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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 vs AMD Radeon RX 470

NVIDIA
VS
AMD
Performance
GeForce GTX 980
17,604.517% of 104,937
Radeon RX 4700% better
17,624.517% of 104,937

The Radeon RX 470 has 0% better performance than the GeForce GTX 980 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 980
32.0720% of 161.45
Radeon RX 470207% better
98.4661% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 470 has 207% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 980 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Shop GeForce GTX 980
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Summary

#

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 RX 470 GPU

The Radeon RX 470 is a desktop graphics card by AMD. It launched in Q3 2016 with a suggested retail price of $179. Its Ellesmere chip that powers the GPU uses the GCN 4.0 architecture and is fabricated on the 14 nm process.

This GPU is paired with 4 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Its 1,650 MHz memory clock and 256 bit interface gives it a bandwidth of 211.2 Gb/s. This impacts how much data it can store, and how fast it transfers the data to and from memory.

The RX 470 is a dual slot graphics card, taking up 2 PCIe slots. It supports HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a display ports. This desktop card has a TDP of 120 W. AMD recommends using a power supply of at least 300 W with this card. A power supply lower than this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

The Radeon RX 470 has the 124th highest 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 540 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 16.80% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 17,624.5 score and $179 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 98.46. This is the 16th 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 RX 470
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 4.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ3 2014Q3 2016
Launch Price (MSRP)$549$179
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeActive
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for F1 2020
F1 2020
Display FPS for Dirt Rally 2.0
Dirt Rally 2.0
Display FPS for Far Cry New Dawn
Far Cry New Dawn
Display FPS for Just Cause 4
Just Cause 4
Display FPS for Darksiders III
Darksiders III
Display FPS for Battlefield V
Battlefield V
Display FPS for Hitman 2
Hitman 2
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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 F1 2020
F1 2020
GeForce GTX 980Radeon RX 470
Low - 720p
--
--
Medium - 1080p
--
--
High - 1080p
--
--
Ultra - 1080p
--
74 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
53 FPS
4K UHD - 2160p
--
--
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 RX 470

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 RX 470

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 980
17,604.517% of 104,937
Radeon RX 4700% better
17,624.517% of 104,937

The Radeon RX 470 has 0% better performance than the GeForce GTX 980 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 980 is ranked 125th with a score of 17,604.5, and the Radeon RX 470 is ranked 124th with a score of 17,624.5.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 980
32.0720% of 161.45
Radeon RX 470207% better
98.4661% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 470 has 207% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 980 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 RX 470 is ranked 16th with a performance per dollar of 98.46.

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 RX 57018,967+8%
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER18,218+3%
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%

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
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER114.58+257%
Radeon RX 570112.23+250%
Radeon RX 47098.46+207%
GeForce GTX 166096.49+201%
GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER95.99+199%
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%

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 RX 470
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
3,624
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
3,756
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
85,374
(+24.68%)
68,475
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
12,938
(+8.86%)
11,884.5
3DMark 11 Performance Score
14,169
(+2.44%)
13,831.5
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
109.6
--
PassMark G3D Mark
11,123
(+38.78%)
8,015
PassMark G2D Mark
789
(+7.06%)
737
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 RX 470
CodenameGM204Ellesmere
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 4.0
Process Size28 nm14 nm
Transistors5,200 million5,700 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 RX 470
Memory Size4 GB4 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth224.4 Gb/s211.2 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,753 MHz1,650 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit256 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 RX 470
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)165 W120 W
Suggested PSU450 W300 W
Power Connectors2x 6-pin1x 6-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.4a

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 RX 470
Stream Processors (SP)--2,048
CUDA Cores2,048--
Compute Units (CU)--32
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)128128
Render Output Units (ROP)6432
Core Clock Speed1,127 MHz926 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,216 MHz1,206 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 RX 470
Pixel Fill Rate77.82 GPixel/s38.59 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate155.6 GTexel/s154.4 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance4.98 TFLOPS4.94 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance155.6 GFLOPS308.7 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 RX 470
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (12_0)
OpenCL3.02.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.7 (6.4)6.7

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