NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

VS
Performance
GeForce GTX 980
17,604.517% of 104,737
Radeon RX 7900 XT331% better
75,89672% of 104,737

The Radeon RX 7900 XT has 331% 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 7900 XT163% better
84.4252% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 7900 XT has 163% 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

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About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q3 2014 with a MSRP of $549. It is built on the Maxwell 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename GM204) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The GTX 980 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,753 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 224.4 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The GTX 980 includes 2,048 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,127 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,216 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 128 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 64 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GTX 980 occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. NVIDIA recommends a power supply of at least 450 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 165 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The GTX 980 has the 127th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 16.81% 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 76th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT GPU

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q4 2022 with a MSRP of $899. It is built on the RDNA 3.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Navi 31) and is manufactured on a 5 nm process.

Memory

The RX 7900 XT has 20 GB of GDDR6 memory, with a 2,500 MHz memory clock and a 320 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 800 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The RX 7900 XT includes 5,376 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,387 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 2,394 MHz. It usually operates at 2,025 MHz during typical gaming workloads. Complementing the processing units are 336 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 192 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing. Additionally, the GPU features 168 AI accelerators optimized for AI workloads and 84 ray accelerators dedicated to real-time ray tracing calculations.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The RX 7900 XT occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports HDMI 2.1a, DisplayPort 2.1, USB Type-C display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 700 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 300 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The RX 7900 XT has the 5th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 72.46% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 75,896 score and $899 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 84.42. This is the 31st 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 7900 XT
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0RDNA 3.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ3 2014Q4 2022
Launch Price (MSRP)$549$899
Production StatusEnd-of-lifeActive
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for God of War Ragnarök
God of War Ragnarök
Display FPS for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Space Marine 2
Display FPS for Star Wars Outlaws
Star Wars Outlaws
Display FPS for Once Human
Once Human
Display FPS for The First Descendant
The First Descendant
Display FPS for F1 24
F1 24
Display FPS for Senua's Saga Hellblade 2
Senua's Saga Hellblade 2

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 God of War Ragnarök
God of War Ragnarök
GeForce GTX 980Radeon RX 7900 XT
Low - 1080p
--
225 FPS
Medium - 1080p
--
219 FPS
High - 1080p
--
196 FPS
Ultra - 1080p
--
183 FPS
QHD - 1440p
--
140 FPS
4K UHD - 2160p
--
86 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 RX 7900 XT
GPUFrames Per Second
GeForce RTX 4080100.8+17%
Radeon RX 7900 XT86.1

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 7900 XT
GPUCost Per Frame
Radeon RX 7900 XT10.44
GeForce RTX 408011.89+14%

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 980
17,604.517% of 104,737
Radeon RX 7900 XT331% better
75,89672% of 104,737

The Radeon RX 7900 XT has 331% better performance than the GeForce GTX 980 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 980 is ranked 127th with a score of 17,604.5, and the Radeon RX 7900 XT is ranked 5th with a score of 75,896.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 980
32.0720% of 161.45
Radeon RX 7900 XT163% better
84.4252% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 7900 XT has 163% better value for the money than the GeForce GTX 980 for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 980 is ranked 76th with a performance per dollar of 32.07, and the Radeon RX 7900 XT is ranked 31st with a performance per dollar of 84.42.

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
GeForce RTX 408086,267+390%
Radeon RX 7900 XTX83,322+373%
Radeon RX 7900 XT75,896+331%
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti75,612+330%
GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER74,834+325%
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%

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 RTX 306086.25+169%
GeForce RTX 307086.18+169%
Radeon RX 7900 XT84.42+163%
Radeon RX 7900 XTX83.41+160%
GeForce RTX 3070 Ti83.07+159%
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 7900 XT
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
--
25,874
3DMark Time Spy Score
--
24,042
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
85,374
259,707
(+204.2%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
12,938
63,712
(+392.44%)
3DMark Night Raid Graphics
--
225,446
3DMark 11 Performance Score
14,169
51,605.5
(+264.21%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
109.6
--
PassMark G3D Mark
11,099
28,727
(+158.83%)
PassMark G2D Mark
800
1,164
(+45.5%)
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 7900 XT
CodenameGM204Navi 31
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0RDNA 3.0
Process Size28 nm5 nm
Transistors5,200 million57,700 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 7900 XT
Memory Size4 GB20 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR6
Memory Bandwidth224.4 Gb/s800 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,753 MHz2,500 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit320 bit
L1 Cache48 KB256 KB
L2 Cache2 MB6 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 7900 XT
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)165 W300 W
Suggested PSU450 W700 W
Power Connectors2x 6-pin2x 8-pin
OutputsDVI, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2HDMI 2.1a, DisplayPort 2.1, USB Type-C

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 7900 XT
Stream Processors (SP)--5,376
CUDA Cores2,048--
Compute Units (CU)--84
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)128336
Render Output Units (ROP)64192
AI Accelerators--168
Ray Accelerators--84
Core Clock Speed1,127 MHz1,387 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,216 MHz2,394 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Game)--2,025 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 7900 XT
Pixel Fill Rate77.82 GPixel/s459.6 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate155.6 GTexel/s804.4 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance4.98 TFLOPS51.48 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance155.6 GFLOPS1.61 TFLOPS

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 7900 XT
DirectX12 (12_1)12 Ultimate (12_2)
OpenCL3.02.2
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.86.8

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