AMD Radeon RX 570 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Comparison

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 dominates the AMD Radeon RX 570 across every shared benchmark, with the widest margins appearing in compute-heavy and modern DirectX 12 workloads. The RTX 3090 wins all three head-to-head comparisons, and the data shows the RX 570 trailing by margins ranging from roughly one-fifth to more than four-fifths.

The largest gap appears in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where the RTX 3090 scores 5,118 against the RX 570’s 880. That is an 82.8% deficit for the AMD card, meaning the NVIDIA card delivers nearly six times the frame throughput in this particular stress test. This is the clearest illustration of the generational gulf between the two: the RX 570 cannot compete in a modern DirectX 12 workload that leverages the RTX 3090’s full feature set.

The Geekbench OpenCL test tells a similar story, with the RTX 3090 scoring 172,758 versus 32,084 for the RX 570, a delta of 81.4%. This compute benchmark reflects raw shader throughput, and the numbers align with the massive differences in shading units and FP32 performance between the two cards. The RTX 3090’s compute advantage is so pronounced that the RX 570’s score is less than one-fifth of the NVIDIA card’s output.

The closest contest comes in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the RTX 3090 scores 53,927 and the RX 570 scores 42,752. The delta here is 20.7%, which is still a decisive win for NVIDIA but far narrower than the other two tests. Vulkan’s lower-level API appears to partially mitigate the architectural differences, allowing the older GCN 4.0 card to perform relatively better than it does under DX12 or OpenCL. Still, the RTX 3090 maintains a clear lead.

Across the full benchmark suite, the RTX 3090 also holds a higher average benchmark score of 27,565 compared to the RX 570’s 28,766. Wait — that is inverted. The RX 570 actually posts a higher average benchmark score at 28,766 versus 27,565 for the RTX 3090. This apparent contradiction stems from the fact that the RTX 3090’s benchmark set includes several Passmark legacy tests (DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, G2D, G3D, GPU compute) that score very low — for instance, 182 on Passmark DirectX 10 and 110 on Passmark DirectX 12 — which drag down its average. The RX 570’s benchmark pool consists solely of Geekbench and 3DMark tests, all of which score in the tens of thousands. This is a reminder that average scores across different test suites are not directly comparable.

# Architecture Differences

The two cards are separated by roughly four years of GPU architecture evolution, and the data reflects a complete redesign rather than incremental improvement. The AMD Radeon RX 570 uses the Polaris 20 chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The chip contains 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.6 million per square millimeter. It uses a 256-bit memory bus with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory running at 7 Gbps effective, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 uses the GA102 chip based on Ampere architecture, fabricated on Samsung’s 8 nm process. This chip packs 28,300 million transistors onto a 628 mm² die — the transistor count is nearly five times higher, and the die area is nearly three times larger. Transistor density reaches 45.1 million per square millimeter, roughly 83% higher than the RX 570. Memory is a major divergence: the RTX 3090 carries 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, with 19.5 Gbps effective speed and 936.2 GB/s bandwidth. That is six times the capacity and more than four times the bandwidth.

Compute resources differ enormously. The RX 570 has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 3090 has 10,496 shading units, 328 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The RTX 3090 also includes 82 ray tracing cores and 328 tensor cores — features entirely absent from the RX 570. Pixel rate on the NVIDIA card is 189.8 GPixel/s versus 39.81 GPixel/s on the AMD, and texture rate is 556.0 GTexel/s versus 159.2 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput tells the same story: 35.58 TFLOPS for the RTX 3090 versus 5.095 TFLOPS for the RX 570.

The API support also differs. The RX 570 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The RTX 3090 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA card’s DirectX 12 Ultimate designation reflects hardware ray tracing and mesh shaders, which the RX 570 cannot access.

# Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the RTX 3090 wins every head-to-head comparison. However, the RX 570 does hold some advantages in areas outside raw performance. Its average benchmark score of 28,766 is higher than the RTX 3090’s 27,565, though this is an artifact of differing test suites rather than a meaningful performance claim.

In terms of physical footprint, the RX 570 is a dual-slot card measuring 241 mm in length (9.5 inches), whereas the RTX 3090 is a triple-slot card at 336 mm (13.2 inches) long, 140 mm (5.5 inches) tall, and 61 mm (2.4 inches) wide. The RX 570 requires a single 6-pin power connector and a 450 W power supply, while the RTX 3090 needs a 12-pin connector and a 750 W supply. The RX 570’s 150 W TDP is less than half the RTX 3090’s 350 W.

Display outputs differ: the RX 570 offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RTX 3090 provides 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RTX 3090’s HDMI 2.1 supports higher resolutions and refresh rates over a single cable, but the RX 570’s DVI output remains useful for legacy displays.

The RX 570 also has a lower launch MSRP of 169 USD. The RTX 3090 launched at 1,499 USD. Both cards are end-of-life products, but the RX 570 predates the RTX 3090 by over three years, with release dates of April 2017 and August 2020 respectively.

# FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 scores 5,118 versus 880 for the AMD Radeon RX 570, a delta of 82.8% in favor of NVIDIA.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Geekbench OpenCL compute?

A: The RTX 3090 scores 172,758, while the RX 570 scores 32,084. The RTX 3090 leads by 81.4%.

Q: Is there any benchmark where the RX 570 is competitive?

A: The closest margin is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RX 570 scores 42,752 against the RTX 3090’s 53,927 — a 20.7% deficit. This is the RX 570’s best relative showing, but it still loses.

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

A: The RX 570 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 936.2 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the RTX 3090 support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RTX 3090 includes 82 ray tracing cores and 328 tensor cores. The RX 570 has no ray tracing or tensor cores.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RX 570 has a higher average benchmark score of 28,766 versus 27,565 for the RTX 3090, but this is due to the RTX 3090’s benchmark set including low-scoring Passmark legacy tests.

# Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 570 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 |

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

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | Ampere |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | Samsung |

| Transistors | 5,700 million | 28,300 million |

| Die Size | 232 mm² | 628 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.6M / mm² | 45.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1168 MHz | 1395 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1244 MHz | 1695 MHz |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 24 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6X |

| Memory Bus | 256 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Speed | 7 Gbps effective | 19.5 Gbps effective |

| Memory Bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 936.2 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2048 | 10496 |

| TMUs | 128 | 328 |

| ROPs | 32 | 112 |

| RT Cores | None | 82 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 328 |

| Pixel Rate | 39.81 GPixel/s | 189.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 159.2 GTexel/s | 556.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 5.095 TFLOPS | 35.58 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 5.095 TFLOPS (1:1) | 35.58 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 150 W | 350 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | Triple-slot |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin | 1x 12-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | 750 W |

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

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

| Vulkan Support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Display Outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| Length | 241 mm (9.5 inches) | 336 mm (13.2 inches) |

| Height | Not specified | 140 mm (5.5 inches) |

| Width | Not specified | 61 mm (2.4 inches) |

| Release Date | 2017-04-17 | 2020-08-31 |

| Launch MSRP | 169 USD | 1,499 USD |

# The Verdict

The data makes the verdict straightforward: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is categorically superior to the AMD Radeon RX 570 in every shared benchmark. It wins all three head-to-head comparisons, with margins ranging from 20.7% in Vulkan to 82.8% in DirectX 12 Steel Nomad. The RTX 3090’s architectural advantages — 10,496 shading units versus 2,048, 82 ray tracing cores, 328 tensor cores, 24 GB of GDDR6X memory, and 35.58 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput — are reflected directly in these score gaps.

The RX 570 is not without merits. Its 150 W TDP makes it far more power-efficient in absolute terms, and its dual-slot, 241 mm design fits in cases that cannot accommodate the RTX 3090’s triple-slot, 336 mm footprint. Its 169 USD launch MSRP positioned it as an entry-level card, and for legacy DirectX 12_0 workloads or Vulkan applications, it remains functional. The RX 570’s higher average benchmark score of 28,766 versus 27,565 for the RTX 3090, however, is a statistical artifact of different test pools and should not be interpreted as a performance advantage.

For users prioritizing absolute performance, modern API support, ray tracing, or high-resolution texture-heavy workloads, the RTX 3090 is the only rational choice from this comparison. For users with strict power, size, or legacy display connectivity requirements — and who primarily run older or Vulkan-based titles — the RX 570 remains a serviceable, end-of-life option. But based strictly on benchmark data, this is not a contest: the RTX 3090 wins decisively.