AMD Radeon RX 590 GME vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive performance gap between the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 and the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME. Across the three shared benchmark tests, the RTX 4070 wins every contest, with margins that range from roughly 2x to over 4x. The largest single margin appears in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 4070 scores 154,858 against the RX 590 GME's 36,294, a delta of 326.7%. That result is not an isolated case; the pattern repeats across different API workloads.

In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 4070 records 3,854 points while the RX 590 GME manages 1,001 points, a 285% advantage for the NVIDIA card. This benchmark stresses modern DirectX 12 rendering paths, so the delta reflects not only raw compute but also architectural efficiency under current API workloads. The RX 590 GME's GCN 4.0 design, built around a 14 nm process, does not match the newer Ada Lovelace architecture in this test.

The Vulkan test tells a similar story, though the margin is slightly smaller. The RTX 4070 scores 174,152 against 60,508 for the RX 590 GME, a 187.8% lead. Vulkan is a low-overhead API that historically favors efficient driver and hardware scheduling; even so, the NVIDIA card nearly triples the AMD card's output. Across all three head-to-head tests, the RTX 4070 claims 3 wins and the RX 590 GME claims 0, with deltas of 285%, 326.7%, and 187.8%. The smallest margin, 187.8%, still represents a near-3x performance difference.

Looking at the broader database, the RTX 4070's average benchmark score sits at 37,648, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (average score 37,628, 0.1% slower), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507, 0.4% slower), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37,157, 1.3% slower); the only listed competitor ahead of it is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38,135, 1.3% faster). The RX 590 GME, by contrast, averages 32,601 and sits in the 77th percentile, with nearest rivals like the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (32,540, 0.2% slower), AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (32,456, 0.4% slower), and AMD FirePro S10000 (32,388, 0.7% slower), while the NVIDIA T600 Mobile is marginally faster at 32,849 (0.8% ahead). The percentile gap is small, but the average score gap is substantial: the RTX 4070 leads by roughly 5,000 points, or about 15.5% of the RX 590 GME's average.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 wins with a score of 3,854 against 1,001 for the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME, a 285% advantage.

Q: What is the largest benchmark margin between the two cards?

A: The largest margin is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 4070 scores 154,858 versus 36,294 for the RX 590 GME, a 326.7% difference.

Q: How do the two cards compare in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4070 records an average benchmark score of 37,648, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 590 GME averages 32,601, placing it in the 77th percentile.

Q: Does the RX 590 GME win in any shared benchmark test?

A: In the head-to-head data, the RX 590 GME records 0 wins out of 3 tests. The RTX 4070 wins all three tests (3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, Geekbench OpenCL, and Geekbench Vulkan).

Q: What is the Vulkan performance difference?

A: In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4070 scores 174,152 and the RX 590 GME scores 60,508, giving the NVIDIA card a 187.8% lead.

Q: How close are the nearest rivals in the database for each card?

A: For the RTX 4070, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla P4 at 37,628 (0.1% slower), while for the RX 590 GME, the nearest rival is the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 at 32,540 (0.2% slower).

The Verdict

The data points to a single conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the superior performer in every measured category. It wins all three shared benchmarks with deltas between 187.8% and 326.7%, holds a higher average benchmark score (37,648 versus 32,601), and achieves a higher percentile rank (81 versus 77). The RX 590 GME's closest rivals in the database sit within 0.2% of its average score, which indicates the card is consistent but not competitive with the RTX 4070's class of performance.

For users prioritizing modern API support, the RTX 4070 offers DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The RX 590 GME supports DirectX 12 (12_0), Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6. The RTX 4070 also includes ray tracing cores and tensor cores, which the RX 590 GME lacks entirely. For any workload that uses these features, the choice is clear. The RX 590 GME's only advantages lie in lower power draw (175 W versus 200 W), a smaller suggested PSU (450 W versus 550 W), and a shorter length (241 mm versus 240 mm, effectively identical). No benchmark result favors the RX 590 GME.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every core specification. The RTX 4070 uses the AD104 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process, while the RX 590 GME uses the Polaris 20 chip on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process. Transistor count is dramatically different: 35,800 million for the RTX 4070 versus 5,700 million for the RX 590 GME, despite the RTX 4070's die being larger at 294 mm² compared to 232 mm². Transistor density reflects this: 121.8 million transistors per mm² for the NVIDIA card versus 24.6 million per mm² for the AMD card.

Clock speeds favor the RTX 4070: base 1920 MHz versus 1257 MHz, and boost 2475 MHz versus 1420 MHz. Memory also differs: the RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth and 21 Gbps effective memory speed, while the RX 590 GME has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 8 Gbps effective memory speed. The wider bus on the AMD card does not compensate for the lower memory generation and speed.

Compute resources diverge sharply. The RTX 4070 has 5,888 shading units, 184 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 46 ray tracing cores, and 184 tensor cores. The RX 590 GME has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and no ray tracing or tensor cores. Pixel rate is 158.4 GPixel/s for the RTX 4070 versus 45.44 GPixel/s for the RX 590 GME. Texture rate is 455.4 GTexel/s versus 204.5 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 29.15 TFLOPS versus 6.543 TFLOPS, and FP16 is identical to FP32 on both (1:1 ratio).

Power and connectivity also differ: the RTX 4070 has a TDP of 200 W and uses a single 16-pin connector with a suggested 550 W PSU, while the RX 590 GME has a TDP of 175 W and uses a single 8-pin connector with a suggested 450 W PSU. The RTX 4070 uses PCIe 4.0 x16; the RX 590 GME uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs: the RTX 4070 has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 590 GME has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RTX 4070's launch MSRP was 599 USD.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is fundamental. The RTX 4070 is built on NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace architecture, which introduces dedicated ray tracing cores (46 of them) and tensor cores (184 of them). The RX 590 GME uses AMD's GCN 4.0 architecture, which has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. This means the RTX 4070 can accelerate ray-traced workloads and AI/ML tasks directly in hardware, while the RX 590 GME must rely solely on general-purpose shader compute.

The manufacturing process difference is stark: 5 nm TSMC for the RTX 4070 versus 14 nm GlobalFoundries for the RX 590 GME. This explains the transistor density gap (121.8M per mm² versus 24.6M per mm²) and contributes to the RTX 4070's higher clock speeds despite higher power draw. The RTX 4070's die size is 294 mm² versus 232 mm² for the RX 590 GME, but the RTX 4070 packs over six times the transistors into that space.

API support also differs. The RTX 4070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (feature level 12_2), which includes features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading, while the RX 590 GME supports DirectX 12 (feature level 12_0). Vulkan support is 1.4 on the RTX 4070 versus 1.3 on the RX 590 GME. OpenGL is 4.6 on both. The RTX 4070's memory subsystem uses GDDR6X, while the RX 590 GME uses GDDR5; the newer memory type supports the 504.2 GB/s bandwidth figure on a narrower 192-bit bus. The RX 590 GME compensates with a wider 256-bit bus but achieves only 256.0 GB/s.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 wins in every benchmark category recorded in the database. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 lead of 285% indicates strong modern DirectX 12 performance. Its Geekbench OpenCL lead of 326.7% suggests a major advantage in general-purpose compute workloads, useful for rendering, encoding, or scientific tasks. Its Geekbench Vulkan lead of 187.8% shows that even in low-overhead APIs, the architecture scales far beyond the older GCN design.

The RX 590 GME wins in power efficiency per watt in absolute terms: 175 W TDP versus 200 W, and a suggested PSU of 450 W versus 550 W. It also has a slightly larger memory bus (256-bit versus 192-bit), though this does not translate into a bandwidth win. For systems with older PCIe 3.0 motherboards, the RX 590 GME's PCIe 3.0 x16 interface matches older platforms, while the RTX 4070 requires PCIe 4.0 x16 for full bandwidth. The RX 590 GME's dimensions are essentially identical in length (241 mm versus 240 mm).

For users selecting purely on benchmark data, the RTX 4070 is the only choice. It holds a 100% win rate in head-to-head tests, a higher average score, and a higher percentile rank. The RX 590 GME's only practical advantages are its lower power draw and smaller PSU requirement, which may matter in small form factor builds or systems with limited PSU headroom. The RTX 4070's launch MSRP of 599 USD is the only price datum in the database; no launch MSRP is recorded for the RX 590 GME.