GeForce GTX 980M vs Radeon HD 8870M

Find out if it is worth upgrading your current GPU setup by comparing GeForce GTX 980M and Radeon HD 8870M. Here you can take a closer look at graphics cards specs, such as core clock speed, memory type and size, display connectors, etc. The price, overall benchmark and gaming performances are usually defining factors when it comes to choosing between GeForce GTX 980M and Radeon HD 8870M. Make sure that the graphics card has compatible dimensions and will properly fit in your new or current computer case. Also these graphics cards may have different system power recommendations, so take that into consideration and upgrade your PSU if necessary.

GeForce GTX 980M and Radeon HD 8870M are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: GeForce GTX 980M and Radeon HD 8870M are only used in laptop graphics. They have 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 GeForce GTX 980M or Radeon HD 8870M here:

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 980M Radeon HD 8870M
Interface MXM-B (3.0) PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors None
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5, DDR3
Maximum RAM amount 8 GB 2 GB
Display Connectors No outputs No outputs
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  • GeForce GTX 980M is connected by MXM-B (3.0), and Radeon HD 8870M uses PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
  • GeForce GTX 980M has 6 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 8870M.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • GeForce GTX 980M is build with Maxwell architecture, and Radeon HD 8870M - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 980M is 313 MHz higher, than Radeon HD 8870M.
  • GeForce GTX 980M and Radeon HD 8870M are manufactured by 28 nm process technology.
  • Memory clock speed of Radeon HD 8870M is 2000 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 980M.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 35−40 7−8
ultra / 1080p 24−27 4−5
QHD / 1440p 18−20 0−1
4K / 2160p 10−11
low / 720p 60−65 18−20
medium / 1080p 45−50 9−10
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 980M in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 330% more, than Radeon HD 8870M.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 980M Radeon HD 8870M
Architecture Maxwell GCN
Code name GM204 Venus
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 7 October 2014 18 December 2012
Pipelines 1536 640
Core clock speed 1038 MHz 725 MHz
Boost Clock 1127 MHz 775 MHz
Transistor count 5,200 million 1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 51.84 31.00
Floating-point performance 3,462 gflops 992.0 gflops
Memory bus width 256 Bit 128 Bit
Memory clock speed 2500 MHz 4500 MHz
Memory bandwidth 160 GB/s 72 GB/s
Shared memory - -
G-SYNC support +
DirectX 12 (12_1) 12 (11_1)
Shader Model 6.4 5.1
OpenGL 4.5 4.6
OpenCL 1.1 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.126 1.2.131
CUDA +
CUDA cores 1536
Bus support PCI Express 3.0
SLI options +
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 383 Mh/s 107 Mh/s
Laptop size large large
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support +
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder +
Optimus +
GameStream +
GeForce ShadowPlay +
GPU Boost 2.0
GameWorks +
BatteryBoost +
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