Radeon HD 8650M vs GeForce GTX 980 SLI Mobile

Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 980 SLI Mobile and Radeon HD 8650M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GTX 980 SLI Mobile
2015
2x 8 GB GDDR5, 330 Watt
39.20
+1822%

GTX 980 SLI Mobile outperforms HD 8650M by a whopping 1822% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking111874
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency8.23no data
ArchitectureMaxwell (2014−2017)GCN (2012−2015)
GPU code nameN16E-GXX SLIno data
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date22 September 2015 (9 years ago)7 January 2013 (11 years ago)

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 cores4096384
Core clock speed1126 MHz650 MHz
Boost clock speed1228 MHzno data
Number of transistors10400 Million900 Million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)330 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 sizelargemedium sized
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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2x 8 GB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit64 Bit
Memory clock speed3500 MHz4500 MHz
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.

G-SYNC support+-

API compatibility

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

DirectX12_111.1
CUDA+-

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark 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 SLI Mobile 39.20
+1822%
HD 8650M 2.04

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.

GTX 980 SLI Mobile 25453
+2324%
HD 8650M 1050

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.

GTX 980 SLI Mobile 155238
+1970%
HD 8650M 7500

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 HD133
+2117%
6−7
−2117%
4K72
+2300%
3−4
−2300%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 65−70
+1600%
4−5
−1600%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 80−85
+1071%
7−8
−1071%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 65−70
+2133%
3−4
−2133%
Battlefield 5 120−130
+12300%
1−2
−12300%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 75−80
+1460%
5−6
−1460%
Cyberpunk 2077 65−70
+1600%
4−5
−1600%
Far Cry 5 80−85
+2700%
3−4
−2700%
Far Cry New Dawn 95−100
+1820%
5−6
−1820%
Forza Horizon 4 190−200
+2614%
7−8
−2614%
Hitman 3 80−85
+1267%
6−7
−1267%
Horizon Zero Dawn 160−170
+853%
16−18
−853%
Metro Exodus 120−130
+1967%
6−7
−1967%
Red Dead Redemption 2 90−95
+2175%
4−5
−2175%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 140−150
+1467%
9−10
−1467%
Watch Dogs: Legion 120−130
+266%
35−40
−266%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 80−85
+1071%
7−8
−1071%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 65−70
+2133%
3−4
−2133%
Battlefield 5 120−130
+12300%
1−2
−12300%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 75−80
+1460%
5−6
−1460%
Cyberpunk 2077 65−70
+1600%
4−5
−1600%
Far Cry 5 80−85
+2700%
3−4
−2700%
Far Cry New Dawn 95−100
+1820%
5−6
−1820%
Forza Horizon 4 190−200
+2614%
7−8
−2614%
Hitman 3 80−85
+1267%
6−7
−1267%
Horizon Zero Dawn 160−170
+853%
16−18
−853%
Metro Exodus 120−130
+1967%
6−7
−1967%
Red Dead Redemption 2 90−95
+2175%
4−5
−2175%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 140−150
+1467%
9−10
−1467%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 137
+1042%
12−14
−1042%
Watch Dogs: Legion 120−130
+266%
35−40
−266%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 80−85
+1071%
7−8
−1071%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 65−70
+2133%
3−4
−2133%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 75−80
+1460%
5−6
−1460%
Cyberpunk 2077 65−70
+1600%
4−5
−1600%
Far Cry 5 80−85
+2700%
3−4
−2700%
Forza Horizon 4 190−200
+2614%
7−8
−2614%
Hitman 3 80−85
+1267%
6−7
−1267%
Horizon Zero Dawn 160−170
+853%
16−18
−853%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 140−150
+1467%
9−10
−1467%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 74
+517%
12−14
−517%
Watch Dogs: Legion 120−130
+266%
35−40
−266%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 90−95
+2175%
4−5
−2175%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 70−75
+2367%
3−4
−2367%
Far Cry New Dawn 55−60
+1867%
3−4
−1867%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 40−45
+4100%
1−2
−4100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 40−45
+2000%
2−3
−2000%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 45−50
+4400%
1−2
−4400%
Cyberpunk 2077 30−33
+2900%
1−2
−2900%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+2150%
2−3
−2150%
Forza Horizon 4 210−220
+2070%
10−11
−2070%
Hitman 3 50−55
+614%
7−8
−614%
Horizon Zero Dawn 80−85
+1300%
6−7
−1300%
Metro Exodus 70−75
+2300%
3−4
−2300%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 90−95
+2225%
4−5
−2225%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 55−60
+5500%
1−2
−5500%
Watch Dogs: Legion 190−200
+1800%
10−11
−1800%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 65−70
+1220%
5−6
−1220%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 35−40
+1850%
2−3
−1850%
Far Cry New Dawn 30−35
+3100%
1−2
−3100%
Hitman 3 30−35
+3000%
1−2
−3000%
Horizon Zero Dawn 180−190
+1900%
9−10
−1900%
Metro Exodus 45−50
+2350%
2−3
−2350%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 51
+2450%
2−3
−2450%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
+1200%
2−3
−1200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27
+2300%
1−2
−2300%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 24−27 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 12−14 0−1
Far Cry 5 21−24
+2200%
1−2
−2200%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+2600%
2−3
−2600%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 50−55
+2550%
2−3
−2550%
Watch Dogs: Legion 18−20 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+1033%
3−4
−1033%

This is how GTX 980 SLI Mobile and HD 8650M compete in popular games:

  • GTX 980 SLI Mobile is 2117% faster in 1080p
  • GTX 980 SLI Mobile is 2300% faster in 4K

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

  • in Battlefield 5, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 980 SLI Mobile is 12300% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 980 SLI Mobile surpassed HD 8650M in all 53 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 39.20 2.04
Recency 22 September 2015 7 January 2013

GTX 980 SLI Mobile has a 1821.6% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 2 years.

The GeForce GTX 980 SLI Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 8650M in performance tests.


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

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI Mobile
GeForce GTX 980 SLI Mobile
AMD Radeon HD 8650M
Radeon HD 8650M

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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

Community ratings

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


3.3 65 votes

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3.7 11 votes

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Questions & comments

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