NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI (Laptop)

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 SLI is a high-end DirectX 12-compatible graphics solution for laptops, consisting of two GeForce GTX 980 cards. Each card has a 28 nm GM204 GPU based on the Maxwell architecture with similar specifications as the desktop GeForce GTX 980. The clocks for the SLI-setup are usually identical to a single GTX 980.

With SLI, each card renders a single frame (AFR mode). Therefore, it may suffer from micro-stuttering in low fps ranges of 30 fps. This happens because of different time-spans between two frames (e.g., irregular delays between sequential frames).

The performance is on a level with the two desktop GTX 980 cards in SLI. Due to the different cooling solutions, the long-term performance may be slightly lower compared to a well cooled desktop, but Nvidia assures there will only be small degrades in performance. As with all SLI combinations, the performance depends on the driver support for the used benchmark and game. In our tests with an MSI GT80S, the 980 SLI was the fastest graphics solution for laptops. The 980M SLI was 17% slower, a single 980 26% slower. Therefore, the 980 SLI for laptops offers enough performance for all demanding games from 2015 in high details and 4K resolution.

The core features are also the same as the desktop 980, 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 a single card is a lot higher than other mobile graphics cards 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. So, the TDP of the SLI combination may be as high as 330 Watt. Therefore, only big laptops with efficient cooling methods can house the GeForce GTX980 for laptops.

Manufacturer

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 900 Series

GeForce GTX 980 SLI (Laptop)	4096 @ 1126 - 1228 MHz	256 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 980 Ti	2816 @ 1000 - 1200 MHz	256 Bit @ 7000 MHz
GeForce GTX 980	2048 @ 1126 - 1216 MHz	256 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop)	2048 @ 1126 - 1228 MHz	256 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 970	1664 @ 1050 - 1178 MHz	224 + 32 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 960	1024 @ 1127 - 1178 MHz	128 Bit @ 3500 MHz
GeForce GTX 950	768 @ 1024 - 1188 MHz	128 Bit @ 3300 MHz

Codename

N16E-GXX SLI

Architecture

Maxwell

Pipelines

4096 - unified

Core Speed

1126 - 1228 (Boost) MHz

Memory Speed

3500 MHz

Memory Bus Width

256 Bit

Memory Type

GDDR5

Max. Amount of Memory

2x 8192 MB

Shared Memory

DirectX

DirectX 12_1

Transistor Count

10400 Million

technology

28 nm

Features

CUDA, 3D Vision, PhysX, GeForce Experience, Surround, GameStream, GPU Boost 2.0, Adaptive Vertical Sync, G-SYNC, SLI

Notebook Size

large

Date of Announcement

22.09.2015

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy

71.6 pt (80%)

AMD Radeon HD 8180 -98%

...

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) -13%

NVIDIA Titan X Pascal -12%

AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 -12%

AMD Radeon RX 5700 (Desktop) -10%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super (Desktop) -8%

AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (Desktop) -8%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) -5%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile -2%

AMD Radeon VII -2%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI (Laptop)

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) 1%

AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Desktop) 2%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 SLI (Desktop) 4%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 SLI (Laptop) 13%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop) 21%

NVIDIA Titan RTX 22%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 SLI (Laptop) 25%

100%

3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Score

min: 32522 avg: 33811 median: 33811 (51%) max: 35100 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics

min: 147015 avg: 155239 median: 155238 (79%) max: 163462 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Score

min: 17165 avg: 18339 median: 18339 (61%) max: 19513 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics

min: 23351 avg: 25453 median: 25453 (59%) max: 27555 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Graphics

min: 422037 avg: 440931 median: 440930 (59%) max: 459824 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score

min: 20055 avg: 21341 median: 21341 (55%) max: 22627 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU

min: 30045 avg: 33169 median: 33169 (57%) max: 36293 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications - Hide comparison chart

AMD Radeon HD 6250 -99%

...

AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 -12%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q -11%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop) -11%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop) -10%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super Mobile -9%

AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 -8%

AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (Desktop) -8%

NVIDIA Titan X Pascal -7%

AMD Radeon RX 5700 (Desktop) -5%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI (Laptop)

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop) 4%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super Mobile 6%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile 6%

AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Desktop) 8%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) 13%

AMD Radeon VII 14%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super (Desktop) 20%

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop) 21%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 SLI (Desktop) 29%

...

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 77%

100%

3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +

3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +

3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +

SPECviewperf 12
specvp12 sw-03 +

specvp12 snx-02 +

specvp12 showcase-01 +

specvp12 mediacal-01 +

Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +

Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit +

GFXBench 3.0 - GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan Offscreen

382 fps (61%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

GFXBench 3.0 - GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan

59.7 fps (16%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - LuxMark v2.0 Room GPU

3660 Samples/s (37%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - LuxMark v2.0 Sala GPU

5814 Samples/s (39%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

ComputeMark v2.1 - ComputeMark v2.1 Result

8892 points (20%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications + Show comparison chart

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card

- 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.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst

2016

197.4 fps + Compare

145.4 fps + Compare

124.4 fps + Compare

119.3 fps + Compare

48.3 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Overwatch

2016

299.9 fps + Compare

299.8 fps + Compare

297.4 fps + Compare

143 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Doom

2016

192.7 fps + Compare

189.8 fps + Compare

168.7 fps + Compare

160.3 fps + Compare

70.3 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Need for Speed 2016

2016

133.4 fps + Compare

122.4 fps + Compare

121.4 fps + Compare

93.1 fps + Compare

75.1 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Hitman 2016

2016

84.8 fps + Compare

79.7 fps + Compare

72 fps + Compare

70.6 fps + Compare

54.6 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

The Division

2016

226 fps + Compare

189.9 fps + Compare

126.5 fps + Compare

100.6 fps + Compare

55.1 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Far Cry Primal

2016

98 fps + Compare

97 fps + Compare

86 fps + Compare

85 fps + Compare

56 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

XCOM 2

2016

129.6 fps + Compare

109.5 fps + Compare

108 fps + Compare

59.9 fps + Compare

39 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

2016

107.3 fps + Compare

95 fps + Compare

94.7 fps + Compare

94.4 fps + Compare

60.9 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Rainbow Six Siege

2015

279.8 fps + Compare

232.2 fps + Compare

150.9 fps + Compare

136.4 fps + Compare

50.2 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Just Cause 3

2015

158 fps + Compare

147.7 fps + Compare

92.7 fps + Compare

79.3 fps + Compare

» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.

Star Wars Battlefront

2015

161.7 fps + Compare

150.6 fps + Compare

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI GT80S 6QF	[email protected] GHz	32768 MB	1064 / MHz	2x 8192MB	32522
Asus GX800 Prototype	[email protected] GHz	65536 MB	1328 / MHz	16384MB	35100

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI GT80S 6QF	[email protected] GHz	32768 MB	1064 / MHz	2x 8192MB	147015
Asus GX800 Prototype	[email protected] GHz	65536 MB	1328 / MHz	16384MB	163462

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI GT80S 6QF	[email protected] GHz	32768 MB	1064 / MHz	2x 8192MB	17165
Asus GX800 Prototype	[email protected] GHz	65536 MB	1328 / MHz	16384MB	19513

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI GT80S 6QF	[email protected] GHz	32768 MB	1064 / MHz	2x 8192MB	23351
Asus GX800 Prototype	[email protected] GHz	65536 MB	1328 / MHz	16384MB	27555

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
MSI GT80S 6QF	[email protected] GHz	32768 MB	1064 / MHz	2x 8192MB	422037
Asus GX800 Prototype	[email protected] GHz	65536 MB	1328 / MHz	16384MB	459824