NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 vs NVIDIA TITAN RTX Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins more benchmark comparisons?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 wins 9 of the 10 head-to-head benchmark tests, with the NVIDIA TITAN RTX taking only a single win.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4070 records an average benchmark score of 37,648, which is 18.8% higher than the TITAN RTX's 31,676. The RTX 4070 also sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, versus the 76th percentile for the TITAN RTX.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest margin is in Passmark GPU Compute, where the RTX 4070 scores 14,720 versus 10,034 for the TITAN RTX, a 46.7% advantage.

Q: Where does the TITAN RTX manage to beat the RTX 4070?

A: The TITAN RTX wins only in Passmark DirectX 10, scoring 147 against 139, a 5.4% edge. This is the sole benchmark where it leads.

Q: How do the memory configurations differ?

A: The RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. The TITAN RTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the architectural generations of each card?

A: The RTX 4070 is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture (AD104 chip) on a 5 nm process, while the TITAN RTX uses the Turing architecture (TU102 chip) on a 12 nm process.

Architecture Differences

The RTX 4070 and TITAN RTX represent two distinct NVIDIA architectures separated by several years of design evolution. The RTX 4070 uses the AD104 chip built on Ada Lovelace, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The TITAN RTX uses the TU102 chip based on Turing, also from TSMC but on a 12 nm process, with 18,600 million transistors spread across a much larger 754 mm² die.

Transistor density tells a stark story: the RTX 4070 packs 121.8 million transistors per mm², while the TITAN RTX manages only 24.7 million per mm². This density advantage explains how the newer card achieves higher performance despite a smaller physical footprint.

Shader resources differ substantially. The RTX 4070 has 5,888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, while the TITAN RTX has 4,608 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The TITAN RTX has more texture and pixel processing hardware, but the RTX 4070 compensates with much higher clock speeds.

Ray tracing and tensor hardware also diverge. The RTX 4070 has 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores, while the TITAN RTX has 72 RT cores and 576 tensor cores. The TITAN RTX's larger count of these specialized units reflects its Turing-era design, which aimed at professional and compute workloads.

Clock speeds favor the RTX 4070 decisively. Its base clock is 1,920 MHz and boost reaches 2,475 MHz, compared to the TITAN RTX's 1,350 MHz base and 1,770 MHz boost. This 705 MHz boost advantage is a primary driver of the newer card's performance lead.

Memory architecture shows a trade-off. The RTX 4070 uses 12 GB of GDDR6X at 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. The TITAN RTX uses 24 GB of GDDR6 at 1,750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) on a 384-bit bus, providing 672.0 GB/s bandwidth. The TITAN RTX has double the capacity and 33% more bandwidth, but the RTX 4070's faster effective memory speed helps close the gap.

Power requirements differ notably: the RTX 4070 has a 200 W TDP with a single 16-pin connector and a suggested 550 W PSU, while the TITAN RTX draws 280 W with dual 8-pin connectors and a suggested 600 W PSU.

Interface and outputs also separate the two. The RTX 4070 uses PCIe 4.0 x16 with 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The TITAN RTX uses PCIe 3.0 x16 with 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data reveals a clear and consistent pattern: the RTX 4070 dominates nearly every test, often by wide margins. The single exception is Passmark DirectX 10, where the TITAN RTX leads 147 to 139, a 5.4% advantage. This lone win highlights the older card's strength in a legacy API scenario.

In modern DirectX workloads, the RTX 4070's lead is substantial. Passmark DirectX 11 shows 244 versus 189, a 29.1% margin. Passmark DirectX 12 shows 103 versus 88, a 17% advantage. The legacy DirectX 9 test shows the largest API-based gap: 320 versus 223, a 43.5% lead for the RTX 4070.

Compute performance heavily favors the newer architecture. Passmark GPU Compute records 14,720 for the RTX 4070 against 10,034 for the TITAN RTX, a 46.7% difference. This is the single largest performance gap in the entire comparison.

Vulkan and OpenCL results reinforce the trend. Geekbench Vulkan shows the RTX 4070 at 174,152 versus 136,073, a 28% advantage. Geekbench OpenCL shows 154,858 versus 144,858, a 6.9% lead.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test is the closest modern benchmark. The RTX 4070 scores 3,854 while the TITAN RTX scores 3,794, a narrow 1.6% margin. This indicates that in certain rasterization-heavy scenarios, the two cards perform similarly despite their architectural differences.

Passmark G3D shows a strong overall gaming performance lead: 26,927 for the RTX 4070 versus 20,491 for the TITAN RTX, a 31.4% advantage. Passmark G2D also favors the newer card at 1,164 versus 860, a 35.3% margin.

The wins breakdown is decisive: 9 wins for the RTX 4070 and 1 win for the TITAN RTX. The average benchmark score difference amplifies this, with the RTX 4070 at 37,648 versus 31,676 for the TITAN RTX.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every hardware specification category.

| Field | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 | NVIDIA TITAN RTX |

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

| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Turing |

| Generation | GeForce 40 | GeForce 20 |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 12 nm |

| Transistors | 35,800 million | 18,600 million |

| Die Size | 294 mm² | 754 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 121.8M / mm² | 24.7M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1920 MHz | 1350 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2475 MHz | 1770 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 12 GB | 24 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6X | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 192 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 504.2 GB/s | 672.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 5888 | 4608 |

| TMUs | 184 | 288 |

| ROPs | 64 | 96 |

| RT Cores | 46 | 72 |

| Tensor Cores | 184 | 576 |

| Pixel Rate | 158.4 GPixel/s | 169.9 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 455.4 GTexel/s | 509.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 29.15 TFLOPS | 16.31 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 29.15 TFLOPS (1:1) | 32.62 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 200 W | 280 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 16-pin | 2x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | 600 W |

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

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C |

| Length | 240 mm (9.4 inches) | 267 mm (10.5 inches) |

| Height | 110 mm (4.3 inches) | 116 mm (4.6 inches) |

| Width | 40 mm (1.6 inches) | 35 mm (1.4 inches) |

| Release Date | 2023-04-11 | 2018-12-17 |

| Predecessor | GeForce 30 | GeForce 10 |

| Successor | GeForce 50 | GeForce 30 |

| Launch MSRP | 599 USD | 2,499 USD |

The Verdict

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the stronger performer in nearly every measurable scenario. It wins 9 of 10 head-to-head tests, holds a 18.8% higher average benchmark score, and ranks higher in the overall GPU percentile distribution.

The RTX 4070's architecture advantages are decisive. Its 5 nm process, higher clock speeds, and modern Ada Lovelace design deliver superior FP32 throughput at 29.15 TFLOPS versus 16.31 TFLOPS for the TITAN RTX. This translates directly into the benchmark results, particularly in compute and modern API workloads.

The TITAN RTX does retain specific strengths. Its 24 GB memory capacity, 672.0 GB/s bandwidth, and larger texture/pixel processing resources are meaningful for certain workloads. The DirectX 10 win, while isolated, demonstrates that the older card can still outperform in legacy API scenarios.

However, the overall data points to the RTX 4070 as the better choice for virtually all modern applications. The newer card achieves higher scores in DirectX 11, DirectX 12, Vulkan, OpenCL, and compute tests, often by margins of 20% to 40% or more.

The TITAN RTX's launch MSRP was 2,499 USD, while the RTX 4070 launched at 599 USD. The database records show the RTX 4070 delivers superior performance at a fraction of the original asking price.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 wins in the following scenarios:

• Modern DirectX gaming: DirectX 11 (29.1% lead), DirectX 12 (17% lead), and DirectX 9 (43.5% lead) all favor the newer card.
• Compute workloads: GPU Compute shows a 46.7% advantage, making the RTX 4070 the clear choice for general-purpose compute tasks.
• Vulkan applications: The 28% lead in Geekbench Vulkan indicates strong performance in Vulkan-based games and applications.
• OpenCL workloads: A 6.9% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL shows the RTX 4070 handles OpenCL tasks better.
• Overall gaming performance: Passmark G3D shows a 31.4% lead, covering a broad range of gaming scenarios.
• 2D operations: G2D scores favor the RTX 4070 by 35.3%, indicating faster desktop and 2D rendering performance.

The TITAN RTX wins in these scenarios:

• Legacy DirectX 10 workloads: The 5.4% lead in Passmark DirectX 10 is its only benchmark victory. This matters for older applications or compatibility testing.
• Memory-intensive tasks: The 24 GB capacity and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth provide a hardware advantage that the benchmarks do not directly capture, suggesting potential benefits for large dataset handling.
• Texture and pixel processing: With 288 TMUs and 96 ROPs, the TITAN RTX has more texture and rasterization hardware, which could benefit specific geometry-heavy workloads.
• FP16 compute: The TITAN RTX's FP16 throughput of 32.62 TFLOPS exceeds the RTX 4070's 29.15 TFLOPS, though this is not reflected in the recorded benchmark wins.

The data-driven conclusion is that the RTX 4070 is the superior card for modern gaming, compute, and general use, while the TITAN RTX retains niche advantages in legacy API support and raw memory capacity.