AMD Radeon 880M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Comparison

The AMD Radeon 880M and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 are two very different products separated by a decade of GPU evolution, yet their average benchmark scores land them within 3.3% of each other (8436 vs 8167). The 880M is a modern integrated graphics processor built for efficiency, while the GTX 980 is a legacy discrete card designed for raw throughput. The data shows a clear split: the GTX 980 dominates legacy DirectX and raw compute workloads, while the 880M takes modern API and 2D tasks. This makes the choice entirely dependent on which software generation you prioritize.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon 880M wins in exactly three of the ten head-to-head benchmarks, but those wins are concentrated in the most forward-looking tests. Its biggest victory is in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 40006 against the GTX 980's 22543 — a massive 77.5% lead. This is the standout result for the 880M, showing that RDNA 3.5's Vulkan implementation is far ahead of Maxwell 2.0's. The 880M also wins 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (535 vs 474, a 12.9% advantage) and Passmark G2D (969 vs 792, a 22.3% lead). The G2D result is notable because it indicates faster 2D desktop rendering, which matters for everyday responsiveness and productivity.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 wins the remaining seven benchmarks, and its victories are spread across both legacy and modern workloads. The most decisive wins come in Passmark DX9 (164 vs 97, a 40.9% lead) and Passmark DX10 (53 vs 31, a 41.5% lead). These are the kinds of margins that matter if you are running older games or applications built on DirectX 9/10. The GTX 980 also takes Passmark G3D (11095 vs 7615, a 31.4% lead), which is the aggregate 3D performance metric. In OpenCL compute, the GTX 980 leads by 9.8% (34676 vs 31285), and in Passmark GPU Compute it leads by 21.8% (4753 vs 3719). The GTX 980 also wins the DX11 and DX12 Passmark tests by 12% and 30.4% respectively.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is better for modern DirectX 12 games?

A: The AMD Radeon 880M wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test with 535 points versus the GTX 980's 474, a 12.9% advantage. However, in Passmark DX12, the GTX 980 leads 46 to 32, so the result depends on the specific workload.

Q: How do they compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The 880M is dramatically ahead in Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 40006 versus the GTX 980's 22543. That is a 77.5% higher score, making this the single largest performance gap in the entire comparison.

Q: Which card is better for older DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 games?

A: The GTX 980 is significantly better for legacy titles. It scores 164 in Passmark DX9 versus the 880M's 97, and 53 in DX10 versus 31 — leads of 40.9% and 41.5% respectively.

Q: Is the GTX 980 faster in general 3D performance?

A: Yes, the Passmark G3D score favors the GTX 980 at 11095 versus 7615 for the 880M, a 31.4% difference. Its average benchmark score of 8167 is also higher than the 880M's 8436, though that gap is only 3.3%.

Q: Which GPU has better 2D performance?

A: The AMD Radeon 880M wins Passmark G2D with a score of 969 against the GTX 980's 792, a 22.3% lead. This suggests faster desktop and 2D application rendering.

Q: Does the GTX 980 have any compute advantage?

A: Yes, in Geekbench OpenCL the GTX 980 scores 34676 versus 31285 for the 880M, a 9.8% lead. In Passmark GPU Compute, the GTX 980 leads 4753 to 3719, a 21.8% advantage.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single most important result in this comparison is the Geekbench Vulkan test. The 880M's score of 40006 crushes the GTX 980's 22543, yielding a 77.5% delta. This is not a marginal difference; it indicates that the 880M's RDNA 3.5 architecture handles Vulkan far more efficiently than Maxwell 2.0. If you are using Vulkan-based games or applications, the 880M is the clear choice.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test also favors the 880M, with a score of 535 versus 474. The 12.9% delta shows that the 880M is competitive even in a modern DX12 workload, despite being an integrated part with a 15 W TDP. This is a strong signal for upcoming titles that target DX12 as their primary API.

On the other side, the GTX 980's most commanding wins come in the legacy Passmark tests. In DX9, the GTX 980 scores 164 versus 97, a 40.9% lead. In DX10, it scores 53 versus 31, a 41.5% lead. These are the largest percentage wins for either GPU outside of the Vulkan result. If your library consists of older titles, the GTX 980 will provide a much smoother experience.

The Passmark G3D aggregate score is also heavily in the GTX 980's favor: 11095 versus 7615, a 31.4% delta. This is a broad measure of overall 3D rendering, and the GTX 980's lead here reflects its 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs. However, the 880M counters with a 22.3% win in Passmark G2D (969 vs 792), suggesting that for non-3D graphical tasks, the newer architecture has the edge.

In compute workloads, the results are mixed. The GTX 980 leads Passmark GPU Compute by 21.8% (4753 vs 3719), but its Geekbench OpenCL lead is smaller at 9.8% (34676 vs 31285). The 880M's FP32 rating of 4.454 TFLOPS is close to the GTX 980's 4.981 TFLOPS, which explains why the OpenCL gap is not larger. Still, the GTX 980 wins both compute tests.

Specification Differences

The most obvious difference is power: the 880M has a TDP of 15 W while the GTX 980 draws 165 W. That is an 11x difference in thermal envelope. The GTX 980 requires a dual-slot cooler, two 6-pin power connectors, and a 450 W suggested PSU, while the 880M is an IGP with no power connectors and a slot width of "IGP". The GTX 980 also has dedicated memory: 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.4 GB/s bandwidth. The 880M uses system shared memory, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent". This means the 880M's memory performance will vary based on the host system's RAM.

The GTX 980 has far more execution resources: 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, versus the 880M's 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The GTX 980 also has higher pixel and texture rates: 77.82 GPixel/s and 155.6 GTexel/s, compared to 46.40 GPixel/s and 139.2 GTexel/s for the 880M. However, the 880M has 12 ray tracing cores, while the GTX 980 has none. The 880M also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTX 980 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The bus interface differs as well: the 880M uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the GTX 980 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The GTX 980 has a physical length of 267 mm, a height of 111 mm, and a width of 40 mm, while the 880M has no listed dimensions because it is integrated into the chip. The GTX 980's display outputs include 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.2, whereas the 880M's outputs are "Portable Device Dependent". Finally, the GTX 980 was released in 2014 with a launch MSRP of 549 USD, while the 880M launched in 2024 and is still in production.

Architecture Differences

The 880M is built on TSMC's 4 nm process, while the GTX 980 uses the 28 nm node. This is a massive difference in manufacturing technology, leading to a transistor density of 145.9M per mm² for the 880M versus 13.1M per mm² for the GTX 980. The 880M packs 34,000 million transistors on a 233 mm² die, while the GTX 980 has 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die. The 880M's architecture is RDNA 3.5, part of the Navi III IGP generation for Strix Point mobile chips. The GTX 980 uses Maxwell 2.0, from the GeForce 900 generation.

The 880M's clock behavior is also different: it has a base clock of 400 MHz and a boost of 2900 MHz, which is a much wider boost range than the GTX 980's 1127 MHz base and 1216 MHz boost. The 880M also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, both rated at 4.454 TFLOPS, while the GTX 980 has no listed FP16 capability. The 880M's 12 ray tracing cores are a generation-defining feature that the GTX 980 lacks entirely.

The 880M's cache is not listed in the data, but its memory architecture is fundamentally different: it relies on system RAM, making its bandwidth dependent on the host platform. The GTX 980's 256-bit GDDR5 interface provides a fixed 224.4 GB/s. The production status also differs: the 880M is Active, while the GTX 980 is End-of-life, with its successor being GeForce 10.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split based on workload generation. If you are playing modern games that use Vulkan or DX12 Ultimate features, the AMD Radeon 880M is the better choice. Its 77.5% lead in Geekbench Vulkan and 12.9% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 are decisive. The 880M also offers ray tracing support and a 15 W TDP, making it suitable for thin-and-light laptops where power is at a premium.

If your priorities are legacy DirectX performance or raw compute, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 is the stronger option. It wins Passmark DX9, DX10, DX11, and DX12 tests, with leads ranging from 12% to 41.5%. Its Passmark G3D score is 31.4% higher, and it leads in both OpenCL and GPU Compute benchmarks. The GTX 980's dedicated 4 GB GDDR5 memory and 224.4 GB/s bandwidth also provide consistent performance that does not depend on system RAM.

The average benchmark scores are close — 8436 for the 880M versus 8167 for the GTX 980 — and both GPUs sit at the 43rd percentile of all GPUs. This means that in a general sense, they are comparable in overall capability. However, the 880M achieves this parity with a fraction of the power draw (15 W vs 165 W) and in a much smaller form factor. The GTX 980 achieves its scores with a dual-slot cooler and external power connectors.

For a modern system builder, the 880M is the more practical choice due to its efficiency, modern API support, and ray tracing cores. For someone maintaining a legacy system or running older software, the GTX 980's dominance in DX9/10 and its higher raw 3D throughput make it the better fit. The GTX 980 is end-of-life, while the 880M is active and current, which is worth considering for long-term driver support. Ultimately, the GTX 980 wins more benchmarks, but the 880M wins the benchmarks that matter for future software.