AMD Radeon Vega 11 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile Comparison

The AMD Radeon Vega 11 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile look like neighboring entries in the database at first glance, sitting close together in overall percentile terms, but the recorded data tells a story of two very different classes of hardware. The Vega 11 is an integrated graphics solution built into AMD's Picasso silicon, running inside a tight power envelope and borrowing system memory. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is a dedicated mobile GPU with its own GDDR6 memory, dedicated ray tracing and tensor hardware, and a much larger render engine. In the two direct head-to-head compute benchmarks recorded in the database, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile wins both by enormous margins, roughly 77 to 78 percent. Yet the average aggregate scores paint a murkier picture, which this analysis unpacks below.

The Verdict

If the choice is between a machine with Vega 11 integrated graphics and a machine with an RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, the recorded data makes the call easy: take the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile for anything graphics-intensive. It wins both shared benchmarks in the database, geekbench_opencl and geekbench_vulkan, and the gaps are not close. In geekbench_opencl it scores 57915 against the Vega 11's 13392, and in geekbench_vulkan it scores 55812 against 12273. Those are overwhelming advantages in general GPU compute and modern API throughput.

The Vega 11 case is narrower but real. Its average benchmark score of 14352 actually sits slightly above the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's 12940 in the database's aggregate index, and its percentile placement (56 versus 53) reflects that. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN and the GTX 965M, both essentially even with it. That aggregate parity, however, comes from the mix of tests each card has recorded rather than from any head-to-head strength, since the only two tests they share were won decisively by the NVIDIA part. The practical read: Vega 11 is a low-power integrated solution adequate for light workloads at modest settings, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the clear pick whenever actual 3D rendering or compute matters.

Architecture Differences

These two parts come from different eras and different design philosophies. The Vega 11 is AMD's GCN 5.0 architecture on the Picasso chip, fabricated by GlobalFoundries on a 12 nm process. It packs 4,940 million transistors into a 210 mm² die, a density of 23.5M per square millimeter. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses NVIDIA's Ampere architecture on the GA106 chip, built by Samsung on an 8 nm process, with 12,000 million transistors across 276 mm² at 43.5M transistors per square millimeter. That is more than double the transistor count and nearly double the density, reflecting both the newer node and the far larger GPU portion of the silicon.

The rendering resources scale accordingly. Vega 11 has 704 shading units, 44 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. It also carries hardware the Vega 11 simply lacks: 20 RT cores for ray tracing and 80 tensor cores for accelerated machine learning workloads. The Vega 11 has neither, with both fields empty in the database.

Memory is the other great divide. Vega 11 shares system memory entirely, with no dedicated size, type, bus width, or bandwidth of its own, all listed as system dependent. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus running at 12 Gbps effective, delivering 192.0 GB/s of dedicated bandwidth. Memory clocks are 300 MHz base and 1400 MHz boost on the Vega 11 versus 735 MHz base and 1035 MHz boost on the NVIDIA part, with its memory clocked at 1500 MHz.

The API support also differs in ways that matter for modern titles. Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6, but the Vega 11 stops at feature level 12_1 with Vulkan 1.3, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The bus interface splits the same way: the Vega 11 is an IGP with motherboard-dependent display outputs, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile connects over PCIe 4.0 x16 with laptop-dependent outputs.

Power envelopes are the Vega 11's one structural advantage. Its TDP is 15 W, integrated into the processor and drawing no separate power. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is rated at 75 W. Both are listed with IGP slot width and no power connectors, fitting for mobile and integrated form factors.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Only two tests exist in the database for both GPUs, and the NVIDIA card swept them, giving a final tally of 2 wins to 0.

The first is geekbench_opencl, where the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scored 57915 against the Vega 11's 13392. That is a 76.9 percent gap in the database's delta calculation. OpenCL measures general GPU compute, and a gap of that size means the NVIDIA card handles compute-heavy workloads in a completely different performance class. The 2560 shading units, 80 tensor cores, and dedicated 192.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are all visible in that number.

The second is geekbench_vulkan, where the score was 55812 versus 12273, an even wider 78 percent gap. Vulkan results are usually a decent proxy for modern real-time 3D performance, since it is the API many contemporary engines target. A Vega 11 that manages just over 12 thousand in this test is competitive only with entry-level integrated parts, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's score puts it in genuine dedicated-GPU territory.

Context from each card's rival list sharpens the picture. The Vega 11's average score of 14352 lands within a fraction of a percent of the GTX TITAN (14373, a 0.1 percent gap), the Radeon RX Vega 11 (14385), the Intel Iris Xe MAX (14315), and the GTX 965M (14404). The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's average of 12940 places it dead even with the Radeon RX 580 (12928), the GTX 1660 SUPER (12986), the Radeon 740M (12870), and the FirePro W5100 (12847). Note the irony in the averages: the Vega 11's aggregate is the higher number, yet every directly shared test went to NVIDIA by nearly four-to-one. The average score blends different test suites, and the Vega 11's figure is propped up by its geekbench_metal result of 17392, a test the NVIDIA card has no recorded entry for. For comparing these two specifically, the head-to-head numbers are the trustworthy ones.

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also has a fuller benchmark sheet in the database: 469 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 10093 in PassMark G3D, 4305 in PassMark GPU compute, 498 in PassMark G2D, and DirectX-generation scores of 120 (DX9), 76 (DX11), 60 (DX10), and 49 (DX12). The Vega 11 has no entries in any of those tests.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster overall?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, decisively. It won both shared benchmarks, beating the Vega 11 by 76.9 percent in geekbench_opencl (57915 to 13392) and 78 percent in geekbench_vulkan (55812 to 12273).

Q: Why does the Vega 11 show a higher average benchmark score then?

A: The average blends different test suites. The Vega 11's 14352 average includes its 17392 geekbench_metal score, a test with no recorded result for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. When the two are compared only on shared tests, the NVIDIA card dominates.

Q: Can either GPU do ray tracing?

A: Only the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. It has 20 RT cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The Vega 11 has no RT cores and tops out at DirectX 12 feature level 12_1.

Q: How do their memory setups differ?

A: The Vega 11 uses shared system memory with no dedicated allocation, so bandwidth depends entirely on the host system. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 4 GB of dedicated GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which is more power efficient?

A: The Vega 11 draws far less, with a 15 W TDP against 75 W for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, which is expected given one is an integrated solution and the other a dedicated GPU.

Q: Are both still in production?

A: No. Both are listed as end-of-life. The Vega 11 was released in late September 2019 and succeeded by the Vega II IGP; the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile launched in May 2021.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile owns every category where the two can be directly compared. GPU compute workloads favor it by the 76.9 percent OpenCL margin. Modern 3D rendering through Vulkan favors it by 78 percent. Anything involving ray tracing, machine learning acceleration via its 80 tensor cores, or demanding DirectX 12 Ultimate titles is exclusively its territory, since the Vega 11 lacks both the hardware and the API support. Its dedicated 4 GB of GDDR6 also means its performance does not fluctuate with system memory configuration.

The Vega 11 wins on power efficiency and simplicity. At 15 W with no separate memory subsystem, it suits thin, light, battery-first machines where a 75 W dedicated GPU is not on the menu. Its theoretical throughput is modest, 1.971 TFLOPS FP32 and 3.942 TFLOPS FP16 at a 2:1 rate, but its rival set (GTX TITAN, GTX 965M, Iris Xe MAX) shows it holds its own among integrated and entry-level parts in the aggregate index. For a buyer whose workload stops at light graphics duties, that is a defensible position.

Specification Differences

• Architecture: GCN 5.0 (Vega 11) versus Ampere (RTX 3050 Ti Mobile)
• Chip: Picasso versus GA106
• Process node: 12 nm at GlobalFoundries versus 8 nm at Samsung
• Transistors: 4,940 million versus 12,000 million
• Die size: 210 mm² versus 276 mm²
• Transistor density: 23.5M/mm² versus 43.5M/mm²
• Shading units: 704 versus 2560
• TMUs: 44 versus 80
• ROPs: 8 versus 32
• RT cores: none versus 20
• Tensor cores: none versus 80
• Base clock: 300 MHz versus 735 MHz
• Boost clock: 1400 MHz versus 1035 MHz
• Memory: system shared versus 4 GB GDDR6, 128-bit, 192.0 GB/s
• Memory clock: system shared versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective)
• Pixel rate: 11.20 GPixel/s versus 33.12 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 61.60 GTexel/s versus 82.80 GTexel/s
• FP32: 1.971 TFLOPS versus 5.299 TFLOPS
• FP16: 3.942 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 5.299 TFLOPS (1:1)
• TDP: 15 W versus 75 W
• Bus interface: IGP versus PCIe 4.0 x16
• DirectX: 12 (12_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2)
• Vulkan: 1.3 versus 1.4
• Release date: 2019-09-29 versus 2021-05-10
• Predecessor: GCN 3.0 IGP versus GeForce 20 Mobile; successor Vega II IGP versus none listed