GeForce GTX 980M: specs and benchmarks

VS

Aggregated performance score

It provides poor gaming and benchmark performance at 18.99% of a leader's which is GeForce RTX 4090.

RTX 4090GeForce RTX4090
Compare

Summary

NVIDIA started GeForce GTX 980M sales 7 October 2014. This is a laptop graphics card based on a Maxwell architecture and made with 28 nm manufacturing process. It is primarily aimed at gamers. 8 GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 2.5 GHz are supplied, and together with 256 Bit memory interface this creates a bandwidth of 160 GB/s.

Compatibility-wise, this is card attached via MXM-B (3.0) interface. Power consumption is at unknown.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking272
Place by popularitynot in top-100
Value for money9.51
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2018)
GPU code nameGM204
Market segmentLaptop
Release date7 October 2014 (9 years ago)
Current price$583 of 168889 (A100 PCIe 80 GB)

Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

Technical specs

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

Pipelines / CUDA cores1536of 20480 (Data Center GPU Max NEXT)
CUDA cores1536
Core clock speed1038 MHzof 2610 (Radeon RX 6500 XT)
Boost clock speed1127 MHzof 3599 (Radeon RX 7990 XTX)
Number of transistors5,200 millionof 14400 (GeForce GTX 1080 SLI Mobile)
Manufacturing process technology28 nmof 4 (H100 PCIe)
Power consumption (TDP)unknownof 2400 (Data Center GPU Max Subsystem)
Texture fill rate51.84of 969.9 (H100 SXM5 96 GB)
Floating-point performance3,462 gflopsof 16384 (Radeon Pro Duo)

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 980M'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)
Supplementary power connectorsNone
SLI options+

Memory

Parameters of memory installed on GeForce GTX 980M: 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 amount8 GBof 192 (Radeon Instinct MI300X)
Memory bus width256 Bitof 8192 (Radeon Instinct MI250X)
Memory clock speed2500 MHzof 23000 (GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER)
Memory bandwidth160 GB/sof 3276 (Aldebaran)
Shared memory-

Video outputs and ports

Types and number of video connectors present on GeForce GTX 980M. 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 ConnectorsNo outputs
VGA аnalog display support+
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support+
HDMI+
G-SYNC support+

Technologies

Technological solutions and APIs supported by GeForce GTX 980M. 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+
Ansel+

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_1)
Shader Model6.4
OpenGL4.5of 4.6 (GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile)
OpenCL1.1
Vulkan1.1.126
CUDA+

Benchmark performance

Synthetic benchmark performance of GeForce GTX 980M. 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 980M 18.99

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 980M 7352

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 980M 31944

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 980M 12517

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 980M 9682

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 980M 65241

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%

GTX 980M 21586

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 980M 327632

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%

GTX 980M 25976

GeekBench 5 CUDA

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 CUDA API by NVIDIA.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GTX 980M 21471

Unigine Heaven 3.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark using Unigine, a 3D game engine by eponymous Russian company. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. Version 3.0 was released in 2012, and in 2013 it was superseded by Heaven 4.0, which introduced several slight improvements, including a newer version of Unigine.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GTX 980M 111

Octane Render OctaneBench

This is a special benchmark measuring graphics card performance in OctaneRender, which is a realistic GPU rendering engine by OTOY Inc., available either as a standalone program, or as a plugin for 3DS Max, Cinema 4D and many other apps. It renders four different static scenes, then compares render times with a reference GPU which is currently GeForce GTX 980. This benchmark has nothing to do with gaming and is aimed at professional 3D graphics artists.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GTX 980M 66

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980M 84

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980M 42

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980M 5

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980M 39

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980M 27

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 medical-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980M 23

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 showcase-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980M 47

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 energy-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 980M 6

SPECviewperf 12 - Showcase

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980M 47

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 980M 84

SPECviewperf 12 - Catia

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980M 39

SPECviewperf 12 - Solidworks

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980M 42

SPECviewperf 12 - Siemens NX

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980M 5

SPECviewperf 12 - Creo

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980M 27

SPECviewperf 12 - Medical

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980M 23

SPECviewperf 12 - Energy

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 980M 6

Unigine Heaven 4.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.

Benchmark coverage: 1%

GTX 980M 1417

Gaming performance

Let's see how good GeForce GTX 980M 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:

900p173
Full HD72
1440p36
4K27

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 30−33

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 51
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
Battlefield 5 82
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 45−50
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
Far Cry 5 58
Far Cry New Dawn 60
Forza Horizon 4 74
Hitman 3 50−55
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 51
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 44
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
Battlefield 5 68
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 45−50
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
Far Cry 5 53
Far Cry New Dawn 56
Forza Horizon 4 68
Hitman 3 50−55
Horizon Zero Dawn 40−45
Metro Exodus 31
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 42
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 61
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 26
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 30−35
Battlefield 5 61
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
Far Cry 5 50
Far Cry New Dawn 51
Forza Horizon 4 47
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 33
Watch Dogs: Legion 35−40

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
Hitman 3 30−33
Horizon Zero Dawn 24−27
Metro Exodus 19
Red Dead Redemption 2 14−16
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 25

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 20
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 16−18
Battlefield 5 45
Cyberpunk 2077 10−12
Far Cry 5 34
Far Cry New Dawn 38
Forza Horizon 4 39
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
Watch Dogs: Legion 12−14

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
Hitman 3 18−20
Horizon Zero Dawn 12−14
Metro Exodus 12
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 12
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 22

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 12
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 10−11
Battlefield 5 23
Cyberpunk 2077 4−5
Far Cry 5 16
Far Cry New Dawn 20
Forza Horizon 4 26
Watch Dogs: Legion 8−9

Relative performance

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


AMD equivalent

According to our data, the closest AMD alternative to GeForce GTX 980M is Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire, which is nearly equal in speed and lower by 1 position in our ranking.

HD 8970M CrossfireRadeon HD8970M Crossfire
Compare

Here are some closest AMD rivals to GeForce GTX 980M:

Similar GPUs

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

HD 8970M CrossfireRadeon HD8970M Crossfire
Compare
RX 470 MobileRadeon RX470 Mobile
Compare
R9 M290X CrossfireRadeon R9M290X Crossfire
Compare
GTX 780M SLIGeForce GTX780M SLI
Compare
GTX 1070 Max-QGeForce GTX1070 Max-Q
Compare
RX 580 MobileRadeon RX580 Mobile
Compare

Recommended processors

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

User Ratings

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


4.1 309 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 980M on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions and comments

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