AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive sweep for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti across all ten shared benchmark tests. The largest margin appears in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where the GTX 1070 Ti scores 1471 against the RX 6500 XT's 235, a 526% advantage. This is not a close contest by any measure; it represents a generational gap in raw rendering throughput under a modern DirectX 12 workload.

Moving to compute-oriented tests, the GTX 1070 Ti continues its dominance. In PassMark GPU Compute, it scores 7165 versus 4456, a 60.8% lead. The Geekbench OpenCL result is far tighter: 49219 against 48289, a mere 1.9% difference. This narrow margin suggests that in certain general-purpose compute workloads, the architectural efficiency of the RX 6500 XT's RDNA 2 design partially offsets its smaller hardware resource pool. However, the Geekbench Vulkan test shows a more pronounced gap, with the GTX 1070 Ti ahead by 11.5% (61006 versus 54724).

DirectX legacy testing reveals the most consistent pattern. In PassMark DirectX 9, the GTX 1070 Ti posts 207 versus 108, a 91.7% lead. DirectX 10 shows a 50% advantage (90 versus 60). DirectX 11 narrows somewhat to 18.9% (107 versus 90), while DirectX 12 lands at 34.2% (51 versus 38). The overall PassMark G3D score, which aggregates many 3D workloads, gives the GTX 1070 Ti a 52.7% win (14674 versus 9608). Even the 2D-focused PassMark G2D test goes to the older card, 876 versus 815, a 7.5% edge.

The aggregate picture from the database is clear. The GTX 1070 Ti records an average benchmark score of 14277, placing it at the 56th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics at 14315 (-0.3%), the AMD Radeon Vega 11 at 14352 (-0.5%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN at 14373 (-0.7%). The RX 6500 XT, by contrast, averages 11842, sitting at the 51st percentile. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 at 11960 (-1%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A at 11998 (-1.3%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 at 11680 (+1.4%), and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT at 11627 (+1.9%). Notably, the RX 6500 XT's average is bracketed by cards from much older generations, which contextualizes its performance tier.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti wins decisively with a score of 1471, which is 526% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT's 235.

Q: How close is the Geekbench OpenCL performance between the two cards?

A: The GTX 1070 Ti edges out the RX 6500 XT by 1.9%, scoring 49219 versus 48289. This is the smallest margin in the entire head-to-head comparison.

Q: What are the average benchmark scores for each GPU?

A: The GTX 1070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 14277, while the RX 6500 XT averages 11842. The difference is roughly 20% in favor of the GTX 1070 Ti.

Q: Does the RX 6500 XT win any of the ten shared benchmarks?

A: No. The recorded data shows zero wins for the RX 6500 XT; the GTX 1070 Ti wins all ten tests.

Q: How do the two cards compare in PassMark DirectX 12 performance?

A: The GTX 1070 Ti scores 51, which is 34.2% higher than the RX 6500 XT's 38.

Q: What percentile does each card occupy among all GPUs?

A: The GTX 1070 Ti sits at the 56th percentile, while the RX 6500 XT sits at the 51st percentile.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from fundamentally different design eras and philosophies. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti is built on the Pascal architecture, using the GP104 chip fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. It packs 7,200 million transistors into a 314 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 22.9 million per mm². The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT uses the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 24 chip, produced on a much smaller 6 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 5,400 million transistors on a 107 mm² die, achieving a far higher transistor density of 50.5 million per mm².

The compute resource allocation differs substantially. The GTX 1070 Ti deploys 2432 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The RX 6500 XT has 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. However, the RX 6500 XT includes 16 ray tracing cores, which the Pascal-based GTX 1070 Ti lacks entirely. This is a significant feature divergence: RDNA 2.0 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while Pascal only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, according to the database.

Memory architecture also separates the two. The GTX 1070 Ti uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6500 XT uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, delivering 143.9 GB/s. The newer card's smaller bus width is partially compensated by faster memory, but the total bandwidth remains far lower. The GTX 1070 Ti's pixel rate is 107.7 GPixel/s and texture rate is 255.8 GTexel/s; the RX 6500 XT posts 90.08 GPixel/s and 180.2 GTexel/s respectively.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The RX 6500 XT runs at a base clock of 2310 MHz, a game clock of 2610 MHz, and a boost clock of 2815 MHz. The GTX 1070 Ti operates at 1607 MHz base and 1683 MHz boost. The RX 6500 XT's higher clocks are a direct consequence of the efficient 6 nm process, which allows higher frequencies within a lower power envelope. The FP32 throughput reflects this: the GTX 1070 Ti reaches 8.186 TFLOPS, while the RX 6500 XT reaches 5.765 TFLOPS. In FP16, the GTX 1070 Ti is heavily restricted at 127.9 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio), whereas the RX 6500 XT delivers 11.53 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), a clear architectural strength for the newer card.

Specification Differences

The table below highlights only the fields where the two cards differ, based on the recorded data.

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti | AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT |

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

| Architecture | Pascal | RDNA 2.0 |

| Process Node | 16 nm | 6 nm |

| Transistors | 7,200 million | 5,400 million |

| Die Size | 314 mm² | 107 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 22.9M / mm² | 50.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1607 MHz | 2310 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1683 MHz | 2815 MHz |

| Game Clock | N/A | 2610 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 256.3 GB/s | 143.9 GB/s |

| Memory Clock | 2002 MHz, 8 Gbps effective | 2248 MHz, 18 Gbps effective |

| Shading Units | 2432 | 1024 |

| TMUs | 152 | 64 |

| ROPs | 64 | 32 |

| RT Cores | N/A | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 107.7 GPixel/s | 90.08 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 255.8 GTexel/s | 180.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 8.186 TFLOPS | 5.765 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 127.9 GFLOPS (1:64) | 11.53 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 180 W | 107 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | 1x 6-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x4 |

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

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

The GTX 1070 Ti's launch date is 2017-11-01, and its launch MSRP is 399 USD. The RX 6500 XT launched on 2022-01-18, with a launch MSRP of 199 USD. Both cards are marked as end-of-life in the database. The GTX 1070 Ti measures 267 mm in length, 112 mm in height, and 40 mm in width; dimensions for the RX 6500 XT are not recorded. Both are dual-slot cards.

Where Each One Wins

Based strictly on the benchmark data, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti wins in every measured category. Its strongest advantages appear in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (526% lead), PassMark DirectX 9 (91.7% lead), and PassMark GPU Compute (60.8% lead). It also holds substantial leads in PassMark G3D (52.7%) and PassMark DirectX 10 (50%). These results indicate that the GTX 1070 Ti is the superior choice for users prioritizing raw 3D rendering performance, legacy DirectX compatibility, and compute throughput.

The RX 6500 XT's most competitive area is Geekbench OpenCL, where it trails by only 1.9%. This suggests that in certain compute workloads, the architectural efficiency of RDNA 2.0 narrows the gap considerably. The RX 6500 XT also comes closer in PassMark G2D (7.5% deficit) and Geekbench Vulkan (11.5% deficit), indicating that lighter 2D tasks and some Vulkan-optimized applications are relatively less unfavorable for the newer card.

For users targeting modern ray-traced content, the RX 6500 XT holds a structural advantage with its 16 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support, even though no direct benchmark in the shared set measures this capability. The GTX 1070 Ti has no ray tracing hardware and only supports DirectX 12_1. That said, the benchmark data does not include a ray tracing test, so any conclusion there rests on feature presence rather than measured performance.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion for most buyers: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT in every shared benchmark, often by substantial margins. Its higher average score (14277 versus 11842), higher percentile ranking (56th versus 51st), and complete sweep of all ten head-to-head tests make it the stronger choice for anyone prioritizing traditional 3D rendering, compute tasks, and legacy API support. The GTX 1070 Ti's 8 GB memory capacity and 256-bit bus provide nearly double the bandwidth of the RX 6500 XT's 4 GB configuration, which likely contributes to its dominance in memory-heavy workloads.

However, the RX 6500 XT is not without rationale for certain users. Its 6 nm process and RDNA 2.0 architecture deliver significantly higher clock speeds (2815 MHz boost versus 1683 MHz) and include ray tracing cores, which the GTX 1070 Ti lacks. Its lower TDP of 107 W means it requires only a 300 W suggested PSU and a single 6-pin connector, compared to the GTX 1070 Ti's 180 W TDP, 450 W PSU suggestion, and 8-pin connector. For a compact or power-constrained system, the RX 6500 XT is the more practical fit. Its FP16 throughput (11.53 TFLOPS) is also far superior, which matters for workloads that leverage half-precision arithmetic.

The verdict from the database is unambiguous: the GTX 1070 Ti wins on raw performance across the board, while the RX 6500 XT wins on power efficiency, modern feature support, and physical footprint. Users who need maximum frame rates and compute throughput should choose the GTX 1070 Ti. Users who prioritize low power draw, ray tracing capability, and a smaller card should consider the RX 6500 XT, provided they accept its lower overall benchmark scores.