AMD Radeon RX 7700 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data reveals a dominant performance shift toward the AMD Radeon RX 7700, which secures 8 wins out of 9 recorded comparisons. The most decisive margin appears in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where the RX 7700 scores 2865 against the RTX 2070's 1569, a 45.2% advantage. This is the largest gap in the entire dataset and indicates a substantial lead in modern DirectX 12 workloads that heavily utilize current rendering pipelines.

Compute performance follows a similar trajectory. In Passmark GPU Compute, the RX 7700 posts 10963 versus 6411, a 41.5% lead. OpenCL results reinforce this pattern, with the RX 7700 at 106028 compared to 79966 for the RTX 2070, a 24.6% improvement. These numbers suggest the AMD card handles general-purpose GPU tasks with considerably more headroom, likely owing to its newer architecture and higher raw throughput.

The RX 7700 also wins decisively in DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 legacy tests. In Passmark DX11, it scores 186 against 129, a 30.6% margin. The DX12 test shows 96 versus 60, a 37.5% gap. Even in the older DirectX 9 benchmark, the RX 7700 leads with 261 versus 211, a 19.2% advantage. The consistency across multiple API generations indicates the performance lead is not confined to one specific software path but is broadly distributed.

The 2D graphics test also favors the RX 7700, with a score of 1206 versus 819, a 32.1% margin. This is notable because 2D performance is often less dependent on raw shader throughput and more on memory bandwidth and rasterization efficiency. The RX 7700's higher memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s compared to 448.0 GB/s likely contributes to this result.

The RTX 2070's sole victory comes in Passmark DirectX 10, where it scores 111 against 92, a 20.7% margin. This is an isolated result and may reflect driver optimizations for older APIs rather than a systemic advantage. In the overall Passmark G3D score, the RX 7700 leads with 20974 versus 16094, a 23.3% advantage. The average benchmark score, however, tells a more nuanced story: the RTX 2070 averages 18789 across all tests, while the RX 7700 averages 15852. This discrepancy arises because the average includes legacy and 2D tests where the weights differ, and the RTX 2070's nearest rivals are clustered around 18866, 18685, 18626, and 18954, all within 0.9% of its average. The RX 7700's nearest rivals sit at 15862, 16014, 15679, and 16129, with deltas between -1.7% and 1.1%.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design generations. The RTX 2070 uses the TU106 chip on NVIDIA's Turing architecture, manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It contains 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.3 million per mm². The RX 7700 uses the Navi 32 chip on AMD's RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 28,100 million transistors into a 346 mm² die, achieving a density of 81.2 million per mm². The density difference is stark: the RX 7700 crams nearly 3.4 times more transistors per square millimeter, a direct consequence of the newer process node.

The compute layouts differ significantly. The RTX 2070 has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. The RX 7700 counters with 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The RX 7700 also carries 40 ray accelerators compared to 36 RT cores on the RTX 2070. Notably, the RTX 2070 includes 288 tensor cores, a feature absent from the RX 7700. This means the NVIDIA card retains dedicated hardware for AI-accelerated workloads, while the AMD card relies on its standard shader array for such tasks.

Clock speeds favor the RX 7700 substantially. Its base clock is 1900 MHz with a boost of 2459 MHz and a game clock of 2041 MHz. The RTX 2070 runs at a base of 1410 MHz and boost of 1620 MHz. These frequency advantages translate directly into throughput: the RX 7700 delivers 25.18 TFLOPS FP32 and 25.18 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio), while the RTX 2070 delivers 7.465 TFLOPS FP32 and 14.93 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). The RX 7700's FP32 figure is more than triple the RTX 2070's, which explains the large compute benchmark gaps.

Memory configurations also diverge. The RTX 2070 offers 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, with a memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The RX 7700 doubles capacity to 16 GB of GDDR6, also on a 256-bit bus, but with a higher memory clock of 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective), yielding 624.1 GB/s. The RX 7700 benefits from PCIe 4.0 x16 connectivity compared to PCIe 3.0 x16 on the RTX 2070, doubling the potential host interface bandwidth.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 2070 was released on 2018-10-16 and is end-of-life, while the RX 7700 was released on 2025-09-17 and remains active. The RTX 2070 had a launch MSRP of 499 USD. The RX 7700 has no recorded launch MSRP in the database. Physical dimensions differ: the RTX 2070 is 229 mm long, 113 mm tall, and 35 mm wide, while the RX 7700 is 267 mm long, 135 mm tall, and 50 mm wide, making it a larger card overall.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7700 is the clear choice for modern gaming workloads. Its 45.2% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 demonstrates superior performance in current DirectX 12 titles that leverage ray tracing and advanced shading. The 37.5% advantage in Passmark DX12 further confirms this. For users running DirectX 11 games, the 30.6% margin in that benchmark indicates the RX 7700 handles older titles with ease as well. Even DirectX 9 legacy content runs 19.2% faster on the AMD card.

For compute-heavy applications, the RX 7700 dominates. The 41.5% lead in Passmark GPU Compute and 24.6% advantage in OpenCL make it the stronger option for rendering, simulation, or any workload that leverages general-purpose GPU processing. The FP32 throughput of 25.18 TFLOPS versus 7.465 TFLOPS is a decisive factor here. The RX 7700 also wins in 2D graphics by 32.1%, benefiting from its higher memory bandwidth and ROP count.

The RTX 2070's lone win in DirectX 10 (20.7% ahead) suggests it retains an edge in certain legacy API scenarios. This could matter for users running very old games or specialized applications that rely on DX10 paths. The presence of 288 tensor cores also gives the RTX 2070 a unique capability for AI inference workloads, though the database does not include a direct benchmark for this. The RTX 2070's smaller physical footprint (229 mm versus 267 mm) and lower TDP of 175 W versus 200 W may appeal to compact builds, though both cards are dual-slot.

FAQ

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

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 scores 2865 compared to 1569 for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, a 45.2% advantage.

Q: Does the RTX 2070 win any benchmarks?

A: Yes, the RTX 2070 wins Passmark DirectX 10 with a score of 111 versus 92, a 20.7% margin. It loses the other 8 recorded benchmarks.

Q: How much more memory does the RX 7700 have?

A: The RX 7700 has 16 GB of GDDR6, double the 8 GB on the RTX 2070. Both use a 256-bit bus, but the RX 7700 has higher bandwidth at 624.1 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The RX 7700 has 81.2 million transistors per mm² on a 5 nm process, while the RTX 2070 has 24.3 million per mm² on a 12 nm process.

Q: Which card has tensor cores?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 includes 288 tensor cores. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 has no tensor cores listed in the database.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The RTX 2070 averages 18789 across all tests, while the RX 7700 averages 15852. The RX 7700's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, averages 16129.

The Verdict

The data points to a decisive recommendation for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 in nearly every measurable category. It wins 8 of 9 head-to-head benchmarks, with margins ranging from 19.2% to 45.2%. Its modern 5 nm process, 16 GB of memory, higher clock speeds, and more than triple the FP32 throughput make it the superior choice for contemporary gaming and compute workloads. The 3DMark Steel Nomad result alone, a 45.2% lead, signals that the RX 7700 is far better prepared for next-generation DirectX 12 games.

The RTX 2070 retains relevance only in niche scenarios. Its DirectX 10 win, the presence of tensor cores, and a lower TDP of 175 W are the sole advantages. For users running legacy DX10 applications or requiring dedicated AI acceleration hardware, the RTX 2070 still has a place. Its end-of-life status and the absence of modern features like PCIe 4.0 and higher memory bandwidth, however, limit its long-term viability.

The percentile standings confirm the broader context. The RTX 2070 sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while the RX 7700 sits at the 58th percentile. This seems counterintuitive given the RX 7700's benchmark wins, but the percentile reflects average scores across a wide range of tests, and the RTX 2070's average of 18789 is higher than the RX 7700's 15852. The RX 7700's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9060, scores 16014, indicating that the RX 7700's average is competitive within its own class. Ultimately, the RX 7700 is the better choice for modern workloads, while the RTX 2070 serves a narrow legacy or AI-focused niche.