AMD Radeon RX 6800M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 6800M are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions from the same release generation, yet the benchmark data reveals a starkly one-sided contest. The RTX 3070 Ti wins all ten head-to-head comparisons, with margins ranging from a 40% gap in DirectX 12 to a staggering 130.5% advantage in GPU compute. However, the AMD part counters with architectural efficiency and a larger memory pool, framing a choice between raw performance and specific feature sets.

Where Each One Wins

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti wins every single benchmark category in the head-to-head comparison. This includes synthetic 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, all five Passmark DirectX tests (9, 10, 11, 12), Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan, Passmark G3D, G2D, and GPU compute. There is no test where the AMD Radeon RX 6800M takes the lead.

The RTX 3070 Ti's dominance is most pronounced in compute-heavy workloads. Its Passmark GPU compute score of 11,601 is 130.5% higher than the RX 6800M's 5,032, indicating a massive advantage for non-graphics parallel processing tasks. Similarly, in legacy DirectX 9 rendering, the NVIDIA part is 77.6% ahead (261 vs 147), suggesting strong driver optimization for older titles. The smallest win for the RTX 3070 Ti is in DirectX 12, where its 91-point score beats the AMD's 65 by 40%, showing that even the most modern API does not close the gap.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800M, conversely, does not "win" any category, but its strengths lie in what the numbers do not capture directly: efficiency and capacity. Its 145 W TDP is nearly half of the RTX 3070 Ti's 290 W, and its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory is 50% larger than the 8 GB on the NVIDIA part. For workloads that require more VRAM than 8 GB, the RX 6800M could be the more viable option, even if its raw scores are lower.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies. The RTX 3070 Ti is built on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture using Samsung's 8 nm process node, with a massive 17,400 million transistors packed into a 392 mm² die. It features 6,144 shading units, 48 RT cores, and 192 tensor cores, enabling a 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 throughput. Its memory subsystem is a 256-bit bus with 8 GB of GDDR6X, delivering 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth.

The RX 6800M uses AMD's RDNA 2.0 architecture on TSMC's more advanced 7 nm node, with 17,200 million transistors in a smaller 335 mm² die. It has only 2,560 shading units and 40 RT cores, but its transistor density is higher (51.3M per mm² vs 44.4M per mm²), reflecting the newer process. Its FP32 throughput is 12.24 TFLOPS, but its FP16 performance doubles to 24.47 TFLOPS, whereas the NVIDIA part maintains a 1:1 ratio. The AMD GPU uses a 192-bit bus with 12 GB of GDDR6, capping bandwidth at 384.0 GB/s. The RX 6800M also has a higher base and boost clock (2116 MHz and 2390 MHz) compared to the RTX 3070 Ti's 1575 MHz and 1770 MHz, yet still delivers lower overall performance.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single victory for the RTX 3070 Ti is in Passmark GPU compute, where it scores 11,601 against the RX 6800M's 5,032 — a 130.5% delta. This test measures raw parallel processing power, and the NVIDIA part's 6,144 shading units and 192 tensor cores overwhelm AMD's 2,560 shading units. This suggests the RTX 3070 Ti is vastly superior for machine learning, physics simulation, and other compute tasks.

The second-largest win is in Passmark G2D, where the RTX 3070 Ti scores 1,055 versus 538, a 96.1% advantage. This reflects 2D rendering and desktop composition performance, where the NVIDIA part's higher texture rate (339.8 GTexel/s) and pixel rate (169.9 GPixel/s) help. In 3D gaming, the Passmark G3D test shows a 76.1% lead (23,356 vs 13,261), confirming the RTX 3070 Ti's dominance in traditional graphics workloads.

In modern API tests, the gap narrows but remains decisive. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX 3070 Ti scores 3,478 versus 2,238, a 55.4% advantage. Geekbench Vulkan shows a 47.2% lead (139,541 vs 94,766), while OpenCL shows 36.6% (119,718 vs 87,621). Among the DirectX legacy tests, the spread is 40% for DX12, 51.2% for DX11, and 53.5% for DX10. The RTX 3070 Ti also wins the DirectX 9 test by 77.6%, demonstrating no weak points across API generations.

Specification Differences

The primary specification gap is in power and form factor. The RTX 3070 Ti is a dual-slot card with a 290 W TDP and requires a 600 W PSU via a single 12-pin connector. The RX 6800M is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with a 145 W TDP, no power connectors, and no suggested PSU, indicating it is soldered to a motherboard rather than being a discrete card.

Memory configuration differs significantly: the RTX 3070 Ti uses 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, achieving 608.3 GB/s, while the RX 6800M uses 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, capped at 384.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA part has more shading units (6,144 vs 2,560), more TMUs (192 vs 160), more ROPs (96 vs 64), and more RT cores (48 vs 40). The AMD part has a smaller die (335 mm² vs 392 mm²) and higher transistor density.

Clocks also differ: the RX 6800M boosts to 2390 MHz versus 1770 MHz on the RTX 3070 Ti, and its base clock is 2116 MHz versus 1575 MHz. The memory clock is 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) on AMD versus 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) on NVIDIA. The RTX 3070 Ti has a launch MSRP of 599 USD; the RX 6800M has no listed launch MSRP. Display outputs differ as well: the NVIDIA card offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the AMD IGP's outputs are portable-device dependent.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 29,945, which is 3.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6800M's 28,874. The NVIDIA part sits at the 75th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD part is at the 74th.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 Ti compare to its closest rival, the RTX 5070 Mobile?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti's average score of 29,945 is only 0.1% higher than the RTX 5070 Mobile's 29,928, indicating near-identical performance. The RX 6800M, however, is 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 570 and 1% behind the Radeon R9 M295X.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti has a 256-bit bus with GDDR6X memory delivering 608.3 GB/s, while the RX 6800M has a 192-bit bus with GDDR6 memory delivering 384.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA part provides 58.4% more memory bandwidth.

Q: Does the RX 6800M have any advantage in raw clock speed?

A: Yes, the RX 6800M has a higher base clock (2116 MHz vs 1575 MHz) and boost clock (2390 MHz vs 1770 MHz). Despite this, its FP32 throughput of 12.24 TFLOPS is significantly lower than the RTX 3070 Ti's 21.75 TFLOPS.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient based on the data?

A: The RX 6800M has a 145 W TDP compared to the RTX 3070 Ti's 290 W, making it the lower-power option. However, the RTX 3070 Ti delivers far higher performance, so efficiency per watt is not directly comparable without additional metrics.

Q: Are both GPUs end-of-life products?

A: Yes, both the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 6800M have a production status of "End-of-life" and share the same release date of 2021-05-30.

The Verdict

The data points to one clear conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is the superior performer across every benchmark category. Its 10-0 win record, with an average lead of 66.4% across all tests, makes it the obvious choice for users who prioritize raw speed in gaming, compute, and legacy API workloads. Its higher pixel rate, texture rate, and FP32 throughput are directly reflected in its benchmark dominance.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800M, however, is not without merit. Its 12 GB VRAM capacity is 50% larger, which could be decisive for specific workloads that exceed 8 GB, such as high-resolution texture packs or certain professional applications. Its 145 W TDP is nearly half of the NVIDIA part's, making it far more suitable for thinner, cooler laptops where power draw is a constraint. The RX 6800M's higher boost clock (2390 MHz vs 1770 MHz) shows that AMD prioritized clock speed over core count, yet the architectural efficiency of the RTX 3070 Ti still prevails.

For gamers and compute users who want maximum performance, the RTX 3070 Ti is the definitive winner. Its closest rival in the data is the RTX 5070 Mobile (0.1% difference), not the AMD part. For users who need more VRAM or operate within a strict power envelope, the RX 6800M is the only viable option, despite its lower benchmark scores. The choice ultimately hinges on whether raw performance or memory capacity and power efficiency hold greater weight for the intended use case.