AMD Radeon RX 9070 vs NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Radeon RX 9070 compare to the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 in overall average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 has an average benchmark score of 23877, while the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 records 21629. That places the RX 9070 roughly 10% ahead in aggregate performance, and the gap is consistent across most individual tests.

Q: Which card wins in compute-heavy workloads?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 dominates compute. In the PassMark GPU Compute test, it scores 14737 against 6525 for the Quadro RTX 5000, a 125.9% advantage. The Geekbench OpenCL result reinforces this: 131539 for AMD versus 78999 for NVIDIA, a 66.5% lead.

Q: Is there any test where the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 comes out ahead?

A: Yes, one notable case: the Geekbench Vulkan test. The Quadro RTX 5000 scores 92309, while the RX 9070 manages 58705. That is a 36.4% margin in NVIDIA's favor, indicating a significant difference in Vulkan API performance.

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

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 sits at the 69th percentile, while the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 is at the 67th percentile. Both are above the median, but the RX 9070 holds a slightly higher standing in the overall distribution.

Q: What are the nearest performance rivals for each card?

A: For the RX 9070, the closest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (0.6% ahead) and the AMD Radeon RX 6800S (0.8% behind). For the Quadro RTX 5000, the nearest is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB (1% behind) and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (1.2% ahead).

Q: Which card has more shading units and texture units?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 has 3584 shading units and 224 TMUs, compared to 3072 shading units and 192 TMUs on the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000. The RX 9070 also has 128 ROPs versus 64 on the Quadro, which explains its much higher pixel rate.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 48 chip, fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It packs 53,900 million transistors into a 357 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 151.0 million per mm². The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000, in contrast, uses the Turing architecture with the TU104 chip, on a 12 nm process. It has 13,600 million transistors on a much larger 545 mm² die, resulting in a density of only 25.0 million per mm². The process advantage is stark: AMD fits more than four times the transistor density into a smaller package.

Memory configurations are similar in capacity but not in speed. Both cards feature 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. However, the RX 9070 achieves 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth with a memory clock of 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective), while the Quadro RTX 5000 operates at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for 448.0 GB/s. That is a 43.9% bandwidth advantage for the AMD card.

Ray tracing hardware is present on both, but the RX 9070 has 56 RT cores versus 48 on the Quadro RTX 5000. The NVIDIA card also includes 384 tensor cores, a feature absent from the AMD architecture. The RX 9070 supports PCIe 5.0 x16, while the Quadro RTX 5000 is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs also differ: the RX 9070 offers one HDMI 2.1b and three DisplayPort 2.1a connections, while the Quadro RTX 5000 provides four DisplayPort 1.4a and one USB Type-C port.

The compute capabilities diverge significantly. The RX 9070 delivers 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 and 36.13 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio). The Quadro RTX 5000 produces 11.15 TFLOPS FP32 and 22.30 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). AMD's FP32 throughput is more than three times higher, and its FP16 matches FP32 rather than halving it.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results show a clear pattern of AMD dominance, but with one important exception. Across nine recorded tests, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 wins eight, while the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 takes one. The most lopsided victory for AMD comes in the PassMark GPU Compute test, where the RX 9070 scores 14737 versus 6525, a 125.9% margin. This is followed by the PassMark DirectX 11 test, where AMD leads 281 to 140, a 100.7% advantage.

In the PassMark G3D test, the RX 9070 scores 25381 against 15616 for the Quadro RTX 5000, a 62.5% lead. The Geekbench OpenCL test shows a 66.5% margin in AMD's favor, with scores of 131539 and 78999 respectively. The PassMark DirectX 9 test also favors AMD heavily: 343 versus 195, a 75.9% difference. The G2D test shows a 80.5% lead for AMD at 1280 versus 709. Even the DirectX 10 and DirectX 12 tests, while closer, still go to AMD with margins of 24.8% and 25.4% respectively.

The single NVIDIA win is in the Geekbench Vulkan test. Here, the Quadro RTX 5000 posts 92309, while the RX 9070 manages 58705. That 36.4% margin is substantial and suggests NVIDIA's Vulkan driver stack or hardware implementation has a real advantage in this specific API. It is importantly this is the only test where the older Turing card outperforms the newer RDNA 4 card, which may matter for users running Vulkan-based applications or games.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every fundamental specification. The process node is 4 nm for the RX 9070 versus 12 nm for the Quadro RTX 5000. Transistor count is 53,900 million versus 13,600 million, and die size is 357 mm² versus 545 mm². The RX 9070 has 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, while the Quadro RTX 5000 has 3072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Ray tracing cores are 56 versus 48, and the NVIDIA card has 384 tensor cores that AMD lacks.

Clock speeds also differ. The RX 9070 has a base clock of 1330 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with a game clock of 2070 MHz. The Quadro RTX 5000 runs at a base of 1620 MHz and a boost of 1815 MHz, with no game clock listed. Despite lower base clocks, the RX 9070's boost is substantially higher. Memory speed is 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective) for AMD versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA. Bandwidth is 644.6 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s.

Pixel rate is 322.6 GPixel/s for the RX 9070, compared to 116.2 GPixel/s for the Quadro RTX 5000. Texture rate is 564.5 GTexel/s versus 348.5 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 36.13 TFLOPS versus 11.15 TFLOPS. The RX 9070 has a TDP of 220 W with two 8-pin power connectors, while the Quadro RTX 5000 has a TDP of 230 W with one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector. Both suggest a 550 W PSU. The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 on AMD and PCIe 3.0 x16 on NVIDIA. The Quadro RTX 5000 has listed dimensions of 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the RX 9070 has no dimension data recorded.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the clear winner for general-purpose graphics and compute. Its FP32 throughput of 36.13 TFLOPS makes it suitable for tasks that rely heavily on single-precision math, such as scientific simulations, rendering, and machine learning inference where tensor cores are not required. The 125.9% lead in PassMark GPU Compute and the 66.5% lead in Geekbench OpenCL confirm this. For DirectX-based gaming and applications, the RX 9070 wins every DirectX test by margins ranging from 24.8% to 100.7%. Its higher pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s also suggest better rasterization throughput.

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 wins in one specific area: Vulkan performance. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 92309 versus 58705 is a 36.4% advantage, which could be decisive for users running Vulkan-based workloads, such as certain Linux games or compute applications that leverage the Vulkan API. Additionally, the Quadro RTX 5000 includes 384 tensor cores, which the RX 9070 lacks entirely. For workloads that use tensor core acceleration, such as DLSS or certain AI inference tasks, the NVIDIA card has a hardware feature that AMD cannot match. The Quadro RTX 5000 also has four DisplayPort outputs plus USB Type-C, which may be more convenient for multi-monitor professional setups.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the faster card across almost every benchmark metric. It wins eight of nine head-to-head tests, with margins ranging from 24.8% to 125.9%. Its average benchmark score of 23877 is well above the Quadro RTX 5000's 21629, and its 69th percentile ranking versus 67th confirms a higher overall standing. For anyone prioritizing raw performance in DirectX, OpenCL, or general compute, the RX 9070 is the obvious choice.

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 remains relevant only in narrow scenarios. The Vulkan advantage is real and substantial at 36.4%, which could justify its use in Vulkan-centric environments. The presence of 384 tensor cores also gives it a feature set that the RX 9070 lacks, even if the benchmark data does not directly measure that capability. However, the Quadro RTX 5000 is an end-of-life product from 2018, while the RX 9070 is an active product from 2025. The RX 9070 also offers significantly more memory bandwidth, higher pixel and texture rates, and over three times the FP32 compute. For most users, the AMD card is the superior choice. Only those with specific Vulkan or tensor core requirements should consider the NVIDIA option.