GeForce GTX 980 vs Iris Xe MAX Graphics

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 980 and Iris Xe MAX Graphics, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the GeForce GTX 980 stacks up against Iris Xe MAX Graphics, check out specs charts below.

Iris Xe MAX Graphics is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Iris Xe MAX Graphics is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with Iris Xe MAX Graphics here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 980 Iris Xe MAX Graphics
Power consumption (TDP) 165 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 2x 6-pins
Memory type GDDR5 LPDDR4x
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 4 MB
Display Connectors 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
Recommended system power (PSU) 500 Watt
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  • GeForce GTX 980 and Iris Xe MAX Graphics have maximum RAM of 4 GB.
  • GeForce GTX 980 is used in Desktops, and Iris Xe MAX Graphics - in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 980 is build with Maxwell architecture, and Iris Xe MAX Graphics - with Gen. 12 Xe.
  • GeForce GTX 980 is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Iris Xe MAX Graphics - by 10 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Iris Xe MAX Graphics is 4259 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 980.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 55−60 35−40
ultra / 1080p 35−40 21−24
QHD / 1440p 30−35 16−18
4K / 2160p 18−20 10−11
low / 720p 80−85 60−65
medium / 1080p 65−70 40−45
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 980 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 53% more, than Iris Xe MAX Graphics.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 980 Iris Xe MAX Graphics
Architecture Maxwell Gen. 12 Xe
Code name GM204 iDG1LPDEV
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 19 September 2014 31 October 2020
Pipelines 2048 96
Boost Clock 1216 MHz 1650 MHz
Transistor count 5,200 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 10 nm
Texture fill rate 144 billion/sec
Floating-point performance 4,981 gflops
Length 10.5" (26.7 cm)
Memory bus width 256 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 7.0 GB/s 4266 MHz
Memory bandwidth 224 GB/s
Shared memory - -
G-SYNC support +
DirectX 12 (12_1) DirectX 12.1
Shader Model 6.4
OpenGL 4.5
OpenCL 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.126
CUDA +
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.54 kh/s
CUDA cores 2048
Bus support PCI Express 3.0
Height 4.376" (11.1 cm)
SLI options +
Multi monitor support 4 displays
HDMI +
HDCP +
Maximum VGA resolution 2048x1536
Audio input for HDMI Internal
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 579 Mh/s
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
Decred / DCR (Decred) 1.74 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 20.28 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 312.12 Sol/s
GameStream +
GeForce ShadowPlay +
GPU Boost 2.0
GameWorks +
BatteryBoost +
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