AMD Radeon RX 480 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive performance gap between these two GPUs. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile wins both shared benchmark tests, and it does so by a substantial margin. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5070 Mobile scores 122,238 points, while the AMD Radeon RX 480 manages 37,998 points. That is a 68.9% deficit for the RX 480, meaning the NVIDIA part delivers roughly three times the raw compute throughput in this particular workload. The Geekbench Vulkan test tells a similar story. The RTX 5070 Mobile reaches 116,960 points, while the RX 480 posts 45,968 points, a 60.7% gap. Both results place the NVIDIA part firmly in a different performance tier.

The RX 480 does have a bright spot in the aggregate database rankings. Its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 33,997, which puts it at the 78th percentile of all GPUs tracked. The RTX 5070 Mobile, by contrast, has an average score of 29,928, placing it at the 75th percentile. This is a curious inversion. The head-to-head tests favor the NVIDIA part heavily, yet the aggregate average favors the AMD card. The reason is straightforward: the RTX 5070 Mobile's benchmark suite includes several Passmark DirectX tests with very low scores (DirectX 12 at 93, DirectX 10 at 129, DirectX 11 at 192), which drag down its average. The RX 480 has no such low-scoring entries in its recorded set. So while the direct comparison shows NVIDIA dominance, the overall database picture is more mixed.

The nearest rival data reinforces this split. The RX 480 sits within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT (34,133 average score, 0.4% higher) and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB (34,154, 0.5% higher). Its delta against the AMD Radeon HD 7950 is just 0.1% (33,951), and against the AMD Radeon RX 7700S it is 0.4% (33,849). These are tight margins, suggesting the RX 480 is a well-balanced mid-range part. The RTX 5070 Mobile, on the other hand, is bracketed by much more powerful hardware. It sits within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (29,945), 0.5% ahead of the RTX 2080 Ti (29,783), and 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (30,095). The RX 6700 is 1.7% ahead at 30,433. This means the RTX 5070 Mobile, despite losing the aggregate average to the RX 480, is competing with desktop flagship-class GPUs from a few generations ago.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5070 Mobile wins every shared benchmark, so the use-case split is largely one-sided. In compute-heavy workloads that leverage OpenCL, the NVIDIA part is the clear choice. The 122,238 OpenCL score is more than triple the RX 480's 37,998, indicating a massive advantage in general-purpose GPU compute, which matters for tasks like video encoding, physics simulation, and some scientific workloads. The Vulkan result is similarly lopsided: 116,960 versus 45,968. Vulkan is the API used by many modern game engines and also by some rendering and productivity applications, so the RTX 5070 Mobile's 60.7% lead here translates directly to better frame rates in Vulkan-based games and faster execution in Vulkan-based compute tasks.

The RX 480's wins are not in direct performance but in consistency and aggregate standing. Its 78th percentile ranking versus the RTX 5070 Mobile's 75th percentile means that across the broader database, the RX 480 performs more uniformly across a wider set of tests. The RTX 5070 Mobile's Passmark scores are notably uneven: DirectX 9 at 214, DirectX 11 at 192, DirectX 12 at 93, and DirectX 10 at 129. These low scores suggest that the mobile part struggles in legacy API workloads, possibly due to driver overhead or thermal constraints in the mobile form factor. For users running older DirectX 9 or DirectX 10 applications, the RX 480 might actually provide a better experience despite its lower peak compute, since the RX 480's recorded benchmarks do not include such low outliers.

The RTX 5070 Mobile also wins on pixel and texture throughput. Its pixel rate is 68.40 GPixel/s versus 40.51 GPixel/s for the RX 480. Texture rate is 205.2 GTexel/s versus 182.3 GTexel/s. These figures matter for resolution scaling and texture-heavy scenes. The NVIDIA part has 48 ROPs versus 32, and 144 TMUs in both cases. The RTX 5070 Mobile also has 4608 shading units versus 2304, doubling the shader count. For raw fill-rate-bound scenarios, the NVIDIA part is superior.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide here is generational. The AMD Radeon RX 480 uses the Ellesmere chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 5,700 million transistors into a 232 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.6 million per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile uses the GB206 chip with Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 21,900 million transistors in a 181 mm² die, giving a density of 121.0 million per mm². The density difference is stark: the NVIDIA part crams nearly five times more transistors per square millimeter, which explains how it achieves far higher compute in a much smaller physical footprint.

Memory technology also diverges sharply. The RX 480 uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, with a memory clock of 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) and a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The RTX 5070 Mobile uses 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus, with a memory clock of 1500 MHz (24 Gbps effective) and a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. Despite having half the bus width, the GDDR7 memory delivers 50% more bandwidth than the GDDR5 configuration. This is a critical advantage for the NVIDIA part in bandwidth-hungry workloads like high-resolution textures or large data sets.

Clock speeds tell a nuanced story. The RX 480 has a base clock of 1120 MHz and a boost of 1266 MHz. The RTX 5070 Mobile has a much lower base clock at 907 MHz but a higher boost at 1425 MHz. The mobile part relies on boost behavior to reach its performance, which is typical for laptop GPUs with power and thermal constraints. The RX 480's more modest boost means it operates closer to its base clock under sustained load. The FP32 compute figures reflect the shader count advantage: the RTX 5070 Mobile delivers 13.13 TFLOPS versus 5.834 TFLOPS for the RX 480, and the FP16 performance is identical at 13.13 TFLOPS for NVIDIA and 5.834 TFLOPS for AMD, both at a 1:1 ratio.

Feature support is another major separator. The RX 480 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The RTX 5070 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA part also includes 36 ray tracing cores and 144 tensor cores, which are entirely absent from the RX 480. These hardware units enable ray-traced lighting and AI-accelerated features like DLSS, neither of which the RX 480 can handle in hardware. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 3.0 x16 for AMD versus PCIe 5.0 x16 for NVIDIA. Power consumption is a major differentiator: the RX 480 has a 150 W TDP, requires a dual-slot cooler and a 1x 6-pin power connector, and needs a 450 W suggested PSU. The RTX 5070 Mobile has a 50 W TDP, is an integrated graphics package (IGP) with no power connectors, and requires no suggested PSU. This makes the NVIDIA part dramatically more power-efficient for mobile use.

The Verdict

The data indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile is the superior performer in every direct comparison available. It leads by 68.9% in OpenCL and 60.7% in Vulkan, has more than double the FP32 throughput (13.13 TFLOPS versus 5.834 TFLOPS), higher pixel rate (68.40 GPixel/s versus 40.51 GPixel/s), higher texture rate (205.2 GTexel/s versus 182.3 GTexel/s), and 50% more memory bandwidth (384.0 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s). It also supports ray tracing and tensor cores, features the RX 480 lacks entirely. For anyone choosing based on raw performance metrics, the RTX 5070 Mobile is the clear pick.

The RX 480 does retain some advantages. Its 78th percentile ranking is higher than the RTX 5070 Mobile's 75th, suggesting more consistent performance across a wider range of legacy tests. Its launch MSRP was 229 USD, though the database does not provide a comparable launch price for the NVIDIA mobile part. The RX 480 is also an end-of-life product, while the RTX 5070 Mobile is active and current. For users with existing PCIe 3.0 systems, the RX 480 slots in without upgrade concerns, though the RTX 5070 Mobile's PCIe 5.0 interface is backward compatible. For desktop use, the RX 480's 150 W TDP and dual-slot design are manageable, but the RTX 5070 Mobile's 50 W TDP and IGP form factor make it suitable for thin laptops where the RX 480 could never fit. The verdict is straightforward: the RTX 5070 Mobile wins on performance, features, and efficiency, while the RX 480 wins on aggregate consistency and a lower power draw in absolute terms (though it consumes three times the wattage of the mobile part). The choice depends entirely on the use case: modern compute and gaming favor NVIDIA overwhelmingly, while legacy API support and desktop compatibility favor AMD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile has 13.13 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, more than double the AMD Radeon RX 480's 5.834 TFLOPS. The RTX 5070 Mobile also delivers 13.13 TFLOPS of FP16, versus 5.834 TFLOPS for the RX 480.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 5070 Mobile achieves 384.0 GB/s using 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus. The RX 480 achieves 256.0 GB/s using 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The NVIDIA part has 50% more bandwidth despite having half the bus width.

Q: Does the RTX 5070 Mobile support ray tracing?

A: Yes, it includes 36 ray tracing cores and 144 tensor cores. The RX 480 has no ray tracing or tensor cores, so it cannot accelerate these workloads in hardware.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The RTX 5070 Mobile has a 50 W TDP and requires no power connectors. The RX 480 has a 150 W TDP, a dual-slot cooler, a 1x 6-pin connector, and a 450 W suggested PSU.

Q: Which GPU has better DirectX support?

A: The RTX 5070 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 480 supports DirectX 12 (12_0). The NVIDIA part is the newer specification.

Q: How do their aggregate benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX 480 has an average benchmark score of 33,997 at the 78th percentile. The RTX 5070 Mobile has an average of 29,928 at the 75th percentile. The RX 480 ranks higher overall, despite losing the direct head-to-head tests.