AMD Radeon RX 7600 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records show a clear overall winner in the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, which takes 9 of the 10 head-to-head benchmark comparisons, but the margins and the single AMD victory are worth examining closely. The largest win for the RTX 3070 comes in the PassMark DirectX 10 test, where it scores 150 against the RX 7600's 84, a 78.6% advantage. This is followed by the PassMark DirectX 12 test, where the RTX 3070 leads 85 to 58, a 46.6% gap. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark also shows a substantial NVIDIA lead: 3162 versus 2310, which is 36.9% ahead. In the PassMark G3D test, the RTX 3070 posts 22214 against 16634, a 33.5% difference, and in Geekbench OpenCL it scores 112821 versus 88051, a 28.1% edge. The PassMark GPU Compute test follows the same pattern, with the RTX 3070 winning 11195 to 8790, a 27.4% margin.

The smaller NVIDIA wins are still consistent. PassMark DirectX 9 shows 247 versus 226, a 9.3% lead, while PassMark DirectX 11 is closer at 182 to 172, a 5.8% advantage. The PassMark G2D test is nearly a tie: 1001 to 984, a 1.7% difference. The single AMD victory is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RX 7600 scores 34401 against the RTX 3070's 21022, a 38.9% lead in the other direction. This is a notable reversal and suggests that the AMD card has a particular strength in Vulkan-based workloads, which could matter for certain games and compute applications. The average benchmark scores reflect this overall picture: the RTX 3070 averages 17208 across all recorded tests, while the RX 7600 averages 15171. That is a difference of about 13.4% in favor of NVIDIA, though the individual test results vary much more widely.

Where Each One Wins

Looking at the data, the RTX 3070 wins across almost every category of DirectX testing. It leads in DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, with the largest margins in the older DirectX 10 and the modern DirectX 12. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is particularly strong, suggesting that its ray tracing and DX12 feature set is well optimized. The Geekbench OpenCL result also points to solid general compute performance, as does the PassMark GPU Compute score. The RTX 3070 also edges out the RX 7600 in 2D graphics, though the margin is tiny at 1.7%.

The RX 7600's single win in Geekbench Vulkan is significant because Vulkan is widely used in modern game engines and cross-platform applications. A 38.9% lead in this specific API indicates that AMD's RDNA 3.0 architecture has a distinct Vulkan advantage, which could translate to better performance in Vulkan-based titles. However, the RX 7600 does not translate this into wins in any other recorded test. The PassMark DirectX 11 score is close at 172 versus 182, but still a NVIDIA win. So the use-case split is fairly simple: for most DirectX-based gaming and compute, the RTX 3070 is the stronger card, while the RX 7600 has a specific niche in Vulkan-heavy workloads. The percentile data also supports this: the RTX 3070 sits at the 61st percentile among all GPUs, while the RX 7600 is at the 57th percentile.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different process generations and foundries. The RTX 3070 uses NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, built on Samsung's 8 nm process, with a die size of 392 mm² and 17,400 million transistors, giving a transistor density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. The RX 7600 uses AMD's RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 6 nm process, with a much smaller die at 204 mm² and 13,300 million transistors, resulting in a higher density of 65.2 million per square millimeter. This means the RX 7600 packs more transistors per area, but the RTX 3070 has more total transistors and a larger physical chip.

The memory configurations differ notably. Both cards have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, but the RTX 3070 uses a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, while the RX 7600 uses a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The RTX 3070 has a clear bandwidth advantage. Clock speeds tell a different story: the RX 7600 has a base clock of 1720 MHz and a boost clock of 2655 MHz, with a game clock of 2250 MHz, while the RTX 3070 has a base of 1500 MHz and a boost of 1725 MHz. The RX 7600 runs much faster in raw clock terms.

The compute resources are structured differently. The RTX 3070 has 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units, along with 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The RX 7600 has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 32 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed. Despite the lower unit counts, the RX 7600 achieves a slightly higher FP32 throughput of 21.75 TFLOPS versus the RTX 3070's 20.31 TFLOPS, and a higher texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s versus 317.4 GTexel/s. The pixel rates are close, with the RX 7600 at 169.9 GPixel/s and the RTX 3070 at 165.6 GPixel/s. The RTX 3070's tensor cores give it an advantage in AI-related workloads, while the RX 7600 does not have this hardware.

Other differences include the power connectors: the RTX 3070 uses a single 12-pin connector with a 220 W TDP and a suggested 550 W PSU, while the RX 7600 uses a single 8-pin connector with a 165 W TDP and a suggested 450 W PSU. The bus interface also differs, with the RTX 3070 using PCIe 4.0 x16 and the RX 7600 using PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs are different as well, with the RTX 3070 offering 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 7600 offers 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1. The physical dimensions show the RTX 3070 is longer at 242 mm versus 204 mm for the RX 7600, though the heights are similar at 112 mm versus 115 mm.

The Verdict

The recorded benchmark data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the faster card in nearly every test, with an average score of 17208 compared to the RX 7600's 15171. The RTX 3070 wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head comparisons, and its margins are often large, especially in DirectX 12 and older DirectX APIs. The 36.9% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and the 33.5% lead in PassMark G3D are substantial. The RTX 3070 also has a higher percentile ranking at 61 versus 57, meaning it outperforms a larger share of the GPU population.

However, the RX 7600 is not without merit. Its 38.9% lead in Geekbench Vulkan is the largest single margin in either direction across all tests. For users who prioritize Vulkan-based workloads, this card has a clear advantage. The RX 7600 also has a lower TDP at 165 W versus 220 W, which could appeal to those with smaller power supplies, and it is a more recent release with an active production status, while the RTX 3070 is end-of-life. The RX 7600's launch MSRP is 269 USD, while the RTX 3070's launch MSRP is 499 USD. For those who need the best overall performance, the RTX 3070 is the choice based on the data. For those who specifically need Vulkan performance or prefer a newer card with lower power draw, the RX 7600 has a defined role.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the most benchmarks in the database?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head tests, with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 taking only 1.

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

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7600 leads by 38.9% in Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 34401 versus the RTX 3070's 21022. The largest NVIDIA margin is 78.6% in PassMark DirectX 10.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208, while the RX 7600 averages 15171.

Q: Which card has a higher memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3070 has a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 7600 has a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s.

Q: Does the RX 7600 have any advantage in compute performance?

A: The RX 7600 has a slightly higher FP32 throughput at 21.75 TFLOPS versus the RTX 3070's 20.31 TFLOPS, but it loses the PassMark GPU Compute test 11195 to 8790.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The RX 7600 boosts to 2655 MHz, while the RTX 3070 boosts to 1725 MHz, though the RTX 3070 still wins most benchmarks.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 | AMD Radeon RX 7600 |

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

| Process Node | 8 nm | 6 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | TSMC |

| Transistors | 17,400 million | 13,300 million |

| Die Size | 392 mm² | 204 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 44.4M / mm² | 65.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1500 MHz | 1720 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1725 MHz | 2655 MHz |

| Game Clock | N/A | 2250 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1750 MHz, 14 Gbps effective | 2250 MHz, 18 Gbps effective |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 448.0 GB/s | 288.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 5888 | 2048 |

| TMUs | 184 | 128 |

| ROPs | 96 | 64 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 46 | 32 |

| Tensor Cores | 184 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 165.6 GPixel/s | 169.9 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 317.4 GTexel/s | 339.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 20.31 TFLOPS | 21.75 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 220 W | 165 W |

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

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | 450 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.1a, 3x DisplayPort 2.1 |

| Length | 242 mm | 204 mm |

| Height | 112 mm | 115 mm |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2020-08-31 | 2023-05-24 |

| Launch MSRP | 499 USD | 269 USD |