AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT represent two very distinct eras of graphics hardware. The database records only a single shared benchmark between them, the Geekbench OpenCL test, which provides a direct point of comparison. In that test, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT scores 18,290 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 scores 13,515 points. This places the AMD card 26.1% ahead of the older NVIDIA model. This is a substantial performance gap, reflective of the technological progression between their respective release periods.

Looking at the broader context, the GeForce GTX 570 sits at the 54th percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 13,515. Its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon HD 7770M (13,536 points, which is 0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT (13,543 points, also 0.2% higher), the NVIDIA P106-090 (13,470 points, which is 0.3% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 555 (13,407 points, which is 0.8% lower). These figures show that the GTX 570 performs in a tightly clustered group, with all rivals within a 1% margin of its score. The data suggests that the GTX 570, while old, is not entirely obsolete in raw compute tasks, remaining competitive with much newer entry-level and mobile parts.

In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT has an average benchmark score of 11,627 across all its recorded tests, placing it at the 51st percentile. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (11,680 points, which is 0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M (11,528 points, which is 0.9% lower), the NVIDIA Tesla K20c (11,479 points, which is 1.3% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (11,842 points, which is 1.8% higher). These rivals are all within a 2% band of the RX 7800 XT's average score, indicating that its average performance is comparable to a range of mid-range and older high-end cards. However, the RX 7800 XT's individual benchmark scores vary widely, from a low of 93 in the Passmark DirectX 12 test to a high of 24,176 in the Passmark G3D test, showing its strength in certain workloads and relative weakness in others.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher raw compute score in the shared benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is 26.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 in the Geekbench OpenCL test, scoring 18,290 points versus 13,515 points.

Q: How does the GTX 570 compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The GTX 570 is extremely close to its nearest rivals. It is only 0.2% behind both the AMD Radeon HD 7770M and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, and it is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA P106-090. It also leads the AMD Radeon Pro 555 by 0.8%.

Q: What is the RX 7800 XT's performance spread across different benchmark types?

A: The RX 7800 XT shows a wide range of results. Its highest recorded score is 24,176 in the Passmark G3D test, while its lowest is 93 in the Passmark DirectX 12 test. It also records 54,228 in Geekbench Vulkan and 18,290 in Geekbench OpenCL.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT has 3,840 shading units, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 has 480 shading units.

Q: What is the difference in their process nodes?

A: The GTX 570 is manufactured on a 40 nm process, while the RX 7800 XT uses a 5 nm process. Both are fabricated by TSMC.

Q: Which card has a higher reported transistor density?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT has a transistor density of 81.2M per mm², which is significantly higher than the GTX 570's 5.8M per mm².

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on vastly different architectures. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 uses the Fermi 2.0 architecture, specifically the GF110 chip, which is part of the GeForce 500 generation. This architecture is from an era before dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, and the GTX 570 does not feature any such hardware. Its DirectX support is listed as 12 (11_0), which means it can run DirectX 12 titles but only with the feature level of the older DirectX 11. It also supports OpenGL 4.6 but has no listed Vulkan support.

In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, using the Navi 32 chip, and belongs to the Radeon RX 7000 series and the Navi III generation. This modern architecture includes 60 dedicated ray tracing cores, which the GTX 570 lacks entirely. The RX 7800 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which is the most recent feature set, along with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The architectural leap is also evident in the number of execution units: the RX 7800 XT has 3,840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units, compared to the GTX 570's 480 shading units, 60 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. This massive difference in core counts directly translates to the performance gap observed in benchmarks.

The manufacturing process also highlights the generational divide. The GTX 570 is built on a 40 nm node with 3,000 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 5.8M per mm². The RX 7800 XT, on the other hand, uses a 5 nm node with 28,100 million transistors on a smaller 346 mm² die, resulting in a density of 81.2M per mm². This means the newer card packs over nine times more transistors into a smaller physical area, enabling both higher performance and more advanced features.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets for these two cards show differences in nearly every category except for a few physical attributes. Both cards are dual-slot designs and have the same length of 267 mm (10.5 inches). However, the power and interface requirements differ. The GTX 570 uses two 6-pin power connectors and has a suggested power supply of 550 W, while the RX 7800 XT requires two 8-pin connectors and a 600 W power supply. The GTX 570's thermal design power is 219 W, while the RX 7800 XT is rated at 263 W.

Memory is another area of stark contrast. The GTX 570 has 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing 152.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its memory runs at 950 MHz (3.8 Gbps effective). The RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a much higher bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. Its memory clock is 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective). The newer card also has a significantly higher base clock of 1295 MHz, a game clock of 2124 MHz, and a boost clock of 2430 MHz, whereas the GTX 570's base and boost clocks are not listed in the database.

The bus interface also shows progress. The GTX 570 uses PCIe 2.0 x16, while the RX 7800 XT uses the faster PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs differ as well: the GTX 570 offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a, while the RX 7800 XT provides 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1. The reported pixel and texture rates are also vastly different, with the RX 7800 XT achieving 233.3 GPixel/s and 583.2 GTexel/s, versus the GTX 570's 21.96 GPixel/s and 43.92 GTexel/s. The floating-point performance (FP32) is 37.32 TFLOPS for the RX 7800 XT versus 1,405.4 GFLOPS for the GTX 570. The RX 7800 XT also has FP16 performance at 37.32 TFLOPS (1:1), a feature not listed for the GTX 570.

The production status and release dates also tell the story. The GTX 570 is end-of-life, released on December 6, 2010, with a launch MSRP of 349 USD. The RX 7800 XT is active, released on September 5, 2023, with a launch MSRP of 499 USD. The GTX 570's predecessor is the GeForce 400 series and its successor is the GeForce 600 series. The RX 7800 XT's predecessor is Navi II and its successor is Navi IV.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the recorded data, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the clear performance winner in the single shared benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL test, where it is 26.1% faster. However, the two cards serve entirely different purposes due to their age and capabilities. The GTX 570, with its end-of-life status and lack of modern features like ray tracing cores, is not suited for contemporary demanding workloads. Its performance is closely matched by a cluster of low-end and older parts, as shown by its nearest rivals all being within 1% of its score.

The RX 7800 XT, despite its lower percentile ranking (51st versus 54th), offers a broader feature set and significantly higher raw compute power in the specific comparison available. Its high scores in modern APIs like Vulkan (54,228) and its ray tracing support make it a viable option for current gaming and compute tasks. The GTX 570, with its limited DirectX 12 (11_0) support and no Vulkan, is restricted to older software. The verdict is that the RX 7800 XT is the superior card for any modern use case, while the GTX 570 is a legacy part best suited for retro or low-demand applications.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT wins in the head-to-head benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL test, with a score of 18,290 versus 13,515 for the GTX 570. This indicates that the RX 7800 XT is stronger in general-purpose compute workloads that leverage OpenCL. Additionally, its specification sheet shows advantages in every performance-related metric: higher memory bandwidth (624.1 GB/s versus 152.0 GB/s), higher pixel rate (233.3 GPixel/s versus 21.96 GPixel/s), higher texture rate (583.2 GTexel/s versus 43.92 GTexel/s), and higher FP32 performance (37.32 TFLOPS versus 1,405.4 GFLOPS). The RX 7800 XT also supports ray tracing and Vulkan 1.4, making it the winner for any application that uses these modern APIs.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 does not win any recorded benchmark against the RX 7800 XT. Its only potential advantage lies in its lower thermal design power (219 W versus 263 W) and its lower suggested power supply requirement (550 W versus 600 W), which could make it easier to install in older systems with less robust power delivery. Its nearest rivals in the database are all low-performance cards, suggesting that it is competitive only in that performance tier. For users with legacy software that does not support modern APIs, the GTX 570 may still function, but the data shows it offers no performance advantage over the RX 7800 XT. Therefore, the RX 7800 XT is the recommended choice for all benchmarked workloads, while the GTX 570 is only relevant for historical or extremely low-power scenarios.