AMD Radeon VII vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive sweep for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti across all three shared benchmark tests. The most striking gap appears in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where the RTX 5070 Ti scores 6604 against the AMD Radeon VII's 2304. That is a 65.1% delta, meaning the NVIDIA card delivers roughly three times the raw DX12 performance in this workload. This is not a marginal improvement; it is a generational leap that completely redefines the expected performance envelope for this comparison.

The compute-oriented results tell a similar story, though with slightly smaller margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5070 Ti posts 212363 versus the Radeon VII's 91947, a 56.7% advantage. The Vulkan test shows the NVIDIA card at 225122 against 91788, a 59.2% gap. These are not isolated wins in a single API; both OpenCL and Vulkan show consistent dominance, suggesting the RTX 5070 Ti's architecture handles heterogeneous compute workloads far more efficiently than the older Vega 20 design.

What is particularly telling is the percentile data. The Radeon VII sits at the 90th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RTX 5070 Ti sits at the 86th percentile. Yet the newer card wins every head-to-head test by massive margins. This apparent contradiction resolves when looking at the average benchmark scores: the Radeon VII averages 66004 across all recorded tests, while the RTX 5070 Ti averages 49957. The Radeon VII's higher percentile and average score come from a broader set of legacy workloads where its HBM2 memory and high bandwidth still matter. The RTX 5070 Ti's lower average is dragged down by its Passmark results, which include unusually low scores like 192 in DirectX 10 and 127 in DirectX 12. These Passmark numbers appear anomalous relative to its 3DMark and Geekbench performance, likely reflecting driver or workload-specific quirks rather than true capability.

The nearest rival data adds another layer. The Radeon VII's closest competitor is the NVIDIA Tesla T4, with an average score of 66733, a mere 1.1% difference. The RTX 5070 Ti's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 at 50001, just 0.1% off. This means both cards are surrounded by older or specialized hardware in the database's rankings, but the RTX 5070 Ti's performance in modern APIs places it in a completely different tier than its average score suggests.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is vast. The Radeon VII uses the Vega 20 chip built on GCN 5.1 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. The RTX 5070 Ti uses the GB203 chip with Blackwell 2.0 architecture, also on TSMC but at 5 nm. The transistor counts reflect this: the Radeon VII packs 13,230 million transistors on a 331 mm² die, yielding a density of 40.0M per mm². The RTX 5070 Ti carries 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, achieving 120.6M per mm². That is a threefold increase in transistor density, which explains how NVIDIA fits far more compute units into a similarly sized package.

The shading unit counts are stark. The Radeon VII has 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The RTX 5070 Ti has 8960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. This means the NVIDIA card has more than double the shader throughput, and the FP32 numbers confirm it: 43.94 TFLOPS for the RTX 5070 Ti versus 13.44 TFLOPS for the Radeon VII. The FP16 comparison is even more telling. The Radeon VII delivers 26.88 TFLOPS FP16 at a 2:1 ratio, while the RTX 5070 Ti delivers 43.94 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio. The newer card does not need to halve its rate for FP16 work.

Memory architecture diverges completely. The Radeon VII uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, delivering 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 5070 Ti uses 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 896.0 GB/s. Despite the narrower bus, the GDDR7 memory runs at 28 Gbps effective versus the HBM2's 2 Gbps effective, closing most of the bandwidth gap. The Radeon VII still holds a nominal bandwidth advantage, but the RTX 5070 Ti's higher clocks and cache efficiency compensate.

Clock speeds favor the RTX 5070 Ti decisively. The Radeon VII runs at a 1400 MHz base and 1750 MHz boost. The RTX 5070 Ti runs at 2295 MHz base and 2452 MHz boost. This is a 40% higher boost clock, which compounds with the shader count advantage. The pixel rate and texture rate follow: 112.0 GPixel/s and 420.0 GTexel/s for the Radeon VII, versus 235.4 GPixel/s and 686.6 GTexel/s for the RTX 5070 Ti.

Feature support differentiates them further. The RTX 5070 Ti includes 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores, neither of which the Radeon VII has at all. The API support reflects this: the Radeon VII supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3, while the RTX 5070 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA card is built for modern rendering pipelines that rely on hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-assisted features.

FAQ

Q: Which card has more raw compute throughput in FP32?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti delivers 43.94 TFLOPS FP32, which is more than three times the Radeon VII's 13.44 TFLOPS. This matches the shading unit count difference: 8960 versus 3840.

Q: Does the Radeon VII's memory bandwidth advantage matter?

A: The Radeon VII has 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth from its 4096-bit HBM2 interface, compared to the RTX 5070 Ti's 896.0 GB/s from a 256-bit GDDR7 interface. However, the RTX 5070 Ti still wins every benchmark in the database despite the 12% bandwidth deficit, indicating that other architectural factors dominate.

Q: Why does the Radeon VII have a higher average benchmark score than the RTX 5070 Ti?

A: The Radeon VII averages 66004 across all recorded tests, while the RTX 5070 Ti averages 49957. This is because the RTX 5070 Ti's average includes several low Passmark scores (192 in DirectX 10, 127 in DirectX 12) that do not reflect its performance in 3DMark or Geekbench tests.

Q: What does the RTX 5070 Ti have that the Radeon VII lacks entirely?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti includes 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores. The Radeon VII has no hardware ray tracing or tensor core units in its specification.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The Radeon VII has a TDP of 295 W and uses 2x 8-pin power connectors, with a suggested PSU of 600 W. The RTX 5070 Ti has a TDP of 300 W and uses a single 16-pin connector, with a suggested PSU of 700 W.

Q: Which card supports newer display outputs?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti supports HDMI 2.1b and DisplayPort 2.1b, while the Radeon VII supports HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4a. The NVIDIA card also uses PCIe 5.0 x16, versus PCIe 3.0 x16 on the AMD card.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The RTX 5070 Ti wins every head-to-head benchmark in the database, with deltas ranging from 56.7% to 65.1%. Its advantage in shading units, clock speed, and modern feature support makes it the clear choice for anyone running current DirectX 12 or Vulkan workloads. The Radeon VII's only statistical strengths are its higher average benchmark score and its 90th percentile ranking, both of which stem from legacy test compatibility rather than modern performance.

For a buyer choosing between these two cards today, the RTX 5070 Ti is the only rational option based on recorded performance. It is an active production card, while the Radeon VII is end-of-life. The RTX 5070 Ti also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, ensuring compatibility with future titles. The Radeon VII is locked to DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3, which may limit its usefulness in upcoming software.

The average benchmark score discrepancy should not mislead. The RTX 5070 Ti's Passmark results appear to be outliers, and its 3DMark and Geekbench scores are dramatically higher. The database's percentile system places the Radeon VII higher because it aggregates all tests, but the head-to-head results show the true performance relationship.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon VII | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti |

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

| Chip | Vega 20 | GB203 |

| Architecture | GCN 5.1 | Blackwell 2.0 |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 13,230 million | 45,600 million |

| Die Size | 331 mm² | 378 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 40.0M / mm² | 120.6M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1400 MHz | 2295 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1750 MHz | 2452 MHz |

| Memory Type | HBM2 | GDDR7 |

| Memory Bus Width | 4096 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 1.02 TB/s | 896.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3840 | 8960 |

| TMUs | 240 | 280 |

| ROPs | 64 | 96 |

| RT Cores | None | 70 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 280 |

| Pixel Rate | 112.0 GPixel/s | 235.4 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 420.0 GTexel/s | 686.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 13.44 TFLOPS | 43.94 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 26.88 TFLOPS (2:1) | 43.94 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 295 W | 300 W |

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

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 700 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |

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

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

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Dimensions | 280 mm x 125 mm x 40 mm | 304 mm x 137 mm x 48 mm |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2019-02-06 | 2025-02-19 |

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5070 Ti wins in every measured head-to-head category. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it leads by 65.1%. In Geekbench OpenCL, it leads by 56.7%. In Geekbench Vulkan, it leads by 59.2%. These wins span different APIs and workload types, indicating a comprehensive performance advantage rather than a narrow specialization.

The Radeon VII's comparative strengths appear only in the broader database context. Its average benchmark score of 66004 exceeds the RTX 5070 Ti's 49957, driven by its performance in legacy tests that the newer card does not handle as well. Its nearest rivals include the Tesla T4 and Radeon Pro WX 9100, both professional-oriented cards, suggesting its HBM2 memory and high bandwidth still serve certain compute workloads effectively.

For users who rely on older DirectX 10 or DirectX 11 applications, the Radeon VII may hold up better based on its higher average score. However, the RTX 5070 Ti's Passmark DirectX 10 score of 192 and DirectX 12 score of 127 are suspiciously low, and the card's 3DMark result proves its real DX12 capability. The practical use case for the Radeon VII today is limited to workloads that specifically benefit from its 1.02 TB/s memory bandwidth or its compatibility with legacy APIs. For anything modern, the RTX 5070 Ti is the definitive choice.