Ellesmere vs GeForce GTX 980
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GTX 980 and Ellesmere, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
GTX 980 outperforms Ellesmere by a considerable 47% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 179 | 267 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 9.80 | no data |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2018) | GCN 4.0 (2016−2020) |
| GPU code name | GM204 | Ellesmere |
| Market segment | Desktop | Desktop |
| Release date | 19 September 2014 (9 years ago) | no data |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $549 | no data |
| Current price | $339 (0.6x MSRP) | $16.24 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Detailed specifications
General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 2048 | 2304 |
| CUDA cores | 2048 | no data |
| Core clock speed | 1064 MHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 1216 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 5,200 million | 5,700 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 165 Watt | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 144 billion/sec | no data |
| Floating-point performance | 4,981 gflops | no data |
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 | PCI Express 3.0 | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | no data |
| Length | 10.5" (26.7 cm) | no data |
| Height | 4.376" (11.1 cm) | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | no data |
| Recommended system power (PSU) | 500 Watt | no data |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 6-pins | no data |
| SLI options | + | no data |
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 | GDDR5 | no data |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | no data |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | no data |
| Memory clock speed | 7.0 GB/s | no data |
| Memory bandwidth | 224 GB/s | no data |
| Shared memory | - | no data |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2 | no data |
| Multi monitor support | 4 displays | no data |
| VGA аnalog display support | + | no data |
| DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support | + | no data |
| HDMI | + | no data |
| HDCP | + | no data |
| Maximum VGA resolution | 2048x1536 | no data |
| G-SYNC support | + | no data |
| Audio input for HDMI | Internal | no data |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| GameStream | + | no data |
| GeForce ShadowPlay | + | no data |
| GPU Boost | 2.0 | no data |
| GameWorks | + | no data |
| H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder | + | no data |
| Optimus | + | no data |
| BatteryBoost | + | no data |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 (12_0) |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 6.7 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | 1.3 |
| CUDA | + | no data |
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 | 95
+58.3%
| 60−65
−58.3%
|
| 1440p | 47
+56.7%
| 30−35
−56.7%
|
| 4K | 39
+62.5%
| 24−27
−62.5%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 70−75
+45.8%
|
45−50
−45.8%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 100−105
+44.9%
|
69
−44.9%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 70−75
+40%
|
50−55
−40%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 120−130
+39.5%
|
86
−39.5%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 85−90
+44.1%
|
55−60
−44.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 70−75
+45.8%
|
45−50
−45.8%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 120−130
+42.9%
|
84
−42.9%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 110−120
+42.9%
|
77
−42.9%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 130−140
+44.4%
|
90
−44.4%
|
| Hitman 3 | 85−90
+44.1%
|
55−60
−44.1%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 160−170
+40.4%
|
110−120
−40.4%
|
| Metro Exodus | 130−140
+42.9%
|
90−95
−42.9%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 110−120
+46.7%
|
75−80
−46.7%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 150−160
+45.6%
|
100−110
−45.6%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 110−120
+41%
|
75−80
−41%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 85−90
+46.6%
|
58
−46.6%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 70−75
+40%
|
50−55
−40%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 100−105
+35.1%
|
74
−35.1%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 85−90
+44.1%
|
55−60
−44.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 70−75
+45.8%
|
45−50
−45.8%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 100−105
+44.9%
|
69
−44.9%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 90−95
+40.6%
|
64
−40.6%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 300−310
+30.4%
|
230
−30.4%
|
| Hitman 3 | 85−90
+44.1%
|
55−60
−44.1%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 160−170
+40.4%
|
110−120
−40.4%
|
| Metro Exodus | 130−140
+42.9%
|
90−95
−42.9%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 110−120
+46.7%
|
75−80
−46.7%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 150−160
+45.6%
|
100−110
−45.6%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 120−130
+41.2%
|
85
−41.2%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 110−120
+41%
|
75−80
−41%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 50−55
+42.9%
|
35
−42.9%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 70−75
+40%
|
50−55
−40%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 85−90
+44.1%
|
55−60
−44.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 70−75
+45.8%
|
45−50
−45.8%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 70−75
+40%
|
50
−40%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 85−90
+44.1%
|
59
−44.1%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 160−170
+40.4%
|
110−120
−40.4%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 150−160
+45.6%
|
100−110
−45.6%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 65−70
+41.3%
|
46
−41.3%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 110−120
+41%
|
75−80
−41%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 110−120
+46.7%
|
75−80
−46.7%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 65−70
+38.3%
|
47
−38.3%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 90−95
+42.9%
|
60−65
−42.9%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 35−40
+29.6%
|
27
−29.6%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 40−45
+33.3%
|
30−33
−33.3%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 60−65
+46.3%
|
40−45
−46.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 27−30
+35%
|
20−22
−35%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 70−75
+45.8%
|
48
−45.8%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 70−75
+45.8%
|
48
−45.8%
|
| Hitman 3 | 50−55
+42.9%
|
35−40
−42.9%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 85−90
+41.7%
|
60−65
−41.7%
|
| Metro Exodus | 80−85
+45.5%
|
55−60
−45.5%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 95−100
+46.2%
|
65−70
−46.2%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 50−55
+35.1%
|
35−40
−35.1%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 30−33
+30.4%
|
21−24
−30.4%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 70−75
+42.9%
|
45−50
−42.9%
|
4K
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 30−33
+36.4%
|
22
−36.4%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 35−40
+45.8%
|
24
−45.8%
|
| Hitman 3 | 30−33
+30.4%
|
21−24
−30.4%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 45−50
+32.4%
|
30−35
−32.4%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 24−27
+41.2%
|
17
−41.2%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 40−45
+37.9%
|
29
−37.9%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 18−20
+28.6%
|
14
−28.6%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 21−24
+31.3%
|
16−18
−31.3%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 24−27
+41.2%
|
16−18
−41.2%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 10−11
+25%
|
8−9
−25%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 21−24
+31.3%
|
16
−31.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 45−50
+32.4%
|
34
−32.4%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 45−50
+32.4%
|
30−35
−32.4%
|
| Metro Exodus | 40−45
+42.9%
|
27−30
−42.9%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 18−20
+38.5%
|
12−14
−38.5%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 35−40
+40%
|
24−27
−40%
|
This is how GTX 980 and Ellesmere compete in popular games:
- GTX 980 is 58% faster in 1080p
- GTX 980 is 57% faster in 1440p
- GTX 980 is 63% faster in 4K
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 28.80 | 19.60 |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 14 nm |
The GeForce GTX 980 is our recommended choice as it beats the Ellesmere in performance tests.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
