GeForce RTX 3070
Radeon R9 390X
GeForce RTX 3070 vs Radeon R9 390X Performance Spectrum
About G3D Mark
G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.
GeForce RTX 3070 vs Radeon R9 390X FPS Benchmarks
Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.
Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.
Path of Exile 2
Counter-Strike 2
League of Legends
Valorant
Among Us
Apex Legends
ARC Raiders
Baldur's Gate 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
GeForce RTX 3070 vs Radeon R9 390X: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict
See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.
GeForce RTX 3070
2020Why buy it
- ✅91.9% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
- ✅Delivers 105.5% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 44.4 vs 21.6 G3D/$ ($499 MSRP vs $429 MSRP).
- ✅Access to DLSS 2 Super Resolution (2020).
- ✅Better long-term bet: Ampere (2020−2025) on 8nm gives it a newer hardware base for upcoming games.
- ✅Draws 220W instead of 275W, a 55W reduction.
Trade-offs
- ❌Fewer clear downsides in this head-to-head, aside from the usual pricing and availability swings.
Radeon R9 390X
2015Why buy it
- ✅Costs $70 less on MSRP ($429 MSRP vs $499 MSRP).
Trade-offs
- ❌Lower average FPS than GeForce RTX 3070 across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
- ❌No DLSS support; it relies on FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 (2025) instead.
- ❌2015 hardware with 8 GB of VRAM already sits in legacy territory for modern games.
- ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 21.6 vs 44.4 G3D/$ ($429 MSRP vs $499 MSRP).
- ❌25% higher power demand at 275W vs 220W.
Quick Answers
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GeForce RTX 3070 vs Radeon R9 390X Technical Specifications
Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.
GeForce RTX 3070
The GeForce RTX 3070 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in September 1 2020. It features the Ampere architecture. The core clock ranges from 1500 MHz to 1725 MHz. It has 5888 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 220W. Manufactured using 8 nm process technology. It features 46 dedicated ray tracing cores for enhanced lighting effects. G3D Mark benchmark score: 22,172 points. Launch price was $499.
Radeon R9 390X
The Radeon R9 390X is manufactured by AMD. It was released in June 18 2015. It features the GCN 2.0 architecture. The boost clock speed is 1050 MHz. It has 2816 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 275W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 9,278 points. Launch price was $429.
Graphics Performance
In G3D Mark, the GeForce RTX 3070 scores 22,172 versus the Radeon R9 390X's 9,278 — the GeForce RTX 3070 leads by 139%. The GeForce RTX 3070 is built on Ampere while the Radeon R9 390X uses GCN 2.0, both on 8 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 5,888 (GeForce RTX 3070) vs 2,816 (Radeon R9 390X). Raw compute: 20.31 TFLOPS (GeForce RTX 3070) vs 5.914 TFLOPS (Radeon R9 390X). Boost clocks: 1725 MHz vs 1050 MHz.
| Feature | GeForce RTX 3070 | Radeon R9 390X |
|---|---|---|
| G3D Mark Score | 22,172+139% | 9,278 |
| Architecture | Ampere | GCN 2.0 |
| Process Node | 8 nm | 28 nm |
| Shading Units | 5888+109% | 2816 |
| Compute (TFLOPS) | 20.31 TFLOPS+243% | 5.914 TFLOPS |
| Boost Clock | 1725 MHz+64% | 1050 MHz |
| ROPs | 96+50% | 64 |
| TMUs | 184+5% | 176 |
| L1 Cache | 5.8 MB+741% | 0.69 MB |
| L2 Cache | 4 MB+300% | 1 MB |
Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)
The GeForce RTX 3070 gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon R9 390X leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.
| Feature | GeForce RTX 3070 | Radeon R9 390X |
|---|---|---|
| Upscaling Tech | DLSS 2 Super Resolution | FSR Upscaling / FSR 4 |
| Frame Generation | Not Supported | Not Supported |
| Ray Reconstruction | No | No |
| Low Latency | NVIDIA Reflex | AMD Anti-Lag |
Video Memory (VRAM)
Both cards ship with 8 GB of video memory. Memory bandwidth: 448 GB/s (GeForce RTX 3070) vs 384 GB/s (Radeon R9 390X) — a 16.7% advantage for the GeForce RTX 3070. Memory bus width is 256-bit on the GeForce RTX 3070 and 512-bit on the Radeon R9 390X. L2 Cache: 4 MB (GeForce RTX 3070) vs 1 MB (Radeon R9 390X) — the GeForce RTX 3070 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.
| Feature | GeForce RTX 3070 | Radeon R9 390X |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 448 GB/s+17% | 384 GB/s |
| Bus Width | 256-bit | 512-bit+100% |
| L2 Cache | 4 MB+300% | 1 MB |
Display & API Support
DirectX support: 12 Ultimate (GeForce RTX 3070) vs 12 (12_0) (Radeon R9 390X). Vulkan: 1.4 vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 4.
| Feature | GeForce RTX 3070 | Radeon R9 390X |
|---|---|---|
| DirectX | 12 Ultimate | 12 (12_0) |
| Vulkan | 1.4+17% | 1.2 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| Max Displays | 4 | 4 |
Media & Encoding
Hardware encoder: NVENC 7th gen (GeForce RTX 3070) vs VCE 2.0 (Radeon R9 390X). Decoder: NVDEC 5th gen vs UVD 4.2. Supported codecs: H.264,H.265/HEVC,AV1,VP9 (GeForce RTX 3070) vs H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1 (Radeon R9 390X).
| Feature | GeForce RTX 3070 | Radeon R9 390X |
|---|---|---|
| Encoder | NVENC 7th gen | VCE 2.0 |
| Decoder | NVDEC 5th gen | UVD 4.2 |
| Codecs | H.264,H.265/HEVC,AV1,VP9 | H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1 |
Power & Dimensions
The GeForce RTX 3070 draws 220W versus the Radeon R9 390X's 275W — a 22.2% difference. The GeForce RTX 3070 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 650W (GeForce RTX 3070) vs 750W (Radeon R9 390X). Power connectors: 8-pin vs 6-pin + 8-pin. Card length: 242mm vs 277mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots. Typical load temperature: 75°C vs 80.
| Feature | GeForce RTX 3070 | Radeon R9 390X |
|---|---|---|
| TDP | 220W-20% | 275W |
| Recommended PSU | 650W-13% | 750W |
| Power Connector | 8-pin | 6-pin + 8-pin |
| Length | 242mm | 277mm |
| Height | 112mm | 129mm |
| Slots | 2 | 2 |
| Temp (Load) | 75°C-6% | 80 |
| Perf/Watt | 100.8+199% | 33.7 |
Value Analysis
At launch, the GeForce RTX 3070 came in at $499, while the Radeon R9 390X launched at $429. On MSRP, Radeon R9 390X was 14% cheaper ($70 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 44.4 (GeForce RTX 3070) vs 21.6 (Radeon R9 390X) — the GeForce RTX 3070 offers 105.6% better value. The newer card here is GeForce RTX 3070 (2020 vs 2015).
| Feature | GeForce RTX 3070 | Radeon R9 390X |
|---|---|---|
| MSRP | $499 | $429-14% |
| Performance per Dollar | 44.4+106% | 21.6 |
| Codename | GA104 | Grenada |
| Release | September 1 2020 | June 18 2015 |
| Ranking | #63 | #287 |
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