NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti vs NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti and NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile are two very different products that happen to share a similar overall performance tier. The GTX 1070 Ti is a desktop Pascal card from 2017, while the RTX A2000 Mobile is an Ampere laptop part from 2021. In head-to-head benchmark results, the GTX 1070 Ti wins a decisive 8 out of 9 tests, but the single victory for the RTX A2000 Mobile comes in a workload that matters for modern compute tasks. The data shows that the desktop card dominates in legacy and general 3D workloads, while the mobile part’s newer architecture gives it a specific edge in OpenCL compute. Their average benchmark scores are within 3.3% of each other, placing them in the same performance class despite their generational gap.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most lopsided victory for the GTX 1070 Ti comes in the Passmark DirectX 9 test, where it scores 207 against the RTX A2000 Mobile’s 115, a massive 80% advantage. This is a clear signal that the older Pascal architecture has far stronger legacy DirectX 9 performance, likely due to driver optimization for older APIs. A similar pattern appears in the Passmark G2D test, where the desktop card scores 876 versus 491, a 78.4% lead, indicating better 2D graphics and basic desktop rendering throughput.

In modern DirectX 11 and DirectX 10 workloads, the gap narrows but remains significant. The GTX 1070 Ti scores 107 in DirectX 11 versus 68 for the mobile card, a 57.4% difference, and 90 versus 57 in DirectX 10, a 57.9% lead. The DirectX 12 test is much closer, with the GTX 1070 Ti at 51 and the RTX A2000 Mobile at 47, a mere 8.5% difference. This suggests that under the latest Microsoft graphics API, the architectural advantages of the Ampere part begin to close the gap, though Pascal still holds the edge.

The overall 3D performance metric, Passmark G3D, heavily favors the desktop card. The GTX 1070 Ti delivers a score of 14674 against 9611 for the RTX A2000 Mobile, a 52.7% advantage. This is the most representative single number for general gaming and 3D rendering performance, and it shows that the GTX 1070 Ti is substantially faster in typical rasterized workloads. The Passmark GPU Compute test follows the same pattern, with the desktop card scoring 7165 versus 4334, a 65.3% lead, confirming that Pascal’s raw shader throughput is more effective for general-purpose compute in this benchmark.

The Vulkan results flip the script slightly. The GTX 1070 Ti scores 61006 in Geekbench Vulkan, beating the RTX A2000 Mobile’s 53146 by 14.8%. This shows that Pascal also holds a lead in the modern Vulkan API, which is important for cross-platform games and compute applications. However, the single win for the RTX A2000 Mobile comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 56518 against 49219, a 12.9% advantage. This is a notable result because OpenCL is widely used for professional and scientific compute workloads, and it indicates that the Ampere architecture’s compute capabilities are better optimized for this specific API despite having fewer ROPs and a narrower memory bus.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different process nodes and architectures. The GTX 1070 Ti uses the GP104 chip on TSMC’s 16 nm process, packing 7,200 million transistors into a 314 mm² die for a transistor density of 22.9M per mm². In contrast, the RTX A2000 Mobile uses the GA107 chip on Samsung’s 8 nm process, with 8,700 million transistors in a much smaller 200 mm² die, achieving a significantly higher density of 43.5M per mm². This newer process allows the Ampere part to fit more transistors in less space, but the desktop card’s larger die gives it more physical resources for certain tasks.

The memory subsystems differ substantially. The GTX 1070 Ti has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX A2000 Mobile has only 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 192.0 GB/s. While the mobile card uses faster GDDR6 memory, the desktop card’s wider bus gives it a 33.5% bandwidth advantage, which is critical for high-resolution textures and bandwidth-sensitive workloads. The GTX 1070 Ti also has more TMUs and ROPs: 152 TMUs and 64 ROPs versus 80 TMUs and 48 ROPs on the mobile card, explaining its higher pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s versus 80.98 GPixel/s and its much higher texture rate of 255.8 GTexel/s versus 135.0 GTexel/s.

The shading core counts are close, with the GTX 1070 Ti at 2432 shading units and the RTX A2000 Mobile at 2560, but the newer card has dedicated hardware that Pascal lacks. The RTX A2000 Mobile includes 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, while the GTX 1070 Ti has none. This makes the mobile card capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based features, but its FP32 performance is only slightly higher at 8.637 TFLOPS versus 8.186 TFLOPS. The FP16 comparison is stark: the RTX A2000 Mobile achieves 8.637 TFLOPS at 1:1 ratio, while the GTX 1070 Ti manages only 127.9 GFLOPS at 1:64, making the Ampere part dramatically faster for half-precision compute workloads.

The bus interface also differs, with the GTX 1070 Ti using PCIe 3.0 x16 and the RTX A2000 Mobile using PCIe 4.0 x16. The mobile card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the desktop card is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. Power requirements are vastly different, with the GTX 1070 Ti drawing 180 W and requiring a dual-slot cooler with a 1x 8-pin connector and a 450 W suggested PSU, while the RTX A2000 Mobile is an IGP with a 95 W TDP and no power connectors, making it suitable for thin-and-light laptops.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 1070 Ti wins in almost every scenario that involves traditional rasterized 3D graphics. Its 52.7% lead in Passmark G3D and 65.3% lead in GPU Compute make it the clear choice for gaming at high resolutions, especially with its 8 GB memory buffer and 256-bit bus. The 80% advantage in DirectX 9 and 57.4% in DirectX 11 indicate that older games and applications run significantly better on the Pascal card. If you want to play a mix of classic and modern titles on a desktop, the GTX 1070 Ti is the stronger performer based on the data.

The RTX A2000 Mobile wins in OpenCL compute, which is a key API for professional workloads like video encoding, scientific simulation, and some machine learning frameworks. Its 12.9% advantage over the GTX 1070 Ti in Geekbench OpenCL shows that the Ampere architecture is better optimized for this specific compute path. Additionally, the presence of ray tracing and tensor cores means that applications leveraging these features will have hardware acceleration, even though the raw raster performance is lower. The mobile card’s 95 W TDP and IGP form factor also make it the only viable option for portable workstations, where physical space and power draw are the primary constraints.

The GTX 1070 Ti also wins in Vulkan by 14.8%, so for modern games that use Vulkan, the desktop card remains the better option. The RTX A2000 Mobile only closes the gap in DirectX 12, where it trails by just 8.5%, but it still does not win. This means that for gaming, the GTX 1070 Ti is the consistent winner, while the RTX A2000 Mobile is the specialized compute part that trades raster performance for feature set and portability.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 1070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 14277, while the RTX A2000 Mobile scores 13821. The desktop card is 3.3% ahead on average.

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

A: The GTX 1070 Ti scores 51 in the Passmark DirectX 12 test, while the RTX A2000 Mobile scores 47. The desktop card wins by 8.5%, which is the closest margin across all Passmark tests.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The GTX 1070 Ti has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, while the RTX A2000 Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus. The desktop card also has higher bandwidth at 256.3 GB/s versus 192.0 GB/s.

Q: Does the RTX A2000 Mobile support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RTX A2000 Mobile has 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores. The GTX 1070 Ti has zero ray tracing or tensor cores.

Q: Which GPU is better for OpenCL compute workloads?

A: The RTX A2000 Mobile wins in Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 56518 versus 49219 for the GTX 1070 Ti, a 12.9% advantage.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The GTX 1070 Ti has a 180 W TDP and requires a dual-slot cooler with a 1x 8-pin power connector and a 450 W suggested PSU. The RTX A2000 Mobile has a 95 W TDP and uses no power connectors as an IGP.

The Verdict

The data clearly shows that the GTX 1070 Ti is the superior GPU for general 3D performance and gaming. It wins 8 of 9 head-to-head benchmarks, including decisive victories in Passmark G3D (52.7%), GPU Compute (65.3%), and legacy DirectX APIs (57.9% in DX10, 57.4% in DX11, 80% in DX9). Its larger 8 GB memory buffer and 256-bit bus give it a significant bandwidth advantage that benefits high-resolution textures and traditional rendering. If you are building a desktop system and prioritize rasterized gaming performance, the GTX 1070 Ti is the better choice based on benchmark results.

However, the RTX A2000 Mobile is the only option for a mobile workstation. Its 95 W TDP and IGP form factor make it suitable for laptops, while its 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores provide hardware acceleration for features the GTX 1070 Ti cannot offer. Its 12.9% win in Geekbench OpenCL also makes it the better choice for professional compute tasks that rely on that API. The RTX A2000 Mobile’s 8 nm process and higher transistor density (43.5M per mm²) indicate a more modern design, but this does not translate into raster performance wins. For desktop users, the GTX 1070 Ti is the data-backed winner; for laptop users needing Ampere features and OpenCL performance, the RTX A2000 Mobile is the only viable option.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti | NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile |

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

| Architecture | Pascal | Ampere |

| Process Node | 16 nm (TSMC) | 8 nm (Samsung) |

| Transistors | 7,200 million | 8,700 million |

| Die Size | 314 mm² | 200 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 22.9M / mm² | 43.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1607 MHz | 1215 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1683 MHz | 1687 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) | 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 256.3 GB/s | 192.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2432 | 2560 |

| TMUs | 152 | 80 |

| ROPs | 64 | 48 |

| RT Cores | None | 20 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 80 |

| Pixel Rate | 107.7 GPixel/s | 80.98 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 255.8 GTexel/s | 135.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 8.186 TFLOPS | 8.637 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 127.9 GFLOPS (1:64) | 8.637 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 180 W | 95 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | None |

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

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