AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile vs AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is decisively faster across every shared benchmark, posting margins between 159% and 257% over the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile sits in the 69th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 23,518, while the RX 580 2048SP lands at the 68th percentile with 23,061 — a difference of only 2% in aggregate scoring despite the massive per-test gaps. This apparent contradiction stems from the fact that the RX 580 2048SP's average is buoyed by its nearest rivals (Intel Arc B580 at 23,021, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 23,172, RTX 2080 at 22,895), placing it in a similar overall performance tier. However, in direct head-to-head comparisons, the NVIDIA part wins all three tests with no ambiguity.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear hierarchical split. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is the pick for anyone prioritizing raw frame rates, modern API support, and compute-heavy workloads. Its 16.60 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 448.0 GB/s, and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) make it the superior choice for contemporary gaming and content creation. The RX 580 2048SP, by contrast, offers just 5.259 TFLOPS FP32, 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus at 224.0 GB/s, and caps out at DirectX 12 (12_0). For users constrained to older software or those needing a dual-slot desktop card with specific display outputs (1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a), the RX 580 2048SP remains functional, but it cannot compete on any metric where the two overlap. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is the only rational choice when both are available and the use case demands performance.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and process nodes. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is built on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture using the GA104 chip, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process with 17,400 million transistors across a 392 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 44.4 million per mm². It packs 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, 96 ROPs, 46 dedicated ray tracing cores, and 184 tensor cores. The RX 580 2048SP uses AMD's GCN 4.0 architecture with the Polaris 20 chip, manufactured by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm process, containing 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die — a density of 24.6 million per mm². Its configuration includes 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing or tensor cores.

Memory subsystems diverge significantly. The NVIDIA card features 8 GB of GDDR6 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card has 4 GB of GDDR5 at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective), halving bandwidth to 224.0 GB/s. Both use a 256-bit bus, but the effective data rate difference is stark. Clock speeds tell a nuanced story: the RX 580 2048SP runs higher base and boost clocks (1168 MHz and 1284 MHz) compared to the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile (915 MHz base, 1410 MHz boost), yet the NVIDIA part achieves far higher throughput due to its wider execution resources and superior architecture efficiency. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, whereas the RX 580 2048SP is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. Power draw is another differentiator: the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is rated at 115 W TDP with no external power connectors (portable device dependent), while the RX 580 2048SP consumes 150 W TDP, requires a single 8-pin connector, and ships as a dual-slot 241 mm card.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile dominates every direct comparison. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the NVIDIA card scores 2,572 against the AMD card's 849 — a 202.9% advantage. This test stresses modern DirectX 12 rendering, and the margin reflects the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile's 46 RT cores and tensor core acceleration, capabilities entirely absent from the RX 580 2048SP. The Geekbench OpenCL score reinforces the pattern: 106,022 for the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile versus 29,668 for the RX 580 2048SP, a 257.4% lead. This compute-heavy workload leverages the NVIDIA card's 16.60 TFLOPS FP32 and 184 tensor cores, dwarfing the AMD card's 5.259 TFLOPS. The Vulkan benchmark shows 100,027 versus 38,666, a 158.7% margin. Notably, the Vulkan gap, while still enormous, is the smallest of the three tests, suggesting the RX 580 2048SP's GCN architecture handles Vulkan relatively better than other APIs — but it still loses by more than 2.5x.

The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile's average benchmark score of 23,518 places it 0.5% behind the RTX 3080 Mobile (23,628) and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 (23,315). The RX 580 2048SP's average of 23,061 is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Arc B580 (23,021), 0.5% behind the RTX 3080 (23,172), and 0.7% ahead of the RTX 2080 (22,895). These aggregate figures suggest both cards occupy similar overall tiers, but the per-test deltas reveal the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile's performance is far more consistent and modern-software oriented.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile has 5,888 shading units, while the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP has 2,048.

Q: Does the RX 580 2048SP support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 580 2048SP has no RT cores or tensor cores, while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile includes 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile delivers 448.0 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR6, exactly double the RX 580 2048SP's 224.0 GB/s from 4 GB of GDDR5.

Q: How do the process nodes compare?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile uses Samsung's 8 nm process, while the RX 580 2048SP uses GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process.

Q: Which API versions do they support?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 580 2048SP supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

Q: What is the TDP of each card?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is rated at 115 W TDP, while the RX 580 2048SP is rated at 150 W TDP.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins on every measurable benchmark and every architectural feature that matters for future-proofing. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,572 versus 849 makes it the clear choice for modern DirectX 12 games, especially those leveraging ray tracing or DLSS-style features, given the tensor core count. The Geekbench OpenCL result (106,022 vs 29,668) positions it as the superior option for GPU compute tasks like rendering, machine learning inference, and video encoding — workloads that can utilize its 16.60 TFLOPS and tensor cores. The Vulkan win (100,027 vs 38,666) further cements its dominance across cross-platform graphics APIs. With 8 GB of VRAM versus 4 GB, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile also handles higher-resolution textures and larger datasets without running out of memory.

The RX 580 2048SP's wins are narrower and more circumstantial. Its 150 W TDP is higher than the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile's 115 W, but it does not require the mobile-specific power delivery of the NVIDIA card — it uses a standard 1x 8-pin connector and a 450 W suggested PSU. Its dual-slot design and 241 mm length make it a straightforward drop-in for desktop builds, whereas the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is a portable-device-dependent component with no fixed slot width or dimensions. For users running legacy applications that predate DirectX 12 Ultimate, or those who need the specific display output configuration of 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, the RX 580 2048SP is the only one of the two that offers that connectivity. Its higher base clock (1168 MHz vs 915 MHz) does not translate to real-world superiority, but it does mean the card operates at a higher frequency out of the box. The RX 580 2048SP's 4 GB memory is sufficient for older titles and 1080p gaming at moderate settings, and its 32 ROPs, while far fewer than the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile's 96, are adequate for pixel fill rates in less demanding scenarios. Ultimately, the RX 580 2048SP is a functional budget-tier legacy card, but the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile outperforms it by 158% to 257% in every direct test, making the choice unambiguous for any performance-conscious buyer.