AMD Radeon RX 6400 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data splits exactly evenly between these two GPUs, with each winning five of the ten benchmark comparisons. The overall average benchmark score for the AMD Radeon RX 6400 is 6001, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M sits at 5308, a difference of roughly 13% in favor of the AMD part. Yet the individual test results reveal a more complex story than the averages suggest.

The most dramatic single result is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the GTX 980M scores 649 against the RX 6400's 176. That is a 72.9% margin for NVIDIA, the largest delta in either direction across the entire benchmark set. This is a massive win for the older Maxwell chip in a modern DirectX 12 workload, and it dominates the overall averages enough to pull the GTX 980M's mean score up substantially despite losing most other tests.

The RX 6400 counters with its own decisive victories. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD card scores 32011 versus 23832 for NVIDIA, a 34.3% advantage. PassMark DirectX 10 shows an even larger relative gap: 54 for AMD versus 35 for NVIDIA, a 54.3% win. The PassMark G2D test also favors AMD heavily, with 722 against 490, a 47.3% margin. These are not marginal differences; they represent clear generational efficiency gains in compute and 2D workloads.

The remaining tests are far closer. PassMark DirectX 11 gives AMD a 22.8% lead (70 versus 57), and PassMark G3D shows AMD ahead by 4.6% (7673 versus 7338). The Vulkan benchmark in Geekbench goes to NVIDIA by 7.5% (17703 versus 16372). PassMark DirectX 12 is nearly a tie, with NVIDIA ahead by just 3.2% (31 versus 30). PassMark GPU Compute is even tighter, NVIDIA winning by 0.1% (2816 versus 2812). PassMark DirectX 9 goes to NVIDIA by 25.6% (125 versus 93), a notable legacy API win for the older architecture.

What stands out is the pattern: AMD wins the compute-heavy and newer API tests, while NVIDIA wins the DX12 Steel Nomad test decisively and holds its own in Vulkan and legacy DirectX 9. The GTX 980M's 8 GB of VRAM and wider 256-bit bus likely explain its strong showing in the memory-intensive Steel Nomad workload, while the RX 6400's RDNA 2 architecture delivers superior raw compute throughput per clock.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6400 is the clear choice for compute-oriented tasks. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 32011 is a full 34.3% higher than the GTX 980M's 23832, indicating substantially better general-purpose GPU compute performance. The PassMark GPU Compute result is essentially a dead heat at 2812 versus 2816, but the OpenCL gap is too large to ignore. For workloads that rely on OpenCL acceleration, such as certain video encoding filters, physics simulations, or data processing tasks, the RX 6400 is measurably faster.

The RX 6400 also dominates in 2D performance. Its PassMark G2D score of 722 crushes the GTX 980M's 490, a 47.3% advantage. This matters for desktop compositing, image processing, and any workload that stresses memory bandwidth for 2D operations. The newer 6 nm process node and GDDR6 memory likely contribute to this efficiency.

For DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 gaming, the RX 6400 is ahead by 54.3% and 22.8% respectively. These APIs remain relevant for a large catalog of older games, and the AMD card's higher shading unit efficiency (768 units at 1923 MHz base versus 1536 units at 1038 MHz base) shows in these results. The PassMark G3D score, which aggregates DirectX performance across versions, gives AMD a 4.6% edge.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M wins where memory bandwidth and legacy optimization matter. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 649 is 72.9% higher, a staggering gap that suggests the GTX 980M's 256-bit memory bus and 160.4 GB/s bandwidth are far better suited to this particular next-generation DX12 workload. The RX 6400's 64-bit bus and 128.0 GB/s bandwidth are a clear handicap here.

NVIDIA also leads in Vulkan by 7.5% and in DirectX 9 by 25.6%. The DirectX 9 result is particularly interesting given the GTX 980M's 2014 origins; Maxwell's legacy driver path remains strong. The DirectX 12 PassMark result is a statistical tie at 31 versus 30, suggesting neither card has a meaningful edge in that specific benchmark.

The Verdict

The data points to two very different use cases. For a user running modern compute workloads, OpenCL acceleration, or 2D-heavy applications, the AMD Radeon RX 6400 is the stronger performer. Its 34.3% OpenCL lead, 47.3% G2D advantage, and 54.3% DirectX 10 margin are decisive. The RX 6400 also holds the overall average benchmark advantage at 6001 versus 5308, and it sits at the 35th percentile of all GPUs compared to the GTX 980M's 31st.

For gaming specifically, the picture is more nuanced. The GTX 980M's 72.9% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 suggests it can handle demanding modern DX12 titles that stress memory bandwidth, despite being a 2014 mobile part. Its 8 GB VRAM capacity is double the RX 6400's 4 GB, which matters for high-resolution textures and larger scene complexity. The NVIDIA card also wins Vulkan by 7.5%, making it the better choice for Vulkan-based titles.

However, the RX 6400 wins the aggregate PassMark G3D score by 4.6% and wins DirectX 11 by 22.8%, which covers a broader swath of the current game library. The RX 6400 also has modern feature support including DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and 12 ray accelerators, while the GTX 980M only supports DirectX 12 (12_1) with no ray tracing hardware.

The verdict depends on the workload. The RX 6400 is the better all-around card for compute, 2D, and most gaming scenarios. The GTX 980M is specifically stronger for memory-bandwidth-intensive DX12 workloads and Vulkan titles. Users prioritizing the latest AAA DX12 games should lean NVIDIA; users wanting broader compute performance and modern API features should choose AMD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6400 has an average benchmark score of 6001, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M averages 5308.

Q: How large is the RX 6400's lead in OpenCL performance?

A: The RX 6400 scores 32011 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 23832 for the GTX 980M, a 34.3% advantage.

Q: Which GPU wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The GTX 980M wins by 72.9%, scoring 649 against the RX 6400's 176.

Q: Do the two GPUs have equal memory capacities?

A: No. The RX 6400 has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus, while the GTX 980M has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What is the difference in PassMark G2D performance?

A: The RX 6400 scores 722 versus 490 for the GTX 980M, a 47.3% advantage for AMD.

Q: Which card supports newer DirectX features?

A: The RX 6400 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) with 12 ray accelerators, while the GTX 980M supports DirectX 12 (12_1) without ray tracing cores.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and manufacturing processes. The AMD Radeon RX 6400 uses the Navi 24 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 6 nm process. It contains 5,400 million transistors on a 107 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 50.5 million per square millimeter. The GTX 980M uses the GM204 chip on Maxwell 2.0 architecture, also fabricated by TSMC but on a 28 nm process. It packs 5,200 million transistors into a 398 mm² die, for a density of just 13.1 million per square millimeter. The density difference is stark: the RX 6400 fits nearly four times more transistors per area.

The RX 6400 has 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. It also includes 12 ray accelerators, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing. The GTX 980M has 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, but no ray accelerators. Despite having half the shader count, the RX 6400 achieves comparable or better performance in most tests due to its much higher clock speeds: 1923 MHz base and 2321 MHz boost versus 1038 MHz base and 1127 MHz boost for the GTX 980M. The RX 6400 also has a game clock of 2039 MHz, which the GTX 980M lacks entirely.

Memory architecture differs significantly. The RX 6400 uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, delivering 128.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 980M uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.4 GB/s. The GTX 980M's wider bus provides 25% more bandwidth, which helps explain its dominant Steel Nomad result. The RX 6400's memory runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), while the GTX 980M's memory runs at 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective).

Compute throughput is nearly identical on paper: the RX 6400 delivers 3.565 TFLOPS FP32 and 7.130 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), while the GTX 980M delivers 3.462 TFLOPS FP32 with no FP16 data recorded. Pixel and texture rates are also close, with the RX 6400 at 74.27 GPixel/s and 111.4 GTexel/s versus the GTX 980M's 72.13 GPixel/s and 108.2 GTexel/s.

Specification Differences

The RX 6400 is a single-slot desktop card with no power connectors and a 53 W TDP, requiring a suggested 250 W power supply. It uses a PCIe 4.0 x4 bus interface and offers display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.1 and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GTX 980M is an MXM module with an MXM-B (3.0) interface, has no listed TDP or suggested PSU, and its display outputs are described as "Portable Device Dependent." These are fundamentally different form factors: one is a retail desktop GPU, the other is a laptop replacement module.

The RX 6400 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 980M supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The DirectX feature level difference (12_2 versus 12_1) is meaningful for modern games that use mesh shaders, variable rate shading, and other DX12 Ultimate features. The RX 6400's 12 ray accelerators provide hardware ray tracing support that the GTX 980M completely lacks.

Release dates show an eight-year gap: the GTX 980M launched on 2014-10-06, while the RX 6400 launched on 2022-01-18. Both are end-of-life products. The RX 6400 has a launch MSRP of 159 USD. The GTX 980M has no launch MSRP recorded. The RX 6400's predecessor is Navi and successor is Navi III, while the GTX 980M's predecessor is GeForce 800M and successor is GeForce 10 Mobile. The RX 6400 belongs to the Radeon RX 6000 series, while the GTX 980M belongs to the GeForce 900M generation.