NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Comparison

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile

The database shows a decisive performance gap between these two NVIDIA GPUs, with the desktop RTX 4070 winning all three head-to-head benchmark comparisons. The RTX 4070 delivers an average benchmark score of 37,648, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3050 Mobile averages 33,170, ranking in the 78th percentile. The two cards share the same DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 API support, but they diverge sharply in architecture, memory configuration, and raw compute capabilities.

FAQ

Q: What is the main performance difference in the head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070 wins all three recorded comparisons. The largest margin is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the RTX 4070 scores 3,854 versus 421 for the RTX 3050 Mobile, a delta of 815.4%. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4070 leads by 255%, and in Geekbench OpenCL, it leads by 209.5%.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37,648, which is roughly 13.5% higher than the RTX 3050 Mobile's average of 33,170. This places the RTX 4070 in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3050 Mobile sits in the 78th percentile.

Q: Which GPU has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4070 features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 3050 Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s.

Q: What are the core counts for each GPU?

A: The RTX 4070 has 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, 64 render output units, 46 ray tracing cores, and 184 tensor cores. The RTX 3050 Mobile has 2,048 shading units, 64 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 16 ray tracing cores, and 64 tensor cores.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The RTX 4070 has a TDP of 200 W, while the RTX 3050 Mobile has a TDP of 45 W. The RTX 4070 requires a dual-slot cooler and a 1x 16-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 550 W, whereas the RTX 3050 Mobile is an IGP with no power connectors.

Q: When were these GPUs released?

A: The RTX 3050 Mobile was released on May 10, 2021, and the RTX 4070 was released on April 11, 2023. Both are marked as end-of-life products in the database.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on different architectures and manufacturing processes. The RTX 4070 uses the AD104 chip with the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 5 nm process. It integrates 35,800 million transistors on a die size of 294 mm², yielding a transistor density of 121.8 million per mm². The RTX 3050 Mobile, in contrast, uses the GA107 chip with the Ampere architecture, fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm process. It contains 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, with a density of 43.5 million per mm².

This process advantage gives the RTX 4070 a significantly higher transistor count and density, which translates into a much larger compute footprint. The RTX 4070's shading unit count of 5,888 is nearly triple the RTX 3050 Mobile's 2,048. The ray tracing core count also differs substantially: 46 on the RTX 4070 versus 16 on the RTX 3050 Mobile. Tensor core counts follow a similar pattern, with 184 on the RTX 4070 and 64 on the RTX 3050 Mobile.

The memory subsystem is another major architectural split. The RTX 4070 uses GDDR6X with an effective speed of 21 Gbps, while the RTX 3050 Mobile uses GDDR6 at 12 Gbps. The bus width difference, 192-bit versus 128-bit, further widens the bandwidth gap, with the RTX 4070 delivering 504.2 GB/s compared to 192.0 GB/s for the mobile part. The RTX 4070 also has a wider bus interface of PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x8 on the RTX 3050 Mobile.

The RTX 4070 is a desktop card with a dual-slot form factor, measuring 240 mm in length, 110 mm in height, and 40 mm in width. It requires a 16-pin power connector and a 550 W suggested PSU. The RTX 3050 Mobile is an IGP with no dimensions recorded, no power connectors, and no suggested PSU, as it is designed to be soldered onto a laptop motherboard. Display outputs also differ: the RTX 4070 has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RTX 3050 Mobile's outputs are portable device dependent.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 wins in every recorded benchmark category, making it the clear choice for desktop gaming and compute workloads. Its 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and matching FP16 output (1:1 ratio) indicate strong general-purpose compute capacity. In the database, the RTX 4070's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.1% faster), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (0.4% slower), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (1.3% faster). This places the RTX 4070 in a performance tier that is competitive with high-end workstation and enthusiast GPUs.

The RTX 3050 Mobile, with 5.501 TFLOPS of FP32 and FP16 performance, is positioned much lower in the performance hierarchy. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA T550 Mobile (0% difference), AMD Radeon Pro 570 (0.1% slower), and NVIDIA P104-100 (0.6% slower). These are modestly performing parts, and the RTX 3050 Mobile's 4 GB memory capacity is a limiting factor for modern games and large datasets.

For use-case segmentation, the RTX 4070 is suited for high-resolution gaming, ray tracing workloads, and GPU-accelerated compute tasks that demand large memory bandwidth and high core counts. The RTX 3050 Mobile is better matched to lightweight gaming at lower settings, productivity tasks, and power-constrained environments where its 45 W TDP is an advantage over the RTX 4070's 200 W requirement. The RTX 3050 Mobile's IGP form factor also makes it the only option for thin-and-light laptops, whereas the RTX 4070 requires a full desktop chassis with adequate cooling and power delivery.

Specification Differences

The specification tables reveal stark contrasts across nearly every field. The process node differs: 5 nm for the RTX 4070 versus 8 nm for the RTX 3050 Mobile. Transistor counts are 35,800 million versus 8,700 million, and die sizes are 294 mm² versus 200 mm². The base clock of the RTX 4070 is 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, while the RTX 3050 Mobile operates at a base of 1065 MHz and boosts to 1343 MHz.

Memory specifications diverge completely: the RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X at 21 Gbps effective, while the RTX 3050 Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 at 12 Gbps. The bus widths are 192-bit and 128-bit, respectively, leading to bandwidths of 504.2 GB/s and 192.0 GB/s. The RTX 4070's pixel rate is 158.4 GPixel/s versus 42.98 GPixel/s for the mobile part, and its texture rate is 455.4 GTexel/s versus 85.95 GTexel/s.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The RTX 4070 has a TDP of 200 W, a dual-slot width, a 16-pin power connector, and a suggested PSU of 550 W. The RTX 3050 Mobile has a TDP of 45 W, an IGP slot width, no power connectors, and no suggested PSU. The RTX 4070 is 240 mm long, 110 mm tall, and 40 mm wide, while the mobile part has no recorded dimensions. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 for the desktop card and PCIe 4.0 x8 for the mobile card. The RTX 4070 has a launch MSRP of 599 USD, while the RTX 3050 Mobile has no launch MSRP recorded.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three head-to-head benchmarks in the database all favor the RTX 4070, but the margins vary significantly by test type. The most extreme result is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the RTX 4070 scores 3,854 against 421 for the RTX 3050 Mobile. This represents an 815.4% advantage, indicating that the RTX 4070 is more than nine times faster in this modern DirectX 12 rasterization workload. This test likely stresses raw shading throughput, memory bandwidth, and geometry processing, all of which are massively in favor of the desktop card.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4070 scores 174,152 versus 49,051 for the RTX 3050 Mobile, a delta of 255%. Vulkan is a low-level API that benefits from high core counts and efficient driver execution, and the RTX 4070's 5,888 shading units and 184 tensor cores provide a substantial advantage over the mobile chip's 2,048 shading units and 64 tensor cores. The Geekbench OpenCL test shows a similar pattern, with the RTX 4070 scoring 154,858 against 50,038, a delta of 209.5%. OpenCL workloads often scale with compute unit count, and the RTX 4070's FP32 throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS dwarfs the RTX 3050 Mobile's 5.501 TFLOPS.

These results align with the average benchmark scores, where the RTX 4070's 37,648 average is about 13.5% higher than the RTX 3050 Mobile's 33,170. However, the head-to-head deltas are far larger than the average score difference, suggesting that the RTX 3050 Mobile performs relatively better in some legacy tests that are included in the average but not in the head-to-head set. The RTX 4070's additional benchmark scores, such as Passmark G3D at 26,927 and GPU Compute at 14,720, are not mirrored in the RTX 3050 Mobile's record, which only includes the three head-to-head tests. This asymmetry means the average benchmark score for the RTX 3050 Mobile is calculated from a smaller sample set, potentially underrepresenting its strengths or weaknesses in specific workloads.

The win count is clean: the RTX 4070 wins all three head-to-head tests, while the RTX 3050 Mobile wins none. The data does not show any scenario where the mobile part outperforms the desktop card, which is expected given the massive differences in power envelope, memory bandwidth, and compute resources. The RTX 4070's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, is only 1.3% faster on average, indicating that the desktop RTX 4070 sits at the top of its performance class, while the RTX 3050 Mobile's closest competitor, the NVIDIA T550 Mobile, is essentially tied at 0% delta. This reinforces the conclusion that the RTX 4070 is a high-tier desktop GPU, while the RTX 3050 Mobile is a low-tier laptop part.