GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB vs GTX 980

Place in performance ranking	180	92
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	9.58	23.84
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2018)	Turing (2018−2021)
GPU code name	GM204	TU106
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	19 September 2014 (9 years ago)	7 December 2021 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	no data
Current price	$339 (0.6x MSRP)	$530

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RTX 2060 12 GB has 149% better value for money than GTX 980.

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	2176
CUDA cores	2048	no data
Core clock speed	1064 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	1216 MHz	1650 MHz
Number of transistors	5,200 million	10,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	165 Watt	184 Watt
Texture fill rate	144 billion/sec	224.4
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	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	10.5" (26.7 cm)	229 mm
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)	500 Watt	no data
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pins	1x 8-pin
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	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	12 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	7.0 GB/s	14 GB/s
Memory bandwidth	224 GB/s	336.0 GB/s
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	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C
Multi monitor support	4 displays	no data
VGA аnalog display support	+	no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	+	no data
HDMI	+	+
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 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.4	6.6
OpenGL	4.5	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	3.0
Vulkan	1.1.126	1.3
CUDA	+	7.5

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. 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.

GTX 980 28.75

RTX 2060 12 GB 41.05
+42.8%

RTX 2060 12 GB outperforms GTX 980 by 43% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX 980 11127

RTX 2060 12 GB 15888
+42.8%

RTX 2060 12 GB outperforms GTX 980 by 43% in Passmark.

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	94 −38.3%	130−140 +38.3%
1440p	51 −37.3%	70−75 +37.3%
4K	38 −31.6%	50−55 +31.6%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

45−50

−35.4%

65−70
+35.4%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	69 −37.7%	95−100 +37.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	50−55 −37.3%	70−75 +37.3%
Battlefield 5	109 −37.6%	150−160 +37.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 −29.9%	100−105 +29.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −35.4%	65−70 +35.4%
Far Cry 5	80 −37.5%	110−120 +37.5%
Far Cry New Dawn	70−75 −35.1%	100−105 +35.1%
Forza Horizon 4	90 −33.3%	120−130 +33.3%
Hitman 3	85−90 −36.4%	120−130 +36.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −37.1%	85−90 +37.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	45−50 −41.3%	65−70 +41.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	66 −36.4%	90−95 +36.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −36.4%	75−80 +36.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	58 −37.9%	80−85 +37.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	50−55 −37.3%	70−75 +37.3%
Battlefield 5	90 −33.3%	120−130 +33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 −29.9%	100−105 +29.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −35.4%	65−70 +35.4%
Far Cry 5	73 −37%	100−105 +37%
Far Cry New Dawn	70−75 −35.1%	100−105 +35.1%
Forza Horizon 4	83 −32.5%	110−120 +32.5%
Hitman 3	85−90 −36.4%	120−130 +36.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −37.1%	85−90 +37.1%
Metro Exodus	45−50 −32.7%	65−70 +32.7%
Red Dead Redemption 2	45−50 −41.3%	65−70 +41.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	55 −36.4%	75−80 +36.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	85 −41.2%	120−130 +41.2%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −36.4%	75−80 +36.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35 −28.6%	45−50 +28.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	50−55 −37.3%	70−75 +37.3%
Battlefield 5	82 −34.1%	110−120 +34.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −35.4%	65−70 +35.4%
Far Cry 5	69 −37.7%	95−100 +37.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	70−75 −35.1%	100−105 +35.1%
Forza Horizon 4	59 −35.6%	80−85 +35.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	46 −41.3%	65−70 +41.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −36.4%	75−80 +36.4%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50 −33.3%	60−65 +33.3%
Hitman 3	50−55 −40%	70−75 +40%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −41%	55−60 +41%
Metro Exodus	30−33 −33.3%	40−45 +33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 −36.4%	30−33 +36.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	34 −32.4%	45−50 +32.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27 −29.6%	35−40 +29.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−33 −33.3%	40−45 +33.3%
Battlefield 5	62 −37.1%	85−90 +37.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 −35%	27−30 +35%
Far Cry 5	48 −35.4%	65−70 +35.4%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 −36.4%	75−80 +36.4%
Forza Horizon 4	48 −35.4%	65−70 +35.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 −38.9%	50−55 +38.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 −30.4%	30−33 +30.4%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 −30.4%	30−33 +30.4%
Hitman 3	27−30 −29.6%	35−40 +29.6%
Horizon Zero Dawn	20−22 −35%	27−30 +35%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −33.3%	24−27 +33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 −40%	21−24 +40%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	17 −41.2%	24−27 +41.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29 −37.9%	40−45 +37.9%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14 −28.6%	18−20 +28.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −31.3%	21−24 +31.3%
Battlefield 5	32 −40.6%	45−50 +40.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −25%	10−11 +25%
Far Cry 5	24 −25%	30−33 +25%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 −25%	35−40 +25%
Forza Horizon 4	34 −32.4%	45−50 +32.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion	14−16 −28.6%	18−20 +28.6%

This is how GTX 980 and RTX 2060 12 GB compete in popular games:

RTX 2060 12 GB is 38.3% faster than GTX 980 in 1080p
RTX 2060 12 GB is 37.3% faster than GTX 980 in 1440p
RTX 2060 12 GB is 31.6% faster than GTX 980 in 4K

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	28.75	41.05
Recency	19 September 2014	7 December 2021
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	12 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	12 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	165 Watt	184 Watt