AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the majority of benchmark comparisons?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX wins 8 of the 10 head-to-head benchmark tests, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins only 2. The AMD card dominates across DirectX 10, 11, 12, 9, G2D, G3D, and compute workloads, while NVIDIA only takes the OpenCL and Vulkan tests.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the flagship 3DMark Steel Nomad test?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX scores 6841 points compared to 2572 for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile. That represents a 62.4% advantage for the AMD card in this DirectX 12 workload.

Q: Where does the NVIDIA GPU outperform the AMD card?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile leads in Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 106022 versus 50465, a 110.1% margin. It also wins Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 100027 against 85612, a 16.8% advantage.

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

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile has an average benchmark score of 23518, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX averages 19410. Despite winning only 2 head-to-head tests, the NVIDIA card holds a higher aggregate average across the full benchmark suite.

Q: How do the two cards rank against all GPUs in the database?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile sits at the 69th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX sits at the 64th percentile. The NVIDIA card's nearest rivals include the RTX 3080 Mobile at -0.5% and the GTX TITAN Z at -0.9%, while the AMD card's nearest rivals include the GTX 1060 3 GB at +0.4% and the Quadro K5200 at -1%.

Q: What are the launch dates for these two products?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile was released on January 3, 2022, and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX was released on November 2, 2022. Both products are now listed as end-of-life in the database.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different architectural approaches from their respective manufacturers. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile uses the GA104 chip built on Samsung's 8 nm process, containing 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX uses the Navi 31 chip, codenamed Plum Bonito, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm node with 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die. The transistor density figures illustrate the process gap: the AMD chip packs 109.1M transistors per square millimeter versus 44.4M for the NVIDIA chip.

The compute architectures diverge sharply. The NVIDIA card operates on the Ampere architecture with 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. The AMD card uses RDNA 3.0 with 6144 shading units, 384 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. Ray tracing hardware differs as well: NVIDIA implements 46 RT cores, while AMD provides 96 RT cores. Notably, NVIDIA includes 184 tensor cores for AI acceleration, a feature entirely absent from the AMD specification.

Clock behavior reveals another distinction. The NVIDIA GPU runs a base clock of 915 MHz and a boost clock of 1410 MHz, with memory at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The AMD card operates far higher, with a base clock of 1929 MHz, a boost clock of 2498 MHz, and a game clock of 2365 MHz, paired with memory at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). The memory subsystems also differ substantially: NVIDIA offers 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while AMD provides 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus achieving 960.0 GB/s.

The AMD card's raw throughput numbers dwarf the mobile NVIDIA part. Pixel rate reaches 479.6 GPixel/s on AMD versus 135.4 GPixel/s on NVIDIA. Texture rate is 959.2 GTexel/s versus 259.4 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 61.39 TFLOPS versus 16.60 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 122.8 TFLOPS (2:1 rate) versus 16.60 TFLOPS (1:1 rate). Power consumption reflects the performance disparity, with the NVIDIA card rated at 115 W TDP and the AMD card at 355 W TDP. The physical form factor also differs: the AMD card is dual-slot, measuring 287 mm in length, 110 mm in height, and 51 mm in width, while the mobile NVIDIA part has no fixed dimensions since it is portable-device dependent.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data paints a split picture, with AMD dominating in traditional rasterization workloads while NVIDIA wins in specific compute and graphics API tests. The largest single victory belongs to NVIDIA in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile scores 106022 against 50465 for the RX 7900 XTX. That is a 110.1% margin, the most decisive result in either direction across all ten tests. The NVIDIA card also takes Geekbench Vulkan with 100027 versus 85612, a 16.8% lead.

Every other benchmark favors the AMD card, and often by wide margins. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RX 7900 XTX scores 6841 versus 2572, a 62.4% advantage. Passmark G3D shows a similar story: 31238 versus 17727, a 43.3% gap. The Passmark DirectX 11 test delivers AMD's most emphatic win with 356 versus 153, a 57% margin. Passmark GPU Compute also goes decisively to AMD at 17689 versus 7504, a 57.6% difference.

The older DirectX workloads all favor AMD. DirectX 10 sees 166 versus 124, a 25.3% gap. DirectX 12 shows 131 versus 73, a 44.3% margin. DirectX 9 produces 330 versus 196, a 40.6% lead. Even the 2D test, Passmark G2D, goes to AMD at 1267 versus 783, a 38.2% difference.

Interpreting these results requires context from the average benchmark scores. Despite losing 8 of 10 direct comparisons, the NVIDIA card actually holds a higher average benchmark score at 23518 versus 19410 for AMD. This occurs because the Geekbench OpenCL result for NVIDIA is exceptionally high, inflating its aggregate. The percentile rankings reflect this tension: NVIDIA sits at the 69th percentile while AMD sits at the 64th percentile. The nearest rival data reinforces the oddity, as the RX 7900 XTX's closest comparables in the database include much older cards like the GTX 1060 3 GB (0.4% above) and the Quadro K5200 (1% below), while the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile aligns with the RTX 3080 Mobile (0.5% below) and GTX TITAN Z (0.9% above).

The Verdict

The data supports a clear separation of use cases. For traditional gaming workloads, particularly DirectX-based titles, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the stronger performer. Its wins span every Passmark DirectX test, from the legacy DirectX 9 through modern DirectX 12, and it holds a commanding lead in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark. The 62.4% margin in Steel Nomad, combined with the 43.3% lead in Passmark G3D, indicates that rasterization-heavy scenes will run substantially faster on the AMD card.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile, however, demonstrates exceptional strength in compute-oriented workloads. The 110.1% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL is remarkable, and the 16.8% lead in Vulkan suggests that certain API implementations favor the Ampere architecture. Users running OpenCL compute tasks or Vulkan-based applications may see better performance from the NVIDIA part despite its lower raw specification numbers.

Power and form factor considerations cannot be ignored. The NVIDIA card draws 115 W, making it suitable for laptops and portable devices, while the AMD card requires 355 W, a dual-slot cooler, two 8-pin power connectors, and a 750 W suggested power supply. The AMD card measures 287 mm in length, which demands a full-size desktop chassis. The NVIDIA card's portable-device-dependent display outputs and lack of power connectors reflect its mobile design intent.

The database's percentile rankings add nuance. The NVIDIA card sits at the 69th percentile of all GPUs, five points higher than the AMD card's 64th percentile. This suggests that in the broader context of all recorded GPUs, the mobile NVIDIA part occupies a higher relative standing, even though the AMD card wins most direct comparisons. The average benchmark scores align with this, showing 23518 for NVIDIA versus 19410 for AMD.

For desktop gamers seeking maximum rasterization throughput, the RX 7900 XTX is the clear choice based on the data. For mobile users or those prioritizing OpenCL compute performance, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile holds the advantage. The AMD card's 24 GB memory capacity and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth also make it more suitable for memory-intensive workloads, while the NVIDIA card's 8 GB and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth serve lighter tasks adequately.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX |

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

| Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 3.0 |

| Process Node | 8 nm | 5 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | TSMC |

| Transistors | 17,400 million | 57,700 million |

| Die Size | 392 mm² | 529 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 44.4M / mm² | 109.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 915 MHz | 1929 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1410 MHz | 2498 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) | 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 24 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 448.0 GB/s | 960.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 5888 | 6144 |

| TMUs | 184 | 384 |

| ROPs | 96 | 192 |

| RT Cores | 46 | 96 |

| Tensor Cores | 184 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 135.4 GPixel/s | 479.6 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 259.4 GTexel/s | 959.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 16.60 TFLOPS | 61.39 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 16.60 TFLOPS (1:1) | 122.8 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 115 W | 355 W |

| Power Connectors | None | 2x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | Not specified | 750 W |

| Slot Width | Not specified | Dual-slot |

| Dimensions | Portable Device Dependent | 287 mm x 110 mm x 51 mm |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C |

| Release Date | 2022-01-03 | 2022-11-02 |

| Launch MSRP | Not specified | 999 USD |

| Predecessor | GeForce 20 Mobile | Navi II |

| Successor | Not specified | Navi IV |