AMD Radeon RX 570 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data presents a clear split between these two GPUs, with each claiming victory in different test categories. The AMD Radeon RX 570 delivers a decisive win in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, scoring 880 against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile's 421. That is a 52.2% deficit for the NVIDIA part, a substantial margin that suggests the AMD card holds a significant advantage in this particular DirectX 12 workload.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile strikes back in compute-oriented benchmarks. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA card scores 50038, while the AMD RX 570 manages only 32084. This represents a 56% lead for NVIDIA, the largest delta recorded in any of the head-to-head tests. The gap is similarly pronounced in Geekbench Vulkan, where NVIDIA scores 49051 versus AMD's 42752, a 14.7% advantage.

The overall win tally favors NVIDIA with two victories out of three tests, but the magnitude of AMD's single win is noteworthy. The 52.2% margin in Steel Nomad is nearly four times larger than NVIDIA's Vulkan lead, though it is slightly smaller than NVIDIA's OpenCL advantage. What stands out is the divergent nature of these results: AMD dominates the DX12 gaming test, while NVIDIA excels in the more general-purpose compute benchmarks.

Looking at the broader database context, the average benchmark scores reinforce this mixed picture. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile posts an average score of 33170, which places it in the 78th percentile of all GPUs. The AMD Radeon RX 570 averages 28766, sitting at the 74th percentile. The NVIDIA card's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA T550 Mobile (33161, a 0% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro 570 (33207, a 0.1% delta in AMD's favor), and the NVIDIA P104-100 (32982, a 0.6% delta). For the AMD card, the closest competitors are the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (28874, a 0.4% delta in AMD's favor), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (28580, a 0.7% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28996, a 0.8% delta). These comparisons show both cards sitting near a cluster of similarly performing parts, but the NVIDIA part sits in a higher overall performance tier.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data points to distinct use cases for each GPU. The AMD Radeon RX 570 clearly has the upper hand in the Steel Nomad DX12 test, which is designed to stress modern DirectX 12 gaming workloads. A 52.2% lead in this scenario is substantial, indicating that for gamers running DX12 titles, the RX 570 should deliver noticeably stronger frame rates. The RX 570's 256-bit memory bus and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, combined with 128 texture mapping units, likely contribute to this advantage in geometry-heavy and memory-intensive scenes.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile excels in OpenCL and Vulkan compute tasks. The 56% OpenCL lead suggests that applications leveraging OpenCL for acceleration, such as certain content creation tools, scientific simulations, or crypto-mining algorithms (though the latter is not a focus here), will run considerably faster on the NVIDIA part. The 14.7% Vulkan advantage is more modest but still meaningful, suggesting that Vulkan API workloads, which span both gaming and compute, will favor NVIDIA.

For portable use, the NVIDIA card's 45 W TDP and IGP slot width make it fundamentally suited to laptops, whereas the AMD RX 570's 150 W TDP and dual-slot design with a 1x 6-pin power connector target desktop systems. The database records the NVIDIA part as "Portable Device Dependent" for display outputs, while the AMD card offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. This means the RTX 3050 Mobile is the clear choice for those needing a mobile solution, while the RX 570 fits a stationary desktop build.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is substantial, reflecting their different design eras and market positions. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile uses the GA107 chip based on the Ampere architecture, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It packs 8,700 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 43.5M per mm². In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 570 uses the Polaris 20 chip based on the older GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It contains 5,700 million transistors on a larger 232 mm² die, with a transistor density of just 24.6M per mm².

The memory subsystems differ significantly. NVIDIA pairs its 4 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, achieving 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. AMD uses 4 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, reaching 224.0 GB/s. The wider bus on the AMD card provides 16.7% more bandwidth, which helps explain its superior DX12 performance. However, the NVIDIA card's memory runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) versus AMD's 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective), showing the newer GDDR6 standard's higher data rates despite the narrower bus.

Compute resources also diverge. Both cards feature 2048 shading units, but the NVIDIA part has 64 texture mapping units and 32 ROPs, while the AMD card has 128 TMUs and 32 ROPs. The AMD card's double TMU count gives it a texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s versus NVIDIA's 85.95 GTexel/s, a significant advantage for texture-heavy workloads. The pixel rates are closer: 42.98 GPixel/s for NVIDIA versus 39.81 GPixel/s for AMD.

The NVIDIA card includes 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the AMD RX 570. This makes the RTX 3050 Mobile capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing and DLSS-style AI enhancements, while the RX 570 relies purely on traditional rasterization. Floating-point performance favors NVIDIA slightly: 5.501 TFLOPS FP32 versus 5.095 TFLOPS for AMD, a 8% difference. Both cards offer 1:1 FP16 performance, meaning they do not gain extra throughput in half-precision.

The bus interfaces differ as well, with NVIDIA using PCIe 4.0 x8 and AMD using PCIe 3.0 x16. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD card only reaches DirectX 12 (12_0). Vulkan support is 1.4 on NVIDIA versus 1.3 on AMD. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

The Verdict

The data suggests two very different buyers for these GPUs. The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the stronger choice for pure DX12 gaming performance, as evidenced by its 52.2% lead in Steel Nomad. Its higher texture rate, wider memory bus, and greater bandwidth make it a capable rasterization workhorse. The RX 570's 150 W TDP and dual-slot design with a 6-pin connector indicate it belongs in a desktop chassis with adequate cooling and power delivery.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile is the better option for compute-heavy workloads and mobile use cases. Its 56% OpenCL advantage and 14.7% Vulkan lead show clear superiority in general-purpose GPU computing. The 45 W TDP makes it dramatically more power-efficient, and its IGP form factor means it is designed exclusively for laptops. Additionally, the presence of ray tracing and tensor cores gives it feature-level capabilities that the RX 570 simply cannot match, even if those features may be limited by the mobile power envelope.

For a user building a dedicated gaming desktop on a strict power budget, the RX 570's DX12 performance is compelling. For a user needing portable acceleration for OpenCL-based applications or Vulkan workloads, the RTX 3050 Mobile is the logical pick. The RTX 3050 Mobile also holds a higher overall average benchmark score (33170 versus 28766) and a better percentile ranking (78th versus 74th), suggesting it is the more balanced performer across the database's full test suite.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 570 wins with a score of 880, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile scores 421, giving AMD a 52.2% lead.

Q: How large is NVIDIA's advantage in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile scores 50038 versus AMD's 32084, a 56% difference in NVIDIA's favor.

Q: What is the memory configuration of each card?

A: Both have 4 GB of memory, but the NVIDIA card uses GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the AMD card uses GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 570 support ray tracing?

A: No, the RX 570 has no ray tracing cores. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile includes 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores.

Q: What are the TDP differences between the two cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile has a 45 W TDP, while the AMD Radeon RX 570 has a 150 W TDP, a 105 W difference.

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

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile averages 33170, placing it in the 78th percentile, while the AMD Radeon RX 570 averages 28766, in the 74th percentile.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile | AMD Radeon RX 570 |

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

| Architecture | Ampere | GCN 4.0 |

| Process Node | 8 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | GlobalFoundries |

| Transistors | 8,700 million | 5,700 million |

| Die Size | 200 mm² | 232 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 43.5M / mm² | 24.6M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1065 MHz | 1168 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1343 MHz | 1244 MHz |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 192.0 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| TMUs | 64 | 128 |

| RT Cores | 16 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 64 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 42.98 GPixel/s | 39.81 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 85.95 GTexel/s | 159.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 5.501 TFLOPS | 5.095 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 45 W | 150 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 6-pin |

| Suggested PSU | None | 450 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

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

| Vulkan Support | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Release Date | 2021-05-10 | 2017-04-17 |

| Successor | None | Vega |

| Launch MSRP | None | 169 USD |