AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 and the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT occupy very different tiers of the graphics card spectrum, and the recorded data reflects that separation clearly. Across a suite of ten benchmark comparisons, the RTX 3070 takes nine decisive wins, while the RX 5500 XT secures a single, notable victory. The average benchmark score for the RTX 3070 is 17208, placing it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 5500 XT averages 14692, sitting in the 57th percentile. The performance gap is substantial in most workloads, but the Vulkan API results show a surprising reversal that warrants close examination.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most lopsided results appear in legacy DirectX tests. In PassMark DirectX 10, the RTX 3070 scores 150 against the RX 5500 XT's 46, a 226.1% advantage. DirectX 11 shows a similar pattern: 182 versus 56, a 225% lead. These are massive margins, indicating that the NVIDIA architecture handles older API workloads with far greater efficiency. DirectX 9 results are closer relatively, with the RTX 3070 at 247 and the RX 5500 XT at 133, a 85.7% difference, but still a decisive win.

Modern API performance continues the trend. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX 3070 posts 3162 points against 1032 for the RX 5500 XT, a 206.4% advantage. PassMark DirectX 12 sees the RTX 3070 at 85 versus 40, a 112.5% lead. The compute-oriented PassMark GPU Compute test shows the RTX 3070 at 11195 against 4446, a 151.8% margin, highlighting the NVIDIA card's superior throughput for general-purpose workloads. The OpenCL benchmark in Geekbench follows suit: 112821 for the RTX 3070 versus 46965 for the RX 5500 XT, a 140.2% difference.

The single win for the AMD card comes in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RX 5500 XT scores 44191 against the RTX 3070's 21022. The delta is -52.4%, meaning the AMD card is more than twice as fast in this specific test. This is an outlier relative to every other benchmark in the dataset, but it is a real result and suggests that AMD's RDNA 1.0 architecture has a particular strength in Vulkan API execution, at least in this measurement.

The remaining tests show narrower, though still comfortable, NVIDIA victories. PassMark G2D (2D graphics) has the RTX 3070 at 1001 and the RX 5500 XT at 774, a 29.3% lead. PassMark G3D (3D graphics) is a more substantial win: 22214 versus 9083, a 144.6% margin. The overall picture is one of overwhelming NVIDIA dominance, with the Vulkan result being the only bright spot for AMD.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3070 is the clear choice for almost every workload represented in the benchmark data. Its wins span DirectX 9 through DirectX 12, OpenCL, compute tasks, and 2D graphics. For users running modern DirectX 12 games, the 3DMark Steel Nomad result of 3162 versus 1032 indicates a roughly threefold performance advantage, which translates to higher frame rates at demanding settings. The PassMark G3D score of 22214 versus 9083 reinforces this, showing the RTX 3070 as a card capable of handling high-resolution or high-refresh-rate gaming with ease.

Compute-heavy applications, such as rendering, video encoding, or scientific simulations, strongly favor the RTX 3070. The PassMark GPU Compute score of 11195 against 4446, a 151.8% lead, and the Geekbench OpenCL result of 112821 versus 46965, a 140.2% lead, both demonstrate that the NVIDIA card processes parallel workloads much faster. The DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 wins also mean that older game titles, which often rely on these APIs, will run significantly better on the RTX 3070.

The RX 5500 XT's sole victory in Geekbench Vulkan is significant for users who prioritize Vulkan-based games or applications. The score of 44191 versus 21022 shows that in this specific API environment, the AMD card outperforms the RTX 3070 by a factor of two. However, this is an isolated result. Across all other recorded tests, the RTX 3070 leads, so the RX 5500 XT is only recommended for workloads that are heavily optimized for Vulkan and where the RTX 3070's other advantages are not relevant. For general gaming and compute, the data consistently points to the RTX 3070 as the superior performer.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures. The RTX 3070 uses NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, based on the GA104 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. The RX 5500 XT uses AMD's RDNA 1.0 architecture, based on the Navi 14 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The process node difference gives AMD a density advantage in terms of transistors per square millimeter: 40.5M per mm² for the RX 5500 XT versus 44.4M per mm² for the RTX 3070, but the RTX 3070 has far more transistors overall: 17,400 million versus 6,400 million.

The die size reflects this disparity. The RTX 3070's GA104 die measures 392 mm², while the Navi 14 die is 158 mm². The larger die allows the RTX 3070 to pack in 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. The RX 5500 XT has 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. This is a substantial difference in raw processing resources.

The RTX 3070 also features dedicated hardware that the RX 5500 XT lacks entirely. It includes 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, which are absent from the Navi 14 chip. These hardware units enable features like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based upscaling, which are not available on the AMD card. The RX 5500 XT has no equivalent hardware, meaning it must rely on software implementations for these tasks, if they are supported at all.

The memory subsystems also differ. The RTX 3070 uses a 256-bit memory bus with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, delivering a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The RX 5500 XT uses a 128-bit bus with 4 GB of GDDR6 memory, delivering 224.0 GB/s. The bandwidth difference is a direct factor in the performance gap, as higher bandwidth allows the GPU to feed data to its cores more quickly. The RTX 3070's pixel rate is 165.6 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 317.4 GTexel/s, compared to 59.04 GPixel/s and 162.4 GTexel/s for the RX 5500 XT.

Specification Differences

The core clock specifications are close, but the RTX 3070 has a lower base clock and a lower boost clock than the RX 5500 XT. The RTX 3070 runs at 1500 MHz base and 1725 MHz boost, while the RX 5500 XT runs at 1607 MHz base and 1845 MHz boost. Despite the lower clocks, the RTX 3070's far larger execution resources give it the massive performance lead seen in the benchmarks.

The FP32 compute throughput is a clear indicator of the gap. The RTX 3070 delivers 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the RX 5500 XT delivers 5.196 TFLOPS. The RTX 3070 also achieves 20.31 TFLOPS of FP16 performance at a 1:1 ratio, whereas the RX 5500 XT achieves 10.39 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 2:1 ratio. This means the RTX 3070 is roughly four times faster in FP32 and nearly twice as fast in FP16.

The power requirements differ significantly. The RTX 3070 has a TDP of 220 W and a suggested power supply of 550 W, using a single 12-pin power connector. The RX 5500 XT has a TDP of 130 W and a suggested power supply of 300 W, using a single 8-pin connector. The board dimensions also vary: the RTX 3070 is 242 mm long, while the RX 5500 XT is 180 mm long.

The bus interface differs as well. The RTX 3070 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RX 5500 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x8. This means the RTX 3070 has twice the available bandwidth to the host system, which can matter in certain CPU-bound scenarios. Display outputs are similar, with both cards offering three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, but the RTX 3070 has HDMI 2.1 while the RX 5500 XT has HDMI 2.0b.

The API support is another differentiator. The RTX 3070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 5500 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The DirectX 12_2 feature level includes ray tracing and mesh shaders, which are not available on the RX 5500 XT. The release dates show the RTX 3070 launched on 2020-08-31, while the RX 5500 XT launched on 2019-12-11.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in DirectX 12 gaming?

A: The RTX 3070 is substantially faster. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, it scores 3162 against 1032 for the RX 5500 XT, a 206.4% advantage. PassMark DirectX 12 also shows the RTX 3070 at 85 versus 40, a 112.5% lead.

Q: Is there any test where the RX 5500 XT beats the RTX 3070?

A: Yes. In the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark, the RX 5500 XT scores 44191 while the RTX 3070 scores 21022, giving the AMD card a 52.4% lead. This is the only benchmark in the dataset where the RX 5500 XT wins.

Q: How do the compute performances compare?

A: The RTX 3070 dominates compute workloads. In PassMark GPU Compute, it scores 11195 against 4446 for the RX 5500 XT, a 151.8% lead. The Geekbench OpenCL test shows 112821 versus 46965, a 140.2% advantage.

Q: Does the RX 5500 XT have ray tracing support?

A: No. The RX 5500 XT has no ray tracing cores, as indicated by the null value for its RT core count. The RTX 3070 has 46 dedicated ray tracing cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RTX 3070 offers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. The RX 5500 XT offers 224.0 GB/s with 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. The RTX 3070 has exactly twice the bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count?

A: The RTX 3070 has 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, while the RX 5500 XT has 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die. The transistor density is 44.4M per mm² for the RTX 3070 and 40.5M per mm² for the RX 5500 XT.