AMD Radeon RX 480 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the recorded benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti wins all three head-to-head tests. It leads by 72.2% in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, by 68.3% in Geekbench OpenCL, and by 67.1% in Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in average benchmark scores?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 480 has an average benchmark score of 33997, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti averages 29945. Despite the lower average, the RTX 3070 Ti holds a higher percentile rank among all GPUs at 75 compared to the RX 480's 78 percentile.

Q: What are the closest rivals for each card according to the database?

A: The RX 480's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7950 (0.1% ahead), AMD Radeon RX 7700S (0.4% behind), AMD Radeon RX 560 XT (0.4% behind), and NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB (0.5% behind). The RTX 3070 Ti's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile (0.1% ahead), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (0.5% behind), AMD Radeon RX 6800 (0.5% behind), and AMD Radeon RX 6700 (1.6% behind).

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti has 6144 shading units, which is 3840 more than the RX 480's 2304. The RTX 3070 Ti also has 192 texture mapping units versus 144, and 96 ROPs versus 32.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: No. The RX 480 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the RTX 3070 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the RTX 3070 Ti supports Vulkan 1.4 compared to the RX 480's Vulkan 1.3.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti has a bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s using GDDR6X memory, while the RX 480 has 256.0 GB/s using GDDR5. Both have 8 GB of memory on a 256-bit bus.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX 480 is built on the GCN 4.0 architecture, using the Ellesmere chip fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This is a mature design from the Arctic Islands generation (RX 400 series) that relies on a relatively simple layout: 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.6 million per mm². The architecture has no dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, and its compute capabilities are uniform, with FP32 and FP16 both rated at 5.834 TFLOPS.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti uses the Ampere architecture, built around the GA104 chip on Samsung's 8 nm process. This is a substantially larger and denser design: 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, which translates to 44.4 million transistors per mm². Ampere introduces dedicated hardware that the RX 480 lacks entirely: 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores. The RTX 3070 Ti also delivers dramatically higher compute throughput, with FP32 and FP16 both rated at 21.75 TFLOPS.

The memory subsystems reflect the generational gap. The RX 480 uses GDDR5 at 8 Gbps effective, achieving 256.0 GB/s across a 256-bit bus. The RTX 3070 Ti uses GDDR6X at 19 Gbps effective, pushing 608.3 GB/s over the same 256-bit bus width. Both cards have 8 GB of memory, but the newer card's memory type and clock speed more than double the bandwidth.

Other architectural differences include the PCIe interface: the RX 480 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RTX 3070 Ti uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The power delivery also differs, with the RX 480 requiring a single 6-pin connector and a 450 W suggested PSU, while the RTX 3070 Ti uses a 12-pin connector and a 600 W suggested PSU. The RTX 3070 Ti's TDP is 290 W, compared to the RX 480's 150 W.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data shows a decisive victory for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti across all three common tests. The largest margin appears in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the RTX 3070 Ti scores 3478 against the RX 480's 966. That is a delta of -72.2% from the RX 480's perspective, meaning the AMD card achieves less than a third of the NVIDIA card's score in this DirectX 12 workload.

The compute-oriented tests tell a similar story. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3070 Ti scores 119718, while the RX 480 manages 37998. The delta is -68.3%, showing that the Ampere architecture's raw compute advantage carries over into general-purpose GPU workloads. The gap slightly narrows in Geekbench Vulkan, but only marginally: the RTX 3070 Ti scores 139541 versus 45968, a delta of -67.1%.

It is importantly the RX 480's average benchmark score of 33997 is actually higher than the RTX 3070 Ti's 29945. This discrepancy comes from the different benchmark sets recorded for each card. The RX 480's average includes its Geekbench Metal score of 51057, which is not present in the RTX 3070 Ti's list, while the RTX 3070 Ti's average includes several Passmark tests (DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, G2D, G3D, and GPU compute) that the RX 480 does not have recorded. The percentile ranks reflect this too: the RX 480 sits at the 78th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3070 Ti sits at the 75th percentile, despite being far faster in the overlapping tests.

The nearest rival data provides context for each card's standing. The RX 480 is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon HD 7950, which is only 0.1% ahead, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700S, which is 0.4% behind. The RTX 3070 Ti sits close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile (0.1% ahead) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (0.5% behind), showing that it remains competitive with cards from later and earlier generations.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is the significantly faster GPU in every direct comparison available. The margins are enormous, ranging from 67.1% to 72.2% across the three head-to-head tests. Anyone choosing between these two cards for performance should select the RTX 3070 Ti without hesitation.

The RX 480's higher average benchmark score and percentile rank do not change this conclusion. Those figures stem from different benchmark sets, not from superior performance. When both cards run the same tests, the RTX 3070 Ti dominates.

The RTX 3070 Ti also brings architectural advantages that the RX 480 cannot match: ray tracing cores, tensor cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, and more than triple the memory bandwidth. The RX 480 is an end-of-life product from 2016, while the RTX 3070 Ti is an end-of-life product from 2021, but the gap in capability is generational.

For users who need the highest frame rates in modern DirectX 12 and Vulkan titles, or who require compute throughput for GPU-accelerated workloads, the RTX 3070 Ti is the clear choice. The RX 480 remains a functional card for legacy applications, but the recorded data shows it is outclassed by a wide margin.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 480 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti |

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

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | Ampere |

| Process Node | 14 nm (GlobalFoundries) | 8 nm (Samsung) |

| Transistors | 5,700 million | 17,400 million |

| Die Size | 232 mm² | 392 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.6M / mm² | 44.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1120 MHz | 1575 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1266 MHz | 1770 MHz |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6X |

| Memory Clock | 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) | 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) |

| Bandwidth | 256.0 GB/s | 608.3 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2304 | 6144 |

| TMUs | 144 | 192 |

| ROPs | 32 | 96 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | None | 48 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 192 |

| Pixel Rate | 40.51 GPixel/s | 169.9 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 182.3 GTexel/s | 339.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 5.834 TFLOPS | 21.75 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 5.834 TFLOPS (1:1) | 21.75 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 150 W | 290 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin | 1x 12-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | 600 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Length | 240 mm (9.4 inches) | 267 mm (10.5 inches) |

| Height | 95 mm (3.7 inches) | 112 mm (4.4 inches) |

| Width | 35 mm (1.4 inches) | Not recorded |

| Launch MSRP | 229 USD | 599 USD |

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti wins every recorded head-to-head benchmark, so the use-case split is largely one-sided. However, the data does reveal specific contexts where each card has a role.

The RTX 3070 Ti is the choice for modern gaming and compute. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3478 is 72.2% ahead of the RX 480, indicating strong performance in current DirectX 12 titles. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 139541 is 67.1% ahead, which matters for Vulkan-based games and applications. The OpenCL score of 119718, 68.3% ahead, makes it suitable for GPU compute workloads such as rendering, scientific simulation, or machine learning inference. The presence of 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores means it can handle ray-traced effects and AI-accelerated features that the RX 480 cannot process at all.

The RX 480 does have one statistical advantage: its average benchmark score of 33997 is higher than the RTX 3070 Ti's 29945, and its 78th percentile rank among all GPUs is above the RTX 3070 Ti's 75th. This comes from the inclusion of its Geekbench Metal score of 51057, a test not recorded for the RTX 3070 Ti. For users who rely on Metal-based applications, the RX 480's recorded performance in that API is a data point worth noting, though it cannot be directly compared to the NVIDIA card.

The RX 480 also has a lower TDP of 150 W versus 290 W, and it uses a single 6-pin power connector instead of a 12-pin, making it easier to install in systems with modest power supplies. Its 240 mm length is shorter than the RTX 3070 Ti's 267 mm, and its 35 mm width is slimmer. For compact builds or legacy systems with limited power delivery, the RX 480 is the more accommodating physical option.

In raw performance terms, the RTX 3070 Ti wins every category that can be directly measured. The RX 480's only advantages are its lower power draw, smaller physical footprint, and a higher average score driven by a benchmark that the RTX 3070 Ti does not share. For any workload where both cards have recorded results, the RTX 3070 Ti is faster by a massive margin.