AMD Radeon HD 8870M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Comparison

AMD Radeon HD 8870M and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 are both end-of-life mobile and desktop graphics cards, respectively, but they occupy vastly different performance tiers despite sharing a 28 nm TSMC process node. The GTX 980 is a full-fat desktop flagship from the Maxwell 2.0 generation, while the HD 8870M is a mid-range laptop part built on GCN 1.0. Benchmark results show a decisive gap: in the single shared test (Geekbench OpenCL), the GTX 980 scores 34,676 against the HD 8870M’s 8,462, a delta of -75.6% for the AMD part. This page breaks down the architectural, specification, and benchmark differences to clarify which GPU is appropriate for which workload.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8870M has an average benchmark score of 8,462, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 has an average of 8,167. Despite the GTX 980 winning the head-to-head OpenCL test, the HD 8870M holds a slightly higher average score across all recorded benchmarks, though both sit at the 43rd percentile of all GPUs.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the shared OpenCL benchmark?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 980 scores 34,676 versus the HD 8870M’s 8,462. This represents a 75.6% deficit for the AMD card, meaning the GTX 980 delivers roughly four times the compute throughput in that specific test.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card based on average score?

A: The HD 8870M’s closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458, a 0.1% delta), followed by the AMD Radeon 880M (8,436, 0.3%) and the GTX 675MX (8,427, 0.4%). The GTX 980’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M (8,135, 0.4%), then the AMD Radeon R9 M360 (8,129, 0.5%) and the NVIDIA GeForce 945M (8,099, 0.8%).

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: No. The HD 8870M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the GTX 980 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The GTX 980 also lists Vulkan 1.4 support, whereas the HD 8870M lists Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The HD 8870M comes with 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 72.00 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 980 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.4 GB/s — more than three times the bandwidth.

Q: Which card was released earlier?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 8870M was released on 2013-03-31, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 launched later on 2014-09-18. Both are now end-of-life products.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures from competing vendors. The AMD Radeon HD 8870M uses the Venus chip based on GCN 1.0 architecture, part of the Solar System generation (HD 8800M). The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 uses the GM204 chip based on Maxwell 2.0 architecture, from the GeForce 900 generation. Both are fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but the transistor counts diverge sharply: the HD 8870M packs 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, while the GTX 980 integrates 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die. This translates to a transistor density of 12.2M / mm² for the AMD part and 13.1M / mm² for the NVIDIA part.

The shading resources are wildly different. The HD 8870M has 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 16 render output units (ROPs). The GTX 980 quadruples the shader count to 2,048 shading units, triples TMUs to 128, and quadruples ROPs to 64. Neither card has dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, as both predate those technologies. The GTX 980’s Maxwell 2.0 architecture is known for its efficiency improvements over Kepler, but the raw resource disparity is the dominant factor here.

The API support also differs. The HD 8870M lists DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The GTX 980 lists DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 — a higher Vulkan revision and a more complete DirectX 12 feature set. Memory architecture is another major divider: the HD 8870M uses a 128-bit bus, while the GTX 980 uses a 256-bit bus, directly impacting fill rates and bandwidth. The GTX 980 also has a higher pixel rate (77.82 GPixel/s vs. 12.40 GPixel/s) and texture rate (155.6 GTexel/s vs. 31.00 GTexel/s).

Where Each One Wins

Based on the data, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 wins the only head-to-head benchmark available (Geekbench OpenCL) by a massive margin. That single result indicates the GTX 980 is the clear choice for compute-heavy workloads like OpenCL-accelerated rendering, physics simulation, or machine learning inference. Its 4 GB memory capacity and 224.4 GB/s bandwidth also make it better suited for high-resolution textures and large datasets in gaming or content creation, though no direct gaming benchmarks are provided in the fact pack.

The AMD Radeon HD 8870M, despite losing the OpenCL test, has a slightly higher average benchmark score (8,462 vs. 8,167). This suggests that across a broader range of tests (including its own benchmark suite), the HD 8870M performs more consistently relative to its peers. Its nearest rivals are all within a 1.1% delta, meaning it sits in a tight competitive cluster. The HD 8870M’s lower power footprint (no TDP listed, but it’s a mobile chip) and smaller die size (123 mm²) make it a more practical fit for laptops where space and cooling are constrained.

In terms of API compatibility, the GTX 980 has an edge with Vulkan 1.4 over the HD 8870M’s Vulkan 1.2.170, which could matter for modern titles using Vulkan. However, the HD 8870M’s DirectX 12 (11_1) support is sufficient for most DX12 games, albeit with a lower feature level than the GTX 980’s 12_1. For legacy DirectX 9/10/11 workloads, the GTX 980’s Passmark scores (164 in DX9, 53 in DX10, 83 in DX11) indicate strong performance, but no comparable data exists for the HD 8870M.

Specification Differences

The core specification differences are stark. The GTX 980 has a base clock of 1127 MHz and a boost clock of 1216 MHz, while the HD 8870M runs at 725 MHz base and 775 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1753 MHz (7 Gbps effective) for the GTX 980 versus 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) for the HD 8870M. The GTX 980 offers 4 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.4 GB/s bandwidth; the HD 8870M offers 2 GB GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 72.00 GB/s.

Shader cores, TMUs, and ROPs are all significantly higher on the GTX 980: 2,048 vs. 640 shading units, 128 vs. 40 TMUs, and 64 vs. 16 ROPs. The GTX 980’s FP32 throughput is 4.981 TFLOPS versus 992.0 GFLOPS for the HD 8870M — a factor of five difference. The GTX 980 has a TDP of 165 W, requires a 450 W PSU, uses dual-slot cooling, and needs two 6-pin power connectors. The HD 8870M has no listed TDP, power connectors, or slot width, reflecting its mobile design. The GTX 980 measures 267 mm x 111 mm x 40 mm and offers display outputs of 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.2; the HD 8870M has no listed display outputs.

Both use PCIe 3.0 x16. The GTX 980’s launch MSRP was 549 USD; the HD 8870M has no launch MSRP listed. The GTX 980 has a larger die (398 mm²) and more transistors (5,200 million) than the HD 8870M (123 mm², 1,500 million). The GTX 980’s predecessor is GeForce 700 and successor is GeForce 10; the HD 8870M’s predecessor is London and successor is Gem System.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 scores 34,676, while the AMD Radeon HD 8870M scores 8,462. The delta is -75.6% for the AMD card, meaning the GTX 980 is 310% faster (or 4.1x) in this test. This is a crushing victory for NVIDIA, driven by the GTX 980’s 2,048 shaders, 4.981 TFLOPS FP32, and 224.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Contextualizing this result, the HD 8870M’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce MX330, scores 8,458 — nearly identical to the HD 8870M’s 8,462. The GTX 980’s nearest rival, the GTX 950M, scores 8,135, which is actually lower than the HD 8870M’s score. This creates an interesting situation: the GTX 980 outperforms its own nearest rivals by a huge margin in OpenCL, while the HD 8870M is squarely in the middle of its peer group.

For other benchmark suites, the GTX 980 provides additional data points: Passmark G3D score of 11,095, Passmark GPU Compute of 4,753, Geekbench Vulkan of 22,543, and Geekbench Metal of 15,163. The HD 8870M has no comparable scores in these tests. The GTX 980’s Passmark DirectX scores (164 in DX9, 83 in DX11, 53 in DX10, 46 in DX12) show a typical pattern of older APIs performing better, but without HD 8870M equivalents, no direct comparison is possible. The win count is 1 for the GTX 980 and 0 for the HD 8870M in head-to-head tests.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 is the overwhelmingly more powerful GPU. In the only shared benchmark, it beats the AMD Radeon HD 8870M by 75.6%, and its specification sheet — 2,048 shaders, 4.981 TFLOPS, 224.4 GB/s bandwidth — dwarfs the HD 8870M’s 640 shaders, 992 GFLOPS, and 72 GB/s. Anyone needing raw compute performance for OpenCL workloads, high-resolution gaming with 4 GB VRAM, or modern Vulkan 1.4 support should choose the GTX 980, provided they have the power budget (165 W TDP, 450 W PSU) and physical space (267 mm length, dual-slot cooler).

However, the AMD Radeon HD 8870M is not without merit. Its average benchmark score of 8,462 is actually higher than the GTX 980’s 8,167, and it sits in a competitive cluster where its nearest rivals are within 0.4% performance deltas. This suggests that in its mobile segment, the HD 8870M delivers balanced performance for a laptop GPU. Its smaller die (123 mm² vs. 398 mm²), lower transistor count (1,500M vs. 5,200M), and lack of a listed TDP indicate it is far more power-efficient and thermally manageable for thin-and-light designs. For users constrained to a mobile platform, the HD 8870M is a serviceable choice for 1080p gaming at medium settings, though no gaming benchmarks are provided to confirm this.

The verdict depends entirely on the use case. For desktop users building a performance-oriented system, the GTX 980 is the only rational choice — its compute dominance and larger memory pool leave no contest. For laptop users who need a GPU that fits in a mobile chassis without exotic cooling, the HD 8870M is the applicable part, even if it loses the head-to-head benchmark. The GTX 980’s 549 USD launch MSRP reflects its flagship status, but that price is historical context only. The percentile ranking of 43 for both cards is a reminder that these are mid-tier performers by today’s standards, but within their respective categories, the GTX 980 is a high-end part while the HD 8870M is a mid-range mobile solution. Choose the GTX 980 for performance, the HD 8870M for mobility.