AMD Radeon RX 590 GME vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 590 GME are both end-of-life graphics cards, but they occupy entirely different performance strata. The RTX 3070 Ti is built on Ampere with 17,400 million transistors on an 8 nm Samsung process, while the RX 590 GME uses GCN 4.0 with 5,700 million transistors on 14 nm GlobalFoundries. Their average benchmark scores are nearly identical (30,849 vs 30,755, a 0.3% delta), but that parity is an artifact of the RX 590 GME having only two recorded benchmarks. In the only shared tests, the RTX 3070 Ti leads by enormous margins.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head data is unambiguous: the RTX 3070 Ti wins every benchmark where both cards have results. In 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12), the RTX 3070 Ti scores 3,478 against the RX 590 GME’s 1,001 — a 247.5% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 3070 Ti posts 130,778 versus 60,508, a 116.1% lead. There are no benchmark wins for the RX 590 GME in the shared test set.

However, the RX 590 GME does hold practical advantages outside raw performance. Its TDP is 175 W compared to 290 W for the RTX 3070 Ti, and its suggested PSU is 450 W versus 600 W. The RX 590 GME also uses a single 8-pin power connector, while the RTX 3070 Ti requires a 12-pin connector. For a system with a modest power supply or limited connector options, the RX 590 GME is the easier drop-in. Its physical length is shorter too: 241 mm (9.5 inches) versus 267 mm (10.5 inches) for the RTX 3070 Ti, which can matter in compact cases.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures. The RTX 3070 Ti uses the GA104 chip on NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture, fabricated on Samsung’s 8 nm node with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die (44.4M transistors per mm²). The RX 590 GME uses the Polaris 20 chip on AMD’s GCN 4.0 architecture, made on GlobalFoundries’ 14 nm process with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die (24.6M per mm²). The RTX 3070 Ti has 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs, while the RX 590 GME has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 3070 Ti also includes 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores; the RX 590 GME has none.

Memory configurations diverge sharply. The RTX 3070 Ti uses 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus with 608.3 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 590 GME uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on the same bus width but only 256.0 GB/s. Clock speeds differ: the RTX 3070 Ti runs at 1575 MHz base and 1770 MHz boost, with memory at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective); the RX 590 GME runs at 1257 MHz base and 1420 MHz boost, with memory at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). Pixel and texture rates reflect the gap: 169.9 GPixel/s and 339.8 GTexel/s for the RTX 3070 Ti versus 45.44 GPixel/s and 204.5 GTexel/s for the RX 590 GME. FP32 compute is 21.75 TFLOPS on the RTX 3070 Ti versus 6.543 TFLOPS on the RX 590 GME; FP16 is 1:1 on both, but the absolute numbers are the same as FP32.

The cards also differ in bus interface and display outputs. The RTX 3070 Ti uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RX 590 GME uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The RTX 3070 Ti has one HDMI 2.1 port and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs; the RX 590 GME has one HDMI 2.0b and three DisplayPort 1.4a. API support is higher on the RTX 3070 Ti: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus DirectX 12 (12_0), and Vulkan 1.4 versus 1.3.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two benchmarks with results for both cards are 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12) and Geekbench Vulkan. In Steel Nomad, the RTX 3070 Ti scores 3,478, which is 247.5% higher than the RX 590 GME’s 1,001. That is a massive gap — more than three times the performance. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 3070 Ti’s 130,778 is 116.1% above the RX 590 GME’s 60,508, meaning it is more than twice as fast.

These head-to-head results are the most reliable comparison because they use identical workloads. The average benchmark scores, however, tell a different story: the RTX 3070 Ti averages 30,849 and the RX 590 GME averages 30,755, a mere 0.3% difference. That near-parity is misleading. The RX 590 GME’s average is computed from only its two results (1,001 and 60,508, which average to 30,755), while the RTX 3070 Ti’s average includes ten results, many of which are high (e.g., Geekbench OpenCL 137,518, Passmark G3D 23,356). The RX 590 GME simply lacks data for the other tests, so the average does not reflect its real-world standing. In the tests that both cards actually run, the RTX 3070 Ti is decisively faster.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti has 21.75 TFLOPS FP32, while the RX 590 GME has 6.543 TFLOPS — a 3.3x difference.

Q: Does the RX 590 GME support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 590 GME has no RT cores; the RTX 3070 Ti has 48 RT cores.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti provides 608.3 GB/s from GDDR6X, versus 256.0 GB/s from GDDR5 on the RX 590 GME.

Q: Which card needs a larger power supply?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti has a 290 W TDP and a 600 W suggested PSU; the RX 590 GME has a 175 W TDP and a 450 W suggested PSU.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No, both are marked as end-of-life.

Q: What was the launch MSRP of the RTX 3070 Ti?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti had a launch MSRP of 599 USD. The RX 590 GME has no listed launch MSRP.

Specification Differences

| Field | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti | AMD Radeon RX 590 GME |

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

| Process node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 14 nm (GlobalFoundries) |

| Transistors | 17,400 million | 5,700 million |

| Die size | 392 mm² | 232 mm² |

| Transistor density | 44.4M / mm² | 24.6M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1575 MHz | 1257 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1770 MHz | 1420 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) | 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) |

| Memory type | GDDR6X | GDDR5 |

| Memory bandwidth | 608.3 GB/s | 256.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 6144 | 2304 |

| TMUs | 192 | 144 |

| ROPs | 96 | 32 |

| RT cores | 48 | None |

| Tensor cores | 192 | None |

| Pixel rate | 169.9 GPixel/s | 45.44 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 339.8 GTexel/s | 204.5 GTexel/s |

| FP32 / FP16 | 21.75 TFLOPS | 6.543 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 290 W | 175 W |

| Power connectors | 1x 12-pin | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 450 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

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

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

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Length | 267 mm (10.5 in) | 241 mm (9.5 in) |

| Height | 112 mm (4.4 in) | Not listed |

| Release date | 2021-05-30 | 2020-03-08 |

| Predecessor | GeForce 20 | Arctic Islands |

| Successor | GeForce 40 | Vega |

| Launch MSRP | 599 USD | None |

The Verdict

The data leaves no room for ambiguity: the RTX 3070 Ti is dramatically faster in every shared benchmark. In 3DMark Steel Nomad it is 247.5% ahead, and in Geekbench Vulkan it is 116.1% ahead. Its architectural advantages — more shading units, higher memory bandwidth, hardware ray tracing, tensor cores, and a newer process node — translate directly to performance. The RX 590 GME’s only advantages are lower power consumption (175 W vs 290 W TDP) and a smaller power supply requirement (450 W vs 600 W), along with a shorter physical length. If you have a system with a 600 W PSU and a 12-pin connector (or an adapter), the RTX 3070 Ti is the obvious choice. If you are constrained to a 450 W PSU and want a drop-in card without changing power infrastructure, the RX 590 GME works, but you are accepting roughly one-third to one-half the performance in the tests that matter. Both cards are end-of-life, so availability and driver support are historical, but the benchmark evidence is clear: the RTX 3070 Ti wins on performance by a wide margin.