AMD Radeon RX 590 GME vs NVIDIA TITAN RTX Comparison

AMD Radeon RX 590 GME and NVIDIA TITAN RTX occupy opposite ends of the GPU spectrum, and benchmark data confirms the TITAN RTX as the overwhelmingly faster card. Across every shared test, the NVIDIA part wins decisively, with the AMD card trailing by margins ranging from roughly 55% to 75%. The RX 590 GME does hold one meaningful distinction: its average benchmark score of 32,601 is actually 2.9% higher than the TITAN RTX's 31,676, a quirk driven by the TITAN RTX's inclusion of lower DirectX and 2D tests in its aggregate. This does not change the competitive picture, but it does show that the RX 590 GME is a competent mid-range part, while the TITAN RTX is a specialist tool for compute-heavy workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The TITAN RTX wins every single head-to-head benchmark in the data set, so the use-case split is stark. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the TITAN RTX scores 3,794 against the RX 590 GME's 1,001, a 73.6% advantage. This is a modern DirectX 12 test that stresses raw throughput and memory bandwidth, and the result indicates the TITAN RTX is in a different performance class for contemporary gaming and graphics workloads. The RX 590 GME's 1,001 score is not competitive here, placing it firmly as a legacy or entry-level option for current titles.

Compute performance tells the same story. In Geekbench OpenCL, the TITAN RTX posts 144,858 versus 36,294 for the RX 590 GME, a 74.9% gap. This is the single largest margin in the data, and it points directly at the TITAN RTX's purpose: heavy parallel compute, machine learning, and scientific simulation. The RX 590 GME's OpenCL result is respectable for its class, but it is less than a quarter of the TITAN RTX's output. For Vulkan workloads, the gap narrows but remains massive: 136,073 versus 60,508, a 55.5% deficit for the AMD card. The RX 590 GME actually performs relatively better in Vulkan than in OpenCL, suggesting its GCN architecture handles this API more efficiently, but it still loses by a wide margin.

The only area where the RX 590 GME "wins" is in the aggregate average benchmark score, and even that is misleading. The TITAN RTX includes several Passmark DirectX 9, 10, and 11 results (scores of 223, 147, and 189 respectively) plus a G2D score of 860, all of which pull its average down. The RX 590 GME has no such legacy tests in its data, so its 32,601 average reflects only three modern benchmarks. In practical terms, the TITAN RTX wins every workload where performance matters, while the RX 590 GME only wins in the narrow sense of having a higher average score across a less demanding test suite.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on completely different architectures with a generation gap between them. The RX 590 GME uses AMD's GCN 4.0 architecture on the Polaris 20 chip, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The TITAN RTX uses NVIDIA's Turing architecture on the TU102 chip, built on a 12 nm process at TSMC. The node difference is small numerically, but the architectural philosophies diverge sharply. GCN 4.0 is a scalar design focused on raw shader throughput, while Turing introduces dedicated hardware for ray tracing and tensor operations.

Transistor counts show the scale difference. The RX 590 GME packs 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 24.6 million per square millimeter. The TITAN RTX has 18,600 million transistors on a 754 mm² die, a density of 24.7 million per square millimeter. The density is nearly identical, which means the TITAN RTX's advantage comes from sheer die size: it has over three times the transistors and more than three times the silicon area. This directly translates into more compute units across the board.

The RX 590 GME has 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The TITAN RTX doubles or triples those figures: 4,608 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. Critically, the TITAN RTX adds 72 RT cores and 576 tensor cores, hardware that simply does not exist on the RX 590 GME. This means the NVIDIA card can accelerate ray-traced graphics and AI-based features like DLSS, while the AMD card relies entirely on conventional shader processing. The TITAN RTX also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the RX 590 GME only reaches DirectX 12 (12_0). The TITAN RTX's Vulkan support is 1.4, newer than the RX 590 GME's 1.3.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single win for the TITAN RTX comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 144,858 against the RX 590 GME's 36,294, a 74.9% delta. This benchmark exercises raw compute throughput, and the TITAN RTX's 16.31 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 32.62 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio) simply overwhelm the RX 590 GME's 6.543 TFLOPS in both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio). The AMD card's FP16 is identical to its FP32, whereas the TITAN RTX doubles its FP16 output, giving it a further advantage in mixed-precision workloads.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test shows a 73.6% gap, with the TITAN RTX scoring 3,794 versus 1,001. Here, the memory subsystem plays a major role. The TITAN RTX has 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth from its 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, while the RX 590 GME has 256.0 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The TITAN RTX also has a higher boost clock at 1770 MHz versus 1420 MHz, and its pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 509.8 GTexel/s dwarf the AMD card's 45.44 GPixel/s and 204.5 GTexel/s. These factors combine to give the TITAN RTX a dominant position in a test that reflects modern game rendering.

The smallest margin is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the TITAN RTX leads 136,073 to 60,508, a 55.5% delta. This narrower gap suggests the RX 590 GME's GCN architecture is relatively more efficient in Vulkan than in OpenCL or DX12. Still, the TITAN RTX's advantage is massive in absolute terms. The RX 590 GME's 60,508 score is its best result in the data set relative to the TITAN RTX, but it remains less than half the NVIDIA card's output. Across all three tests, the TITAN RTX wins with deltas between 55.5% and 74.9%, and the RX 590 GME records zero wins.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet highlights the generational and class divide. The RX 590 GME uses 14 nm process technology, while the TITAN RTX uses 12 nm. The AMD card's boost clock is 1420 MHz, the NVIDIA card's is 1770 MHz. Memory differs completely: the RX 590 GME has 8 GB of GDDR5 at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) with a 256-bit bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth; the TITAN RTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) with a 384-bit bus and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute resources are sharply different. The RX 590 GME has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the TITAN RTX has 4,608 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The TITAN RTX adds 72 RT cores and 576 tensor cores, neither of which the RX 590 GME has. Pixel rate is 45.44 GPixel/s versus 169.9 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 204.5 GTexel/s versus 509.8 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 6.543 TFLOPS versus 16.31 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 6.543 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 32.62 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power and physical specs also differ. The RX 590 GME has a 175 W TDP, a single 8-pin connector, and a 450 W suggested PSU. The TITAN RTX has a 280 W TDP, dual 8-pin connectors, and a 600 W suggested PSU. The TITAN RTX is longer at 267 mm versus 241 mm, and it includes a USB Type-C output alongside its HDMI and DisplayPort, while the RX 590 GME offers only HDMI and DisplayPort. Both cards are dual-slot and use PCIe 3.0 x16. The TITAN RTX was released earlier, on 2018-12-17, versus the RX 590 GME's 2020-03-08 release. The TITAN RTX has a launch MSRP of 2,499 USD; the RX 590 GME has no listed launch MSRP.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The NVIDIA TITAN RTX wins decisively with a score of 3,794, which is 73.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME's 1,001.

Q: Does the RX 590 GME win any benchmark against the TITAN RTX?

A: No, the TITAN RTX wins all three head-to-head tests: Steel Nomad DX12, Geekbench OpenCL, and Geekbench Vulkan. The RX 590 GME has zero wins in the data set.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest delta is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the TITAN RTX scores 144,858 versus 36,294, a 74.9% advantage for NVIDIA.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX 590 GME has a higher average benchmark score of 32,601 versus the TITAN RTX's 31,676. This is because the TITAN RTX includes legacy Passmark DirectX and G2D tests that lower its average.

Q: Does the TITAN RTX support ray tracing hardware?

A: Yes, the TITAN RTX has 72 RT cores and 576 tensor cores, which the RX 590 GME lacks entirely. The TITAN RTX also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 590 GME only supports DirectX 12 (12_0).

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The TITAN RTX has 672.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth from 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, while the RX 590 GME has 256.0 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA TITAN RTX is the superior card for nearly every measurable workload. It wins all three head-to-head benchmarks, with deltas ranging from 55.5% to 74.9%. Its 4,608 shading units, 72 RT cores, and 576 tensor cores give it a massive compute advantage, and its 672.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth ensures it can feed those cores effectively. The TITAN RTX is the choice for anyone prioritizing raw performance in modern DirectX 12 titles, OpenCL compute, or Vulkan applications. Its higher TDP of 280 W and dual 8-pin connectors are a reasonable trade-off for a card that delivers 16.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The AMD Radeon RX 590 GME is not without merit, but its merits are contextual, not competitive. Its average benchmark score of 32,601 is higher than the TITAN RTX's 31,676, but that is an artifact of the test suite. In the three tests where both cards appear, the RX 590 GME trails by at least 55%. The card is best suited for legacy systems or workloads where its 175 W TDP and single 8-pin connector are acceptable, and where its 8 GB of GDDR5 is sufficient. Its 6.543 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is adequate for older titles and light compute, but it is not in the same league as the TITAN RTX.

For a buyer choosing between these two, the decision is simple. If the workload demands maximum performance in DX12, OpenCL, or Vulkan, the TITAN RTX is the only option worth considering. If the priority is a lower power draw, a shorter card at 241 mm, and a lower aggregate average score, the RX 590 GME exists as a budget alternative. The TITAN RTX's launch MSRP of 2,499 USD reflects its position at the top of the stack, while the RX 590 GME's lack of a listed MSRP suggests it was positioned differently. The data does not support any scenario where the RX 590 GME outperforms the TITAN RTX in a direct comparison.