AMD Radeon R9 370X vs NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows two direct comparisons between the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation and the AMD Radeon R9 370X. In both, the NVIDIA card is the winner by a substantial margin.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 2000 Ada Generation scores 78,074 points against 25,893 for the R9 370X. That is a delta of 201.5%, meaning the NVIDIA card delivers roughly three times the compute throughput in this particular API test. The gap is not incremental; it is a generational leap expressed in raw numbers.

The Geekbench Vulkan result is even more lopsided. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation posts 83,360 points, while the R9 370X manages only 9,018. The delta here is 824.4%, a figure that reflects not just faster hardware but also a fundamentally different feature set. Vulkan support on the older AMD architecture is limited, and the benchmark results confirm that the R9 370X cannot approach the modern card's rendering performance under this API.

For context, the RTX 2000 Ada Generation sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 18,954. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 at 19,030, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 at 19,036, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at 19,049. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation trails these by 0.4 to 0.5 percent, which places it in a tight cluster of mid-range performers.

The AMD Radeon R9 370X, meanwhile, occupies the 58th percentile with an average score of 15,862. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 7700 at 15,852, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 at 16,014, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 at 15,679. The R9 370X is 0.1 percent ahead of the RX 7700 and 1.2 percent ahead of the Pro W5500, but 1 percent behind the RX 9060 and 1.7 percent behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti.

What the head-to-head data does not show is any test where the R9 370X wins. The win tally is 2 for NVIDIA and 0 for AMD. That is the entire story of direct comparison: the newer card dominates both available metrics.

The Verdict

From the recorded data, the choice is clear for anyone prioritizing modern API performance and raw compute throughput. The NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation outperforms the AMD Radeon R9 370X by 201.5% in OpenCL and by 824.4% in Vulkan. These are not close margins, and no benchmark in the database shows the R9 370X ahead.

The R9 370X is an end-of-life product from 2015, built on a 28 nm process with GCN 1.0 architecture. It lacks dedicated ray tracing cores and tensor cores, and its DirectX support is capped at 12 (11_1) rather than the 12 Ultimate (12_2) of the NVIDIA card. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation, by contrast, is an active product with Ada Lovelace architecture, 22 ray tracing cores, and 88 tensor cores.

For users who need Vulkan performance, the decision is particularly one-sided. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation scores 83360 against 9018, a ninefold advantage. For OpenCL workloads, the NVIDIA card still delivers a threefold advantage. The R9 370X simply does not have the architectural support to compete in these modern APIs.

The only scenario where the R9 370X might be considered is if the workload is strictly legacy and does not leverage Vulkan or OpenCL. The database does not include such a test for direct comparison, so no quantitative case can be made from the data.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation wins in every recorded head-to-head benchmark. Its advantages are most pronounced in Vulkan, where the delta reaches 824.4%. This suggests the card is well suited for applications that rely on modern low-overhead graphics APIs, including recent game engines and compute workloads that offload to the GPU through Vulkan compute.

The OpenCL result, with a 201.5% delta, indicates strong general-purpose compute capability. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation also carries 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. For memory-intensive tasks, that capacity is a significant asset.

The AMD Radeon R9 370X has no recorded wins. Its best case is in legacy DirectX 9 or DirectX 10 scenarios, but those tests are not part of the head-to-head comparison. The card does have a 256-bit memory bus, which gives it 179.2 GB/s of bandwidth, but the total memory pool is only 2 GB of GDDR5. That capacity is a limiting factor for modern workloads, regardless of bus width.

For users running older software that predates Vulkan and relies on early DirectX versions, the R9 370X may still function adequately. The database shows no direct test for those APIs, so performance cannot be quantified. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation is the better choice for any workload that appears in the recorded benchmarks.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation in OpenCL?

A: The RTX 2000 Ada Generation scores 78,074 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 25,893. That is a 201.5% difference in favor of NVIDIA.

Q: What is the Vulkan performance gap between these two cards?

A: The RTX 2000 Ada Generation scores 83,360 in Geekbench Vulkan. The R9 370X scores 9,018. The delta is 824.4%, making this the largest recorded advantage for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The RTX 2000 Ada Generation has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. The R9 370X has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. The NVIDIA card also has higher bandwidth at 256.0 GB/s versus 179.2 GB/s.

Q: Does the R9 370X support ray tracing?

A: No. The R9 370X has no ray tracing cores listed in the database. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation has 22 ray tracing cores and 88 tensor cores.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The RTX 2000 Ada Generation has a TDP of 70 W and requires no power connectors, with a suggested PSU of 250 W. The R9 370X has a TDP of 180 W, requires two 6-pin power connectors, and suggests a 450 W PSU.

Q: Which card is still in production?

A: The RTX 2000 Ada Generation is listed as active, released in February 2024. The R9 370X is end-of-life, released in August 2015.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different eras and entirely different architectural families. The NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation uses the AD107 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process, with 18,900 million transistors packed into a 159 mm² die. That gives a transistor density of 118.9 million per square millimeter. The architecture is Ada Lovelace, which includes dedicated ray tracing cores and tensor cores. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The AMD Radeon R9 370X uses the Trinidad chip on a 28 nm TSMC process, with 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die. Transistor density is 13.2 million per square millimeter. The architecture is GCN 1.0, which predates dedicated ray tracing hardware and tensor core functionality. The card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

The interface also differs. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation connects via PCIe 4.0 x8, while the R9 370X uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs are different as well: the NVIDIA card offers four mini-DisplayPort 1.4a connections, while the AMD card has two DVI ports, one HDMI 1.4a, and one DisplayPort 1.2.

The RTX 2000 Ada Generation has 2,816 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units. The R9 370X has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also includes 22 RT cores and 88 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the AMD part.

Specification Differences

The process node differs significantly: 5 nm for the NVIDIA card versus 28 nm for the AMD card. Transistor count is 18,900 million versus 2,800 million. Die size is 159 mm² versus 212 mm², meaning the newer card packs far more transistors into a smaller area.

Clock speeds show the NVIDIA card running at a 1620 MHz base and 2130 MHz boost, while the R9 370X runs at 980 MHz base and 1030 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for the RTX 2000 Ada Generation and 1400 MHz (5.6 Gbps effective) for the R9 370X.

Memory configuration favors NVIDIA: 16 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus versus 2 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. Bandwidth is 256.0 GB/s versus 179.2 GB/s. The AMD card has a wider bus, but the smaller memory pool and slower memory type result in lower bandwidth.

Compute rates differ by a wide margin. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation delivers 12.00 TFLOPS FP32 and 12.00 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1). The R9 370X delivers 2.637 TFLOPS FP32 and has no listed FP16 rate. Pixel rate is 102.2 GPixel/s versus 32.96 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 187.4 GTexel/s versus 82.40 GTexel/s.

Power requirements are lower for the NVIDIA card: 70 W TDP with no power connectors and a 250 W suggested PSU. The AMD card draws 180 W, requires two 6-pin connectors, and suggests a 450 W PSU. Both are dual-slot cards, but the R9 370X is longer at 221 mm (8.7 inches) versus 168 mm (6.6 inches) for the RTX 2000 Ada Generation, and taller at 111 mm (4.4 inches) versus 69 mm (2.7 inches). The production status is active for NVIDIA and end-of-life for AMD.