AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data tells a one-sided story. Across all three recorded head-to-head tests, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER takes every single win, and it does so by commanding margins. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP does not record a single victory in the comparison.

The largest gap appears in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The RTX 2070 SUPER scores 83,358 points against the RX 580 2048SP's 29,668 points, a delta of 64.4% in favor of NVIDIA. This is a massive separation, indicating that the NVIDIA card processes compute workloads at a fundamentally different performance tier.

The Vulkan benchmark shows a similar pattern. NVIDIA scores 90,637, while AMD manages 38,666, resulting in a 57.3% deficit for the RX 580 2048SP. This is notable because Vulkan is often an area where AMD's GCN architecture performs relatively well, yet the gap here is still enormous.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, which represents a modern DirectX 12 workload, shows the smallest relative gap but still a decisive NVIDIA win. The RTX 2070 SUPER scores 1,651, while the RX 580 2048SP scores 849, a 48.6% difference. Even in this test, the AMD card delivers less than half the performance of its rival.

Looking at the broader database statistics, the average benchmark score for the RX 580 2048SP is 23,061, placing it at the 68th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 2070 SUPER's average score is 20,282, which puts it at the 65th percentile. This is an interesting inversion: the AMD card has a higher average score across all its recorded benchmarks, but the NVIDIA card wins every head-to-head test. The explanation lies in the different benchmark suites recorded for each card; the RTX 2070 SUPER has a much larger set of tests, including several PassMark entries, which drag down its average relative to the three high-scoring tests recorded for the RX 580 2048SP. The head-to-head results are the more reliable comparison, and they are unambiguous.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different eras and different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP uses the Polaris 20 chip, built on GCN 4.0 architecture, produced on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER uses the TU104 chip, built on Turing architecture, produced on a 12 nm process at TSMC.

The transistor counts reveal the scale of the difference. The Polaris 20 chip contains 5,700 million transistors on a die size of 232 mm², giving a transistor density of 24.6M per mm². The TU104 chip contains 13,600 million transistors on a 545 mm² die, with a density of 25.0M per mm². The NVIDIA chip has more than double the transistor count and a much larger physical die.

Memory configuration is another major separator. The RX 580 2048SP has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 7 Gbps effective speed. The RTX 2070 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, also on a 256-bit bus, but delivers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 14 Gbps effective speed. That is exactly double the memory bandwidth, a critical advantage for modern games and high-resolution textures.

The compute resources are heavily skewed toward NVIDIA. The RTX 2070 SUPER has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The RX 580 2048SP has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. In raw throughput, the RTX 2070 SUPER reaches 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 and 18.12 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), while the RX 580 2048SP manages 5.259 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio). Pixel rate is 113.3 GPixel/s for NVIDIA versus 41.09 GPixel/s for AMD, and texture rate is 283.2 GTexel/s versus 164.4 GTexel/s.

The Turing architecture also brings dedicated features that GCN 4.0 lacks entirely. The RTX 2070 SUPER includes 40 RT cores for ray tracing and 320 tensor cores for AI acceleration. The RX 580 2048SP has no such hardware. The NVIDIA card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3.

Power and physical specifications differ as well. The RTX 2070 SUPER has a 215 W TDP with a suggested 550 W PSU, requiring one 6-pin and one 8-pin power connector. The RX 580 2048SP has a 150 W TDP with a suggested 450 W PSU and a single 8-pin connector. The NVIDIA card is longer at 267 mm versus 241 mm, and it is a dual-slot card just like the AMD model.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the recorded data, the RTX 2070 SUPER wins everywhere that matters. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, it is 48.6% ahead, which translates to a substantial real-world advantage in DirectX 12 gaming. In Geekbench OpenCL, the 64.4% lead indicates a major edge in general-purpose compute workloads such as rendering, video encoding, and scientific calculations. In Geekbench Vulkan, the 57.3% lead shows that even in cross-platform graphics APIs, the NVIDIA card dominates.

The RX 580 2048SP does have one statistical advantage: its percentile ranking. At the 68th percentile of all GPUs, it sits higher than the RTX 2070 SUPER's 65th percentile. This is a quirk of the database averaging, but it does suggest that the AMD card is a capable performer relative to the entire GPU landscape, not just a weakling. Its average benchmark score of 23,061 is also higher than the RTX 2070 SUPER's 20,282 average, again reflecting the different test suites.

The nearest rivals for each card provide additional context. The RX 580 2048SP is bracketed by the Intel Arc B580 at 23,021 (0.2% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 23,172 (0.5% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 22,895 (0.7% lower), and the NVIDIA P106-100 at 23,249 (0.8% higher). This places the AMD card in a tight cluster of mid-range performers, with the RTX 2080 as a particularly close comparator.

The RTX 2070 SUPER's nearest rivals are all slightly above it: the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M at 20,480 (1.0% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20,534 (1.2% higher), the Intel Arc B570 at 20,556 (1.3% higher), and the Intel Arc A750 at 20,582 (1.5% higher). This suggests the RTX 2070 SUPER sits at the lower end of its immediate performance cluster, but the head-to-head data against the RX 580 2048SP shows a completely different picture.

The Verdict

The data is clear: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the superior card in every direct comparison recorded. If a user is choosing between these two for gaming, compute, or any graphics workload, the RTX 2070 SUPER delivers between 48.6% and 64.4% more performance depending on the test. The RX 580 2048SP is not competitive in any of the three head-to-head benchmarks.

The RTX 2070 SUPER should be the pick for anyone who needs maximum performance in modern DirectX 12 titles, Vulkan applications, or OpenCL compute tasks. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory at double the bandwidth makes it suitable for higher resolution gaming and larger texture sets. The presence of RT cores and tensor cores makes it capable of ray tracing and AI-enhanced features, which the AMD card cannot do at all.

The RX 580 2048SP might still be a reasonable choice for a user with very modest needs who values its lower power draw and smaller physical footprint. Its 150 W TDP versus 215 W, and its 241 mm length versus 267 mm, make it easier to fit into compact systems. Its 68th percentile ranking shows it is not a weak card in absolute terms, just heavily outclassed by this particular rival.

For anyone who already owns an RX 580 2048SP, the upgrade path to an RTX 2070 SUPER is dramatic. The 48.6% improvement in 3DMark Steel Nomad and the 64.4% improvement in OpenCL represent generational leaps, not incremental gains. The RTX 2070 SUPER was released on July 8, 2019, with a launch MSRP of 499 USD, and it remains a strong performer in the database.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the most head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER wins all three recorded head-to-head tests: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, Geekbench OpenCL, and Geekbench Vulkan. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP wins none.

Q: What is the performance difference in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER scores 1,651, while the RX 580 2048SP scores 849. This is a 48.6% advantage for NVIDIA.

Q: How does the memory bandwidth compare between the two cards?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. The RX 580 2048SP has 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 4 GB of GDDR5 memory. The NVIDIA card has exactly double the bandwidth.

Q: Does the RX 580 2048SP have ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The RX 580 2048SP has no dedicated RT cores or tensor cores. The RTX 2070 SUPER has 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores.

Q: What are the percentile rankings for each card?

A: The RX 580 2048SP is at the 68th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 2070 SUPER is at the 65th percentile. The AMD card has a higher ranking despite losing all head-to-head tests.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has a 215 W TDP with a suggested 550 W PSU. The RX 580 2048SP has a 150 W TDP with a suggested 450 W PSU. The AMD card consumes less power.