Radeon RX 6900 XT vs GeForce GTX 980 SLI Mobile

Place in the ranking	114	21
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	29.88
Power efficiency	8.29	16.14
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2017)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	N16E-GXX SLI	Navi 21
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	22 September 2015 (9 years ago)	28 October 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$999

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

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	4096	5120
Core clock speed	1126 MHz	1825 MHz
Boost clock speed	1228 MHz	2250 MHz
Number of transistors	10400 Million	26,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	330 Watt	300 Watt
Texture fill rate	no data	720.0
Floating-point processing power	no data	23.04 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	128
TMUs	no data	320
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	80

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	267 mm
Width	no data	3-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	2x 8-pin
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	16 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	3500 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	512.0 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	1x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C
HDMI	-	+
G-SYNC support	+	-

API 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	6.5
OpenGL	no data	4.6
OpenCL	no data	2.1
Vulkan	-	1.2
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 39.23

RX 6900 XT 69.45
+77%

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.

GTX 980 SLI Mobile 33169

RX 6900 XT 59119
+78.2%

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

RX 6900 XT 50587
+98.7%

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	132 −47.7%	195 +47.7%
1440p	70−75 −78.6%	125 +78.6%
4K	65 −21.5%	79 +21.5%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	no data	5.12
1440p	no data	7.99
4K	no data	12.65

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

65−70

−98.5%

130−140
+98.5%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	80−85 −42.7%	117 +42.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	65−70 −152%	169 +152%
Battlefield 5	120−130 −79%	220−230 +79%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 −52.6%	110−120 +52.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	65−70 −98.5%	130−140 +98.5%
Far Cry 5	80−85 −39.3%	110−120 +39.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	95−100 −77.1%	170−180 +77.1%
Forza Horizon 4	190−200 −25.3%	230−240 +25.3%
Hitman 3	80−85 −57.3%	120−130 +57.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 −56.2%	250−260 +56.2%
Metro Exodus	120−130 −25%	150−160 +25%
Red Dead Redemption 2	90−95 −34.1%	120−130 +34.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	140−150 −108%	290−300 +108%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 −18.8%	150−160 +18.8%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	80−85 −240%	279 +240%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	65−70 −112%	142 +112%
Battlefield 5	120−130 −79%	220−230 +79%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 −52.6%	110−120 +52.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	65−70 −98.5%	130−140 +98.5%
Far Cry 5	80−85 −39.3%	110−120 +39.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	95−100 −77.1%	170−180 +77.1%
Forza Horizon 4	190−200 −25.3%	230−240 +25.3%
Hitman 3	80−85 −57.3%	120−130 +57.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 −56.2%	250−260 +56.2%
Metro Exodus	120−130 −25%	150−160 +25%
Red Dead Redemption 2	90−95 −34.1%	120−130 +34.1%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	140−150 −108%	290−300 +108%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	137 −8.8%	140−150 +8.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 −18.8%	150−160 +18.8%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	80−85 −19.5%	98 +19.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	65−70 −104%	137 +104%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 −52.6%	110−120 +52.6%
Cyberpunk 2077	65−70 −98.5%	130−140 +98.5%
Far Cry 5	80−85 −39.3%	110−120 +39.3%
Forza Horizon 4	190−200 −30.5%	248 +30.5%
Hitman 3	80−85 −57.3%	120−130 +57.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 −74.7%	283 +74.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	140−150 −108%	290−300 +108%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	74 −122%	164 +122%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +5.8%	121 −5.8%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

90−95

−34.1%

120−130
+34.1%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	70−75 −123%	160−170 +123%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 −88.1%	110−120 +88.1%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 −136%	99 +136%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	40−45 −160%	109 +160%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50 −80%	80−85 +80%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 −147%	70−75 +147%
Far Cry 5	45−50 −82.2%	80−85 +82.2%
Forza Horizon 4	210−220 −24.9%	270−280 +24.9%
Hitman 3	50−55 −102%	100−110 +102%
Horizon Zero Dawn	80−85 −167%	224 +167%
Metro Exodus	70−75 −62.5%	117 +62.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	90−95 −112%	190−200 +112%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	55−60 −125%	120−130 +125%
Watch Dogs: Legion	190−200 −25.8%	230−240 +25.8%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

65−70

−72.7%

110−120
+72.7%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 −123%	85−90 +123%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 −116%	65−70 +116%
Hitman 3	30−35 −168%	83 +168%
Horizon Zero Dawn	180−190 −25.6%	220−230 +25.6%
Metro Exodus	45−50 −124%	110−120 +124%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	51 −139%	122 +139%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	24−27 −162%	68 +162%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24−27 −175%	66 +175%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 −104%	50−55 +104%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 −169%	35−40 +169%
Far Cry 5	21−24 −117%	50−55 +117%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 −200%	162 +200%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	50−55 −108%	110−120 +108%
Watch Dogs: Legion	18−20 −184%	54 +184%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

30−35

−121%

75−80
+121%

This is how GTX 980 SLI Mobile and RX 6900 XT compete in popular games:

RX 6900 XT is 48% faster in 1080p
RX 6900 XT is 79% faster in 1440p
RX 6900 XT is 22% faster in 4K

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

in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 980 SLI Mobile is 6% faster.
in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the RX 6900 XT is 240% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 980 SLI Mobile is ahead in 1 test (1%)
RX 6900 XT is ahead in 71 test (99%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	39.23	69.45
Recency	22 September 2015	28 October 2020
Chip lithography	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	330 Watt	300 Watt

RX 6900 XT has a 77% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 300% more advanced lithography process, and 10% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 6900 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 980 SLI Mobile in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 980 SLI Mobile is a notebook card while Radeon RX 6900 XT is a desktop one.

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