AMD Radeon RX 6800 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER and AMD Radeon RX 6800 are both end-of-life graphics cards, but they represent different generations and design philosophies. The benchmark data shows a clear overall winner, yet the AMD card holds a significant advantage in one specific API test. This analysis breaks down the head-to-head results, architecture differences, and use-case scenarios based solely on the provided facts.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER dominates the benchmark suite, winning 9 out of 10 head-to-head tests. The most decisive victory comes in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER scores 199,267 points against the RX 6800's 24,508 points, a massive delta of 713.1%. This is an outlier result that suggests a fundamental difference in compute workload handling, but it is not an isolated win.

In DirectX 12, the modern gaming API, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER scores 119 in Passmark versus 89 for the RX 6800, a 33.7% advantage. The gap widens in DirectX 11, with scores of 278 and 214 respectively, a 29.9% difference. For legacy DirectX 10 and DirectX 9 titles, the NVIDIA card is also ahead by 41.4% and 40.1%, respectively. These consistent wins across multiple DirectX versions indicate a broad performance advantage in rasterization-heavy workloads.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, which is a more synthetic measure of modern gaming performance, shows the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER scoring 5,569 against 3,188 for the RX 6800. This is a 74.7% delta, making it the second-largest margin after the OpenCL result. The Passmark G3D score follows a similar pattern, with NVIDIA leading 31,811 to 22,067, a 44.2% difference.

The compute-oriented Passmark GPU Compute test also favors NVIDIA, with scores of 18,372 versus 10,864, a 69.1% advantage. Even the 2D performance metric, Passmark G2D, shows NVIDIA ahead at 1,225 versus 990, a 23.7% lead.

The sole victory for the AMD Radeon RX 6800 comes in the Geekbench Vulkan test. Here, AMD scores 115,107 points, while NVIDIA manages 53,683 points. This results in a delta of -53.4% from NVIDIA's perspective, meaning the RX 6800 is more than twice as fast in this specific Vulkan benchmark. This is a single, albeit significant, data point.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER uses the AD103 chip based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 uses the Navi 21 chip based on RDNA 2.0, fabricated on a 7 nm process, also at TSMC. This process node difference is a key factor in the performance gap, as the smaller 5 nm node allows for higher transistor density.

The NVIDIA chip contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 121.1 million transistors per square millimeter. In contrast, the AMD chip has 26,800 million transistors on a larger 520 mm² die, yielding a much lower density of 51.5 million per square millimeter. This means the NVIDIA chip packs significantly more complexity into a smaller physical area.

Shader core counts diverge sharply. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has 8,448 shading units, while the RX 6800 has 3,840. NVIDIA also leads in texture mapping units (TMUs) with 264 versus 240, but both cards have the same number of raster output units (ROPs) at 96. The RT core counts are closer, with NVIDIA at 66 and AMD at 60. NVIDIA also includes 264 tensor cores, while the RX 6800 has no tensor cores listed.

Clock speeds are another differentiator. The NVIDIA card has a base clock of 2340 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz. The AMD card has a lower base clock of 1700 MHz and a boost clock of 2105 MHz, though it also lists a game clock of 1815 MHz. The memory configuration differs in type and speed: NVIDIA uses 16 GB of GDDR6X with a 256-bit bus and 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth, while AMD uses 16 GB of GDDR6 with the same 256-bit bus but only 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Where Each One Wins

From the data, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the clear winner for the vast majority of workloads. Its dominance in DirectX 10, 11, and 12 tests indicates it is better suited for both current and legacy gaming titles. The 74.7% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 reinforces this, suggesting superior performance in modern game engines that rely on DirectX 12 features.

The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER also excels in compute-heavy tasks. The 69.1% lead in Passmark GPU Compute and the astronomical 713.1% lead in Geekbench OpenCL point to significant advantages in non-gaming workloads such as rendering, scientific simulation, and machine learning inference. The presence of 264 tensor cores on the NVIDIA card is a clear architectural advantage for AI-accelerated tasks, while the AMD card has none.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 wins in one specific area: the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark. With a score of 115,107 versus 53,683, it is more than twice as fast. This suggests that in applications or games that heavily utilize the Vulkan API, the RX 6800 can outperform the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER. However, this is an isolated result, and the Passmark G3D score, which includes Vulkan workloads, still heavily favors NVIDIA (31,811 vs 22,067).

The Verdict

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the superior product in nearly every measurable metric. It wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head comparisons, with margins ranging from 23.7% to 713.1%. Its average benchmark score of 31,087 is higher than the RX 6800's 30,095, and it sits at the 76th percentile versus the 75th for AMD.

The only scenario where the AMD Radeon RX 6800 is the better choice is if the primary use case involves Vulkan-based applications, where its Geekbench Vulkan score is more than double that of NVIDIA. For all other purposes—gaming across DirectX versions, general compute, and 3D rendering—the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the definitive pick. Its higher transistor count, newer process node, and larger shader core count translate into a substantial real-world performance lead.

The launch MSRP for the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is 799 USD, while the RX 6800 launched at 579 USD. The data shows the NVIDIA card delivers a performance advantage that is consistent and large, but the decision ultimately depends on the specific workload and API preference.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the most benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head tests, with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 winning only the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark.

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

A: The largest delta is in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER scores 199,267 versus 24,508 for the RX 6800, a 713.1% difference.

Q: Is the AMD card faster in any API?

A: Yes, the RX 6800 is significantly faster in the Geekbench Vulkan test, scoring 115,107 compared to the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's 53,683, a 53.4% margin.

Q: How do the memory bandwidths compare?

A: The NVIDIA card has a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s using GDDR6X memory, while the AMD card has 512.0 GB/s using GDDR6 memory. Both have a 256-bit bus width and 16 GB of memory.

Q: What are the average benchmark scores for each card?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has an average benchmark score of 31,087, while the RX 6800 has an average of 30,095.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has 8,448 shading units, while the AMD Radeon RX 6800 has 3,840.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER | AMD Radeon RX 6800 |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Chip | AD103 | Navi 21 |

| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | RDNA 2.0 |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 45,900 million | 26,800 million |

| Die Size | 379 mm² | 520 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 121.1M / mm² | 51.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 2340 MHz | 1700 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2610 MHz | 2105 MHz |

| Memory Type | GDDR6X | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bandwidth | 672.3 GB/s | 512.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 8448 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 264 | 240 |

| RT Cores | 66 | 60 |

| Tensor Cores | 264 | null |

| FP32 Performance | 44.10 TFLOPS | 16.17 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 44.10 TFLOPS (1:1) | 32.33 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 285 W | 250 W |

| Slot Width | Triple-slot | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | 1x 16-pin | 2x 8-pin |

| Launch MSRP | 799 USD | 579 USD |

| Release Date | 2024-01-23 | 2020-10-27 |