GeForce GTS 250 vs GTX 980 Mobile

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965M 4 GB 970M 980 Mobile 980 SLI Mobile 980M 980MX
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9800 GTX+ GT 230 OEM GTS 150 OEM GTS 240 OEM GTS 250 GTS 450 GTS 450 OEM GTS 450 Rev. 2 GTS 450 Rev. 3

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 980 Mobile with GeForce GTS 250, including specs and performance data.

GTX 980 Mobile
2015, $396
4 GB GDDR5, 100 Watt
19.78
+1365%

980 Mobile outperforms GTS 250 by a whopping 1365% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

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GTX 980 Mobile GTX 980 Mobile
GTS 250 GTS 250

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking3211072
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation7.460.07
Power efficiency7.650.70
ArchitectureMaxwell 2.0 (2014−2019)Tesla (2006−2010)
GPU code nameGM204G92B
Market segmentLaptopDesktop
Release date21 September 2015 (11 years ago)4 March 2009 (17 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$395.82 $199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.

GTX 980 Mobile has 10557% better value for money than GTS 250.

Performance to price scatter graph

Currently popular graphics cards are shown for comparison.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Real power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially if overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores2048128
Core clock speed1064 MHz738 MHz
Boost clock speed1216 MHzno data
Number of transistors5,200 million754 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm55 nm
Power consumption (TDP)100-200 Watt150 Watt
Maximum GPU temperatureno data105 °C
Texture fill rate136.244.93
Floating-point processing power4.358 TFLOPS0.3871 TFLOPS
ROPs6416
TMUs12864
L1 Cache768 KBno data
L2 Cache2 MB64 KB

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop sizelargeno data
Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)PCIe 2.0 x16
Lengthno data229 mm
Heightno data4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Widthno data2-slot
Supplementary power connectorsno data1x 6-pin
SLI options++

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5GDDR3
Maximum RAM amount4 GB1 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed7.0 GB/s1100 MHz
Memory bandwidth224 GB/s70.4 GB/s
Shared memory--

Connectivity and outputs

This section shows the types and number of video connectors on each GPU. The data applies specifically to desktop reference models (for example, NVIDIA’s Founders Edition). OEM partners often modify both the number and types of ports. On notebook GPUs, video‐output options are determined by the laptop’s design rather than the graphics chip itself.

Display ConnectorsDual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2Two Dual Link DVI
Multi monitor support4 displays+
VGA аnalog display support+no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+no data
HDMI++
HDCP+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x15362048x1536
G-SYNC support+-
Audio input for HDMIInternalS/PDIF

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GameStream+-
GeForce ShadowPlay+-
GPU Boost2.0no data
GameWorks+-
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder+-
Optimus+-
BatteryBoost+-

API and SDK support

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12 (12_1)11.1 (10_0)
Shader Model6.44.0
OpenGL4.53.0
OpenCL1.21.1
Vulkan1.1.126N/A
CUDA++

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD99
+1550%
6−7
−1550%
4K46
+1433%
3−4
−1433%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.00
+730%
33.17
−730%
4K8.60
+671%
66.33
−671%
  • GTX 980 Mobile has 730% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • GTX 980 Mobile has 671% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low

Atomic Heart 50−55
+1700%
3−4
−1700%
Counter-Strike 2 110−120
+1514%
7−8
−1514%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+2050%
2−3
−2050%
Resident Evil 4 Remake 45−50
+1400%
3−4
−1400%

Full HD
Medium

Atomic Heart 50−55
+1700%
3−4
−1700%
Battlefield 5 80−85
+1560%
5−6
−1560%
Counter-Strike 2 110−120
+1514%
7−8
−1514%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+2050%
2−3
−2050%
Far Cry 5 65−70
+1550%
4−5
−1550%
Fortnite 100−110
+1400%
7−8
−1400%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+1520%
5−6
−1520%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 75−80
+1440%
5−6
−1440%
Valorant 140−150
+1370%
10−11
−1370%

Full HD
High

Atomic Heart 50−55
+1700%
3−4
−1700%
Battlefield 5 80−85
+1560%
5−6
−1560%
Counter-Strike 2 110−120
+1514%
7−8
−1514%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 230−240
+1381%
16−18
−1381%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+2050%
2−3
−2050%
Dota 2 110−120
+1500%
7−8
−1500%
Far Cry 5 65−70
+1550%
4−5
−1550%
Fortnite 100−110
+1400%
7−8
−1400%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+1520%
5−6
−1520%
Grand Theft Auto V 84
+1580%
5−6
−1580%
Metro Exodus 40−45
+2050%
2−3
−2050%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 75−80
+1440%
5−6
−1440%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 84
+1580%
5−6
−1580%
Valorant 140−150
+1370%
10−11
−1370%

Full HD
Ultra

Battlefield 5 80−85
+1560%
5−6
−1560%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+2050%
2−3
−2050%
Dota 2 110−120
+1500%
7−8
−1500%
Far Cry 5 65−70
+1550%
4−5
−1550%
Forza Horizon 4 80−85
+1520%
5−6
−1520%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 75−80
+1440%
5−6
−1440%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 44
+1367%
3−4
−1367%
Valorant 140−150
+1370%
10−11
−1370%

Full HD
Epic

Fortnite 100−110
+1400%
7−8
−1400%

1440p
High

Counter-Strike 2 40−45
+1950%
2−3
−1950%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 140−150
+1511%
9−10
−1511%
Grand Theft Auto V 35−40
+1650%
2−3
−1650%
Metro Exodus 24−27
+2500%
1−2
−2500%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+1610%
10−11
−1610%
Valorant 170−180
+1610%
10−11
−1610%

1440p
Ultra

Battlefield 5 55−60
+1800%
3−4
−1800%
Cyberpunk 2077 18−20
+1800%
1−2
−1800%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+1400%
3−4
−1400%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+1600%
3−4
−1600%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
+1450%
2−3
−1450%

1440p
Epic

Fortnite 45−50
+1467%
3−4
−1467%

4K
High

Atomic Heart 16−18
+1500%
1−2
−1500%
Counter-Strike 2 18−20
+1700%
1−2
−1700%
Grand Theft Auto V 60
+1400%
4−5
−1400%
Metro Exodus 16−18
+1600%
1−2
−1600%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30
+1400%
2−3
−1400%
Valorant 100−110
+1429%
7−8
−1429%

4K
Ultra

Battlefield 5 30−35
+1450%
2−3
−1450%
Counter-Strike 2 18−20
+1700%
1−2
−1700%
Cyberpunk 2077 8−9 0−1
Dota 2 65−70
+1625%
4−5
−1625%
Far Cry 5 21−24
+2200%
1−2
−2200%
Forza Horizon 4 35−40
+1650%
2−3
−1650%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 20−22
+1900%
1−2
−1900%

4K
Epic

Fortnite 21−24
+2000%
1−2
−2000%

This is how GTX 980 Mobile and GTS 250 compete in popular games:

  • GTX 980 Mobile is 1550% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 980 Mobile is 1433% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 19.78 1.35
Recency 21 September 2015 4 March 2009
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 1 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 55 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 100 Watt 150 Watt

GTX 980 Mobile has a 1365% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 96% more advanced lithography process, and 50% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 980 Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTS 250 in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 980 Mobile is a notebook graphics card while GeForce GTS 250 is a desktop one.

Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

GTX 980 Mobile GeForce GTX 980 Mobile
vs
Radeon 890M Radeon 890M
GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250
vs
8800 GTX GeForce 8800 GTX
GTX 980 Mobile GeForce GTX 980 Mobile
vs
Arc A530M Arc A530M
RTX 2080 Ti RTX 2080 Ti
vs
GTX 980 SLI Mobile 980 SLI Mobile
GTX 980 SLI Mobile GeForce GTX 980 SLI Mobile
vs
540 Mobile Radeon 540 Mobile
GTX 1070 Mobile GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile
vs
R9 370 R9 370
GTX 980M SLI GeForce GTX 980M SLI
vs
Go 7900 SE Go 7900 SE
GTX 980 Mobile GeForce GTX 980 Mobile
vs
ATI Mobility HD 4570 Radeon HD 4570
GTX 970M SLI GeForce GTX 970M SLI
vs
HD 8490 OEM HD 8490 OEM
GTX 970M SLI GeForce GTX 970M SLI
vs
HD 6870 1600SP Edition HD 6870 1600SP Edition
GTX 970M SLI GeForce GTX 970M SLI
vs
8800 GT GeForce 8800 GT
RTX 3050 Max-Q RTX 3050 Max-Q
vs
GTX 970M SLI 970M SLI
GTX 970M SLI GeForce GTX 970M SLI
vs
RTX 4500 Ada Generation RTX 4500 Ada Generation

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.

3.4 86 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 980 Mobile on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.5 1843 votes

Rate GeForce GTS 250 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Comments

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