AMD Radeon RX 570 vs AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 570 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT occupy opposite ends of the graphics card spectrum, separated by six years of architectural evolution and a generational leap in manufacturing technology. The data shows the RX 7700 XT dominates in every head-to-head benchmark, yet the RX 570's legacy as a 1080p workhorse remains relevant for specific legacy workloads. This analysis compares the two based strictly on benchmark scores, architectural specifications, and performance deltas.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark results are unambiguous: the RX 7700 XT wins all three head-to-head tests, with no victories for the RX 570. The RX 7700 XT's largest margin comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 127,549 against the RX 570's 32,084, a delta of -74.8% favoring the newer card. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 7700 XT posts 132,758 versus 42,752, a -67.8% difference. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test shows the RX 7700 XT at 3,316 compared to the RX 570's 880, a -73.5% gap.

The RX 570's advantages are not in raw performance but in legacy characteristics. It supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and OpenGL 4.6, while the RX 7700 XT moves to DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 versus the RX 570's Vulkan 1.3. The RX 570's older GCN 4.0 architecture and 14 nm process mean it draws less power at 150 W versus 245 W, but this is a qualitative observation—the performance per watt clearly favors the newer card. For users running legacy DirectX 9 or 10 applications, the RX 570's older driver stack may offer more mature support, though benchmark data does not directly confirm this.

Architecture Differences

The architectural chasm between these two GPUs is vast. The RX 570 uses the Polaris 20 chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process. It packs 5,700 million transistors into a 232 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.6 million per square millimeter. In contrast, the RX 7700 XT employs the Navi 32 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process. This newer chip contains 28,100 million transistors across a 346 mm² die, achieving a density of 81.2 million per square millimeter—more than three times the RX 570's density.

The RX 570's GCN 4.0 design features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The RX 7700 XT's RDNA 3.0 architecture scales this up dramatically with 3,456 shading units, 216 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. Critically, the RX 7700 XT introduces 54 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the RX 570. The RX 570's FP32 throughput is 5.095 TFLOPS, while the RX 7700 XT reaches 35.17 TFLOPS—a nearly sevenfold increase. FP16 performance tells a similar story: the RX 570 offers 5.095 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), while the RX 7700 XT delivers 70.34 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio).

Memory subsystems diverge completely. The RX 570 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7700 XT ships with 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, achieving 432.0 GB/s—almost double the bandwidth despite a narrower interface. Clock speeds also reflect the generational gap: the RX 570 boosts to 1244 MHz, while the RX 7700 XT boosts to 2544 MHz, with a game clock of 2171 MHz. The RX 7700 XT's memory runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) versus the RX 570's 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three shared benchmarks paint a consistent picture of RX 7700 XT superiority. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RX 7700 XT scores 3,316 versus the RX 570's 880, a -73.5% delta. This test stresses modern DirectX 12 rendering pipelines, where the RX 7700 XT's RDNA 3.0 architecture with its dedicated ray tracing cores and higher shader count provides massive advantages. The RX 570's score of 880 places it in a completely different performance tier.

Geekbench OpenCL shows the widest relative gap. The RX 7700 XT's 127,549 score crushes the RX 570's 32,084, a -74.8% delta. OpenCL compute workloads benefit enormously from the RX 7700 XT's 3,456 shading units and 35.17 TFLOPS FP32 throughput. The RX 570's 2048 shading units and 5.095 TFLOPS simply cannot compete in parallel compute tasks. This benchmark highlights the architectural leap from GCN 4.0 to RDNA 3.0.

Geekbench Vulkan delivers the RX 7700 XT's most decisive win in percentage terms. The newer card scores 132,758 against the RX 570's 42,752, a -67.8% delta. Vulkan's low-level API exposes the underlying hardware capabilities more directly, and the RX 7700 XT's superior geometry processing, texture rate (549.5 GTexel/s versus 159.2 GTexel/s), and pixel rate (244.2 GPixel/s versus 39.81 GPixel/s) become fully apparent. The RX 570's 33.9% of the RX 7700 XT's Vulkan score demonstrates the performance gulf between generations.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RX 7700 XT in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The RX 7700 XT scores 3,316 versus the RX 570's 880, representing a -73.5% delta favoring the newer card.

Q: Does the RX 570 have any ray tracing capability?

A: No. The RX 570's GCN 4.0 architecture has no RT cores, while the RX 7700 XT includes 54 ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The RX 570 has 4 GB of GDDR5, while the RX 7700 XT has 12 GB of GDDR6. The RX 7700 XT also offers higher bandwidth at 432.0 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s.

Q: Which card supports newer APIs?

A: The RX 7700 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 570 only supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference?

A: Both cards have nearly identical average benchmark scores in the database: the RX 570 averages 30,158 and the RX 7700 XT averages 30,097, a negligible 0.2% difference. This average includes all benchmarks in the database, not just the shared head-to-head tests.

Q: How do the transistor counts compare?

A: The RX 7700 XT contains 28,100 million transistors versus the RX 570's 5,700 million, a nearly fivefold increase. The RX 7700 XT also achieves a transistor density of 81.2M per mm² versus 24.6M per mm².

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification field. The RX 570 uses the Polaris 20 chip on GCN 4.0 architecture, while the RX 7700 XT uses Navi 32 on RDNA 3.0. Manufacturing processes contrast sharply: 14 nm GlobalFoundries versus 5 nm TSMC. Die size increases from 232 mm² to 346 mm², while transistor count jumps from 5,700 million to 28,100 million.

Clock speeds show the RX 7700 XT's advantage: base clock rises from 1168 MHz to 1435 MHz, boost from 1244 MHz to 2544 MHz, and the newer card adds a game clock of 2171 MHz. Memory specifications flip from 4 GB GDDR5 with 256-bit bus and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth to 12 GB GDDR6 with 192-bit bus and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth. Memory clock increases from 1750 MHz to 2250 MHz.

Compute resources scale up dramatically: shading units from 2048 to 3456, TMUs from 128 to 216, ROPs from 32 to 96. The RX 7700 XT adds 54 RT cores. Pixel rate multiplies from 39.81 GPixel/s to 244.2 GPixel/s, texture rate from 159.2 GTexel/s to 549.5 GTexel/s, and FP32 from 5.095 TFLOPS to 35.17 TFLOPS. FP16 jumps from 5.095 TFLOPS (1:1) to 70.34 TFLOPS (2:1). Power draw increases from 150 W to 245 W, power connectors from 1x 6-pin to 2x 8-pin, and suggested PSU from 450 W to 550 W.

Interface and connectivity also differ: PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs change from 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a to 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C. Physical dimensions grow from 241 mm length to 267 mm length, 135 mm height, and 50 mm width. Production status shifts from end-of-life to active, release dates from 2017-04-17 to 2023-08-24, and launch MSRP from 169 USD to 449 USD.