NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti represent two distinct eras of NVIDIA’s GPU design, separated by a generational leap in architecture and process technology. The benchmark data available provides a clear, albeit limited, head-to-head picture, showing the RTX 2080 Ti holding a commanding lead in every shared test. While the GTX 980 Ti was a formidable flagship in its day, the data indicates that the RTX 2080 Ti delivers a transformative performance jump, making it a substantially more capable card for modern workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The direct comparison between these two cards is one-sided, with the RTX 2080 Ti dominating all three common benchmarks. In the demanding 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX 2080 Ti scores 3537, which is a staggering 167.8% higher than the GTX 980 Ti’s 1321. This is not a marginal improvement; it is a near-tripling of performance in a synthetic DirectX 12 workload, suggesting that the newer architecture handles modern API features far more efficiently.

The gap widens further in compute-oriented benchmarks. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 2080 Ti posts a score of 128171, eclipsing the GTX 980 Ti’s 43513 by a massive 194.6%. This margin highlights a fundamental difference in compute throughput and memory bandwidth, which translates directly into faster physics simulations, video encoding, and other non-graphics tasks. Similarly, in Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 2080 Ti’s score of 132930 is 178.5% higher than the older card’s 47724, reinforcing the idea that the Turing architecture is vastly superior in low-level, multi-threaded rendering APIs.

The data shows a clean sweep: the RTX 2080 Ti wins all three head-to-head benchmarks, with zero wins for the GTX 980 Ti. The average benchmark score for the RTX 2080 Ti is 29783, placing it in the 75th percentile of all GPUs, while the GTX 980 Ti’s average of 28020 places it in the 73rd percentile. Despite the percentile ranks being close, the actual performance delta is enormous, with the RTX 2080 Ti’s closest rivals being the RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 5070 Mobile, while the GTX 980 Ti sits alongside the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X and Radeon Pro Vega 20. This positioning suggests that while the GTX 980 Ti remains a competent card, it is now competing with lower-tier workstation parts, whereas the RTX 2080 Ti is still in the conversation with much newer, high-end consumer GPUs.

Architecture Differences

The performance discrepancy is rooted in the fundamental architectural shifts between the two generations. The RTX 2080 Ti is built on the TU102 chip using the Turing architecture, manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC, whereas the GTX 980 Ti uses the GM200 chip with the Maxwell 2.0 architecture on a 28 nm process. This node shrink allows the RTX 2080 Ti to pack 18,600 million transistors into a 754 mm² die, yielding a density of 24.7M transistors per mm². In contrast, the GTX 980 Ti has 8,000 million transistors on a 601 mm² die, with a density of just 13.3M / mm². The newer card effectively has more than double the transistor count, enabling a host of new features.

Core counts reflect this advantage. The RTX 2080 Ti features 4352 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 88 ROPs, compared to the GTX 980 Ti’s 2816 shading units, 176 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. Interestingly, the GTX 980 Ti has more ROPs, but this does not compensate for the RTX 2080 Ti’s higher pixel rate of 136.0 GPixel/s versus 103.3 GPixel/s, which is driven by its much higher clock speeds. The RTX 2080 Ti also introduces dedicated hardware absent from the older card: 68 RT cores for ray tracing and 544 tensor cores for AI acceleration. These units are the backbone of features like DLSS and real-time ray tracing, which the GTX 980 Ti cannot support. The shading, texture, and raw compute rates are also vastly different, with the RTX 2080 Ti achieving 13.45 TFLOPS FP32 and a texture rate of 420.2 GTexel/s, versus the GTX 980 Ti’s 6.060 TFLOPS and 189.4 GTexel/s.

Memory technology also sets these cards apart. The RTX 2080 Ti uses 11 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 352-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 616.0 GB/s. The GTX 980 Ti uses 6 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 384-bit bus, but its bandwidth is only 336.6 GB/s. The combination of faster memory and a larger capacity means the RTX 2080 Ti can handle higher-resolution textures and more data-heavy workloads without bottlenecking. Furthermore, the API support differs: the RTX 2080 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes features like variable rate shading and mesh shaders, while the GTX 980 Ti is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the newer card’s feature set is clearly forward-looking.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the benchmark results, the RTX 2080 Ti wins in every measurable category. There is no scenario in the provided data where the GTX 980 Ti is ahead. However, qualitative analysis of the specifications suggests distinct usage patterns. The RTX 2080 Ti is the clear choice for any workload that leverages its unique hardware. The presence of RT and tensor cores means it can run ray-traced games and use DLSS for upscaling, a feature entirely absent on the GTX 980 Ti. For content creators, the 194.6% lead in Geekbench OpenCL suggests that tasks like 3D rendering, video editing with GPU acceleration, and scientific compute will be dramatically faster. The larger 11 GB memory buffer also makes it more suitable for 4K gaming and large datasets.

The GTX 980 Ti, while decisively slower in the head-to-head tests, is still a capable card for its era. Its 6 GB of memory and 6.060 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming in older titles that do not rely on newer DirectX 12 Ultimate features. It has a higher ROP count than the RTX 2080 Ti, which could theoretically benefit certain fill-rate-limited scenarios, but this advantage is nullified by the newer card’s superior pixel rate. The GTX 980 Ti’s 73rd percentile ranking and its proximity to AMD workstation cards like the Radeon Pro W5500X suggest that its best use case today is as a legacy gaming card or a basic compute accelerator in systems where the power draw is not a concern, given both cards share a 250 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU.

The Verdict

The data unequivocally favors the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. Its 167.8% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad and 194.6% lead in Geekbench OpenCL are not incremental gains; they represent a generational leap that makes the GTX 980 Ti obsolete for demanding modern workloads. If a user is deciding between these two based on benchmark performance alone, the RTX 2080 Ti is the only rational choice, provided the launch MSRP of 999 USD is acceptable. The GTX 980 Ti, with a launch MSRP of 649 USD, was a strong card in 2015, but its 28 nm architecture and lack of RT and tensor cores put it at a severe disadvantage in DirectX 12 Ultimate and compute-heavy applications.

The RTX 2080 Ti’s 75th percentile ranking and its rivalry with the RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 5070 Mobile indicate that it is still a relevant high-end performer years after its release. In contrast, the GTX 980 Ti’s 73rd percentile ranking, while close, is supported by far fewer benchmark results and places it in direct competition with AMD’s professional-grade cards. For gaming, the RTX 2080 Ti offers the raw speed and feature set needed for high refresh-rate 1440p and smooth 4K experiences. For compute, its tensor cores and massive FP32 output make it a much more potent tool. The GTX 980 Ti is a card for retro builds or budget systems where its 6 GB of memory is sufficient, but the data shows it cannot keep pace with the RTX 2080 Ti in any modern test.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti scores 3537, which is 167.8% higher than the GTX 980 Ti’s score of 1321.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest delta is in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the RTX 2080 Ti leads by 194.6%, scoring 128171 versus 43513.

Q: Does the GTX 980 Ti support ray tracing?

A: No, the GTX 980 Ti does not have RT cores. The RTX 2080 Ti has 68 RT cores for this purpose.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti has 616.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 11 GB of GDDR6, while the GTX 980 Ti has 336.6 GB/s from 6 GB of GDDR5.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti has a transistor density of 24.7M / mm², compared to the GTX 980 Ti’s 13.3M / mm².

Q: What are the average benchmark scores for each card?

A: The RTX 2080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 29783, while the GTX 980 Ti has an average of 28020.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Architecture | Turing | Maxwell 2.0 |

| Process Node | 12 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 18,600 million | 8,000 million |

| Die Size | 754 mm² | 601 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.7M / mm² | 13.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1350 MHz | 1000 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1545 MHz | 1076 MHz |

| Memory Size | 11 GB | 6 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 352 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 616.0 GB/s | 336.6 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 4352 | 2816 |

| TMUs | 272 | 176 |

| ROPs | 88 | 96 |

| RT Cores | 68 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 544 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 136.0 GPixel/s | 103.3 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 420.2 GTexel/s | 189.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 13.45 TFLOPS | 6.060 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 26.90 TFLOPS (2:1) | None |

| Power Connectors | 2x 8-pin | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2 |

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Height | 116 mm (4.6 inches) | 111 mm (4.4 inches) |

| Width | 35 mm (1.4 inches) | 40 mm (1.6 inches) |

| Launch MSRP | 999 USD | 649 USD |