AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data splits this pairing into two very different profiles. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti wins every shared benchmark in the database, taking both head-to-head tests outright. The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition, by contrast, does not record a single win in any test that both cards have in common. That does not mean the Vega card is without purpose; it simply means its strengths do not show up in the tests where the two overlap.

The RTX 3090 Ti dominates compute-oriented workloads. In Geekbench OpenCL, it posts 174,441 points against the Vega Frontier Edition's 76,111, a gap of 129.2 percent. In Geekbench Vulkan, the NVIDIA card reaches 215,633 points versus 71,937, a lead of 199.8 percent. These are not marginal advantages; they are generational chasms. The RTX 3090 Ti also holds a 95th percentile ranking across all GPUs in the database, while the Vega card sits at the 91st percentile. The average benchmark score for the NVIDIA part is 131,938, versus 73,370 for the AMD part, which means the RTX 3090 Ti lands roughly 80 percent higher on aggregate.

The Vega Frontier Edition's only recorded benchmark result that does not have a direct counterpart is Geekbench Metal, where it scores 72,061. That test is exclusive to Apple's Metal API, and the NVIDIA card has no corresponding entry in the database. So the AMD card can claim a niche on that platform, but it is a solitary data point rather than a trend.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from opposite design philosophies and different eras. The RTX 3090 Ti uses the GA102 chip on an 8 nm process from Samsung, built around the Ampere architecture. It packs 28,300 million transistors into a 628 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 45.1 million per square millimeter. The Vega Frontier Edition uses the Vega 10 chip on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, based on the older GCN 5.0 architecture. That chip holds 12,500 million transistors across a 495 mm² die, for a density of 25.3 million per square millimeter.

The compute resources differ sharply. The RTX 3090 Ti has 10,752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs. It also includes 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores, features that the Vega card lacks entirely; the database lists null values for both. The Vega Frontier Edition has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The NVIDIA part's pixel rate is 208.3 GPixel/s versus 102.4 GPixel/s for AMD, and its texture rate is 625.0 GTexel/s versus 409.6 GTexel/s. In raw FP32, the RTX 3090 Ti delivers 40.00 TFLOPS, while the Vega card produces 13.11 TFLOPS. Notably, the Vega card's FP16 rate is 26.21 TFLOPS, which is exactly twice its FP32 rate, while the RTX 3090 Ti's FP16 is 40.00 TFLOPS, a 1:1 ratio with FP32.

Memory architecture is another major split. The RTX 3090 Ti uses 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, with 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The Vega Frontier Edition uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, with 483.8 GB/s. The Vega card's wider bus does not compensate for the slower memory technology. The NVIDIA part also runs at a higher boost clock, 1860 MHz versus 1600 MHz, and has a higher base clock of 1560 MHz versus 1382 MHz.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two overlapping tests tell a clear story. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 3090 Ti scores 174,441 against the Vega Frontier Edition's 76,111. That is a 129.2 percent advantage, meaning the NVIDIA card more than doubles the AMD card's output. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens further: 215,633 versus 71,937, a delta of 199.8 percent. The Vulkan result is particularly telling, because it suggests the NVIDIA architecture scales better with modern, low-level graphics APIs. The OpenCL gap is already large, but the Vulkan gap is nearly twice as large, indicating that the Vega card's older GCN design struggles more in that environment.

The nearest rival data puts these numbers in context. The RTX 3090 Ti's closest competitors in the database are the NVIDIA L4 (average score 131,072, delta 0.7 percent), the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation (135,218, delta -2.4 percent), the NVIDIA A10M (135,230, delta -2.4 percent), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 (135,396, delta -2.6 percent). So the RTX 3090 Ti sits just slightly above or below a cluster of professional cards, all within a few percentage points. The Vega Frontier Edition's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 (72,379, delta 1.4 percent), the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal (72,098, delta 1.8 percent), the AMD Radeon RX 6650M (71,768, delta 2.2 percent), and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE (70,829, delta 3.6 percent). The Vega card leads that group by a small margin, meaning it is competitive with its own generation but not with the newer NVIDIA flagship.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is the superior card in every shared benchmark, and by a wide margin. For anyone comparing these two based on the recorded tests, the choice is clear. The RTX 3090 Ti offers more than double the OpenCL score and nearly triple the Vulkan score of the Vega Frontier Edition. It also has a higher average benchmark score, a higher percentile ranking, and a more recent release date (January 2022 versus June 2017). The RTX 3090 Ti also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Vega card only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1). Vulkan support is also newer on the NVIDIA side, version 1.4 versus 1.3.

The Vega Frontier Edition does have its own appeal for specific use cases. Its Metal benchmark result is its only distinct data point, and it carries a dual-slot design with a lower 300 W TDP, compared to the RTX 3090 Ti's triple-slot profile and 450 W TDP. The Vega card also uses two 8-pin power connectors rather than a single 16-pin, which may matter for older power supplies. But none of those factors translate into benchmark victories. The RTX 3090 Ti wins on compute, on graphics API support, and on raw throughput. The Vega card wins only on physical size and power draw, which are not performance metrics.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti has an average benchmark score of 131,938, while the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition scores 73,370.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 3090 Ti in Vulkan?

A: In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 3090 Ti scores 215,633 versus 71,937 for the Vega Frontier Edition, a lead of 199.8 percent.

Q: Does the Vega Frontier Edition have any benchmark win?

A: The Vega card has a Geekbench Metal score of 72,061, but the RTX 3090 Ti has no corresponding Metal result in the database, so there is no direct comparison.

Q: What are the memory capacities and types?

A: The RTX 3090 Ti has 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth. The Vega Frontier Edition has 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing?

A: The RTX 3090 Ti includes 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores. The Vega Frontier Edition has no ray tracing or tensor cores listed in the database.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The RTX 3090 Ti has 28,300 million transistors on an 8 nm process, while the Vega Frontier Edition has 12,500 million transistors on a 14 nm process.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Ampere | GCN 5.0 |

| Process Node | 8 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | GlobalFoundries |

| Transistors | 28,300 million | 12,500 million |

| Die Size | 628 mm² | 495 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 45.1M / mm² | 25.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1560 MHz | 1382 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1860 MHz | 1600 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) | 945 MHz (1890 Mbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 24 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6X | HBM2 |

| Memory Bus Width | 384 bit | 2048 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 1.01 TB/s | 483.8 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 10752 | 4096 |

| TMUs | 336 | 256 |

| ROPs | 112 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 84 | null |

| Tensor Cores | 336 | null |

| Pixel Rate | 208.3 GPixel/s | 102.4 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 625.0 GTexel/s | 409.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 40.00 TFLOPS | 13.11 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 40.00 TFLOPS (1:1) | 26.21 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 450 W | 300 W |

| Slot Width | Triple-slot | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | 1x 16-pin | 2x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 850 W | 700 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Length | 336 mm (13.2 inches) | 267 mm (10.5 inches) |

| Height | 140 mm (5.5 inches) | 111 mm (4.4 inches) |

| Width | 61 mm (2.4 inches) | null |

| Release Date | 2022-01-26 | 2017-06-26 |

| Launch MSRP | 1,999 USD | 999 USD |