NVIDIA
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
The GeForce GTX 980 is a 2014 Maxwell desktop graphics card with 2048 CUDA cores and 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. It launched as NVIDIA's flagship GeForce card of its generation with a modest 165 W rated board power.
Pros
- Efficient for its time with a 165 W rated board power
- 2048 CUDA cores with a 1216 MHz boost clock
- Wide 256-bit bus with about 224 GB/s of bandwidth
- Needs only two 6-pin power connectors
Cons
- 4 GB of VRAM is limiting in modern games
- No ray tracing or AI upscaling hardware
- Old Maxwell design without current video codec and display standards
Below average
Computed from specs & benchmarks via our public methodology.
Full specifications
Everything we track for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
General
- Announced
- 2014
- Architecture
- Maxwell
- Process
- 28 nm
- TDP
- 165 W
- Power connector
- 2x 6-pin
Cores & Clocks
- Shading units
- 2,048
- Base clock
- 1,126 MHz
- Boost clock
- 1,216 MHz
Memory
- VRAM
- 4 GB
- VRAM type
- GDDR5
- Bus width
- 256 bit
- Bandwidth
- 224 GB/s
Benchmarks
- 3DMark Time Spy
- 4,361Bottom 18%
- PassMark G3D
- 11,071Bottom 21%
Quick answers
Is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 good in 2026?
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 earns an Inno Score of 33.1/100 (“Below average”) based on its specs and benchmark results. The GeForce GTX 980 is a 2014 Maxwell desktop graphics card with 2048 CUDA cores and 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. It launched as NVIDIA's flagship GeForce card of its generation with a modest 165 W rated board power.
What are the key specs of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980?
VRAM: 4 GB · Boost clock: 1,216 MHz · TDP: 165 W · 3DMark Time Spy: 4,361
What are the closest alternatives to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980?
Its closest rivals on InnoReviews are NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Radeon RX 6400, Intel Arc A310 — open the comparison pages for a spec-by-spec breakdown.
