RTX A2000 12 GB vs GeForce GTX 980M SLI

Place in the ranking	232	143
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	93.30
Power efficiency	8.47	34.99
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2017)	Ampere (2020−2024)
GPU code name	no data	GA106
Market segment	Laptop	Workstation
Release date	7 October 2014 (10 years ago)	23 November 2021 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$449

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	3072	3328
Core clock speed	1038 MHz	562 MHz
Boost clock speed	1127 MHz	1200 MHz
Number of transistors	2x 5200 Million	12,000 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	200 Watt	70 Watt
Texture fill rate	no data	124.8
Floating-point processing power	no data	7.987 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	48
TMUs	no data	104
Tensor Cores	no data	104
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	26

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).

Laptop size	large	no data
Interface	no data	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	no data	167 mm
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	None
SLI options	+	-

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	2x 8 GB	12 GB
Memory bus width	2x 256 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	5000 MHz	1500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	288.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

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

no data

4x mini-DisplayPort

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

Optimus

API and SDK compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12_1	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	no data	6.6
OpenGL	no data	4.6
OpenCL	no data	3.0
Vulkan	+	1.3
CUDA	+	8.6

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:

900p	135 −40.7%	190−200 +40.7%
Full HD	110 −36.4%	150−160 +36.4%

Cost per frame, $

1080p

no data

2.99

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −41.3%	65−70 +41.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 −40%	70−75 +40%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 −31.6%	100−105 +31.6%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −41.3%	65−70 +41.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 −40%	70−75 +40%
Forza Horizon 4	100−110 −38.9%	150−160 +38.9%
Forza Horizon 5	65−70 −38.5%	90−95 +38.5%
Metro Exodus	65−70 −38.5%	90−95 +38.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 −38.9%	75−80 +38.9%
Valorant	95−100 −41.4%	140−150 +41.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 −31.6%	100−105 +31.6%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −41.3%	65−70 +41.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 −40%	70−75 +40%
Dota 2	85−90 −41.2%	120−130 +41.2%
Far Cry 5	75−80 −31.6%	100−105 +31.6%
Fortnite	120−130 −37.1%	170−180 +37.1%
Forza Horizon 4	100−110 −38.9%	150−160 +38.9%
Forza Horizon 5	65−70 −38.5%	90−95 +38.5%
Grand Theft Auto V	85−90 −41.2%	120−130 +41.2%
Metro Exodus	65−70 −38.5%	90−95 +38.5%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	150−160 −41%	220−230 +41%
Red Dead Redemption 2	50−55 −38.9%	75−80 +38.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	103 −35.9%	140−150 +35.9%
Valorant	95−100 −41.4%	140−150 +41.4%
World of Tanks	250−260 −36.7%	350−400 +36.7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 −31.6%	100−105 +31.6%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −41.3%	65−70 +41.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	50−55 −40%	70−75 +40%
Dota 2	85−90 −41.2%	120−130 +41.2%
Far Cry 5	75−80 −31.6%	100−105 +31.6%
Forza Horizon 4	100−110 −38.9%	150−160 +38.9%
Forza Horizon 5	65−70 −38.5%	90−95 +38.5%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	150−160 −41%	220−230 +41%
Valorant	95−100 −41.4%	140−150 +41.4%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	40−45 −34.1%	55−60 +34.1%
Grand Theft Auto V	40−45 −42.9%	60−65 +42.9%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	170−180 −42.9%	250−260 +42.9%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 −30.4%	30−33 +30.4%
World of Tanks	160−170 −41.1%	230−240 +41.1%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 −40%	70−75 +40%
Cyberpunk 2077	21−24 −42.9%	30−33 +42.9%
Far Cry 5	70−75 −38.9%	100−105 +38.9%
Forza Horizon 4	65−70 −43.9%	95−100 +43.9%
Forza Horizon 5	40−45 −37.5%	55−60 +37.5%
Metro Exodus	55−60 −42.9%	80−85 +42.9%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 −35.1%	50−55 +35.1%
Valorant	65−70 −43.9%	95−100 +43.9%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −27.3%	14−16 +27.3%
Dota 2	40−45 −39.5%	60−65 +39.5%
Grand Theft Auto V	40−45 −39.5%	60−65 +39.5%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −42.1%	27−30 +42.1%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	75−80 −33.3%	100−105 +33.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16−18 −31.3%	21−24 +31.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	40−45 −39.5%	60−65 +39.5%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	24−27 −34.6%	35−40 +34.6%
Counter-Strike 2	10−12 −27.3%	14−16 +27.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −25%	10−11 +25%
Dota 2	40−45 −39.5%	60−65 +39.5%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −36.4%	45−50 +36.4%
Fortnite	30−35 −29%	40−45 +29%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 −31.6%	50−55 +31.6%
Forza Horizon 5	21−24 −42.9%	30−33 +42.9%
Valorant	30−35 −40.6%	45−50 +40.6%

This is how GTX 980M SLI and RTX A2000 12 GB compete in popular games:

RTX A2000 12 GB is 41% faster in 900p
RTX A2000 12 GB is 36% faster in 1080p

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	23.66	34.19
Recency	7 October 2014	23 November 2021
Chip lithography	28 nm	8 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	200 Watt	70 Watt

RTX A2000 12 GB has a 44.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 250% more advanced lithography process, and 185.7% lower power consumption.

The RTX A2000 12 GB is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 980M SLI in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 980M SLI is a notebook card while RTX A2000 12 GB is a workstation one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.