data separates these two GPUs by era and intent. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 is a 2019 integrated graphics processor built on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process with GCN 5.0 architecture. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is a 2024 discrete card on TSMC's 5 nm node with Ada Lovelace architecture. In every directly comparable compute benchmark, the RTX 4070 SUPER wins by a factor of three or more. The Vulkan gap of -72% and the OpenCL gap of -68.9% are not close to ambiguous. Anyone selecting between these two strictly on recorded compute performance should choose the RTX 4070 SUPER without hesitation.

However, the database's percentile ranking complicates a simple verdict. The Vega 48 sits at the 88th percentile versus the RTX 4070 SUPER's 83rd, driven by the former's stronger average across its narrower benchmark set. The Vega 48 also has a higher average score (60,140) than the RTX 4070 SUPER (43,223), although this is largely a function of which tests each card was subjected to. The RTX 4070 SUPER's benchmark list includes Passmark DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests, plus 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, none of which appear for the AMD card. The Vega 48 only has Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan results. Thus the average score comparison is apples-to-oranges, while the head-to-head tests are the only true common ground, and they favor NVIDIA overwhelmingly.

The RTX 4070 SUPER also brings hardware capabilities the Vega 48 cannot match: ray tracing cores, tensor cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility versus the AMD card's Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_1). The NVIDIA card supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the AMD part is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. These are structural advantages, not just clock speed differences.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 wins in the database's overall percentile ranking and average score, but those are artifacts of its limited test coverage. It also has a lower transistor count (12,500 million) and a larger die (495 mm²) built on a much older 14 nm process, which results in a transistor density of just 25.3M per mm². The RTX 4070 SUPER packs 35,800 million transistors into 294 mm² for a density of 121.8M per mm², nearly five times higher. The Vega 48's memory subsystem uses 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, providing 402.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 4070 SUPER uses 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus but achieves 504.2 GB/s, so it wins on both capacity and bandwidth.

For compute-heavy applications that leverage OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the clear winner. For workloads that specifically require Metal API support, the Vega 48 has a recorded Geekbench Metal score of 69,010, a test the RTX 4070 SUPER does not have in its benchmark list. The Vega 48 is also an integrated GPU with no power connectors and a portable-device-dependent display output, meaning it is designed for Apple Mac systems. The RTX 4070 SUPER is a dual-slot discrete card requiring a 550 W suggested PSU and a single 16-pin connector, with a 267 mm length, 112 mm height, and 42 mm width.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 records an average score of 60,140 across its three Geekbench tests, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER averages 43,223 across ten tests spanning 3DMark, Geekbench, and Passmark.

Q: What is the largest performance gap in the direct head-to-head tests?

A: The Geekbench Vulkan test shows the biggest delta at -72%, with the RTX 4070 SUPER scoring 205,624 versus the Vega 48's 57,653.

Q: Does the AMD card support ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The Vega 48 has no RT cores and no tensor cores listed in the database. The RTX 4070 SUPER has 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores.

Q: How do the memory configurations differ?

A: The Vega 48 uses 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 402.4 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4070 SUPER uses 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking in the database?

A: The Vega 48 is in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 4070 SUPER is in the 83rd percentile.

Q: What are the API support differences?

A: The Vega 48 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The RTX 4070 SUPER supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different manufacturing and design eras. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 uses the Vega 10 chip built on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process, with 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 25.3M per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER uses the AD104 chip on TSMC's 5 nm process, packing 35,800 million transistors into 294 mm² for 121.8M per mm². The process node difference alone explains much of the performance delta: a newer, denser process allows far more compute units in a smaller area.

The Vega 48's GCN 5.0 architecture provides 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The RTX 4070 SUPER's Ada Lovelace architecture delivers 7,168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The NVIDIA part also integrates 56 RT cores for ray tracing and 224 tensor cores for AI acceleration, neither of which exists on the AMD chip. The Vega 48's FP32 throughput is 7.373 TFLOPS with FP16 at 14.75 TFLOPS using a 2:1 ratio. The RTX 4070 SUPER produces 35.48 TFLOPS in both FP32 and FP16, indicating a 1:1 ratio and no FP16 penalty.

Memory architecture differs fundamentally. The Vega 48 uses HBM2 with a 2048-bit bus, a wide but older memory type, achieving 402.4 GB/s. The RTX 4070 SUPER uses GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, narrower but faster, achieving 504.2 GB/s. The NVIDIA card also has more memory at 12 GB versus 8 GB. Clock behavior also differs: the Vega 48 lists only a memory clock of 786 MHz (1,572 Mbps effective), while the RTX 4070 SUPER has a base clock of 1,980 MHz and a boost clock of 2,475 MHz, plus a memory clock of 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective).

The bus interface is another generational split. The Vega 48 runs on PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RTX 4070 SUPER uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The AMD card is an integrated GPU (IGP) with no power connectors and portable-device-dependent outputs, reflecting its Mac-oriented design. The NVIDIA card is a dual-slot discrete unit with a 1x 16-pin power connector, a 550 W suggested PSU, and standard display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Production status is end-of-life for both, with the Vega 48 released on 2019-03-18 and the RTX 4070 SUPER on 2024-01-16. The RTX 4070 SUPER lists a successor (GeForce 50) and predecessor (GeForce 30), while the Vega 48 has neither.