AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data includes two direct comparisons between the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, both in compute-oriented workloads. The results are unambiguous: the RTX 5070 Ti wins both head-to-head tests by substantial margins.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD card scores 76,111 while the NVIDIA card reaches 212,363. That is a delta of -64.2%, meaning the RTX 5070 Ti is roughly 2.8 times faster in this workload. The gap is even larger in Geekbench Vulkan, where the Vega Frontier Edition posts 71,937 against the RTX 5070 Ti’s 225,122. Here the delta is -68%, translating to a performance advantage of more than 3.1 times for the newer card.

These are not marginal differences. The RTX 5070 Ti’s OpenCL score is 136,252 points higher than the Vega Frontier Edition’s, and its Vulkan score is 153,185 points higher. Across the two recorded head-to-head tests, the NVIDIA card wins both, giving it a clean 2-0 record. The AMD card records zero wins in this matchup.

Context from the broader database helps frame these numbers. The Vega Frontier Edition sits at the 91st percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 73,370. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 at 72,379 (1.4% higher), the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal at 72,098 (1.8% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 6650M at 71,768 (2.2% higher). The Vega Frontier Edition is competitive with that group, trailing the Pro Vega 64 by just 991 points on average.

The RTX 5070 Ti, by contrast, holds an 86th percentile ranking with an average benchmark score of 49,957. That average is heavily influenced by its Passmark results, which include a G3D score of 32,974, a GPU compute score of 20,203, and lower DirectX scores. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 at 50,001 (-0.1% delta), the Intel Arc A550M at 49,737 (0.4% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT at 50,951 (-2% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT at 48,477 (3.1% delta). The RTX 5070 Ti’s average sits just below the RX Vega 64 and RX 6900 XT, while edging out the Arc A550M and RX 6800 XT.

It is importantly the two cards’ average benchmark scores are not directly comparable in a head-to-head sense, because they are computed from different test suites. The Vega Frontier Edition’s average draws from three Geekbench tests (Metal, OpenCL, Vulkan), while the RTX 5070 Ti’s average includes ten tests spanning 3DMark, Geekbench, and Passmark. The head-to-head tests, however, use identical workloads, and those show a decisive NVIDIA advantage.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion for compute-intensive workloads: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the stronger card. Its OpenCL and Vulkan scores are roughly triple those of the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition. The RTX 5070 Ti also benefits from a newer architecture, Blackwell 2.0 versus GCN 5.0, and a more advanced 5 nm process node compared to 14 nm.

For users who prioritize raw compute performance in OpenCL or Vulkan applications, the RTX 5070 Ti is the obvious choice. It delivers 212,363 in OpenCL and 225,122 in Vulkan. The Vega Frontier Edition, with its 76,111 and 71,937 scores respectively, cannot keep pace.

However, there is a nuance. The Vega Frontier Edition holds a higher percentile ranking (91st versus 86th) and a higher average benchmark score (73,370 versus 49,957), even though the head-to-head tests favor NVIDIA. This discrepancy arises because the two cards are measured against different pools of GPUs and different test sets. The Vega Frontier Edition’s Geekbench Metal score of 72,061 contributes to its average without a direct NVIDIA counterpart in the head-to-head data.

Who should pick which? The RTX 5070 Ti is the choice for modern compute workloads, especially those leveraging Vulkan or OpenCL, and for users who want PCIe 5.0 connectivity, GDDR7 memory, and ray tracing support. The Vega Frontier Edition, while end-of-life, remains relevant in the database’s percentile ranking, suggesting it still holds up well among older GPUs. But for any new workload measured in these benchmarks, the RTX 5070 Ti wins decisively.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different eras and design philosophies. The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition uses the Vega 10 chip, built on GCN 5.0 architecture, at a 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries. It packs 12,500 million transistors into a 495 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 25.3 million per square millimeter. The chip includes 4,096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. It has no dedicated ray tracing cores and no tensor cores.

Memory on the Vega Frontier Edition is 16 GB of HBM2, connected via a 2048-bit bus, delivering 483.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 945 MHz, or 1890 Mbps effective. The GPU’s base clock is 1382 MHz with a boost clock of 1600 MHz. Compute rates are 13.11 TFLOPS for FP32 and 26.21 TFLOPS for FP16, with the latter at a 2:1 ratio.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti uses the GB203 chip, based on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, at a 5 nm process node from TSMC. It contains 45,600 million transistors in a 378 mm² die, for a transistor density of 120.6 million per square millimeter. That is nearly five times the density of the Vega chip. The RTX 5070 Ti has 8,960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. It also includes 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the AMD card.

Memory is 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, with 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1750 MHz, or 28 Gbps effective. Base clock is 2295 MHz, boost clock is 2452 MHz. FP32 compute is 43.94 TFLOPS, and FP16 is also 43.94 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, indicating no FP16 acceleration advantage.

The process node difference is stark: 14 nm versus 5 nm. The transistor count more than triples (12,500 million to 45,600 million), yet the die size shrinks from 495 mm² to 378 mm². This explains the dramatic density improvement. The RTX 5070 Ti’s memory bandwidth nearly doubles (483.8 GB/s to 896.0 GB/s) despite a narrower bus (2048-bit to 256-bit), thanks to GDDR7’s higher data rate.

Other differences include the bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 on the AMD card versus PCIe 5.0 x16 on the NVIDIA card. Display outputs differ as well: the Vega Frontier Edition offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RTX 5070 Ti has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b. API support also diverges: the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Power requirements are identical on paper: both list a 300 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 700 W. Both are dual-slot cards. The AMD card uses 2x 8-pin power connectors, while the NVIDIA card uses a single 16-pin connector. Physical dimensions vary: the Vega Frontier Edition is 267 mm long and 111 mm tall, while the RTX 5070 Ti is 304 mm long, 137 mm tall, and 48 mm wide.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti scores 212,363 in OpenCL, compared to 76,111 for the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition. The delta is -64.2% in NVIDIA’s favor.

Q: Does the AMD card win any head-to-head benchmark against the RTX 5070 Ti?

A: No. The recorded head-to-head data includes only two tests, Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and the RTX 5070 Ti wins both. The win count is 0 for the AMD card and 2 for the NVIDIA card.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti’s average benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti has an average score of 49,957. It is 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50,001), 0.4% ahead of the Intel Arc A550M (49,737), 2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (50,951), and 3.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (48,477).

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: Both have 16 GB of memory, but the AMD card uses HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth, while the NVIDIA card uses GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the Vega Frontier Edition have ray tracing support?

A: The data lists no RT cores for the AMD card. The NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti includes 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores.

Q: What are the transistor and process node differences?

A: The AMD card uses 12,500 million transistors on a 14 nm node from GlobalFoundries, with a 495 mm² die. The NVIDIA card uses 45,600 million transistors on a 5 nm node from TSMC, with a 378 mm² die. Transistor density goes from 25.3 million per mm² on AMD to 120.6 million per mm² on NVIDIA.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5070 Ti wins in every directly measured head-to-head test. Its OpenCL score of 212,363 and Vulkan score of 225,122 dwarf the AMD card’s 76,111 and 71,937 respectively. For any workload that relies on these APIs, the NVIDIA card is the clear pick.

The Vega Frontier Edition does have a higher percentile ranking (91st versus 86th) and a higher average benchmark score (73,370 versus 49,957), but those figures reflect different test sets and comparison pools. In the database’s direct measurements, the AMD card does not win anywhere.

Use-case split based on the data: For modern compute tasks, especially those targeting Vulkan 1.4 or DirectX 12 Ultimate, the RTX 5070 Ti is the superior choice. It also offers ray tracing cores, tensor cores, and a much higher FP32 throughput (43.94 TFLOPS versus 13.11 TFLOPS). Its GDDR7 memory provides nearly double the bandwidth, and its PCIe 5.0 interface doubles the bus generation over the AMD card’s PCIe 3.0.

The Vega Frontier Edition, being end-of-life, still holds a respectable position among older GPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 and NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal, are all within 1.8% of its average score. But against a Blackwell-generation card, the architectural gap is too large. The 14 nm GCN architecture, HBM2 memory, and lack of dedicated RT or tensor hardware place it far behind the RTX 5070 Ti in raw compute benchmarks.

In practical terms, the RTX 5070 Ti is the card to select for new workloads where OpenCL or Vulkan performance matters. The Vega Frontier Edition remains a data point for historical comparisons, but it cannot compete in the head-to-head results recorded here. The delta percentages, -64.2% in OpenCL and -68% in Vulkan, are decisive. No measurement in the database suggests a scenario where the AMD card closes that gap.