AMD Radeon RX 9070 vs NVIDIA Quadro GV100 Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 and NVIDIA Quadro GV100 are separated by just 0.3% in average benchmark score (34,780 vs 34,677), yet they represent two very different design philosophies. The RX 9070 is a current-generation RDNA 4.0 part on TSMC's 4 nm process, while the GV100 is an end-of-life Volta workstation card built on 12 nm. The RX 9070 carries a launch MSRP of 549 USD; the GV100 launched at 8,999 USD. Despite the price gap, their aggregate performance is nearly identical, with the RX 9070 holding a 79th percentile rank versus 78th for the GV100. Head-to-head tests reveal a clear split: the AMD card wins seven of nine benchmarks, while the NVIDIA card takes two.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RX 9070's most decisive victory comes in Passmark's DirectX 11 test, where it scores 281 against 168, a 67.3% advantage. The same pattern holds in DirectX 9 (343 vs 207, +65.7%) and GPU compute (14,737 vs 9,069, +62.5%). These three wins alone show a dominant trend: the AMD card is far ahead in legacy DirectX rasterization and compute workloads measured by Passmark. The Vulkan test also swings heavily toward AMD, with 165,532 versus 137,547, a 20.3% lead. In the broader graphics benchmark, Passmark G3D, the RX 9070 posts 25,381 against 19,650, a 29.2% edge, while the G2D test shows a 53.1% advantage (1,280 vs 836). Even the DirectX 10 test goes to AMD, though by a hair: 141 to 140, a 0.7% difference.

The GV100 fights back in OpenCL, scoring 144,393 against 133,741, a 7.4% lead. Its only other victory is DirectX 12, where it posts 84 to 74, an 11.9% edge. These two wins are notable because they represent compute API and a modern graphics API, but they do not offset the breadth of AMD's success. In the aggregate, the RX 9070's average benchmark score of 34,780 is marginally higher than the GV100's 34,677, a 0.3% difference. The head-to-head record—7 wins for AMD, 2 for NVIDIA—underscores that the RX 9070 is the stronger performer across the tested suite, even though the overall average is nearly tied.

Where Each One Wins

Benchmark results indicate that the RX 9070 dominates legacy DirectX APIs (9, 10, 11), Vulkan, and both 2D and 3D Passmark tests. It also wins the Passmark GPU compute test, which measures general-purpose compute performance. This suggests that the RDNA 4.0 architecture is well optimized for a broad range of graphics and compute tasks, particularly those using Vulkan or older DirectX versions. The GV100, by contrast, holds advantages in OpenCL and DirectX 12. The OpenCL win is interesting because it is a compute API commonly used in scientific and professional workloads; the DirectX 12 win indicates that the Volta architecture handles the modern Microsoft API better than RDNA 4.0 in this specific test.

The GV100's hardware features—32 GB of HBM2 memory on a 4096-bit bus delivering 868.4 GB/s, and 640 tensor cores—are not directly reflected in these benchmark outcomes. The RX 9070, with 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus (644.6 GB/s) and no tensor cores, still manages to win the majority of tests. The data does not show a direct correlation between memory capacity or bandwidth and performance in this suite, nor does the presence of tensor cores translate into wins in the tested workloads. The RX 9070's 56 ray tracing cores also do not appear to influence these specific benchmarks, as none of the tests are ray tracing–specific.

The Verdict

For users whose workloads align with the majority of benchmarks—DirectX 9/10/11, Vulkan, general 3D rendering, and Passmark's compute test—the AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the clear choice. It wins seven of nine head-to-head tests, holds a higher average score, and is an active product with a recent release date. The NVIDIA Quadro GV100, while still competitive in OpenCL and DirectX 12, is end-of-life and trails in most other metrics. Its 32 GB memory and tensor cores are distinguishing features, but within the tested suite they do not yield superior results. The data suggests that the RX 9070 is the more versatile and better-performing GPU for the workloads covered by these benchmarks, while the GV100 may be preferable only in OpenCL-heavy or DirectX 12–specific scenarios.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 boosts to 2520 MHz, while the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 boosts to 1627 MHz.

Q: How do their memory configurations differ?

A: The RX 9070 uses 16 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth; the GV100 uses 32 GB HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus with 868.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The Quadro GV100 has 5,120 shading units, while the RX 9070 has 3,584.

Q: Does either card support hardware ray tracing?

A: The RX 9070 has 56 ray tracing cores; the GV100 has no RT cores.

Q: Which GPU has tensor cores?

A: The Quadro GV100 has 640 tensor cores; the RX 9070 has none listed.

Q: What are the API support differences?

A: The RX 9070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GV100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on vastly different process nodes and architectures. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 uses the Navi 48 chip on RDNA 4.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 4 nm process. It contains 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 151.0 million per mm². The NVIDIA Quadro GV100 uses the GV100 chip on Volta architecture, also from TSMC but on a 12 nm process. It packs 21,100 million transistors on a much larger 815 mm² die, with a density of just 25.9 million per mm². The RX 9070's smaller, denser design is a product of its modern fabrication.

Memory subsystems differ fundamentally. The RX 9070 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 644.6 GB/s. The GV100 offers 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, reaching 868.4 GB/s. The GV100 also has a higher memory clock (848 MHz base, 1696 Mbps effective) compared to the RX 9070's 2518 MHz memory clock (20.1 Gbps effective), though the effective bandwidth comparison favors the GV100.

Compute resources are distributed differently. The RX 9070 has 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 ROPs, along with 56 ray tracing cores. The GV100 has 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, plus 640 tensor cores but no RT cores. Clock speeds also diverge: the RX 9070 runs at a base of 1330 MHz and boost of 2520 MHz (game clock 2070 MHz), while the GV100 runs at 1132 MHz base and 1627 MHz boost. Consequently, the RX 9070 achieves 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 and 72.25 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), whereas the GV100 delivers 16.66 TFLOPS FP32 and 33.32 TFLOPS FP16.

Power and connectivity also differ. The RX 9070 has a 220 W TDP and uses two 8-pin power connectors, with a suggested PSU of 550 W. The GV100 has a 250 W TDP, a single 8-pin connector, and a 600 W suggested PSU. The RX 9070 uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while the GV100 is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs vary: the RX 9070 provides 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a, while the GV100 offers 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RX 9070 is dual-slot, as is the GV100, but the GV100 has defined dimensions of 267 mm length and 111 mm height. Production status also differs: the RX 9070 is active, while the GV100 is end-of-life, with a release date of 2025-03-05 versus 2018-03-26. The GV100's predecessor is Quadro Pascal and its successor is Quadro Turing; the RX 9070's predecessor is Navi III.