AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT has an average benchmark score of 16361, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199. The RX 5700 XT sits in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the RTX 3050 OEM's 57th percentile.

Q: How does the RTX 3050 OEM compare to the RX 5700 XT in OpenCL performance?

A: The RTX 3050 OEM dominates OpenCL with a score of 60740 versus the RX 5700 XT's 9524, a delta of -84.3% from AMD's perspective. This is the single largest performance gap between the two cards in any benchmark.

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

A: The RX 5700 XT has 448.0 GB/s bandwidth with a 256-bit bus, while the RTX 3050 OEM offers 224.0 GB/s on a 128-bit bus. Both cards have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, but AMD's wider bus gives it twice the bandwidth.

Q: Does the RTX 3050 OEM support hardware ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RTX 3050 OEM includes 18 ray tracing cores and 72 tensor cores as part of its Ampere architecture. The RX 5700 XT has no dedicated RT or tensor cores listed, relying on its RDNA 1.0 design.

Q: Which card wins in DirectX 12 benchmark tests?

A: The RX 5700 XT wins the PassMark DirectX 12 test with a score of 64 against the RTX 3050 OEM's 58, a 10.3% advantage. However, the RTX 3050 OEM supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 5700 XT only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How do the two cards compare in 2D graphics performance?

A: The RTX 3050 OEM edges out the RX 5700 XT in PassMark G2D with a score of 973 versus 922, a 5.2% lead. This is one of only two benchmarks where NVIDIA's card comes out ahead.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear hierarchy: the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT wins 7 of 9 head-to-head benchmark comparisons, including the three most graphics-intensive tests. Its PassMark G3D score of 16277 is 37.3% higher than the RTX 3050 OEM's 11857, and it leads by 32.4% in GPU compute (7650 vs 5779). The RX 5700 XT also holds a 19.6% edge in Vulkan performance (68310 vs 57103), a 65% lead in DirectX 9 (226 vs 137), and a 34.9% advantage in DirectX 11 (116 vs 86).

The RTX 3050 OEM's wins are concentrated in compute and 2D workloads. Its OpenCL score of 60740 is more than six times the RX 5700 XT's 9524, and it leads marginally in PassMark G2D (973 vs 922). These results suggest NVIDIA's card is optimized for certain compute APIs and desktop tasks, but the overall gaming and rendering picture favors AMD.

For buyers prioritizing raw rasterization performance, DirectX legacy titles, or Vulkan-based games, the RX 5700 XT is the statistically stronger choice. For those needing OpenCL compute throughput or DirectX 12 Ultimate feature support—including hardware ray tracing—the RTX 3050 OEM offers capabilities the AMD card lacks. The RX 5700 XT also carries a launch MSRP of 399 USD, though both cards are now end-of-life products.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The biggest win for the RX 5700 XT comes in PassMark DirectX 9, where it scores 226 against the RTX 3050 OEM's 137—a 65% advantage. This is followed closely by the DirectX 10 test (97 vs 61, +59%) and the PassMark G3D result (16277 vs 11857, +37.3%). The G3D test is the most representative of overall 3D graphics performance, and AMD's margin here is substantial enough to define the comparison.

In compute workloads, the RX 5700 XT maintains its lead with a 32.4% gap in PassMark GPU Compute (7650 vs 5779) and a 19.6% edge in Geekbench Vulkan (68310 vs 57103). The DirectX 11 test shows a 34.9% advantage (116 vs 86), while DirectX 12 is closer at 10.3% (64 vs 58). These results indicate AMD's architecture scales better across both legacy and modern graphics APIs.

The RTX 3050 OEM's most significant victory is in Geekbench OpenCL, where its 60740 score dwarfs the RX 5700 XT's 9524. This -84.3% delta is not a marginal difference but a fundamental mismatch in compute API efficiency. The NVIDIA card also wins PassMark G2D (973 vs 922, +5.2%), suggesting better 2D acceleration for desktop workloads.

Notably, the RX 5700 XT's average benchmark score of 16361 places it within 0.3% of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (16408) and 0.9% of the GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 (16504). The RTX 3050 OEM's 15199 average sits closest to the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (15171, +0.2%) and falls behind older cards like the GTX 580 (15283) and RTX 2060 (15290).

Specification Differences

The most fundamental spec split is in memory architecture. The RX 5700 XT uses a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 3050 OEM is limited to a 128-bit bus and 224.0 GB/s. Both pack 8 GB of GDDR6, but AMD's doubled bandwidth is a decisive hardware advantage for texture-heavy workloads.

Compute resources also diverge sharply. The RX 5700 XT has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, producing a pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s. The RTX 3050 OEM counters with 2304 shading units, 72 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, yielding 56.16 GPixel/s and 126.4 GTexel/s—roughly half the pixel throughput and less than half the texture rate.

Clock speeds favor AMD: the RX 5700 XT boosts to 1905 MHz with a game clock of 1755 MHz, while the RTX 3050 OEM boosts to 1755 MHz with no game clock listed. FP32 performance stands at 9.754 TFLOPS for AMD versus 8.087 TFLOPS for NVIDIA. The RTX 3050 OEM does match FP16 to FP32 at 1:1 ratio (8.087 TFLOPS), while the RX 5700 XT offers 19.51 TFLOPS FP16 at a 2:1 ratio.

Power requirements differ substantially. The RX 5700 XT draws 225 W with a 550 W suggested PSU and dual connectors (1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin). The RTX 3050 OEM sips 130 W, needs only a 300 W PSU, and uses a single 8-pin connector. Physical dimensions also vary: the RX 5700 XT is 272 mm long, while the RTX 3050 OEM is 242 mm.

Architecture Differences

The RX 5700 XT is built on RDNA 1.0 architecture using the Navi 10 chip at TSMC's 7 nm process. It packs 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die, yielding a density of 41.0M transistors per mm². The RTX 3050 OEM uses Ampere architecture with the GA106 chip fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm node. It contains 12,000 million transistors across a larger 276 mm² die, with a density of 43.5M/mm².

The transistor counts favor NVIDIA by about 16.5%, but the RX 5700 XT achieves higher performance through architectural efficiency and a wider memory bus. AMD's die is 25 mm² smaller despite having 2560 shading units versus 2304 for NVIDIA. The RTX 3050 OEM compensates with 18 dedicated RT cores and 72 tensor cores—hardware absent from the RX 5700 XT.

These architectural choices reflect different priorities. RDNA 1.0 focuses on raw rasterization throughput, while Ampere integrates specialized units for ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads. The API support reflects this: the RTX 3050 OEM reaches DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the RX 5700 XT tops out at DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The bus interface also differs: the RX 5700 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RTX 3050 OEM runs at PCIe 4.0 x8. This halved lane count could limit bandwidth in CPU-bound scenarios, though the practical impact varies by workload. Display outputs are nearly identical, with both offering 1x HDMI and 3x DisplayPort, though NVIDIA's HDMI is version 2.1 versus AMD's 2.0b.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 5700 XT is the clear choice for traditional 3D gaming and rendering. Its wins span DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 benchmarks, plus Vulkan and GPU compute tests. The 37.3% margin in PassMark G3D indicates it handles complex scenes with higher fill rates and texture throughput—a direct result of its 256-bit memory bus and double the ROP count. Gamers targeting high frame rates at 1080p or 1440p in DirectX titles will see measurable advantages.

The RTX 3050 OEM excels in OpenCL compute workloads, where its 60740 score represents a 6.4x improvement over AMD's 9524. This makes it the better option for applications that leverage OpenCL for general-purpose GPU computing, such as certain scientific simulations or video encoding tasks. Its 72 tensor cores also enable AI features that the RX 5700 XT cannot access, even if the benchmark data doesn't directly measure them.

For 2D desktop productivity, the RTX 3050 OEM's 973 G2D score edges out AMD's 922, suggesting smoother window management and 2D compositing. Its lower 130 W TDP and single 8-pin connector make it easier to integrate into pre-built systems with modest power supplies—the 300 W suggested PSU is 250 W less than AMD's requirement.

The RX 5700 XT's 59th percentile ranking versus the RTX 3050 OEM's 57th confirms its overall performance advantage. However, the RTX 3050 OEM's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and ray tracing cores provide future-proofing for newer game engines that increasingly rely on these features. For legacy DirectX libraries and Vulkan-based titles, the RX 5700 XT remains the stronger performer—its 65% DirectX 9 lead and 19.6% Vulkan advantage are too large to ignore.