NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile and NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile are both Ampere-based mobile GPUs built on the GA104 chip, but the benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap between them. Across the nine head-to-head benchmark comparisons, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins every single test, with margins ranging from a modest 9.1% to a massive 37%. The average benchmark score for the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is 23,518, placing it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A4000 Mobile averages 21,379, sitting in the 66th percentile. This consistent sweep makes the performance hierarchy clear, though the specific workloads and API tests reveal where the gaps are narrow and where they become cavernous.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single victory for the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile comes in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where it scores 100,027 against the A4000 Mobile's 73,002. That 37% delta is the standout outlier in the entire comparison and indicates a significant advantage in Vulkan-based rendering workloads. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile also dominates in legacy DirectX 9 performance, scoring 196 versus 157, a 24.8% lead that suggests better efficiency in older API titles. The Passmark G2D test shows another substantial gap, with the 3070 Ti Mobile scoring 783 versus 585, a 33.8% advantage in 2D graphics operations that may reflect better memory bandwidth or clock behavior.

The mid-range deltas are still firmly in favor of the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile. In Passmark DirectX 11, it scores 153 against 127, a 20.5% lead. The Passmark G3D test, which is a strong proxy for overall gaming performance, shows the 3070 Ti Mobile at 17,727 versus 14,796, a 19.8% margin. Compute workloads also favor the consumer card: Passmark GPU Compute scores 7,504 versus 6,394, a 17.4% advantage. Even the DirectX 10 and DirectX 12 tests, while closer, still show clear wins for the 3070 Ti Mobile at 18.1% and 10.6% respectively.

The narrowest margin is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile scores 106,022 against 97,178, a 9.1% lead. This shows that in pure compute-oriented OpenCL tasks, the two cards are relatively close, though the 3070 Ti Mobile still comes out ahead. The overall pattern is unambiguous: the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is faster in every measured scenario, with its biggest advantages in Vulkan and 2D, and its smallest in OpenCL compute.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile has an average benchmark score of 23,518, which is 10% higher than the RTX A4000 Mobile's 21,379 average.

Q: Is the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile better for Vulkan-based games?

A: Yes, significantly. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile scores 100,027 versus 73,002 for the RTX A4000 Mobile, a 37% advantage that represents the largest performance gap between the two cards.

Q: How does the RTX A4000 Mobile compare to its own rivals?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile sits at the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000, which has an average score of 21,629, putting the A4000 Mobile 1.2% behind it. It is also 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 8970M and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL.

Q: What is the performance difference in DirectX 12?

A: In Passmark DirectX 12, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile scores 73 while the RTX A4000 Mobile scores 66, a 10.6% advantage for the 3070 Ti Mobile. This is the second-narrowest margin in the head-to-head comparison.

Q: Which GPU has better compute performance?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile leads in Passmark GPU Compute with a score of 7,504 versus 6,394, a 17.4% advantage. However, in Geekbench OpenCL the gap narrows to 9.1%, with scores of 106,022 and 97,178 respectively.

Q: Are these GPUs the same size and power draw?

A: Yes, both have a TDP of 115 W and use no external power connectors. Both are based on the GA104 chip with an 8 nm process node from Samsung, and both use 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile wins in every benchmark category, but the scale of its victories varies by workload. For gaming and general 3D rendering, the Passmark G3D score of 17,727 versus 14,796 represents a 19.8% lead, making it the clear choice for gaming laptops. The 37% Vulkan advantage is particularly important for modern games and applications that leverage Vulkan, as this API is increasingly common in cross-platform titles and emulators. The 24.8% lead in DirectX 9 also matters for older game libraries, where the 3070 Ti Mobile will handle legacy titles with noticeably more headroom.

For compute-heavy professional workloads, the RTX 3070 Ti Mobile still comes out ahead, but the margins are tighter. The 17.4% lead in Passmark GPU Compute and the 9.1% lead in Geekbench OpenCL suggest that while the consumer card is faster, the gap in raw compute is not as overwhelming as in graphics tasks. The RTX A4000 Mobile's 17.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is actually higher than the 3070 Ti Mobile's 16.60 TFLOPS, which explains why the compute deltas are smaller than the graphics deltas. In applications that rely heavily on FP32 throughput, the A4000 Mobile's higher theoretical peak narrows the real-world gap.

The RTX A4000 Mobile's only potential advantage lies in its positioning as a professional mobile workstation part, given its lineage from the Quadro Turing-M predecessor and its successor designation as Ada-MW. However, the benchmark data does not show any workload where this professional positioning translates into a performance win. The 2D performance gap of 33.8% in Passmark G2D is particularly stark, with the 3070 Ti Mobile scoring 783 versus 585, suggesting that even desktop-style productivity tasks favor the consumer card.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs share a common foundation but differ in several key specifications. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile has a higher memory clock at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed, while the RTX A4000 Mobile runs at 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective. This translates to a bandwidth advantage for the 3070 Ti Mobile: 448.0 GB/s versus 384.0 GB/s. Both have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus.

The core configurations differ substantially. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile has 5,888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, while the RTX A4000 Mobile has 5,120 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The RT core and tensor core counts also differ, with the 3070 Ti Mobile featuring 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores versus 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores for the A4000 Mobile. These differences explain the 3070 Ti Mobile's higher pixel rate of 135.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 259.4 GTexel/s, though the A4000 Mobile's texture rate of 268.8 GTexel/s is actually higher due to its boost clock.

Clock speeds tell an interesting story. The RTX A4000 Mobile has a higher base clock of 1140 MHz and boost clock of 1680 MHz, compared to the 3070 Ti Mobile's 915 MHz base and 1410 MHz boost. Despite the lower clocks, the 3070 Ti Mobile still wins in most benchmarks, which indicates that its larger core configuration more than compensates for the clock deficit. The FP32 performance figures reflect this: the A4000 Mobile's 17.20 TFLOPS actually exceeds the 3070 Ti Mobile's 16.60 TFLOPS, yet the 3070 Ti Mobile wins in every real-world test except where the raw FP32 peak matters most.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture using the GA104 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process node. They share the same transistor count of 17,400 million and the same die size of 392 mm², with an identical transistor density of 44.4M per mm². Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and both use a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface.

The architectural differences are primarily in the implementation. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is part of the GeForce 30 Mobile generation, released on 2022-01-03, while the RTX A4000 Mobile belongs to the Ampere-MW (Ax000) generation, released on 2021-04-11. The A4000 Mobile's predecessor is the Quadro Turing-M, and its successor is the Ada-MW, confirming its professional workstation lineage. The 3070 Ti Mobile's predecessor is the GeForce 20 Mobile series, and it is now end-of-life like the A4000 Mobile.

The core count differences are the most significant architectural divergence. The 3070 Ti Mobile has 15% more shading units (5,888 versus 5,120), 15% more TMUs (184 versus 160), and 20% more ROPs (96 versus 80). It also has 15% more RT cores (46 versus 40) and tensor cores (184 versus 160). These proportional increases suggest that the 3070 Ti Mobile uses a more fully-enabled GA104 die, while the A4000 Mobile may have some functional units disabled for power or yield considerations. The A4000 Mobile's higher boost clock partially compensates for these reductions, but not enough to overcome the core deficit in most workloads.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Mobile is the faster GPU in every benchmark measured. With a 9-0 sweep in head-to-head tests, an average benchmark score of 23,518 that is 10% higher than the A4000 Mobile's 21,379, and a 69th percentile ranking versus 66th, the 3070 Ti Mobile is the better choice for anyone prioritizing raw performance. Its 37% lead in Vulkan and 19.8% lead in Passmark G3D make it particularly well-suited for gaming and modern graphics workloads.

The RTX A4000 Mobile is not without merit, but its advantages are theoretical rather than measured. Its higher FP32 peak of 17.20 TFLOPS versus 16.60 TFLOPS and its higher boost clock of 1680 MHz versus 1410 MHz suggest it may excel in specific FP32-bound professional applications that do not appear in the standard benchmark suite. For users in the professional workstation market, the A4000 Mobile's lineage from Quadro Turing-M may offer driver certifications or ISV support that the consumer GeForce card lacks, though this is not reflected in the benchmark data.

For most buyers, the choice is straightforward. The RTX 3070 Ti Mobile offers superior performance in every tested workload, with a 9.1% to 37% range of advantages. The only scenario where the A4000 Mobile makes sense is if professional-specific features or certifications are required and the performance gap is acceptable. Otherwise, the GeForce card's higher core counts, faster memory, and consistent benchmark wins make it the clear pick from a pure performance standpoint. The 3070 Ti Mobile's 448.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 384.0 GB/s and its 184 TMUs versus 160 provide the hardware foundation for its benchmark dominance, and the data shows no workload where the A4000 Mobile can close the gap.