Radeon RX 6500 vs GeForce GTX 980M SLI

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GTX 980 Mobile GTX 980 SLI Mobile GTX 980M GTX 980M SLI GTX 980MX
VS
Radeon RX 6500 Radeon RX 6500M Radeon RX 6550M Radeon RX 6550S

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 980M SLI and Radeon RX 6500, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GTX 980M SLI
2014
2x 8 GB GDDR5, 200 Watt
24.82
+25.5%

GTX 980M SLI outperforms RX 6500 by a significant 26% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

GTX 980M SLI GTX 980M SLI
RX 6500 RX 6500

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking233294
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency8.51no data
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2017)no data
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date7 October 2014 (10 years ago)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 cores3072no data
Core clock speed1038 MHzno data
Boost clock speed1127 MHzno data
Number of transistors2x 5200 Millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nmno data
Power consumption (TDP)200 Wattno 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).

Laptop sizelargeno data
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 typeGDDR5no data
Maximum RAM amount2x 8 GBno data
Memory bus width2x 256 Bitno data
Memory clock speed5000 MHzno data
Shared memory-no data

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.

DirectX12_1no data
Vulkan+-
CUDA+-

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:

900p135
+35%
100−110
−35%
Full HD110
+29.4%
85−90
−29.4%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 60−65
+26%
50−55
−26%
Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+28.6%
35−40
−28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+42.9%
35−40
−42.9%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 60−65
+26%
50−55
−26%
Battlefield 5 90−95
+20.8%
75−80
−20.8%
Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+28.6%
35−40
−28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+42.9%
35−40
−42.9%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+23.8%
60−65
−23.8%
Fortnite 110−120
+17.2%
95−100
−17.2%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+22.4%
75−80
−22.4%
Forza Horizon 5 65−70
+26.9%
50−55
−26.9%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+28.6%
70−75
−28.6%
Valorant 160−170
+15.7%
140−150
−15.7%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 60−65
+26%
50−55
−26%
Battlefield 5 90−95
+20.8%
75−80
−20.8%
Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+28.6%
35−40
−28.6%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 250−260
+11.5%
220−230
−11.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+42.9%
35−40
−42.9%
Dota 2 120−130
+12.1%
100−110
−12.1%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+23.8%
60−65
−23.8%
Fortnite 110−120
+17.2%
95−100
−17.2%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+22.4%
75−80
−22.4%
Forza Horizon 5 65−70
+26.9%
50−55
−26.9%
Grand Theft Auto V 85−90
+23.2%
65−70
−23.2%
Metro Exodus 50−55
+27.5%
40−45
−27.5%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+28.6%
70−75
−28.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 65−70
+32.7%
50−55
−32.7%
Valorant 160−170
+15.7%
140−150
−15.7%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 90−95
+20.8%
75−80
−20.8%
Counter-Strike 2 45−50
+28.6%
35−40
−28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 50−55
+42.9%
35−40
−42.9%
Dota 2 120−130
+12.1%
100−110
−12.1%
Far Cry 5 75−80
+23.8%
60−65
−23.8%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+22.4%
75−80
−22.4%
Forza Horizon 5 65−70
+32%
50−55
−32%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+28.6%
70−75
−28.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 65−70
+32.7%
50−55
−32.7%
Valorant 160−170
+35%
120−130
−35%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 110−120
+17.2%
95−100
−17.2%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+37.5%
16−18
−37.5%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 160−170
+22.4%
130−140
−22.4%
Grand Theft Auto V 40−45
+31.3%
30−35
−31.3%
Metro Exodus 30−35
+29.2%
24−27
−29.2%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+34.6%
130−140
−34.6%
Valorant 200−210
+14.2%
170−180
−14.2%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 65−70
+25%
50−55
−25%
Cyberpunk 2077 21−24
+27.8%
18−20
−27.8%
Far Cry 5 50−55
+26.2%
40−45
−26.2%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+30.4%
45−50
−30.4%
Forza Horizon 5 40−45
+40%
30−33
−40%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 35−40
+30%
30−33
−30%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 55−60
+31%
40−45
−31%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 18−20
+28.6%
14−16
−28.6%
Counter-Strike 2 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Grand Theft Auto V 40−45
+26.5%
30−35
−26.5%
Metro Exodus 20−22
+33.3%
14−16
−33.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
+25.9%
27−30
−25.9%
Valorant 130−140
+28.6%
100−110
−28.6%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
+28.6%
27−30
−28.6%
Counter-Strike 2 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Cyberpunk 2077 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%
Dota 2 75−80
+20.3%
60−65
−20.3%
Far Cry 5 24−27
+30%
20−22
−30%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+28.1%
30−35
−28.1%
Forza Horizon 5 21−24
+37.5%
16−18
−37.5%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 24−27
+33.3%
18−20
−33.3%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 24−27
+31.6%
18−20
−31.6%

This is how GTX 980M SLI and RX 6500 compete in popular games:

  • GTX 980M SLI is 35% faster in 900p
  • GTX 980M SLI is 29% faster in 1080p

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Metro Exodus, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 980M SLI is 33% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 980M SLI surpassed RX 6500 in all 44 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 24.82 19.77

GTX 980M SLI has a 25.5% higher aggregate performance score.

The GeForce GTX 980M SLI is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 6500 in performance tests.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M SLI
GeForce GTX 980M SLI
AMD Radeon RX 6500
Radeon RX 6500
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Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

GTX 980M SLI GeForce GTX 980M SLI
vs
RTX 3050 4GB Mobile GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Mobile
RX 6500 Radeon RX 6500
vs
RX 6500M Radeon RX 6500M
GTX 980M SLI GeForce GTX 980M SLI
vs
RTX 3050 6GB Mobile GeForce RTX 3050 6GB Mobile
GTX 980M SLI GeForce GTX 980M SLI
vs
GTX 950M GeForce GTX 950M
GTX 980M SLI NVIDIA GTX 980M SLI
vs
RTX 4000 Max-Q 4000 Max-Q
GTX 980M SLI NVIDIA 980M SLI
vs
RTX 3070 Ti 3070 Ti
GTX 980M SLI NVIDIA 980M SLI
vs
RTX 3050 Max-Q 3050 Max-Q
GTX 980M SLI NVIDIA 980M SLI
vs
RTX 3050 8 GB 3050 8 GB
GTX 980M SLI NVIDIA GTX 980M SLI
vs
Arc Pro A50 A50
GTX 980 Mobile NVIDIA GTX 980 Mobile
vs
Pro 5500M 5500M
GTX 980 Mobile NVIDIA GTX 980 Mobile
vs
RX 6600 6600
GTX 980 Mobile NVIDIA GTX 980 Mobile
vs
Arc Graphics 64EU Mobile Graphics 64EU Mobile
Quadro M5500 Quadro M5500
vs
HD 7770M 7770M

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.

3.3 56 votes

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

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3.2 43 votes

Rate Radeon RX 6500 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
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  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can give us your opinion about GeForce GTX 980M SLI or Radeon RX 6500, agree or disagree with our ratings, or report errors or inaccuracies on the site.