AMD Radeon RX 9070 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile and AMD Radeon RX 9070 represent two very different approaches to high-performance graphics, separated by process generation and design philosophy. Benchmark data shows the desktop AMD card winning 8 of 10 head-to-head tests, yet the mobile NVIDIA part claims a decisive victory in Vulkan and a narrow one in DirectX 12, making this comparison less one-sided than raw averages suggest.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile has a higher average benchmark score of 25,740 compared to the AMD Radeon RX 9070's 23,877. The NVIDIA card also holds a better percentile rank at 71 versus AMD's 69.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 dominates this test with a score of 6,290 versus 2,869 for the NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti Mobile, a delta of -54.4% from NVIDIA's perspective. This is the largest single-test margin in the comparison.

Q: Does the NVIDIA card win any benchmark tests?

A: Yes, the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile wins two tests: Geekbench Vulkan with a score of 107,502 against 58,705 for AMD (an 83.1% advantage) and Passmark DirectX 12 with 88 versus 74 (an 18.9% advantage).

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: Both cards feature 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, but the AMD Radeon RX 9070 has significantly higher bandwidth at 644.6 GB/s compared to 512.0 GB/s for the NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti Mobile.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count and what is the process node difference?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 uses 53,900 million transistors on a 4 nm TSMC process, while the NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti Mobile uses 22,000 million transistors on an 8 nm Samsung process. The AMD card's transistor density is 151.0M per mm² versus 44.4M per mm² for NVIDIA.

Q: What is the TDP difference between these two GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 has a TDP of 220 W, nearly double the 115 W TDP of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile. The AMD card also requires 2x 8-pin power connectors and a 550 W suggested PSU, while the mobile NVIDIA part uses no power connectors.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is built on the Ampere architecture using the GA103 chip fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It packs 22,000 million transistors into a 496 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The GPU features 7,424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, 96 ROPs, 58 ray tracing cores, and 232 tensor cores. Its boost clock reaches 1260 MHz, and it achieves an FP32 performance of 18.71 TFLOPS with a matching FP16 figure at a 1:1 ratio.

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 employs the RDNA 4.0 architecture on the Navi 48 chip, manufactured by TSMC on a 4 nm process. This newer node allows AMD to integrate 53,900 million transistors into a smaller 357 mm² die, resulting in a far higher transistor density of 151.0M per mm². The AMD card contains 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, along with 56 ray tracing cores. It operates at a much higher boost clock of 2520 MHz with a game clock of 2070 MHz, delivering 36.13 TFLOPS in both FP32 and FP16.

The architectural philosophies diverge sharply. NVIDIA leans on a high shading unit count with a modest clock speed, while AMD uses fewer shading units but runs them at substantially higher frequencies. The NVIDIA part includes tensor cores for AI workloads, a feature the AMD card lacks entirely. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, but the AMD card uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface versus the older PCIe 4.0 x16 on NVIDIA. Display outputs also differ, with AMD offering 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a, while NVIDIA's outputs are portable-device dependent.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the AMD Radeon RX 9070 posts a score of 6,290 against 2,869 for the NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti Mobile. That is a 54.4% deficit for NVIDIA, the largest margin in either direction across all tests. This indicates the AMD card's raw DX12 throughput is in a different class entirely.

AMD also sweeps the Passmark suite with decisive wins in DirectX 11 (281 vs 164, a 41.6% margin), DirectX 9 (343 vs 201, a 41.4% margin), and GPU compute (14,737 vs 8,471, a 42.5% margin). In Passmark G3D, AMD leads 25,381 to 19,288, a 24% advantage. The G2D test shows AMD ahead at 1,280 versus 818, a 36.1% gap, and even DirectX 10 goes AMD's way at 141 versus 131, a narrower 7.1% margin. Geekbench OpenCL also favors AMD, with 131,539 versus 117,866, a 10.4% edge.

NVIDIA's counterattack comes in two areas. The Geekbench Vulkan result is a landslide for the mobile part: 107,502 versus 58,705, giving NVIDIA an 83.1% advantage. This suggests the Ampere architecture's Vulkan implementation is exceptionally strong relative to RDNA 4.0. In Passmark DirectX 12, NVIDIA wins 88 to 74, an 18.9% margin, showing that NVIDIA retains some DX12 capability despite the massive Steel Nomad deficit.

The win count stands at 8 for AMD and 2 for NVIDIA, but the average benchmark scores tell a different story. NVIDIA's average of 25,740 actually exceeds AMD's 23,877, because NVIDIA's Vulkan score is so far above AMD's that it lifts the overall average despite losing most tests. This highlights how benchmark selection can dramatically change the performance narrative.

Specification Differences

The most glaring difference is process technology: AMD uses TSMC's 4 nm node while NVIDIA relies on Samsung's 8 nm node. This drives the transistor count disparity, with AMD integrating 53,900 million transistors versus NVIDIA's 22,000 million. Die sizes also differ, with NVIDIA at 496 mm² and AMD at a more compact 357 mm².

Clock speeds favor AMD substantially. The RX 9070 boosts to 2520 MHz with a 2070 MHz game clock, while the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile boosts to only 1260 MHz. Base clocks are 1330 MHz for AMD and 810 MHz for NVIDIA. Memory clocks follow suit: AMD runs at 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective) versus NVIDIA's 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective).

Despite having fewer shading units (3,584 vs 7,424) and TMUs (224 vs 232), AMD achieves higher throughput. The RX 9070 delivers 564.5 GTexel/s and 322.6 GPixel/s, while the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile manages 292.3 GTexel/s and 121.0 GPixel/s. FP32 performance is nearly double on AMD: 36.13 TFLOPS versus 18.71 TFLOPS.

Power consumption is a major differentiator. The AMD card draws 220 W with a 550 W suggested PSU and dual 8-pin connectors, while the NVIDIA mobile part runs at just 115 W with no power connectors. The AMD card is dual-slot with dedicated display outputs, whereas the NVIDIA part is portable-device dependent. Bus interface also differs: PCIe 5.0 x16 for AMD versus PCIe 4.0 x16 for NVIDIA. Production status separates them further, with NVIDIA marked end-of-life (released January 2022) and AMD active (released March 2025). The AMD card has a launch MSRP of 549 USD.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear split based on use case and constraints. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the stronger performer in the majority of tests, particularly in DX11, DX9, compute, and the demanding 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 workload. It offers nearly double the FP32 throughput and 26% more memory bandwidth, backed by a much newer process node. For desktop users with adequate power delivery and cooling, the RX 9070 is the obvious choice for raw performance.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile wins decisively in Vulkan and edges ahead in DX12, but its real advantage is efficiency. At 115 W, it delivers competitive average scores with less than half the TDP of the AMD card. This makes it suitable for portable systems where power and thermal limits are strict. The Vulkan win by 83.1% is significant for applications that leverage that API, but it is an outlier compared to the rest of the benchmark suite.

Average benchmark scores favor NVIDIA (25,740 vs 23,877), which complicates the simple "AMD wins" narrative. However, the AMD card's wins are more consistent across the broader test suite, while NVIDIA's average is inflated by a single dominant Vulkan result. The percentile ranks are close (71 vs 69), placing both cards in similar overall tiers despite the architectural chasm.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Radeon RX 9070 wins in: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (6,290 vs 2,869), Passmark DirectX 11 (281 vs 164), Passmark DirectX 9 (343 vs 201), Passmark GPU Compute (14,737 vs 8,471), Passmark G3D (25,381 vs 19,288), Passmark G2D (1,280 vs 818), Passmark DirectX 10 (141 vs 131), and Geekbench OpenCL (131,539 vs 117,866). This suite covers most real-world gaming and compute workloads, making AMD the stronger all-rounder for DX11-era titles, general compute, and modern DX12 games that scale with raw throughput.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile wins in: Geekbench Vulkan (107,502 vs 58,705) and Passmark DirectX 12 (88 vs 74). The Vulkan result is exceptional, showing a massive API-level advantage that could matter for Vulkan-native applications. The DX12 win is narrower but still notable, suggesting NVIDIA retains some optimization edge in that API despite losing Steel Nomad by a wide margin.

For mobile or power-limited systems: NVIDIA's 115 W TDP versus AMD's 220 W makes the RTX 3080 Ti Mobile the only viable option in thin-and-light or battery-constrained environments. The lack of power connectors and portable-device-dependent outputs confirm its mobile intent.

For desktop systems with robust power delivery: AMD's 220 W TDP, dual 8-pin connectors, and 550 W suggested PSU indicate a card designed for conventional desktop use. Its superior memory bandwidth (644.6 GB/s vs 512.0 GB/s) and higher pixel/texture rates make it the pick for high-resolution gaming and content creation where those metrics matter.