AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results show a decisive overall victory for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, which wins 8 of the 10 recorded tests. The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT takes only 2 wins, but those wins are significant in their respective API categories.

The largest margin in either direction belongs to the AMD card. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RX 6500 XT scores 54724 against the GTX 1070's 22121, a delta of 147.4% in AMD's favor. This is a massive lead and indicates a fundamental advantage in Vulkan compute workloads. The AMD card also wins the Geekbench OpenCL test, scoring 48289 versus 44700, a more modest 8% advantage.

Outside of those two compute-oriented tests, the GTX 1070 dominates. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, the GTX 1070 scores 1082 while the RX 6500 XT manages only 235, a delta of -78.3% for AMD. This is the largest deficit for the RX 6500 XT in the entire dataset and highlights a stark difference in modern DirectX 12 rasterization performance. The GTX 1070 also leads in all five PassMark DirectX tests: DirectX 9 (197 vs 108, a 45.2% delta in NVIDIA's favor), DirectX 10 (82 vs 60, a 26.8% delta), DirectX 11 (100 vs 90, a 10% delta), and DirectX 12 (48 vs 38, a 20.8% delta).

The remaining two tests, PassMark G3D and PassMark GPU Compute, also go to the GTX 1070. In G3D, the GTX 1070 scores 13498 against 9608, a 28.8% delta. In GPU Compute, the GTX 1070 scores 6102 against 4456, a 27% delta. The PassMark G2D test is close, with the GTX 1070 ahead by only 3.7% (846 vs 815).

Looking at the average benchmark scores, the RX 6500 XT records an average score of 11842, which places it at the 51st percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (average score 11960, a 1% delta against the RX 6500 XT) and the GTX 1660 (average score 11680, a 1.4% delta in favor of the RX 6500 XT). The GTX 1070, meanwhile, has an average score of 9780, placing it at the 47th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the AMD FirePro W5000 (9803, a 0.2% delta) and the Quadro M2000M (9832, a 0.5% delta). This means that despite losing the head-to-head, the RX 6500 XT has a higher aggregate average score across its full benchmark suite than the GTX 1070, driven largely by its exceptional Geekbench results.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear split. For legacy DirectX titles and general rasterization performance, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the stronger card. Its wins in DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests, combined with the massive 3DMark Steel Nomad lead, indicate that it is substantially faster in traditional gaming workloads. The GTX 1070 also holds a significant advantage in PassMark G3D, which is a broad measure of 3D graphics performance. The 28.8% delta in G3D and the 78.3% delta in Steel Nomad are not marginal differences; they represent a clear tier gap in standard rendering.

The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT, however, is the choice for users prioritizing compute-oriented APIs. The 147.4% lead in Geekbench Vulkan is extraordinary and suggests that the RX 6500 XT is far better optimized for Vulkan compute tasks. Its 8% lead in OpenCL reinforces this pattern. If the workload is heavily compute-based, such as certain productivity applications or Vulkan compute shaders, the RX 6500 XT is the better option based on these measurements.

For a buyer choosing between these two end-of-life cards, the decision hinges on the intended use. The GTX 1070 is the safer pick for a broad range of DirectX games, especially older titles where its lead is 45.2% in DirectX 9. The RX 6500 XT is the pick for users who know their software leverages Vulkan or OpenCL compute heavily, where it can be more than double the performance of the GTX 1070. The GTX 1070's 8 GB memory capacity and 256-bit bus also provide a hardware foundation that the RX 6500 XT's 4 GB and 64-bit bus cannot match, but the benchmark data alone shows the GTX 1070 winning in most rendering scenarios.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from vastly different architectural eras. The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, using the Navi 24 chip fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 uses the Pascal architecture, with the GP104 chip on a 16 nm process, also from TSMC. The process node difference is substantial: 6 nm versus 16 nm, which contributes to the RX 6500 XT's higher transistor density of 50.5 million transistors per square millimeter, compared to 22.9 million for the GTX 1070. The RX 6500 XT has 5,400 million transistors on a 107 mm² die, while the GTX 1070 has 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die.

The RX 6500 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTX 1070 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). This means the AMD card includes hardware ray tracing cores (16 of them), which the GTX 1070 lacks entirely. The RX 6500 XT also supports Vulkan 1.4, as does the GTX 1070, and both support OpenGL 4.6. The AMD card has 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation units. The GTX 1070 has 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The GTX 1070's higher shading unit count and ROP count explain its advantage in traditional rasterization throughput.

The RX 6500 XT's FP32 performance is 5.765 TFLOPS, while the GTX 1070 achieves 6.463 TFLOPS. The AMD card has a significant FP16 advantage at 11.53 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the GTX 1070's FP16 is a negligible 101.0 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio). This FP16 capability on the RX 6500 XT likely contributes to its strong Vulkan and OpenCL compute scores. The GTX 1070 uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, while the RX 6500 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x4, a narrower link that can be a bottleneck in some scenarios.

Specification Differences

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The RX 6500 XT has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus, delivering 143.9 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 1070 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.3 GB/s. The GTX 1070's bandwidth advantage is nearly double, and its memory capacity is double. The RX 6500 XT's memory clock is 2248 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while the GTX 1070's is 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The RX 6500 XT's higher effective memory speed partially compensates for its narrower bus, but not enough to close the bandwidth gap.

Clock speeds differ as well. The RX 6500 XT has a base clock of 2310 MHz, a boost clock of 2815 MHz, and a game clock of 2610 MHz. The GTX 1070 has a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz, with no game clock listed. The RX 6500 XT's clocks are substantially higher, which helps its compute performance. Pixel rates are 90.08 GPixel/s for the RX 6500 XT and 107.7 GPixel/s for the GTX 1070. Texture rates are 180.2 GTexel/s for the RX 6500 XT and 202.0 GTexel/s for the GTX 1070, both favoring NVIDIA.

Power requirements differ notably. The RX 6500 XT has a TDP of 107 W with a single 6-pin power connector and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The GTX 1070 has a TDP of 150 W with a single 8-pin connector and a suggested PSU of 450 W. Both are dual-slot cards. The GTX 1070 is physically larger: 267 mm in length, 112 mm in height, and 40 mm in width, while the RX 6500 XT has no recorded dimensions. Display outputs differ: the RX 6500 XT has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the GTX 1070 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RX 6500 XT launched at an MSRP of 199 USD, while the GTX 1070 launched at 379 USD.

FAQ

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

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 wins decisively, scoring 1082 compared to the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT's 235, a delta of -78.3% for AMD.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT win any benchmark tests?

A: Yes, the RX 6500 XT wins 2 of the 10 head-to-head tests: Geekbench Vulkan (54724 vs 22121, a 147.4% delta) and Geekbench OpenCL (48289 vs 44700, an 8% delta).

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

A: The RX 6500 XT has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus with 143.9 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 1070 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 256.3 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT has an average benchmark score of 11842, placing it at the 51st percentile. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 has an average score of 9780, at the 47th percentile.

Q: Does the GTX 1070 support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 1070 has no ray tracing cores and only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The RX 6500 XT includes 16 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Q: What is the transistor count difference between the two GPUs?

A: The RX 6500 XT has 5,400 million transistors on a 107 mm² die (6 nm process). The GTX 1070 has 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die (16 nm process).

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 wins in every DirectX-based test, including DirectX 9 (45.2% delta), DirectX 10 (26.8% delta), DirectX 11 (10% delta), and DirectX 12 (20.8% delta). It also wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test with a massive 78.3% delta, the PassMark G3D test with a 28.8% delta, the PassMark GPU Compute test with a 27% delta, and the PassMark G2D test with a 3.7% delta. This makes it the clear winner for traditional gaming, especially older DirectX titles and general 3D rendering workloads. Its 8 GB memory capacity and 256.3 GB/s bandwidth give it a hardware foundation that is better suited for high-resolution textures and larger scenes.

The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT wins in Geekbench Vulkan with a 147.4% delta and Geekbench OpenCL with an 8% delta. These are compute-oriented benchmarks, and the RX 6500 XT's FP16 capability (11.53 TFLOPS versus 101.0 GFLOPS on the GTX 1070) is likely a major factor. Users running Vulkan compute workloads, machine learning inference using FP16, or OpenCL-based productivity applications will see substantially better performance on the RX 6500 XT. Its higher clock speeds (boost up to 2815 MHz versus 1683 MHz on the GTX 1070) also contribute to its compute efficiency. The RX 6500 XT also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and hardware ray tracing, features the GTX 1070 lacks, making it the better choice for titles that leverage those modern rendering features, even if its overall DX12 rasterization performance is lower.