GeForce GTX 980 vs Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU
Contents
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 52 | 245 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 9.57 |
| Power efficiency | no data | 12.35 |
| Architecture | no data | Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019) |
| GPU code name | no data | GM204 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 3 March 2026 (less than a year ago) | 19 September 2014 (11 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $549 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices.
Performance to price scatter graph
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 40 | 2048 |
| Core clock speed | no data | 1064 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | no data | 1216 MHz |
| Number of transistors | no data | 5,200 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | no data | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | no data | 165 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | no data | 155.6 |
| Floating-point processing power | no data | 4.981 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | no data | 64 |
| TMUs | no data | 128 |
| L1 Cache | no data | 768 KB |
| L2 Cache | no data | 2 MB |
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).
| Bus support | no data | PCI Express 3.0 |
| Interface | no data | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 267 mm |
| Height | no data | 4.376" (11.1 cm) |
| Width | no data | 2-slot |
| Recommended system power (PSU) | no data | 500 Watt |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | 2x 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 type | LPDDR5x-8533 | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | no data | 4 GB |
| Memory bus width | no data | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | no data | 7.0 GB/s |
| Memory bandwidth | no data | 224 GB/s |
| Shared memory | no data | - |
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 Connectors | no data | Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2 |
| Multi monitor support | no data | 4 displays |
| VGA аnalog display support | no data | + |
| DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support | no data | + |
| HDMI | - | + |
| HDCP | - | + |
| Maximum VGA resolution | no data | 2048x1536 |
| G-SYNC support | - | + |
| Audio input for HDMI | no data | Internal |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| GameStream | - | + |
| GeForce ShadowPlay | - | + |
| GPU Boost | no data | 2.0 |
| 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.
| DirectX | no data | 12 (12_1) |
| Shader Model | no data | 6.4 |
| OpenGL | no data | 4.5 |
| OpenCL | no data | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | - | 1.1.126 |
| 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 HD | 107
+15.1%
| 93
−15.1%
|
| 1440p | 60
+17.6%
| 51
−17.6%
|
| 4K | 38
−2.6%
| 39
+2.6%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | no data | 5.90 |
| 1440p | no data | 10.76 |
| 4K | no data | 14.08 |
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low
| Counter-Strike 2 | 150−160
+0%
|
150−160
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
| Resident Evil 4 Remake | 65−70
+0%
|
65−70
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium
| Battlefield 5 | 109
+0%
|
109
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 150−160
+0%
|
150−160
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 80
+0%
|
80
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 242
+0%
|
242
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 90
+0%
|
90
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 85−90
+0%
|
85−90
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 93
+0%
|
93
+0%
|
| Valorant | 170−180
+0%
|
170−180
+0%
|
Full HD
High
| Battlefield 5 | 90
+0%
|
90
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 150−160
+0%
|
150−160
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 260−270
+0%
|
260−270
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 120−130
+0%
|
120−130
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 73
+0%
|
73
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 116
+0%
|
116
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 83
+0%
|
83
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 85−90
+0%
|
85−90
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 72
+0%
|
72
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 60−65
+0%
|
60−65
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 79
+0%
|
79
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 85
+0%
|
85
+0%
|
| Valorant | 170−180
+0%
|
170−180
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 82
+0%
|
82
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 120−130
+0%
|
120−130
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 69
+0%
|
69
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 59
+0%
|
59
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 56
+0%
|
56
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 46
+0%
|
46
+0%
|
| Valorant | 170−180
+0%
|
170−180
+0%
|
Full HD
Epic
| Fortnite | 91
+0%
|
91
+0%
|
1440p
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 60−65
+0%
|
60−65
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 190−200
+0%
|
190−200
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 50−55
+0%
|
50−55
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 170−180
+0%
|
170−180
+0%
|
| Valorant | 210−220
+0%
|
210−220
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 62
+0%
|
62
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 27−30
+0%
|
27−30
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 48
+0%
|
48
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 48
+0%
|
48
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
1440p
Epic
| Fortnite | 53
+0%
|
53
+0%
|
4K
High
| Counter-Strike 2 | 27−30
+0%
|
27−30
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 59
+0%
|
59
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 29
+0%
|
29
+0%
|
| Valorant | 160−170
+0%
|
160−170
+0%
|
4K
Ultra
| Battlefield 5 | 32
+0%
|
32
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 27−30
+0%
|
27−30
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 85−90
+0%
|
85−90
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 24
+0%
|
24
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 34
+0%
|
34
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 20
+0%
|
20
+0%
|
4K
Epic
| Fortnite | 25
+0%
|
25
+0%
|
This is how Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU and GTX 980 compete in popular games:
- Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU is 15% faster in 1080p
- Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU is 18% faster in 1440p
- GTX 980 is 3% faster in 4K
All in all, in popular games:
- there's a draw in 60 tests (100%)
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 3 March 2026 | 19 September 2014 |
Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU has an age advantage of 11 years.
We couldn't decide between M5 Max 40-Core GPU and GeForce GTX 980. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU is a notebook graphics card while GeForce GTX 980 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.
