Radeon Pro Vega 48 vs GeForce GTX 980
Aggregated performance score
Radeon Pro Vega 48 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 2% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
Primary Details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 179 | 177 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation | 9.56 | 25.47 |
| Architecture | Maxwell (2014−2018) | GCN 5.0 (2017−2020) |
| GPU code name | GM204 | Vega 10 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Mobile workstation |
| Release date | 19 September 2014 (9 years ago) | 19 March 2019 (5 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $549 | no data |
| Current price | $339 (0.6x MSRP) | $671 |
Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Pro Vega 48 has 166% 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 | 3072 |
| CUDA cores | 2048 | no data |
| Core clock speed | 1064 MHz | 1200 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1216 MHz | 1300 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 5,200 million | 12,500 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 165 Watt | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 144 billion/sec | 249.6 |
| Floating-point performance | 4,981 gflops | no data |
Form Factor & Compatibility
Information on GeForce GTX 980 and Radeon Pro Vega 48 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). 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.
| Bus support | PCI Express 3.0 | no data |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| 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 | None |
| SLI options | + | no data |
| Memory type | GDDR5 | HBM2 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 2048 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 7.0 GB/s | 1572 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 224 GB/s | 402.4 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 | No outputs |
| 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_1) |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 2.0 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | 1.1.125 |
| CUDA | + | no data |
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.
Radeon Pro Vega 48 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 2% 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%
Radeon Pro Vega 48 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 2% in Passmark.
GeekBench 5 OpenCL
Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.
Benchmark coverage: 9%
Radeon Pro Vega 48 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 59% in GeekBench 5 OpenCL.
GeekBench 5 Vulkan
Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses Vulkan API by AMD & Khronos Group.
Benchmark coverage: 5%
Radeon Pro Vega 48 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 45% in GeekBench 5 Vulkan.
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
−1.1%
| 95−100
+1.1%
|
| 1440p | 51
+2%
| 50−55
−2%
|
| 4K | 38
+8.6%
| 35−40
−8.6%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 45−50
+6.7%
|
45−50
−6.7%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 69
−1.4%
|
70−75
+1.4%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 50−55
+2%
|
50−55
−2%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 109
−0.9%
|
110−120
+0.9%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 75−80
+2.7%
|
75−80
−2.7%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 45−50
+6.7%
|
45−50
−6.7%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 80
+0%
|
80−85
+0%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 70−75
−1.4%
|
75−80
+1.4%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 90
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Hitman 3 | 85−90
+3.5%
|
85−90
−3.5%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 60−65
+3.3%
|
60−65
−3.3%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 45−50
+2.2%
|
45−50
−2.2%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 66
+1.5%
|
65−70
−1.5%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 58
+5.5%
|
55−60
−5.5%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 50−55
+2%
|
50−55
−2%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 90
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 75−80
+2.7%
|
75−80
−2.7%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 45−50
+6.7%
|
45−50
−6.7%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 73
+4.3%
|
70−75
−4.3%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 70−75
−1.4%
|
75−80
+1.4%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 83
+3.8%
|
80−85
−3.8%
|
| Hitman 3 | 85−90
+3.5%
|
85−90
−3.5%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 60−65
+3.3%
|
60−65
−3.3%
|
| Metro Exodus | 45−50
+8.9%
|
45−50
−8.9%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 45−50
+2.2%
|
45−50
−2.2%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 55
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 85
+0%
|
85−90
+0%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 35
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 50−55
+2%
|
50−55
−2%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 82
+2.5%
|
80−85
−2.5%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 45−50
+6.7%
|
45−50
−6.7%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 69
−1.4%
|
70−75
+1.4%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 70−75
−1.4%
|
75−80
+1.4%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 59
+7.3%
|
55−60
−7.3%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 46
+2.2%
|
45−50
−2.2%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 45−50
+0%
|
45−50
+0%
|
| Hitman 3 | 50−55
+0%
|
50−55
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 35−40
+11.4%
|
35−40
−11.4%
|
| Metro Exodus | 30−33
+0%
|
30−33
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 21−24
+4.8%
|
21−24
−4.8%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 34
+13.3%
|
30−33
−13.3%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 27
+0%
|
27−30
+0%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 30−33
+0%
|
30−33
+0%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 62
+3.3%
|
60−65
−3.3%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 20−22
+11.1%
|
18−20
−11.1%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 48
+6.7%
|
45−50
−6.7%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 48
+6.7%
|
45−50
−6.7%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 35−40
+2.9%
|
35−40
−2.9%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 21−24
+9.5%
|
21−24
−9.5%
|
4K
High Preset
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 21−24
+9.5%
|
21−24
−9.5%
|
| Hitman 3 | 27−30
+0%
|
27−30
+0%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 20−22
+11.1%
|
18−20
−11.1%
|
| Metro Exodus | 18−20
+0%
|
18−20
+0%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 14−16
+7.1%
|
14−16
−7.1%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 17
+6.3%
|
16−18
−6.3%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 29
+7.4%
|
27−30
−7.4%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 14
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 32
+6.7%
|
30−33
−6.7%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 24
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 27−30
+3.7%
|
27−30
−3.7%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 34
+13.3%
|
30−33
−13.3%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
This is how GTX 980 and Pro Vega 48 compete in popular games:
- Pro Vega 48 is 1.1% faster than GTX 980 in 1080p
- GTX 980 is 2% faster than Pro Vega 48 in 1440p
- GTX 980 is 8.6% faster than Pro Vega 48 in 4K
Pros & Cons Summary
| Performance score | 28.74 | 29.19 |
| Recency | 19 September 2014 | 19 March 2019 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 14 nm |
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between GeForce GTX 980 and Radeon Pro Vega 48.
Be aware that GeForce GTX 980 is a desktop card while Radeon Pro Vega 48 is a mobile workstation one.
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.
