NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Mobile: specs and benchmarks

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Summary

NVIDIA started GeForce GTX 980 Mobile sales 22 September 2014 at a recommended price of $395.82 . This is a laptop graphics card based on a Maxwell architecture and made with 28 nm manufacturing process. It is primarily aimed at gamers. 4 GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 7.0 GB/s are supplied, and together with 256 Bit memory interface this creates a bandwidth of 224 GB/s.

Compatibility-wise, this is card attached via MXM-B (3.0) interface. Two 6-pins power connectors are required, and power consumption is at 100-200 Watt.

It provides poor gaming and benchmark performance at 22.12% of a leader's which is NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.

RTX 4090GeForce RTX4090
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General info

Some basic facts about GeForce GTX 980 Mobile: architecture, market segment, release date etc.

Place in performance ranking231
Place by popularitynot in top-100
Value for money29.53
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)
GPU code nameN16E-GXX
Market segmentLaptop
Release date22 September 2014 (9 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$395.82
Current price$251 (0.6x MSRP)of 168889 (A100 PCIe 80 GB)
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

Technical specs

GeForce GTX 980 Mobile's specs such as number of shaders, GPU base clock, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of GeForce GTX 980 Mobile's performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider its benchmark and gaming test results.

Pipelines / CUDA cores2048of 20480 (Data Center GPU Max NEXT)
CUDA cores2048
Core clock speed1064 MHzof 2610 (Radeon RX 6500 XT)
Boost clock speed1216 MHzof 3599 (Radeon RX 7990 XTX)
Number of transistors5,200 millionof 14400 (GeForce GTX 1080 SLI Mobile)
Manufacturing process technology28 nmof 4 (GeForce RTX 4080)
Power consumption (TDP)100-200 Wattof 2400 (Data Center GPU Max Subsystem)
Texture fill rate144 billion/secof 969.9 (H100 SXM5 96 GB)
Floating-point performance4,358 gflopsof 16384 (Radeon Pro Duo)

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 980 Mobile's compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop sizelarge
Bus supportPCI Express 3.0
InterfaceMXM-B (3.0)
SLI options+

Memory

Parameters of memory installed on GeForce GTX 980 Mobile: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Note that GPUs integrated into processors have no dedicated memory and use a shared part of system RAM instead.

Memory typeGDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GBof 192 (Radeon Instinct MI300X)
Memory bus width256 Bitof 19000 (GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB)
Memory clock speed7.0 GB/sof 23000 (GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER)
Memory bandwidth224 GB/sof 3276 (Aldebaran)
Shared memory-

Video outputs and ports

Types and number of video connectors present on GeForce GTX 980 Mobile. As a rule, this section is relevant only for desktop reference graphics cards, since for notebook ones the availability of certain video outputs depends on the laptop model, while non-reference desktop models can (though not necessarily will) bear a different set of video ports.

Display ConnectorsDual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2
Multi monitor support4 displays
VGA аnalog display support+
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+
HDMI+
HDCP+
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536
G-SYNC support+
Audio input for HDMIInternal

Technologies

Technological solutions and APIs supported by GeForce GTX 980 Mobile. You'll probably need this information if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GameStream+
GeForce ShadowPlay+
GPU Boost2.0
GameWorks+
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder+
Optimus+
BatteryBoost+

API support

APIs supported by GeForce GTX 980 Mobile, sometimes including their particular versions.

DirectX12 (12_1)
Shader Model6.4
OpenGL4.5of 4.6 (GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile)
OpenCL1.2
Vulkan1.1.126
CUDA+

Benchmark performance

Synthetic benchmark performance of GeForce GTX 980 Mobile. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 980 Mobile 39702

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 980 Mobile 17201

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 980 Mobile 13047

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 980 Mobile 76705

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 8%

GTX 980 Mobile 347481

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980 Mobile 107

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980 Mobile 49

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980 Mobile 6

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980 Mobile 54

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980 Mobile 35

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 medical-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980 Mobile 31

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 showcase-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980 Mobile 59

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 energy-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980 Mobile 7

SPECviewperf 12 - Showcase

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980 Mobile 59

SPECviewperf 12 - Maya

This part of SPECviewperf 12 workstation benchmark uses Autodesk Maya 13 engine to render a superhero energy plant static scene consisting of more than 700 thousand polygons, in six different modes.

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980 Mobile 107

SPECviewperf 12 - Catia

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980 Mobile 54

SPECviewperf 12 - Solidworks

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980 Mobile 49

SPECviewperf 12 - Siemens NX

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980 Mobile 6

SPECviewperf 12 - Creo

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980 Mobile 35

SPECviewperf 12 - Medical

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980 Mobile 31

SPECviewperf 12 - Energy

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980 Mobile 7.2

Gaming performance

Let's see how good GeForce GTX 980 Mobile is for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in frames per second. Comparisons with game system requirements are included, but remember that sometimes official requirements may reflect reality inaccurately.

Average FPS across all PC games

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

Full HD99
4K45

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 35−40

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 40−45
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 35−40
Battlefield 5 70−75
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 55−60
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
Far Cry 5 55−60
Far Cry New Dawn 55−60
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
Hitman 3 65−70
Horizon Zero Dawn 45−50
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 40−45
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 35−40
Battlefield 5 70−75
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 55−60
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
Far Cry 5 55−60
Far Cry New Dawn 55−60
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
Hitman 3 65−70
Horizon Zero Dawn 45−50
Metro Exodus 35−40
Red Dead Redemption 2 35−40
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 45−50
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 84
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 40−45
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 35−40
Battlefield 5 70−75
Cyberpunk 2077 35−40
Far Cry 5 55−60
Far Cry New Dawn 55−60
Forza Horizon 4 70−75
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 44
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 30−35
Hitman 3 35−40
Horizon Zero Dawn 30−33
Metro Exodus 21−24
Red Dead Redemption 2 16−18
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 27−30

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 21−24
Battlefield 5 45−50
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14
Far Cry 5 35−40
Far Cry New Dawn 40−45
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 27−30
Watch Dogs: Legion 16−18

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 16−18
Hitman 3 21−24
Horizon Zero Dawn 14−16
Metro Exodus 12−14
Red Dead Redemption 2 12−14
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 12−14
Battlefield 5 24−27
Cyberpunk 2077 5−6
Far Cry 5 18−20
Far Cry New Dawn 21−24
Forza Horizon 4 27−30
Watch Dogs: Legion 10−11

Relative perfomance

Overall GeForce GTX 980 Mobile performance compared to nearest competitors among notebook video cards.


AMD equivalent

According to our data, the closest AMD alternative to GeForce GTX 980 Mobile is Radeon RX 5600M, which is nearly equal in speed and lower by 1 position in our ranking.

RX 5600MRadeon RX5600M
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Here are some closest AMD rivals to GeForce GTX 980 Mobile:

Similar GPUs

Here is our recommendation of several graphics cards that are more or less close in performance to the one reviewed.

GTX 880M SLIGeForce GTX880M SLI
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GTX 1060 MobileGeForce GTX1060 Mobile
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RX 580 MobileRadeon RX580 Mobile
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GTX 780M SLIGeForce GTX780M SLI
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GTX 970M SLIGeForce GTX970M SLI
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Recommended processors

These processors are most commonly used with GeForce GTX 980 Mobile according to our statistics.

User ratings: view and submit

Here you can see the user rating of the graphics card, as well as rate it yourself.


3.4 73 votes

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Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about GeForce GTX 980 Mobile, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.