GeForce GTX 980M SLI vs Radeon RX Vega 56

Place in the ranking	148	220
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	25.16	no data
Power efficiency	11.35	8.55
Architecture	GCN 5.0 (2017−2020)	Maxwell (2014−2017)
GPU code name	Vega 10	no data
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	14 August 2017 (7 years ago)	7 October 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$399	no data

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	3584	3072
Core clock speed	1156 MHz	1038 MHz
Boost clock speed	1471 MHz	1127 MHz
Number of transistors	12,500 million	2x 5200 Million
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	210 Watt	200 Watt
Texture fill rate	329.5	no data
Floating-point processing power	10.54 TFLOPS	no data
ROPs	64	no data
TMUs	224	no 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 size	no data	large
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	no data
Length	267 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	2x 8-pin	no 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 type	HBM2	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	2x 8 GB
Memory bus width	2048 Bit	2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed	800 MHz	5000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	409.6 GB/s	no data
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	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	no data
HDMI	+	-

Supported technologies

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

Optimus

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12_1
Shader Model	6.4	no data
OpenGL	4.6	no data
OpenCL	2.0	no data
Vulkan	1.1.125	+
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.

RX Vega 56 34.28
+39.5%

GTX 980M SLI 24.58

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.

RX Vega 56 29086
+32.2%

GTX 980M SLI 22006

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.

RX Vega 56 54586
+14.1%

GTX 980M SLI 47841

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.

RX Vega 56 20759
+11.4%

GTX 980M SLI 18632

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.

RX Vega 56 125359
+1%

GTX 980M SLI 124076

SPECviewperf 12 - Catia

RX Vega 56 141
+255%

GTX 980M SLI 40

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	180−190 +33.3%	135 −33.3%
Full HD	116 +9.4%	106 −9.4%
1440p	69 +53.3%	45−50 −53.3%
4K	52 +48.6%	35−40 −48.6%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

55−60
+47.5%

40−45

−47.5%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	77 +42.6%	50−55 −42.6%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	55−60 +40.5%	40−45 −40.5%
Battlefield 5	164 +102%	80−85 −102%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70−75 +40%	50−55 −40%
Cyberpunk 2077	55−60 +47.5%	40−45 −47.5%
Far Cry 5	115 +102%	55−60 −102%
Far Cry New Dawn	114 +75.4%	65−70 −75.4%
Forza Horizon 4	293 +102%	140−150 −102%
Hitman 3	70−75 +44%	50−55 −44%
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150 +29.8%	110−120 −29.8%
Metro Exodus	144 +69.4%	85−90 −69.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	80−85 +29.7%	60−65 −29.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	184 +119%	80−85 −119%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +17.5%	100−110 −17.5%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	134 +148%	50−55 −148%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	55−60 +40.5%	40−45 −40.5%
Battlefield 5	153 +88.9%	80−85 −88.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70−75 +40%	50−55 −40%
Cyberpunk 2077	55−60 +47.5%	40−45 −47.5%
Far Cry 5	92 +61.4%	55−60 −61.4%
Far Cry New Dawn	88 +35.4%	65−70 −35.4%
Forza Horizon 4	272 +87.6%	140−150 −87.6%
Hitman 3	70−75 +44%	50−55 −44%
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150 +29.8%	110−120 −29.8%
Metro Exodus	119 +40%	85−90 −40%
Red Dead Redemption 2	80−85 +29.7%	60−65 −29.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	120−130 +45.2%	80−85 −45.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	70−75 +33.3%	50−55 −33.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +17.5%	100−110 −17.5%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	52 −3.8%	50−55 +3.8%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	55−60 +40.5%	40−45 −40.5%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70−75 +40%	50−55 −40%
Cyberpunk 2077	55−60 +47.5%	40−45 −47.5%
Far Cry 5	69 +21.1%	55−60 −21.1%
Forza Horizon 4	109 −33%	140−150 +33%
Hitman 3	70−75 +44%	50−55 −44%
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150 +29.8%	110−120 −29.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	120−130 +45.2%	80−85 −45.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	74 +37%	50−55 −37%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +17.5%	100−110 −17.5%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

80−85
+29.7%

60−65

−29.7%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	98 +109%	45−50 −109%
Far Cry New Dawn	60 +57.9%	35−40 −57.9%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	44 +69.2%	24−27 −69.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40 +54.2%	24−27 −54.2%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40−45 +42.9%	27−30 −42.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	24−27 +56.3%	16−18 −56.3%
Far Cry 5	46 +58.6%	27−30 −58.6%
Forza Horizon 4	268 +88.7%	140−150 −88.7%
Hitman 3	40−45 +43.3%	30−33 −43.3%
Horizon Zero Dawn	70−75 +43.1%	50−55 −43.1%
Metro Exodus	74 +57.4%	45−50 −57.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	80−85 +50%	50−55 −50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	45−50 +56.7%	30−33 −56.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	170−180 +26.4%	140−150 −26.4%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

55−60
+43.9%

40−45

−43.9%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	46 +91.7%	24−27 −91.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	32 +68.4%	18−20 −68.4%
Hitman 3	27−30 +47.4%	18−20 −47.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 +30.7%	120−130 −30.7%
Metro Exodus	46 +64.3%	27−30 −64.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	44 +63%	27−30 −63%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27 +80%	14−16 −80%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	20−22 +53.8%	12−14 −53.8%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 +50%	14−16 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	10−11 +66.7%	6−7 −66.7%
Far Cry 5	23 +64.3%	14−16 −64.3%
Forza Horizon 4	59 +73.5%	30−35 −73.5%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	45−50 +53.3%	30−33 −53.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion	16−18 +54.5%	10−12 −54.5%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

30−33
+42.9%

21−24

−42.9%

This is how RX Vega 56 and GTX 980M SLI compete in popular games:

RX Vega 56 is 33% faster in 900p
RX Vega 56 is 9% faster in 1080p
RX Vega 56 is 53% faster in 1440p
RX Vega 56 is 49% faster in 4K

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

in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the RX Vega 56 is 148% faster.
in Forza Horizon 4, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 980M SLI is 33% faster.

All in all, in popular games: