AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER represent two distinct eras of GPU design. The data shows a clear generational divide, with the RTX 4070 SUPER dominating every shared benchmark, while the Vega 64 holds a slight edge in overall percentile ranking among all GPUs. This analysis walks through the benchmark results, architectural differences, and specifications to determine where each card stands.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER wins every single head-to-head test. Across three shared benchmarks, the RTX 4070 SUPER delivers victories with deltas ranging from -63.8% to -67.4% relative to the Vega 64. The largest win for the RTX 4070 SUPER comes in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 205,624 against the Vega 64's 67,032, a difference of 67.4%. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX 4070 SUPER scores 4,627 versus 1,669 for the Vega 64, a 63.9% advantage. The Geekbench OpenCL test shows a similar gap, with the RTX 4070 SUPER at 172,795 and the Vega 64 at 62,552, a 63.8% difference.

The Vega 64's only "win" is contextual rather than direct. It holds an 86th percentile ranking across all GPUs, compared to the RTX 4070 SUPER's 83rd percentile. This is notable because the Vega 64's average benchmark score of 50,001 actually exceeds the RTX 4070 SUPER's average of 43,223, even though the RTX 4070 SUPER wins every shared test. This discrepancy suggests the Vega 64 performs relatively better in other unshared benchmark suites, possibly due to its different compute architecture characteristics.

In terms of pure compute throughput, the RTX 4070 SUPER massively outpaces the Vega 64. The RTX 4070 SUPER delivers 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, nearly three times the Vega 64's 12.66 TFLOPS. The RTX 4070 SUPER also doubles the pixel rate at 198.0 GPixel/s versus 98.94 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s exceeds the Vega 64's 395.8 GTexel/s. These raw throughput advantages translate directly into the benchmark victories.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the superior performer in every measurable shared workload. Benchmark results indicate the RTX 4070 SUPER is roughly 64-67% faster than the Vega 64 across DX12, OpenCL, and Vulkan tests. This is a massive generational leap, consistent with the architectural overhaul from GCN 5.0 to Ada Lovelace.

For a user choosing between these two, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the clear choice for any modern gaming or compute workload. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory provides more capacity than the Vega 64's 8 GB of HBM2, and its 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth slightly exceeds the Vega 64's 483.8 GB/s. The RTX 4070 SUPER also adds dedicated ray tracing cores (56) and tensor cores (224), features entirely absent from the Vega 64. These hardware units enable features like DLSS and ray-traced effects that the Vega 64 cannot accelerate.

The Vega 64's higher percentile ranking (86th vs 83rd) does not translate into any practical advantage in the tested scenarios. Its higher average benchmark score of 50,001 versus 43,223 may reflect its performance in OpenCL or other legacy compute workloads, but this does not manifest in any of the shared tests. The Vega 64's lower power draw of 295 W TDP versus the RTX 4070 SUPER's 220 W TDP is also notable, though the RTX 4070 SUPER achieves far higher performance while consuming less power.

The RTX 4070 SUPER represents a better investment for virtually any use case, whether gaming, content creation, or general compute. The Vega 64, being end-of-life with a predecessor of Polaris and successor of Navi, is a legacy product that cannot compete on modern benchmarks.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three shared benchmarks paint a consistent picture of NVIDIA's dominance. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 4070 SUPER scores 4,627 against the Vega 64's 1,669. This 63.9% delta indicates the RTX 4070 SUPER handles modern DX12 workloads with far greater efficiency, likely due to its newer architecture and higher clock speeds (2,475 MHz boost versus 1,546 MHz boost).

Geekbench OpenCL shows the RTX 4070 SUPER at 172,795 versus the Vega 64's 62,552, a 63.8% difference. This test exercises general-purpose compute, and the RTX 4070 SUPER's 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput clearly overwhelms the Vega 64's 12.66 TFLOPS. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 7,168 shading units also dwarf the Vega 64's 4,096, providing more parallel execution lanes.

The most lopsided result appears in Geekbench Vulkan: 205,624 for the RTX 4070 SUPER versus 67,032 for the Vega 64, a 67.4% delta. Vulkan is a low-overhead API that benefits from modern hardware design, and the Ada Lovelace architecture's efficiency shines here. The RTX 4070 SUPER's support for Vulkan 1.4 versus the Vega 64's Vulkan 1.3 may also contribute to this gap, as newer API versions often include optimizations.

Across all three tests, the RTX 4070 SUPER's wins are consistent and substantial, with no single test where the Vega 64 comes close. The narrowest margin is still 63.8%, indicating a complete and unambiguous performance tier separation.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score overall?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 has a higher average benchmark score of 50,001 compared to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER's 43,223, despite the RTX 4070 SUPER winning all shared tests.

Q: What is the difference in percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The Vega 64 ranks in the 86th percentile, while the RTX 4070 SUPER ranks in the 83rd percentile, a gap of 3 percentile points in favor of the AMD card.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4070 SUPER in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER scores 4,627 versus 1,669 for the Vega 64, which represents a 63.9% delta favoring the NVIDIA card.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 SUPER have hardware ray tracing cores?

A: Yes, the RTX 4070 SUPER includes 56 ray tracing cores, while the Vega 64 has no dedicated ray tracing hardware.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The Vega 64 has 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 4070 SUPER has 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has a boost clock of 2,475 MHz, significantly higher than the Vega 64's 1,546 MHz boost clock.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different architectural lineages. The Vega 64 uses the Vega 10 chip built on GCN 5.0 architecture, manufactured by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm process. The RTX 4070 SUPER uses the AD104 chip built on Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured by TSMC on a 5 nm process. This process node difference is substantial: 14 nm versus 5 nm, allowing the RTX 4070 SUPER to pack 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, versus the Vega 64's 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: 121.8M per mm² for the RTX 4070 SUPER versus 25.3M per mm² for the Vega 64.

The RTX 4070 SUPER's Ada Lovelace architecture introduces dedicated ray tracing cores (56) and tensor cores (224), neither of which exists on the Vega 64's GCN 5.0 design. These specialized units enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based features like DLSS, which the Vega 64 cannot perform. The RTX 4070 SUPER also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Vega 64 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1), meaning the NVIDIA card can handle newer DX12 features.

Memory architecture differs markedly. The Vega 64 uses HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, a wide-but-slower design, while the RTX 4070 SUPER uses GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus. Despite the narrower bus, the RTX 4070 SUPER achieves higher bandwidth at 504.2 GB/s versus 483.8 GB/s, thanks to faster memory clocks (21 Gbps effective versus 1,890 Mbps effective). The Vega 64's FP16 performance is 25.33 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, while the RTX 4070 SUPER achieves 35.48 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, indicating more balanced compute capabilities.

Specification Differences

The most significant specification differences lie in raw compute resources. The RTX 4070 SUPER has 7,168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, compared to the Vega 64's 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. While the Vega 64 has more texture mapping units, the RTX 4070 SUPER compensates with higher clock speeds, achieving a texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s versus 395.8 GTexel/s.

Clock speeds show a substantial gap. The RTX 4070 SUPER runs at a 1,980 MHz base and 2,475 MHz boost, while the Vega 64 operates at 1,247 MHz base and 1,546 MHz boost. This nearly 1 GHz boost clock difference explains much of the performance gap. FP32 throughput is 35.48 TFLOPS for the RTX 4070 SUPER versus 12.66 TFLOPS for the Vega 64, a 2.8x advantage.

Power and connectivity also differ. The RTX 4070 SUPER has a 220 W TDP with a single 16-pin power connector and a suggested 550 W PSU, while the Vega 64 has a 295 W TDP with dual 8-pin connectors and a suggested 600 W PSU. The RTX 4070 SUPER uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface versus the Vega 64's PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs are similar, with both offering 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, but the RTX 4070 SUPER adds HDMI 2.1 versus the Vega 64's HDMI 2.0b. The RTX 4070 SUPER supports Vulkan 1.4, while the Vega 64 supports Vulkan 1.3. The Vega 64 is physically longer at 280 mm versus 267 mm for the RTX 4070 SUPER, though the NVIDIA card is slightly thicker at 42 mm versus 40 mm.