Notebookcheck Logo

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop)

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 for notebooks (not the GTX 980M, sometimes also referred to as GeForce GTX 990M) is an overclockable high-end graphics card for laptops. It is an desktop Geforce GTX 980 chip with the same specifications (2048 shaders, 1126 MHz base clock, 7 Gbps memory) based on selected GM204 chips (for lower power consumption).

The performance is also on a level with the desktop GTX 980. Due to the different cooling solutions, the long term performance may be slightly lower compared to a well cooled desktop, but Nvidia assures only small degrades in performance. Furthermore, the mobile GTX 980 supports overclocking out of the box and all laptop manufacturers plan to provide an easy to use tool to overclock the card on the fly.

The core features are also the same, so expect support for DirectX 12 (FL 12_1). There will be no support for the new H.265 video engine as found on the desktop GTX 950.

The power consumption of the card is a lot higher than other mobile graphics card like the GeForce GTX 980M (100 Watt TDP). According to Nvidia, the TDP of the reference design is still 165 Watt like in the desktop version. Including overclocking headroom, the power consumption may reach up to 200 Watt. Therefore, only big laptops with efficient cooling methods can house the GeForce GTX980 for laptops.

GeForce GTX 900 Series

GeForce GTX 980 SLI (Laptop) compare 4096 @ 1.13 - 1.23 GHz256 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 980 Ti compare 2816 @ 1 - 1.2 GHz256 Bit @ 7000 MHz
GeForce GTX 980 compare 2048 @ 1.13 - 1.22 GHz256 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop) 2048 @ 1.13 - 1.23 GHz256 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 970 compare 1664 @ 1.05 - 1.18 GHz224 + 32 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 960 compare 1024 @ 1.13 - 1.18 GHz128 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 950 compare 768 @ 1.02 - 1.19 GHz128 Bit @ 3300 MHz
CodenameN16E-GXX
ArchitectureMaxwell
Pipelines2048 - unified
Core Speed1126 - 1228 (Boost) MHz
Memory Speed3500 MHz
Memory Bus Width256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory4 GB
Shared Memoryno
APIDirectX 12_1, OpenGL 4.5
Power Consumption100-200 Watt
Transistor Count5.2 Billion
technology28 nm
FeaturesCUDA, 3D Vision, PhysX, GeForce Experience, Surround, GameStream, GPU Boost 2.0, Adaptive Vertical Sync, G-SYNC, SLI
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement22.09.2014

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy
4.9 pt (15%)
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Score
min: 24329     avg: 27597     median: 27629 (26%)     max: 30430 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
min: 70557     avg: 78468     median: 76705 (19%)     max: 87753 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Score
min: 10734     avg: 11112     median: 11096 (17%)     max: 11440 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
min: 12691     avg: 13111     median: 13047 (12%)     max: 13388 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Graphics
min: 225220     avg: 296748     median: 300534 (33%)     max: 396408 Points
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score
min: 12645     avg: 14598     median: 14925 (18%)     max: 15462 Points
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU
min: 15013     avg: 17028     median: 17200.5 (13%)     max: 17864 Points
3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
3DMark 06
min: 28146     avg: 31525     median: 32943 (43%)     max: 33485 Points
SPECviewperf 12
specvp12 sw-03 +
specvp12 snx-02 +
specvp12 showcase-01 +
specvp12 mediacal-01 +
specvp12 maya-04 +
specvp12 energy-01 +
specvp12 creo-01 +
specvp12 catia-04 +
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit
min: 68.7     avg: 76.7     median: 77.8 (26%)     max: 85.2 fps
Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15 OpenGL Ref. Match 64 Bit +
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
red legend - Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

low 1280x720
197.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
165.5  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
90  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
81.9  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
31  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Overwatch

Overwatch

2016
low 1280x720
299.9  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
299.9  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
212.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
118.2 125.9 ~ 122 fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
69.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Doom

Doom

2016
low 1280x720
196.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
193.6  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
123.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
84.3 116 ~ 100 fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
41.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1280x720
136.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
130.3  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
104.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
77.3  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
40.5  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1280x720
100.3  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
93.7  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
64.5  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
61.3  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
28.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1280x720
227.7  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
156.2  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
83  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
64.6  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
33.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1280x720
153  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
107  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
94  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
68  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
32  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
XCOM 2

XCOM 2

2016
low 1280x720
136.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
95  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
70.9  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
33.4  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
20.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
low 1024x768
225.9  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
144.4  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
88.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
60.4 77.1 ~ 69 fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
33.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
327.5  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
247.7  fps    + Compare