NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M vs AMD Radeon R9 390X

VS
Performance
GeForce GTX 980M
12,51712% of 104,598
Radeon R9 390X43% better
17,94417% of 104,598

The Radeon R9 390X has 43% better performance than the GeForce GTX 980M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 980M
No data available
Radeon R9 390X
41.8326% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 390X has 26% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: AMD Radeon RX 7600.

Shop GeForce GTX 980M
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Summary

#

About the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M GPU

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M is an end-of-life mobile graphics card that released in Q4 2014. It is built on the Maxwell 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename GM204) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The GTX 980M has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,253 MHz memory clock and a 256 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 160.4 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 980M includes 1,536 CUDA cores, the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,038 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 1,127 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 96 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 64 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The GPU has a thermal design power (TDP) of 100 W. A power supply not strong enough to handle this might result in system crashes and potentially damage your hardware.

Benchmark Performance

The GTX 980M has the 157th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 11.97% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

About the AMD Radeon R9 390X GPU

The AMD Radeon R9 390X is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q2 2015 with a MSRP of $429. It is built on the GCN 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Grenada) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The R9 390X has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,500 MHz memory clock and a 512 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 384 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 R9 390X includes 2,816 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,050 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 176 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 64 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The R9 390X occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 600 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 275 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The R9 390X has the 123rd best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 17.16% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 17,944 score and $429 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 41.83. This is the 70th 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 980MRadeon R9 390X
ManufacturerNVIDIAAMD
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 2.0
Market SegmentMobileDesktop
Release DateQ4 2014Q2 2015
Launch Price (MSRP)--$429
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 Rage 2
Rage 2
Display FPS for Anno 1800
Anno 1800
Display FPS for Tom Clancy's The Division 2
The Division 2
Display FPS for Dirt Rally 2.0
Dirt Rally 2.0
Display FPS for Anthem
Anthem
Display FPS for Far Cry New Dawn
Far Cry New Dawn
Display FPS for Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus

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 Rage 2
Rage 2
GeForce GTX 980MRadeon R9 390X
Low - 720p
94 FPS
--
Medium - 1080p
45 FPS
--
High - 1080p
39 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
38 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
24 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
11 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 980M orRadeon R9 390X

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 980M orRadeon R9 390X
GPUCost Per Frame
Our database does not have enough data to compare the FPS per dollar with other GPUs.

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
GeForce GTX 980M
12,51712% of 104,598
Radeon R9 390X43% better
17,94417% of 104,598

The Radeon R9 390X has 43% better performance than the GeForce GTX 980M for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The GeForce GTX 980M is ranked 157th with a score of 12,517, and the Radeon R9 390X is ranked 123rd with a score of 17,944.

Performance per dollar
GeForce GTX 980M
No data available
Radeon R9 390X
41.8326% of 161.45

The Radeon R9 390X has 64% of the performance per dollar compared to the leader for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

Radeon R9 390X's 41.83 performance per dollar ranks it 0th among the other benchmarked GPUs in our database.

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 980M or
GPUBenchmark Performance
Radeon RX 57018,967+52%
GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER18,224.5+46%
Radeon R9 390X17,944+43%
Radeon RX 48017,919+43%
Radeon RX 47017,624.5+41%
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile13,266+6%
GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile13,131.5+5%
GeForce GTX 980M12,517
GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile12,340-1%
Radeon Pro Vega 2012,289-2%

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 980M orRadeon R9 390X
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
Radeon VII54.19+30%
GeForce GTX 96054.11+29%
GeForce GTX 108048.85+17%
GeForce GTX 97048.73+17%
GeForce RTX 2080 Ti47.21+13%
Radeon R9 390X41.83
Radeon R9 280X36.09-14%
GeForce GTX 980 Ti35.53-15%
GeForce GTX 98032.07-23%
Radeon R9 FURY31.95-24%

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 980MRadeon R9 390X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
2,805
--
3DMark Time Spy Score
2,949
--
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
65,241
74,351
(+13.96%)
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
9,682
12,389
(+27.96%)
3DMark 11 Performance Score
11,177
14,327
(+28.18%)
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
101.3
130.9
(+29.22%)
PassMark G3D Mark
7,356
9,416
(+28%)
PassMark G2D Mark
498
832
(+67.07%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
110.6
--
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

#

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 980MRadeon R9 390X
CodenameGM204Grenada
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0GCN 2.0
Process Size28 nm28 nm
Transistors5,200 million6,200 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 980MRadeon R9 390X
Memory Size8 GB8 GB
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth160.4 Gb/s384 Gb/s
Memory Clock1,253 MHz1,500 MHz
Memory Interface256 bit512 bit
L1 Cache48 KB16 KB
L2 Cache2 MB1,024 KB

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 980MRadeon R9 390X
Slots--2 slots
Bus InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)100 W275 W
Suggested PSU--600 W
Power Connectors--1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsDevice DependentDVI, HDMI 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 980MRadeon R9 390X
Stream Processors (SP)--2,816
CUDA Cores1,536--
Compute Units (CU)--44
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)96176
Render Output Units (ROP)6464
Core Clock Speed1,038 MHz1,050 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)1,127 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 980MRadeon R9 390X
Pixel Fill Rate72.13 GPixel/s67.2 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate108.2 GTexel/s184.8 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance3.46 TFLOPS5.91 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance108.2 GFLOPS739.2 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 980MRadeon R9 390X
DirectX12 (12_1)12 (12_0)
OpenCL3.02.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.86.5

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