AMD Radeon RX 480 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the two cards compare in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER scores 4627, while the AMD Radeon RX 480 scores 966. This gives the RTX 4070 SUPER a 379% advantage in this test.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 43223, while the RX 480 has an average score of 33997. The RTX 4070 SUPER sits in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, compared to the RX 480's 78th percentile.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 7168 shading units, whereas the RX 480 has 2304 shading units.

Q: What memory configurations do the two cards use?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER uses 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 480 uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No, both are end-of-life products. The RTX 4070 SUPER was released in January 2024, and the RX 480 was released in June 2016.

Q: How do the nearest rivals compare to each card?

A: For the RTX 4070 SUPER, the closest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB with a delta of -0.1%. For the RX 480, the closest rival is the AMD Radeon HD 7950 with a delta of 0.1%.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent vastly different eras of graphics architecture. The RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD104 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The RX 480 uses the older GCN 4.0 architecture with the Ellesmere chip, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries.

Transistor counts illustrate the generational leap. The RTX 4070 SUPER packs 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.8M per mm². The RX 480 contains only 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, with a density of 24.6M per mm². The newer process allows the Ada Lovelace card to fit roughly six times more transistors in a similar physical footprint.

Feature support diverges significantly. The RTX 4070 SUPER includes 56 dedicated ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. The RX 480 has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores, relying entirely on traditional shader processing. The RTX 4070 SUPER supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 480 supports DirectX 12 (12_0). Vulkan support also differs: the newer card supports Vulkan 1.4, while the older card supports Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Clock speeds reflect the process advantage. The RTX 4070 SUPER runs at a base clock of 1980 MHz and boosts to 2475 MHz. The RX 480 operates at a 1120 MHz base and 1266 MHz boost. Memory technology also differs, with the RTX 4070 SUPER using GDDR6X at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) versus the RX 480's GDDR5 at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective).

The bus interface has advanced as well. The RTX 4070 SUPER uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RX 480 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The newer card also requires a 16-pin power connector and a 550 W suggested PSU, compared to the RX 480's single 6-pin connector and 450 W suggested PSU.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data shows three benchmark comparisons, and the RTX 4070 SUPER wins all three. The largest margin appears in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the RTX 4070 SUPER scores 4627 against the RX 480's 966. This translates to a 379% delta, meaning the newer card delivers nearly five times the performance in this modern DirectX 12 workload.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4070 SUPER scores 172795 versus 37998 for the RX 480, a 354.7% advantage. This test exercises general-purpose compute performance, and the gap reflects both the massive difference in shading units (7168 versus 2304) and the superior memory bandwidth (504.2 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s).

The Vulkan test shows a similar pattern. The RTX 4070 SUPER achieves 205624, while the RX 480 reaches 45968, a 347.3% delta. Vulkan is a low-level API that scales well with raw hardware resources, so the architectural advantages of Ada Lovelace translate directly into a large performance lead.

The data shows a consistent picture across all three tests: the RTX 4070 SUPER outperforms the RX 480 by a factor of roughly 3.5 to 4.8 times. There are no benchmark categories where the RX 480 comes out ahead. The wins tally is 3 for the RTX 4070 SUPER and 0 for the RX 480.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 4070 SUPER uses the AD104 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process; the RX 480 uses Ellesmere on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process. Transistor count is 35,800 million versus 5,700 million, and die size is 294 mm² versus 232 mm².

Compute resources differ substantially. The RTX 4070 SUPER has 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. The RX 480 has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 4070 SUPER also adds 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, which the RX 480 lacks entirely.

Clock speeds favor the newer card: 1980 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost versus 1120 MHz base and 1266 MHz boost. Memory configurations also diverge, with 12 GB GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus versus 8 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. Bandwidth is 504.2 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s.

Fill rates and compute throughput follow the same pattern. Pixel rate is 198.0 GPixel/s versus 40.51 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 554.4 GTexel/s versus 182.3 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 35.48 TFLOPS versus 5.834 TFLOPS, with both cards offering 1:1 FP16.

Power and physical specifications differ as well. The RTX 4070 SUPER has a TDP of 220 W versus 150 W for the RX 480. Both are dual-slot cards, but the RTX 4070 SUPER is longer at 267 mm versus 240 mm, taller at 112 mm versus 95 mm, and wider at 42 mm versus 35 mm. The RTX 4070 SUPER uses a 16-pin connector; the RX 480 uses a 6-pin connector. Suggested PSU is 550 W versus 450 W.

Display outputs are similar but not identical. The RTX 4070 SUPER offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 480 offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

The Verdict

The benchmark data leaves little room for ambiguity. The RTX 4070 SUPER is decisively faster than the RX 480 across every recorded test, with deltas ranging from 347.3% to 379%. The average benchmark score difference is also substantial: 43223 versus 33997, a gap of roughly 27%.

The RX 480's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and the AMD Radeon RX 7700S, with deltas near zero. The RTX 4070 SUPER sits alongside the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB and the GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile in its performance tier. These neighbor comparisons confirm that the RTX 4070 SUPER occupies a much higher performance class than the RX 480.

The production status of both cards is end-of-life, so neither is a current purchase recommendation. However, the data suggests that anyone choosing between these two for a modern workload should select the RTX 4070 SUPER without hesitation. It offers roughly four times the performance in the tested scenarios, adds ray tracing and tensor core support, and provides a more modern feature set including DirectX 12 Ultimate and PCIe 4.0.

The RX 480 does have one advantage: lower power consumption at 150 W versus 220 W, and a lower suggested PSU of 450 W versus 550 W. For users with strict power constraints or older power supplies, this could matter. But from a pure performance standpoint, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the clear winner in every benchmark category recorded.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 SUPER wins in all three head-to-head benchmark categories. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the 379% delta indicates a massive lead in modern DirectX 12 gaming workloads. This test is particularly relevant for current game titles that leverage DX12 features, and the RTX 4070 SUPER's DirectX 12 Ultimate support gives it access to features the RX 480 cannot use.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the 354.7% advantage indicates strong general-purpose compute performance. The RTX 4070 SUPER's tensor cores and higher FP32 throughput make it suitable for compute-heavy applications such as machine learning inference, video encoding, and scientific simulations. The RX 480, with its older GCN architecture and no tensor cores, cannot match this compute capability.

The Geekbench Vulkan result, with a 347.3% delta, reinforces the pattern. Vulkan is a cross-platform API used in many modern games and professional applications. The RTX 4070 SUPER's lead here suggests it will handle Vulkan-based titles and workloads with far greater ease.

For the RX 480, the data does not show any benchmark category where it wins. Its advantages are limited to power draw (150 W versus 220 W) and a lower suggested PSU requirement (450 W versus 550 W). Users building a low-power system or upgrading an older machine with a limited power supply might find the RX 480 easier to accommodate physically, given its smaller dimensions (240 mm versus 267 mm length, 95 mm versus 112 mm height, 35 mm versus 42 mm width).

The use-case split is therefore clear. The RTX 4070 SUPER is the choice for anyone prioritizing gaming performance, modern API support, ray tracing, or compute workloads. The RX 480 remains relevant only for scenarios where power constraints or physical size are the primary considerations, and where the performance gap is acceptable. For every benchmark measured in the database, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the superior option.