AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX represent two very different generations of GPU design, with the latter being a much larger and more capable card on paper. However, the benchmark data tells a more complex story than a simple generational leap. The RTX 2070 SUPER wins the compute-oriented Geekbench tests, while the RX 7900 XTX dominates the DirectX and 3DMark tests. This split means your choice hinges entirely on your workload, as the data shows that each card is the definitive winner in its respective domain.

The Verdict

The data clearly separates these two cards into distinct roles. If your primary concern is raw graphics performance in modern 3D applications and DirectX-based games, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the unambiguous choice. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6841 is over four times higher than the RTX 2070 SUPER's 1651, a decisive win. It also takes the PassMark G3D crown with a score of 31238, beating the RTX 2070 SUPER's 18169 by a significant 41.8%. For users building a high-end gaming rig or a workstation for DirectX-heavy tasks, the RX 7900 XTX is the only option between the two.

Conversely, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER has a surprising edge in general-purpose and compute workloads. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 83358 is 65.2% higher than the RX 7900 XTX's 50465. It also wins the Geekbench Vulkan test, scoring 90637 versus 85612, a 5.9% lead. This indicates that for applications relying on OpenCL compute or the Vulkan API, the older NVIDIA card is actually the better performer. The verdict is not about which is "better" overall, but which is better for your specific software stack. The RX 7900 XTX is for graphics; the RTX 2070 SUPER is for specific compute tasks.

The average benchmark scores are deceptively close, with the RTX 2070 SUPER at 20282 and the RX 7900 XTX at 19410. This is a case where the average is misleading, as it masks the massive variance in performance across different test types. The RX 7900 XTX wins 8 out of 10 head-to-head benchmarks, but the two it loses are dominant wins for the NVIDIA card. The data suggests that if your software is not heavily reliant on OpenCL or Vulkan, the RX 7900 XTX will provide a massively faster experience.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and manufacturing processes. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is based on the Turing architecture, using the TU104 chip manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It packs 13,600 million transistors on a 545 mm² die. In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip, built on a much more advanced 5 nm process, also at TSMC. This newer process allows AMD to pack a staggering 57,700 million transistors onto a similar-sized 529 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 109.1M / mm² compared to NVIDIA's 25.0M / mm².

The feature sets also differ significantly. The RTX 2070 SUPER includes 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, which are absent from the RX 7900 XTX's specification sheet. While the RX 7900 XTX has 96 RT cores, it lacks the dedicated tensor cores found in the NVIDIA card. The AMD card compensates with a much higher raw throughput, boasting 61.39 TFLOPS of FP32 performance versus the RTX 2070 SUPER's 9.062 TFLOPS. This is a massive difference, hinting at the RX 7900 XTX's raw computational power. Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API-level support is not a differentiator.

The memory subsystems are also from different eras. The RTX 2070 SUPER uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The RX 7900 XTX is equipped with 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 7900 XTX also has a faster base clock of 1929 MHz and a boost clock of 2498 MHz, compared to the RTX 2070 SUPER's 1605 MHz and 1770 MHz respectively. These architectural and memory differences explain the performance gulf seen in the benchmarks.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark results create a clear dichotomy: the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX wins in nearly every traditional graphics and gaming scenario, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER wins in specific compute and API tests. The RX 7900 XTX's wins in PassMark DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests (scores of 330, 166, 356, and 131 respectively) show it is superior across all legacy and modern DirectX APIs. Its g2D score of 1267 also beats the RTX 2070 SUPER's 878, indicating better 2D acceleration and desktop rendering performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result reinforces this, showing a dominant victory for AMD.

The NVIDIA card's victories are more specialized. The Geekbench OpenCL score is the most significant, with the RTX 2070 SUPER achieving 83358 versus the RX 7900 XTX's 50465. This 65.2% lead suggests that software optimized for OpenCL will run considerably better on the NVIDIA card. The Geekbench Vulkan win, while smaller at 5.9%, is still notable. It shows that in some Vulkan workloads, the RTX 2070 SUPER can pull ahead, possibly due to driver optimizations or architectural efficiencies in that specific API. For users whose primary applications are OpenCL-based (like some scientific computing or rendering tools), the RTX 2070 SUPER is the surprising winner here.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX always faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER?

A: No. While it wins 8 of 10 head-to-head benchmarks, the RTX 2070 SUPER wins the Geekbench OpenCL test by 65.2% and the Geekbench Vulkan test by 5.9%. In those specific workloads, the older NVIDIA card is faster.

Q: Which card is better for modern DirectX 12 gaming?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is decisively better. It scores 131 in the PassMark DirectX 12 test versus the RTX 2070 SUPER's 67, and it achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6841 compared to 1651.

Q: Does the RTX 2070 SUPER have any advantages in compute performance?

A: Yes, in OpenCL compute tasks. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 83358 is significantly higher than the RX 7900 XTX's 50465, making it the better choice for OpenCL-heavy applications.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has a slightly higher average benchmark score of 20282, while the RX 7900 XTX averages 19410. However, this average is heavily skewed by the RTX 2070 SUPER's massive wins in the Geekbench tests and does not reflect the RX 7900 XTX's dominance in graphics tests.

Q: Which card has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 2070 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s.

Q: Are there any architectural features unique to the NVIDIA card?

A: Yes, the RTX 2070 SUPER includes 320 tensor cores, which are not listed for the RX 7900 XTX. It also has 40 RT cores, compared to the RX 7900 XTX's 96 RT cores.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result is in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX scores 6841, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER manages only 1651. This represents a 75.9% deficit for the NVIDIA card, the largest margin in any test. It shows that in a modern, demanding DirectX 12 workload, the RX 7900 XTX is in a completely different performance class. The PassMark G3D test confirms this trend, with the RX 7900 XTX scoring 31238 against 18169, a 41.8% advantage.

The RX 7900 XTX also shows strong wins in the older DirectX APIs. In the PassMark DirectX 11 test, it scores 356 versus the RTX 2070 SUPER's 151, a 57.6% difference. The DirectX 9 test shows a similar story, with scores of 330 and 223 respectively, a 32.4% gap. Even the DirectX 10 test, where the scores are lower, shows a 20.5% lead for AMD (166 vs 132). These results indicate that the RX 7900 XTX's architectural advantages apply to both modern and legacy graphics APIs.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER's biggest win is in the Geekbench OpenCL test. Its score of 83358 dwarfs the RX 7900 XTX's 50465, giving it a 65.2% lead. This is a massive difference and suggests a fundamental advantage in how the Turing architecture handles OpenCL compute workloads. The Geekbench Vulkan test is much closer, with the RTX 2070 SUPER scoring 90637 versus 85612, a 5.9% win. While the margin is smaller, it still demonstrates that in Vulkan compute, the NVIDIA card holds a measurable edge over the much newer AMD flagship. The PassMark GPU Compute test goes the other way, with the RX 7900 XTX winning 17689 to 7557, a 57.3% difference, showing that the AMD card is not universally slower in compute, but is instead highly workload-dependent.

Specification Differences

The most obvious difference is in the memory configuration. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER has only 8 GB. This is coupled with a 384-bit memory bus and 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth on the AMD card, versus a 256-bit bus and 448.0 GB/s on the NVIDIA card. The RX 7900 XTX also has significantly more processing units, with 6144 shading units, 384 TMUs, and 192 ROPs, compared to the RTX 2070 SUPER's 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs.

The compute capabilities are also vastly different. The RX 7900 XTX offers 61.39 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 122.8 TFLOPS of FP16, whereas the RTX 2070 SUPER provides 9.062 TFLOPS and 18.12 TFLOPS respectively. The RX 7900 XTX has a higher base clock of 1929 MHz and a boost clock of 2498 MHz, compared to the RTX 2070 SUPER's 1605 MHz and 1770 MHz. The process node is a major differentiator, with AMD using a 5 nm process versus NVIDIA's 12 nm, leading to a much higher transistor density for the RX 7900 XTX (109.1M / mm² vs 25.0M / mm²).

The power requirements are also on different scales. The RX 7900 XTX has a TDP of 355 W and requires a 750 W power supply, while the RTX 2070 SUPER has a TDP of 215 W and a suggested 550 W PSU. The physical dimensions differ, with the RX 7900 XTX being longer (287 mm vs 267 mm) and wider (51 mm vs 35 mm), though the RTX 2070 SUPER is taller (116 mm vs 110 mm). Both are dual-slot cards, but the RX 7900 XTX requires two 8-pin power connectors, while the RTX 2070 SUPER uses one 6-pin and one 8-pin. The bus interface is also newer on the AMD card, using PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16 on the NVIDIA card.