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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 vs AMD Radeon R9 Nano

NVIDIA
VS
AMD
Performance
GeForce GTX 9802% better
17,604.517% of 104,937
Radeon R9 Nano
17,28216% of 104,937

The GeForce GTX 980 has 2% better performance than the Radeon R9 Nano for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 98020% better
32.0720% of 161.45
Radeon R9 Nano
26.6316% of 161.45

The GeForce GTX 980 has 20% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 Nano for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

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About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 GPU

The GeForce GTX 980 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by NVIDIA. It launched in Q3 2014 with a suggested retail price of $549. Its GM204 chip that powers the GPU uses the Maxwell 2.0 architecture and is fabricated on the 28 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 4 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 1,753 MHz memory clock and 256 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 224.4 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The GTX 980 is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 165 W. NVIDIA recommends using a power supply of at least 450 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

The GeForce GTX 980 has the 125th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 16.78% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 17,604.5 score and $549 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 32.07. This is the 74th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon R9 Nano GPU

The Radeon R9 Nano is an end-of-life desktop graphics card by AMD. It launched in Q3 2015 with a suggested retail price of $649. Its Fiji chip that powers the GPU uses the GCN 3.0 architecture and is fabricated on the 28 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 4 GB of HBM VRAM. Its 500 MHz memory clock and 4,096 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 512 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The R9 Nano is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 175 W. AMD recommends using a power supply of at least 450 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

The Radeon R9 Nano has the 131st highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 16.47% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 17,282 score and $649 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 26.63. This is the 80th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoGeForce GTX 980Radeon R9 Nano
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 3.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ3 2014Q3 2015
Launch Price (MSRP)$549$649
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4
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Darksiders III
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Battlefield V
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Hitman 2
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Assassin´s Creed Odyssey
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Forza Horizon 4
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Shadow of the Tomb Raider
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FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4
GeForce GTX 980Radeon R9 Nano
Low - 720p
109 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
77 FPS
--
High - 1080p
67 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
62 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
44 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
24 FPS
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 980 orRadeon R9 Nano

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 980 orRadeon R9 Nano
GPUCost Per Frame
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)13.53-42%
Radeon RX Vega 6413.71-41%
Radeon VII15.3-35%
GeForce GTX 97016.53-29%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti22.46-4%
GeForce GTX 98023.36

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 9802% better
17,604.517% of 104,937
Radeon R9 Nano
17,28216% of 104,937

The GeForce GTX 980 has 2% better performance than the Radeon R9 Nano for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 980 is ranked 125th with a score of 17,604.5, and the Radeon R9 Nano is ranked 131st with a score of 17,282.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 98020% better
32.0720% of 161.45
Radeon R9 Nano
26.6316% of 161.45

The GeForce GTX 980 has 20% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 Nano for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 980 is ranked 74th with a performance per dollar of 32.07, and the Radeon R9 Nano is ranked 80th with a performance per dollar of 26.63.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 980 or
GPUBenchmark Performance
Radeon R9 390X17,944+2%
Radeon RX 48017,919+2%
Radeon RX 47017,624.5+0%
GeForce GTX 98017,604.5
Radeon R9 FURY17,543-0%
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)17,401-1%
Radeon R9 Nano17,282-2%
Radeon R9 290X16,167.5-8%
GeForce GTX 97016,033-9%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti15,619-11%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:GeForce GTX 980 or
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
Radeon R9 390X41.83+30%
Radeon R9 280X36.09+13%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti35.53+11%
GeForce GTX 98032.07
Radeon R9 FURY31.95-0%
Radeon R9 290X29.45-8%
GeForce GTX 660 Ti28.14-12%
Radeon R9 Nano26.63-17%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti22.34-30%
GeForce GTX 68020.47-36%

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkGeForce GTX 980Radeon R9 Nano
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
4,511
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
4,556
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
85,374
(+4.92%)
81,374
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
12,938
14,362
(+11.01%)
3DMark 11 Performance Score
14,169
14,793
(+4.4%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
109.6
--
PassMark G3D Mark
11,123
--
PassMark G2D Mark
789
--
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
129.7
--
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecGeForce GTX 980Radeon R9 Nano
CodenameGM204Fiji
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 3.0
Process Size28 nm28 nm
Transistors5,200 million8,900 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecGeForce GTX 980Radeon R9 Nano
Memory Size4 GB4 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5HBM
Memory Bandwidth224.4 Gb/s512 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,753 MHz500 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit4,096 bit
L1 Cache48 KB16 KB
L2 Cache2 MB2 MB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecGeForce GTX 980Radeon R9 Nano
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)165 W175 W
Suggested PSU450 W450 W
Power Connectors2x 6-pin1x 8-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecGeForce GTX 980Radeon R9 Nano
Stream Processors (SP)--4,096
CUDA Cores2,048--
Compute Units (CU)--64
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)128256
Render Output Units (ROP)6464
Core Clock Speed1,127 MHz1,000 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,216 MHz--

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecGeForce GTX 980Radeon R9 Nano
Pixel Fill Rate77.82 GPixel/s64 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate155.6 GTexel/s256 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance4.98 TFLOPS8.19 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance155.6 GFLOPS512 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecGeForce GTX 980Radeon R9 Nano
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (12_0)
OpenCL3.02.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.7 (6.4)6.5

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.