AMD Radeon R9 M395X vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a direct comparison between these two mobile graphics processors in one compute workload: Geekbench OpenCL. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile posts a score of 106,022, while the AMD Radeon R9 M395X manages 17,829. That represents a delta of 83.2% in favor of the NVIDIA part, meaning the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile delivers roughly six times the raw OpenCL compute throughput of the older AMD chip. This is not a marginal gap; it is a generational chasm. The R9 M395X trails by a margin that makes the comparison almost academic in this specific test.

The AMD card does have its own benchmark entries outside the head-to-head set. In Geekbench Metal, it scores 33,953, which is its strongest recorded result. Its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 25,891. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile, by contrast, shows a much wider benchmark portfolio, including 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 2,572, Geekbench Vulkan at 100,027, Passmark G3D at 17,727, and Passmark GPU Compute at 7,504. The NVIDIA part also records lower-level API scores like Passmark DirectX 10 at 124, DirectX 11 at 153, DirectX 12 at 73, and DirectX 9 at 196, plus Passmark G2D at 783.

Looking at the percentile rankings, the R9 M395X sits at the 71st percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile sits at the 69th percentile. This is noteworthy: despite the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile being vastly faster in OpenCL, its overall percentile is slightly lower than the AMD part. The reason is the composition of the benchmark suite. The AMD card's average score of 25,891 is actually higher than the NVIDIA card's average of 23,518. This happens because the NVIDIA card's wide range of tests includes older DirectX 9 and 10 workloads where it scores relatively low, while the AMD card has only two compute-heavy tests that skew its average upward.

The nearest rival data for the AMD R9 M395X shows it clustered tightly with other workstation and enthusiast parts. Its closest neighbors include the AMD FirePro W7100 at an average score of 25,856 (delta of 0.1%), the AMD FirePro D700 at 25,842 (delta of 0.2%), and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT at 26,011 (delta of -0.5%). Notably, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is also listed as a near rival for the AMD card, with an average score of 25,740 and a delta of 0.6%. This means the R9 M395X actually edges out the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile in average benchmark score, despite the massive performance difference in OpenCL.

The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile's nearest rivals tell a different story. Its closest neighbors are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile at 23,628 (delta of -0.5%), the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 at 23,315 (delta of 0.9%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z at 23,736 (delta of -0.9%), and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X at 23,276 (delta of 1%). This places the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile in a mid-pack position, slightly below the RTX 3080 Mobile and slightly above the GTX TITAN Z in average terms, but the differences are all within 1%.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear split. If the workload is OpenCL compute, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is the overwhelming choice. Its score of 106,022 versus 17,829 is a 83.2% advantage, which is not a small edge but a decisive one. No interpretation can soften that result. For any user whose primary application leverages OpenCL, the AMD part is not competitive.

However, the average benchmark scores flip the narrative. The AMD R9 M395X records an average of 25,891 across its tests, while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile averages 23,518. The AMD card also holds the higher percentile ranking at 71 versus 69. This suggests that in the aggregate of all recorded workloads, the older AMD chip is not obsolete; it holds its own against a much newer and more feature-rich NVIDIA part. The AMD card even edges out the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile in average score, which is a surprising result given the latter's modern architecture.

The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins the only direct head-to-head test, but that test is narrow. The database does not include direct comparisons in gaming, ray tracing, or other API-specific workloads between these two parts. The verdict from the recorded data is that the NVIDIA card is the compute king, but the AMD card is the more consistent performer across the limited set of tests it appears in. For a user who cares about raw OpenCL throughput, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is the only rational pick. For a user who values overall benchmark stability and a higher percentile standing, the R9 M395X is surprisingly defensible.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins decisively in OpenCL compute. The 106,022 score against 17,829 is the single largest margin in the entire comparison. It also demonstrates strength across a broader test suite, including Vulkan (100,027), 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (2,572), and Passmark G3D (17,727). These results indicate that the NVIDIA part excels in modern API workloads, particularly those that leverage its Ampere architecture's compute and rendering capabilities.

The AMD Radeon R9 M395X wins in the aggregate average score category. Its 25,891 average beats the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile's 23,518 by roughly 10%. It also wins the percentile comparison at 71 versus 69. The AMD card's Geekbench Metal score of 33,953 is its standout result, suggesting that Apple-centric or Metal-based workloads may favor this part. The fact that the R9 M395X also sits above the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile in average score (25,891 versus 25,740) further indicates that its strengths lie in consistency rather than peak performance.

The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins on architectural features. It has 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, neither of which the AMD card possesses. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD card is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170. These feature differences matter for modern games and compute applications that use ray tracing or AI acceleration.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is dramatically faster, scoring 106,022 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 17,829 for the AMD Radeon R9 M395X, a delta of 83.2%.

Q: Does the AMD card have any advantage over the NVIDIA card?

A: Yes, the AMD R9 M395X has a higher average benchmark score of 25,891 compared to 23,518 for the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile, and it sits at a higher percentile rank of 71 versus 69.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two?

A: Both cards have 8 GB of memory and a 256-bit bus, but the AMD card uses GDDR5 with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the NVIDIA card uses GDDR6 with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do the two cards compare in terms of shading units and texture units?

A: The NVIDIA card has 5,888 shading units and 184 texture units, while the AMD card has 2,048 shading units and 128 texture units. The NVIDIA card also has 96 ROPs versus 32 on the AMD card.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: What is the transistor and die size difference?

A: The NVIDIA card uses 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, while the AMD card uses 5,000 million transistors on a 366 mm² die. The NVIDIA card is built on an 8 nm process, the AMD card on 28 nm.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different eras. The AMD Radeon R9 M395X uses the Amethyst chip built on GCN 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile uses the GA104 chip built on Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. This process gap explains much of the performance difference: the NVIDIA card packs 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die, achieving a density of 44.4 million transistors per square millimeter. The AMD card has only 5,000 million transistors on a 366 mm² die, or 13.7 million per square millimeter.

The memory systems differ substantially. The AMD card uses 8 GB of GDDR5 running at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective), yielding 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card uses 8 GB of GDDR6 running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. That is a 2.8 times bandwidth advantage for the NVIDIA part, which directly impacts compute-heavy workloads and high-resolution texture streaming.

Compute resources are heavily skewed toward the NVIDIA card. It has 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs, compared to the AMD card's 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also includes 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks entirely. Pixel rate on the NVIDIA card is 135.4 GPixel/s versus 23.14 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 259.4 GTexel/s versus 92.54 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 16.60 TFLOPS versus 2.961 TFLOPS, a 5.6 times difference.

The clock behavior also differs. The NVIDIA card has a base clock of 915 MHz and a boost clock of 1410 MHz. The AMD card has no recorded base or boost clocks in the database, only its memory clock. The NVIDIA card uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Power consumption is recorded at 115 W for the NVIDIA card and 75 W for the AMD card, though the NVIDIA card's higher power draw is accompanied by its significant performance and feature advantages.

The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The NVIDIA card belongs to the GeForce 30 Mobile generation, released on January 3, 2022, while the AMD card belongs to the Gem System (R9 M300) generation, released on May 4, 2015. Both are marked as end-of-life in the database. The AMD card is listed as having an MXM Module slot width and no power connectors, while the NVIDIA card has no recorded slot width and also no power connectors. Both are portable-device dependent for display outputs.