AMD Steam Machine GPU vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile Comparison

FAQ

Q: What is the AMD Steam Machine GPU based on, and what architecture does it use?

A: The AMD Steam Machine GPU is built on the Navi 33 chip using the RDNA 3.0 architecture, with the codename Hotpink Bonefish. It belongs to the Console GPU (Valve) generation and is manufactured on a 6 nm process by TSMC.

Q: How does the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile compare in terms of process node and foundry?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile uses the GA106 chip with the Ampere architecture. It is manufactured on an 8 nm process by Samsung, making it a less dense design compared to the AMD part.

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

A: The AMD Steam Machine GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the thermal design power ratings for each GPU?

A: The AMD Steam Machine GPU has a TDP of 110 W, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile has a TDP of 45 W.

Q: What is the production status of each GPU?

A: The AMD Steam Machine GPU has an active production status, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile is end-of-life. The NVIDIA part has a release date of December 31, 2023, and its predecessor is the GeForce 20 Mobile series.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score and percentile ranking?

A: The AMD Steam Machine GPU has a percentile ranking of 50 among all GPUs. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile has an average benchmark score of 8746 and a percentile ranking of 44.

Where Each One Wins

The data separates these two GPUs into distinct usage profiles based on their architectural strengths and measured benchmark results. The AMD Steam Machine GPU delivers substantially higher raw throughput in nearly every compute category, making it the stronger choice for graphics-intensive workloads and higher-resolution rendering. Its FP32 performance is 17.56 TFLOPS, which is roughly 3.6 times the 4.813 TFLOPS of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile. Texture and pixel processing rates also favor the AMD part heavily: 274.4 GTexel/s versus 75.21 GTexel/s, and 156.8 GPixel/s versus 42.98 GPixel/s.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile, despite lower absolute performance, has a notable advantage in thermal efficiency. Its 45 W TDP is less than half of the AMD part's 110 W, which suits compact laptops and portable systems where heat dissipation and battery life are prioritized over maximum frame rates. It also includes 56 tensor cores, a feature the AMD Steam Machine GPU does not list, which can support AI-accelerated workloads where such hardware is utilized.

The benchmark results for the NVIDIA part show its strongest showing in the PassMark G3D test with a score of 11664, which suggests reasonable DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 performance. The PassMark DirectX 9 score of 152 and DirectX 11 score of 94 indicate solid legacy API performance relative to its other metrics. The AMD Steam Machine GPU has no recorded benchmarks in the database, so its wins are established through its specification-level advantages rather than direct test results.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent different architectural generations and design philosophies. The AMD Steam Machine GPU uses RDNA 3.0 with the Navi 33 chip, built on a 6 nm process by TSMC. The die size is 204 mm² with 13,300 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of 65.2 million per mm². This high-density design enables more compute units and memory bandwidth within a relatively compact package.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with the GA106 chip, manufactured on an 8 nm process by Samsung. Its die size is larger at 276 mm² despite containing fewer transistors at 12,000 million, resulting in a lower transistor density of 43.5 million per mm². The larger die and older process node explain the lower density and reduced performance ceiling.

The AMD part has 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. It also includes 28 ray tracing cores. The NVIDIA part also has 1792 shading units but only 56 TMUs and 32 ROPs, with 14 ray tracing cores. The AMD GPU has no listed tensor cores, while the NVIDIA GPU includes 56 tensor cores, which is a notable architectural difference for compute workloads that leverage tensor operations.

Memory subsystems differ in capacity and bandwidth. The AMD part offers 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the NVIDIA part has 4 GB of GDDR6 with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. Both use a 128-bit memory bus. Clock speeds also differ significantly: the AMD GPU has a base clock of 1720 MHz, a boost clock of 2450 MHz, and a game clock of 2250 MHz, while the NVIDIA GPU has a base clock of 1065 MHz and a boost clock of 1343 MHz.

The AMD part lists display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.1a and 1x DisplayPort 2.1, while the NVIDIA part lists "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs. The NVIDIA part uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 bus interface, while the AMD part has no bus interface listed.

Specification Differences

The AMD Steam Machine GPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile differ across several key specifications. The AMD part uses the Navi 33 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture and a 6 nm TSMC process, while the NVIDIA part uses GA106 with Ampere architecture and an 8 nm Samsung process. Transistor counts are 13,300 million for AMD versus 12,000 million for NVIDIA, and die sizes are 204 mm² versus 276 mm² respectively.

Memory capacity differs: 8 GB for AMD versus 4 GB for NVIDIA. Memory bandwidth is 288.0 GB/s versus 192.0 GB/s. The AMD GPU has 112 TMUs and 64 ROPs, while the NVIDIA GPU has 56 TMUs and 32 ROPs. Ray tracing cores number 28 on the AMD part versus 14 on the NVIDIA part, and the NVIDIA part includes 56 tensor cores while the AMD part has none listed.

Clock speeds are higher on the AMD GPU: base 1720 MHz versus 1065 MHz, boost 2450 MHz versus 1343 MHz, and memory clock 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective versus 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective. The AMD part also has a game clock of 2250 MHz, which the NVIDIA part does not list.

Pixel rate is 156.8 GPixel/s for AMD versus 42.98 GPixel/s for NVIDIA. Texture rate is 274.4 GTexel/s versus 75.21 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 17.56 TFLOPS versus 4.813 TFLOPS, and FP16 performance is 17.56 TFLOPS versus 4.813 TFLOPS, both at a 1:1 ratio.

TDP differs substantially: 110 W for AMD versus 45 W for NVIDIA. The AMD part has dimensions of 156 mm length, 152 mm height, and 162 mm width, while the NVIDIA part has no listed dimensions. The NVIDIA part is classified as an IGP slot width, while the AMD part has no slot width listed.

The AMD part is active in production, while the NVIDIA part is end-of-life. The NVIDIA part has a release date of December 31, 2023, and its predecessor is the GeForce 20 Mobile series. The AMD part has a release date of June 28, 2026. Neither part has a listed launch MSRP.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark entries between the AMD Steam Machine GPU and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile. The AMD part has no recorded benchmark scores at all. The NVIDIA part has eight recorded benchmark scores, with its strongest result in PassMark G3D at 11664 and its weakest in PassMark DirectX 12 at 55.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile scores 52998 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is its highest absolute score across all tests. Its PassMark G2D score is 526, and its PassMark GPU Compute score is 4419. The DirectX 9 score is 152, DirectX 10 is 61, DirectX 11 is 94, and DirectX 12 is 55.

The average benchmark score for the NVIDIA part is 8746, placing it at the 44th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 with an average score of 8743 and a 0 percent delta, the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 with an average score of 8686 and a 0.7 percent delta, the AMD Radeon R9 M265X with an average score of 8851 and a negative 1.2 percent delta, and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 with an average score of 8863 and a negative 1.3 percent delta.

The specification data indicates the AMD Steam Machine GPU would substantially outperform the NVIDIA part in raw compute metrics. The AMD part delivers 17.56 TFLOPS of FP32 performance compared to 4.813 TFLOPS for the NVIDIA part, a difference of roughly 12.75 TFLOPS. Pixel throughput is 156.8 GPixel/s versus 42.98 GPixel/s, and texture throughput is 274.4 GTexel/s versus 75.21 GTexel/s.

The AMD part has double the memory capacity at 8 GB versus 4 GB, and 96.0 GB/s more memory bandwidth. It also has double the TMUs, double the ROPs, and double the ray tracing cores. The NVIDIA part counters with 56 tensor cores that the AMD part does not offer, and a significantly lower TDP of 45 W versus 110 W.

Benchmark results for the NVIDIA part show its DirectX 9 score of 152 is nearly three times its DirectX 12 score of 55, indicating stronger performance in legacy APIs. The PassMark G3D score of 11664 is well above the average score of 8746, showing that this particular test weighs more favorably on the NVIDIA part than other tests in the suite. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 52998 demonstrates the part's compute capability in that specific workload.

The percentile ranking difference is narrow: the AMD part sits at the 50th percentile while the NVIDIA part sits at the 44th percentile. This six-point gap in percentile ranking reflects the AMD part's higher theoretical performance, even though no direct benchmark scores exist for the AMD part in the database. The NVIDIA part's nearest rival deltas are all within 1.3 percent, indicating a tight competitive cluster around its performance level.